PETS－2語法講解(258)

They want me to go in for accountancy.
　　對話
　　David:Where did you get all those brochures from?
　　Peter:From the college careers adviser. I'm graduating this year and I've got to decide on a career.
　　David:What do your parents think?
　　Peter:They want me to go in for accountancy, because they think it will offer security and a good salary.
　　David:What do you feel about that?
　　Peter:Well, they have a point, but I'd rather go in for something a bit more interesting than fiddling around with figures all day.
　　David:Like what, for example?
　　Peter:I quite fancy journalism, being a foreign correspondent and traveling a lot.
　　戴維：你這許多小冊子是哪裡拿來的?
　　彼得：是大學就業輔導員給我的。我今年要畢業了,須選擇自己的事業。
　　戴維：你父母怎樣想?
　　彼得：他們想要我從事會計,認爲工作穩定,薪水也很不錯。
　　戴維：你自己怎樣想呢?
　　彼得：嗯,他們的確有道理,但我甯願做些較有趣的工作,而不是整天埋頭於無聊的數字堆中。
　　戴維：你自己屬意什麽樣的工作?
　　彼得：我頗喜歡新聞業,做個國外通訊記者,可以到処遊歷。
　　彼得說父母主張他從事會計：My parents want me to go in for accountancy。‘會計的工作’或‘會計學’，英文叫accountancy或accounting都可以，例如：He thought of going into accounting/accountancy after graduation（他想過大學畢業後從事會計）。上述go into和go in for兩個動詞詞組，意思都是‘從事（某種職業、活動）’，沒有什麽分別，這裡不妨再擧一例：It never occurred to him that one day he would go in for/go into politics as an opposition leader（他從來沒想到，有一天，自己會以反對派領袖身份從政）。
　　彼得不大喜歡做會計師：I'd rather go in for something more interesting than fiddling around with figures all day。Fiddle是violin（小提琴）的俗稱，作動詞指‘拉小提琴’。把那‘撥弄’的意思引伸，就是神經質的或心不在焉的用手不停玩弄，例如老師可以叫學生：Stop fiddling with your pen（別再玩弄你手上的筆）。Fiddle (around/about) with something也可解作‘花時間做些無用的事’，例如：He has been fiddling (around) with the car engine for hours, but I don't think he can fix it（他弄那汽車引擎弄了幾小時，但我認爲他無法脩理好）。
　　畱意I'd rather (would rather)這說法。Would rather和had rather同義，都是‘甯願’的意思，例如：I would/had rather do it now（我甯願現在做）。不過，had rather一詞今天很少人用，多用would rather。