My job was as a supervisor in the Main Press Center where I managed 800 journalists' desks, the telephones, the banks of televisions and other volunteers, many of whom were media students. Our shifts were eight hours long and often overnight as the Center was open 24 hours, but we generally stayed longer out of choice as the work was important and exciting. Without us the journalists would not get their articles back to their home news desks and the stories of the emotional highs and lows of the competitors would never reach the outside world.
我是新闻中心总部的主管，要经管800名记者的办公桌、电话、电视机以及别的志愿者，他们中有许多是学大众传媒的学生。中心是一天24小时连续运转，我们每班要干8个钟头，而且常常是通宵达旦，因工作既重要又令人振奋，我们一般不得不延长工作时间。没有我们的工作，记者们就不可能把他们的文章发回到国内的新闻部的办公桌上，有关体育健儿成功亦或失败的消息将不会为世人所知。
As volunteers, we all felt our work was a valuable contribution to the success of the Olympics and we reveled in the compliments we received. We worked hard and we had fun. We made new contacts and friends from all over the world and we learned new skills which we will never lose.
作为志愿者，我们都感到我们的工作对奥运会的成功作出了贡献，因而
我们都为我们获得的称赞而欣喜不已。我们努力工作同时也有乐趣；我们结交了世界各地的朋友，学到了终生受益的新技能。
When the Olympics finished, all the volunteers - 47,000 of us - were
invited to take part in a parade through the streets of Sydney. Many of us did this, and thousands and thousands of people came out to cheer our efforts. Being part of that experience brought tears to many eyes.
奥运会结束时，所有的志愿者，总计47 000人，应邀参加悉尼城区的大游行。我们中的许多人都参加了游行，千千万万的人倾城而出，夹道相庆。亲历其中，许多人激动得热泪盈眶。
The Olympics was marvelous, and the work I went to do is relevant and valuable to the job I do now. But the experience of being involved in such a massive event and the recognition we were given for our efforts is what I will remember forever.
奥运会很成功，我志愿从事的工作与我现在所做的工作既有关又有益。这次大型赛事的亲身经历以及公众对我们辛勤工作的肯定我将永世难忘。
Not Just a Job, an Adventure: Undergraduate Research
大学生在校搞研究
Sophia Stella, a sophomore at Columbia?s School of Engineering, is one of many undergraduates who become involved, one way or another, in research performed at the university. Some do it for academic credit, some for money, some just for experience. Students and professors agree that an undergraduate research project can be uniquely beneficial to both parties.
哥伦比亚大学工程学院二年级学生索菲亚·斯黛拉，是众多以各种方式在校参与研究工作的学生之一。这些学生有的是为了拿学分，有的是为了挣钱，还有的就是为了多一份经历。老师和学生都认为，大学生从事研究工作对师生双方都有特别的好处。
Ideally, undergraduate research is an opportunity for the kind of intensive study that can expand the mind in ways traditional courses can?t. Economics Professor Ralph Edison says: “To really understand a discipline you have to get the feeling that knowledge isn?t just out there and you passively have to absorb it, but rather that it?s constantly being created and we?re constantly rethinking things... When students see a discipline as evolving rather than fixed, they usually get a lot more excited about learning because they see that it?s an ongoing process.” He points out that research can be exciting because “a research project really gives students an opportunity to answer real-life questions that we don?t know the answers
to.”
的确，大学生从事研究是一种深入学习的机会，能拓展思维，而这是传统教育做不到的。经济学教授拉尔夫·爱迪生说：\要真正学好一门课程，你得有这种感觉：知识不是现成的，等着你去被动吸收，而是在不断地创新，所以我们得不断地进行再思考。……一般来说，当学生认识到一门学科是发展的而不是静止的，他们就会对学习产生更大的兴趣，因为他们看到这是个发展的过程。\他指出，研究能让人兴奋不已，因为\研究项目才能真正给学生提供机会，解决现实生活中我们没有现成答案的问题。\
Research also spurs independent thinking and intellectual confidence in students. Amelia, a graduate student in computer science, says, \go out and learn on your own. You weren't going to be spoon-fed.\memories of work as an undergraduate researcher played an important role in her decision to leave her Wall Street programming job and return to Columbia as a graduate student.
同时，从事研究也培养了学生独立思考的能力和对自己智慧的信心。艾米莉娅是计算机系的研究生，她说：\你得走出课堂自己学习，没有人会用勺子喂你知识。\对大学时期从事研究工作的美好回忆促使她下决心放弃在华尔街的编程工作，又回到哥伦比亚大学读研究生。
Arthur Hannah, a political science graduate of Columbia College says undergraduate research \mode of learning.\looking for the knowledge we do have, he says, research forces students to look for knowledge we don't have. It's a process of looking for holes and trying to plug them, which is completely different from the classroom
experience of learning what others already know. He also describes how creating a piece of original research instilled a \authorship\work, something he hadn't found in his regular classes.
哥伦比亚大学政治科学系的毕业生艾伦·哈勒说，大学生从事研究\感觉像是一种全新的学习。\他说研究不是让学生寻找已有的知识，而是促使他们探索尚未掌握的知识。这是一个发现漏洞然后再竭力补漏的过程，与在教室里学习人们已掌握的知识完全不同。他还认为，一项有创意的独特研究会让你的工作充满\独家创造的自豪\，这可是他在常规课程里从来没有感受到的。
Most undergraduates doing research are working for credit. They register for a semester-long course and do a project for a professor who gives them a grade for their efforts. In some departments a research project might constitute an honors thesis.
多数大学生作研究是为了拿学分。他们注册一门学期课程，为老师做一个项目，老师也就会给他们的工作打分。有些系的学生通过做研究项目，可能据此写出一篇（教学计划之外的）论文，从而在毕业时获得（这个学科的单科优秀）荣誉。
Some students do research for pay. Taken simply as a form of employment, it's one of the most desirable jobs available to undergraduates. Stella says, \cafeteria\paid research work gives her an opportunity to transform a work-study job into an engaging aspect of her education. The money for her wages is available because of a program started this year providing $100 000 to fund undergraduate research. This funding is intended to support about 50
undergraduates in work-study research positions.
有些学生作研究是为了挣钱。如果只是将做科研看成一种就业，这可是大学生能得到的最理想的工作之一。斯黛拉说：\我需要一份收入，与其在餐厅端盘子，不如在这里工作。\有偿研究工作使她的勤工俭学演变成其教育的充满魅力的一个方面。她的工资也有保障，因为一项给大学生研究工作提供100，000美元的计划今年已经启动。这笔资金将给50名大学生提供勤工俭学的研究岗位。
Other students do research not for credit or for money but simply on a volunteer basis. Usually, these are students pursuing a career that requires some demonstration of altruistic commitment, such as medicine.
还有些学生作研究既不是为学分，也不是为钱，完全是出于自愿。这些学生将来从事的职业通常需要他们关心他人，比如当医生。
As Economics Professor Ralph Edison says: \can become a valuable part of education. It's a real and valuable privilege. It has to remain an extraordinary undertaking for extraordinary people in extraordinary circumstances.\ Even though he is very busy, he spends at least two hours every day surfing the Internet in order to know about the latest developments in this field.
正如经济学教授拉尔夫·爱迪生所说：\大学生参与科研可以成为教育中很有价值的一部分，这是一项真实而有益的特权。它是特别环境下为特别的人准备的特别任务。\