万花筒 Kaleidoscope 2007-01-16&18, 退休后做有意义的工作

I may not be the most perfect person in the world, here, but I feel like I'm an important person to these kids.

Let's try it.

Soon after Richard Shore retired¹, he walked into the Interdistrict Downtown School in Minneapolis and said he wanted to volunteer. That was nearly 5 years ago.

The most critical thing to do is to provide kids with assistance² in learning³ and to hopefully enable⁴ them to experience satisfaction in learning, that's why I do it.

As an aid to teachers, Shore gives students that one-on-one support they may need to succeed. For these young minds, this special attention can go a long way. Many of these students have put aside their insecurities and are facing their schoolwork assignments head on.

Trying to enable them to appreciate that, you know, this isn't a major challenge they are gonna face in their life.

Shore's career included many years of work for both the US government and the educational system. He says he has traveled the world and now tries to bring the world to students. And that's the satisfaction this 78-year-old retiree gets everyday.

If you ask me how long I can turn to do this, as long as I can take that mile and a quarter walk to school on every morning and back.

Valerie Morris, CNN.

1 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

2 assistance   

n.援助，帮助

参考例句：

• She called and called but no one came to her assistance.她叫了又叫，但没有人来帮。
• He will get the great possible assistance.他将获得尽可能大的帮助。

3 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

4 enable   

vt.使能够；使可以；使成为可能

参考例句：

• Only teamwork will enable us to get the job done on time.只有团结一致，我们才能按时完成这项工作。
• This will enable China to go a step further in grain production.这是中国粮食生产再上新台阶的巨大动力。