High 1 · Reading series
Lesson 58 · An Interview with My Future Self
Audio track 58
Listen first
Listen once before opening the English passage.
Open the English passage and hover for word help
Our teacher asked us to interview our future selves on paper. At first, I wrote a predictable question: “What job do you have?” I could invent an answer, but it felt like choosing a title for a book I had not read.
I started again. “What question did you keep asking after high school?” My imagined future self did not name a career. She said, “I kept asking how to make difficult information easier for someone else to use.” I thought about the station guide our class had revised and the subtitles we had checked.
Then I asked, “What did you do when you were unsure?” I wrote, “I spoke with people who knew more, tested small ideas, and changed my mind when the evidence changed.” I do not know whether the real future me will say that.
The interview did not predict my life. It showed me the kind of questions and actions I want to take into it.
Sentence practice
Play any sentence in Dicvo’s Jenny English voice. Before playing all, choose how many times each sentence plays. A practice pause about as long as the sentence follows each play, including before the next sentence. The complete reading remains above.
Choose a sentence to begin.
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Our teacher asked us to interview our future selves on paper.
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At first, I wrote a predictable question: “What job do you have?”
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I could invent an answer, but it felt like choosing a title for a book I had not read.
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I started again.
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“What question did you keep asking after high school?”
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My imagined future self did not name a career.
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She said, “I kept asking how to make difficult information easier for someone else to use.”
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I thought about the station guide our class had revised and the subtitles we had checked.
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Then I asked, “What did you do when you were unsure?”
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I wrote, “I spoke with people who knew more, tested small ideas, and changed my mind when the evidence changed.”
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I do not know whether the real future me will say that.
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The interview did not predict my life.
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It showed me the kind of questions and actions I want to take into it.
Check your understanding
After reading, state the main idea in one sentence and find a line that supports it.
Chinese translation
老师请我们在纸上采访未来的自己。起初，我写了个容易想到的问题：‘你做什么工作？’我可以编一个答案，却觉得这像给一本还没读过的书先起好标题。
我重新开始：‘高中毕业后，你一直在追问什么？’想象中的未来的我没有说出职业名称，而是答道：‘我一直想知道，怎样让困难的信息更容易被别人使用。’我想起班里修改过的车站导览，以及核对过的字幕。
我接着问：‘不确定时，你怎么办？’我写下：‘我找更懂的人讨论，试验小想法，在证据改变时也愿意改变看法。’我不知道真实的未来的我会不会这么说。
这次访谈没有预测我的人生，却让我看见，自己想带着怎样的问题与行动走进未来。
Key words and expressions
Key terms have Chinese explanations. Hover over dotted words in the English passage for word help and pronunciation when available.
- future self
- 未来的自己；纸上访谈的对象。
- predictable
- 可预料的；最初的问题很常见。
- invent
- 编造；可虚构一个职业答案。
- career
- 职业；想象中的自己没有具体命名。
- imagined
- 想象中的；并非真正来自未来。
- revise
- 修订；主人公回忆车站导览。
- be unsure
- 不确定；要想清如何应对。
- evidence
- 证据；变化时愿意修正看法。
- predict
- 预测；访谈不能预言人生。
- take into
- 带入；把问题和行动带进未来。
Background notes (Chinese)
对未来职业不确定，并不妨碍学生梳理自己关心的问题和愿意采取的做法。这篇想象访谈没有声称能预测将来，而是表达当下的方向。