A man in a hot air balloon realized he was lost. He reduced altitude and spotted a woman below. He descended a bit more and shouted: “Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago but I don’t know where I am.”

　　一个呆在热气球飞行器里的人发现他迷路了。他降低了高度，然后发现下面有个女人。他又往下降了一点，然后喊道：“对不起，你能帮我吗?我答应一个朋友一小时前与他见面，可我不知道我现在身在何处。”

　　The woman below replied: “You are in a hot air balloon hovering approximately 30 feet above the ground. You are between 40 and 41 degrees north latitude and between 59 and 60 degrees west longitude.”

　　下面的女人回答说：“你在一个热气球飞行器里，在离地面大约 30 英尺的高空盘旋。你处于北纬40和41度之间、西经59和60 度之间。”

　　“You must be an engineer”, said the balloonist.

　　“你一定是个工程师。”气球驾驶者说。

　　“I am”, replied the woman, “How did you know?”

　　“是的，”女人回答说，“你是怎么知道的?”

　　“Well”, answered the balloonist, “everything you told me is technically correct, but I still have no idea what to make of your information, and the fact is I am still lost. Frankly, you’ve not been much help so far.”

　　“哦，”气球驾驶者说，“你告诉我的每一个数据从技术上讲都是对的，可我还是不太明白你的意思，事实上我还是搞不清方向。坦率地说，到现在为止你对我的帮助不是很大。”

　　The woman below responded, “You must be in management.”

　　下面的女人回答说：“你一定是搞管理的。”

　　“I am”, replied the balloonist, “but how did you know?”

　　“是的，”气球驾驶者说，“可你是怎么知道的?”

　　“Well”, said the woman, “you don’t know where you are or where you are going. You have risen to where you are, due to a large quantity of hot air. You made a promise which you have no idea how to keep, and you expect people beneath you to solve your problems. The fact is you are in exactly the same position you were in before we met, but now, somehow, it’s my fault.”

　　“是这样，”女人说，“你不知道你身在何处、要去何方。由于大量的热气(或夸夸其谈)，你升到了你现在的位置。你许下诺言，却不知道如何遵守你的诺言，还希望下面的人解决你的问题。事实是你现在所处的位置和我们相遇之前你处的位置完全一样，可是现在，不知怎的，却成了我的过错。”

　　Vocabulary

　　management n. 管理

　　hot air balloon 热气球

　　altitude n. 高度

　　spot v. 发现

　　descend v. 下降

　　hover v. 悬停

　　approximately ad. 大概

　　degree n. 度数

　　latitude n. 纬度

　　longitude n. 经度

　　balloonist n. 气球驾驶者

　　technically ad. 技术上

　　make of 推断

　　frankly ad. 坦白地

　　so far 到目前为止

　　due to 由于

　　quantity n. 数量

　　hot air〈俚〉 大话

　　make a promise 许下诺言

　　keep a promise 遵守诺言

　　beneath prep. 在…下方

　　position n. 位置; 处境

　　职场情境在托福考试中也有涉及，更多托福阅读信息可以关注新航道托福频道。