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26 Tom's Search
湯姆的探索
Tom was a product of the baby boom generation.
湯姆是嬰兒潮時代的產物。
He had a bold personality.
他的性格大膽，
His passion for adventure seemed boundless.
對冒險似乎擁有永無止境的熱情。
He worked as a supervisor at a mining company, boring holes in boulders to extract mineral samples.
他是一家礦業公司的主管，他的工作是在巨石上鉆洞以獲取礦物標本。
To measure the mineral content, the samples were heated to a temperature that was nearly 100 times the boiling point of the water.
為檢驗礦物成分，標本又被加熱到水的沸點的近100倍。
A certain percentage of gold content would indicate the presence of a new gold mine.
如果其中含有一定比例的金將意味著存在新的金礦。
Although the long hours sometimes made Tom feel like he was in bondage, Tom was bound to his job.
盡管有時長時間的工作讓湯姆感覺身處桎梏，但他還是深愛自己的工作。
Mining was not at all boring to him.
采礦對他而言一點也不無聊。
The prospect of finding a bonanza was exciting and he felt a special bond with his workers.
找到富礦帶的希望令人興奮，他感到有一種特殊的紐帶鏈接著他和他的工人。
They bolstered his confidence that he would someday find gold.
他們使他鼓起信心，堅信總有一天會找到金礦。
In the early years, the mining company's stock had boomed in value.
早年，這家礦業公司的股票一度暴漲，
However, it had recently decreased in worth.
但最近股價已經下跌。
The company desperately needed to find a new source of gold to boost its profits and to bounce back from its losses.
公司急于找到新的金礦，以提高利潤，扭虧為盈。
Tom knew this. So he spent most of his time collecting mineral samples from the western boundary line of the new frontier.
這些湯姆都知道。所以他大部分時間都在新礦帶的西邊界采集礦物標本。
It was a dangerous area, but he knew that finding gold there would save the company and could earn him a bonus.
這是個危險地帶，但他知道在這里找到金礦不僅能挽救公司，還能為自己掙得獎金。
It would also be a boon to his future with the company.
這還將有利于他今后在公司的發展。
Tom was right. He found a huge gold source that year.
湯姆是對的，那一年他找到了富含大量金礦的礦源。
The company promoted him to general manager, doubled his salary and held a grand celebration.
公司將他晉升為總經理，給他加了雙倍的薪水，還舉行了隆重的慶典。
Tom's increase in importance did not lead him to make bombastic speeches at the party.
湯姆的榮升并未導致他在聚會上夸夸其談。
Tom was not like that and it certainly would have created boredom at the gathering.
湯姆不是那種人，如果真是那樣，聚會豈不乏味之極。
Instead, he praise his men and yelled, “Let's get boisterous tonight!”
相反，湯姆將手下的工人稱贊了一番，然后喊道：“今晚讓我們盡情歡鬧吧！”
