I wasn't cut out for teaching.
對 話 Betty: Hello Joe, I haven't seen you for years. What are you doing now?
Joe: I'm running my own marketing consultancy.
Betty: What? I thought you went into teaching.
Joe: Well I did originally, but I soon found out I wasn't cut out for teaching. I couldn't keep discipline.
Betty: Sorry to hear that. But anyway, how's business?
Joe: Pretty good. I've had a really good couple of years.
蓓蒂:喂，喬，多年沒見了，你現(xiàn)在做什么？
喬:我經(jīng)營自己的銷售顧問公司。 蓓蒂:什么？我以為你做了教師。
喬:最初是，但我不久就發(fā)覺自己不是教書的料子。我沒法維持秩序。
蓓蒂:真可惜。說起來，你現(xiàn)在的生意怎樣？
喬:還好，過去幾年實在很不錯。
喬說: I wasn't cut out for teaching。 Cut out有 ‘裁剪’ 的意思，She is learning to cut out a dress.即‘她在學(xué)習(xí)裁剪衣服’。引申其意，to be cut out for(a job)或to be cut out to be (something) 等于說‘是從事．．．．．．的料子’，例如：(1)I think he is cut out for the legal profession --- he loves to debate.(我認(rèn)為他最適宜從事法律這門專業(yè)—他喜歡辯論) 。(2)He was not cut out to be an accountant because he did not have a head for figures. (他不是做會計師的料子，因為他不擅長算術(shù)) 。
但假如你看見to have your work cut out (for you) to do something的說法，請不要以為‘那是最適宜你做的工作’。這成語是說‘面臨困難的工作’，例如：Joe had his work cut out for him to keep discipline in his classes.（喬要維持班上學(xué)生的秩序，可不容易）。
以‘裁剪’比喻工作合宜的另一個說法是tailor-made。說某人最適合一份工作，或一份工作最適合某人，都可用這個字，例如：(1)The job seems tailor-made for you/for your skills and experience.（這份工作，似乎特別適合你/特別適合你的技能和經(jīng)驗。 (2)He is just tailor-made for the job.（他完全符合這份工作的需求）
說某人似乎是天生做某事的料，你還可用bear（誕生）的過去分詞 (past participle) born 。 He is a born teacher/painter. (即‘他天生是個教師/畫家’）