Mission vs. Assignment

2022-06-11

00:00 / 00:00
复读宝 RABC v8.0beta 复读机按钮使用说明
播放/暂停
停止
播放时:倒退3秒/复读时:回退AB段
播放时:快进3秒/复读时:前进AB段
拖动:改变速度/点击:恢复正常速度1.0
拖动改变复读暂停时间
点击:复读最近5秒/拖动:改变复读次数
设置A点
设置B点
取消复读并清除AB点
播放一行
停止播放
后退一行
前进一行
复读一行
复读多行
变速复读一行
变速复读多行
LRC
TXT
大字
小字
滚动
全页
1
  • Hello! This week on Ask a Teacher, we will answer a question from Aiping about the difference between mission and assignment in one of our stories.
  • 2
  • Dear teacher,
  • 3
  • I read an article by VOA Learning English titled "After Helping Fight COVID-19 US military plans for Next Pandemic."
  • 4
  • There are two words: "mission "and "assignment."
  • 5
  • Can you tell me the difference between these two words?
  • 6
  • Thanks!
  • 7
  • Aiping
  • 8
  • Dear Aiping,
  • 9
  • Thank you for your question! Let us look at these two words within the story.
  • 10
  • We will start with the word "mission" and then move onto "assignment."
  • 11
  • Firstly, we have the word "mission."
  • 12
  • Let us look at how the word "mission" is used in the story:
  • 13
  • "The United States military deployed about 24,000 troops to help state and local governments across the country fight COVID-19.
  • 14
  • That mission has ended, at least for now."
  • 15
  • "And, officials are seeking to learn from the experiences of service members who took part in the COVID-19 mission."
  • 16
  • "(The patient) is going to get the treatment he needs. That was the mission."
  • 17
  • The word mission in these three sentences from the story refer to the US military's deployment of troops to help local governments fight COVID-19.
  • 18
  • In this way, we can think of "mission" as an important operation, effort, or task.
  • 19
  • The US military defines "mission" as "a task together with a purpose."
  • 20
  • This may be an overall mission or larger goal, like to defend the United States, or it might be a specific task, like helping local governments to fight COVID-19.
  • 21
  • So we can think of "mission" as a larger goal or objective.
  • 22
  • Many organizations and even individual people use the word "mission."
  • 23
  • For example,
  • 24
  • The charity's mission is to provide shelter and food to young people without homes.
  • 25
  • My mission for the summer is to take an hour-long walk every day.
  • 26
  • Next, we have the word "assignment." Let us look at how we use it in the story:
  • 27
  • "The last military medical team deployed for the pandemic finished its assignment last week at the University of Utah hospital."
  • 28
  • In this sentence, "assignment" refers to a specific place where the task or mission is carried out, like the University of Utah hospital.
  • 29
  • Military units and other employees might have different assignments or jobs in different places.
  • 30
  • This is how we can think of the word "assignment," like a specific job in a specific place.
  • 31
  • To summarize, we use the word "mission" to talk about the overall goal or purpose for an organization or an individual.
  • 32
  • We use the word assignment when talking about individual jobs in a specific place.
  • 33
  • The two words can overlap when a person's assignment (individual job) is helping carry out the mission or larger, overall goal.
  • 34
  • Please let us know if these explanations and examples have helped you, Aiping!
  • 35
  • What question do you have about American English? Send us an email at learningenglish@voanews.com
  • 36
  • And that's Ask a teacher.
  • 37
  • I'm Faith Pirlo.
  • 1
  • Hello! This week on Ask a Teacher, we will answer a question from Aiping about the difference between mission and assignment in one of our stories.
  • 2
  • Question:
  • 3
  • Dear teacher,
  • 4
  • I read an article by VOA Learning English titled "After Helping Fight COVID-19 US military plans for Next Pandemic." There are two words: "mission "and "assignment." Can you tell me the difference between these two words?
  • 5
  • Thanks!
  • 6
  • Aiping
  • 7
  • Answer:
  • 8
  • Dear Aiping,
  • 9
  • Thank you for your question! Let us look at these two words within the story. We will start with the word "mission" and then move onto "assignment."
  • 10
  • Mission:
  • 11
  • Firstly, we have the word "mission." Let us look at how the word "mission" is used in the story:
  • 12
  • "The United States military deployed about 24,000 troops to help state and local governments across the country fight COVID-19. That mission has ended, at least for now."
  • 13
  • "And, officials are seeking to learn from the experiences of service members who took part in the COVID-19 mission."
  • 14
  • "(The patient) is going to get the treatment he needs. That was the mission."
  • 15
  • The word mission in these three sentences from the story refer to the US military's deployment of troops to help local governments fight COVID-19. In this way, we can think of "mission" as an important operation, effort, or task.
  • 16
  • The US military defines "mission" as "a task together with a purpose." This may be an overall mission or larger goal, like to defend the United States, or it might be a specific task, like helping local governments to fight COVID-19.
  • 17
  • So we can think of "mission" as a larger goal or objective. Many organizations and even individual people use the word "mission."
  • 18
  • For example,
  • 19
  • The charity's mission is to provide shelter and food to young people without homes.
  • 20
  • My mission for the summer is to take an hour-long walk every day.
  • 21
  • Assignment:
  • 22
  • Next, we have the word "assignment." Let us look at how we use it in the story:
  • 23
  • "The last military medical team deployed for the pandemic finished its assignment last week at the University of Utah hospital."
  • 24
  • In this sentence, "assignment" refers to a specific place where the task or mission is carried out, like the University of Utah hospital.
  • 25
  • Military units and other employees might have different assignments or jobs in different places. This is how we can think of the word "assignment," like a specific job in a specific place.
  • 26
  • To summarize, we use the word "mission" to talk about the overall goal or purpose for an organization or an individual. We use the word assignment when talking about individual jobs in a specific place.
  • 27
  • The two words can overlap when a person's assignment (individual job) is helping carry out the mission or larger, overall goal.
  • 28
  • Please let us know if these explanations and examples have helped you, Aiping!
  • 29
  • What question do you have about American English? Send us an email at learningenglish@voanews.com
  • 30
  • And that's Ask a teacher.
  • 31
  • I'm Faith Pirlo.
  • 32
  • Faith Pirlo wrote this lesson for VOA Learning English.
  • 33
  • Do you have a question for the teacher? We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section.
  • 34
  • ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­________________________________________________________________
  • 35
  • Words in This Story
  • 36
  • mission - n. an operation or effort of great value
  • 37
  • charity - n. an official organization that gives money, food or other assistance to people in need