第一篇:新标准大学英语综合教程2翻译
新标准大学英语综合教程2翻译政府采取的一系列措施不但没有化解矛盾,反倒激起更多的暴力冲突。反对党联合工会发动了一次大罢工,最终导致政府的垮台。(give rise to;form an alliance with;launch;bring about)
Instead of resolving contradictions, the series of measures taken by the government gave rise to more violent clashes.The Opposition formed an alliance with the trade unions and launched a general strike, which ultimately brought about the downfall of the government.如今,大学与现实世界的距离越来越小,学生也变得越来越实际。从前,大学是一象牙塔,学者追求的是学问本身而不是把学问作为达到目的的手段,但这样的时代已经一去不复返了。(shrink;gone are the days;a means to an end)
Nowadays, the gap between the university and the real world is shrinking and the students are becoming more and more practical.Gone are the days when the university was an ivory tower in which scholars purs一看见抽屉里的那些老照片,我的眼泪就涌了出来。它们让我想起了我跟爷爷奶奶、爸爸妈妈、兄弟姐妹一起生活的美好时光。(the moment;well up)
The moment I saw those old photos in the drawer, tears welled up in my eyes, for my memory went back to the days when I lived happily with my grandparents, my parents and my brothers and sisters.ued knowledge as an end rather than a means to an end.4上星期六上午,我像往常一样去超市购物。我刚要打开车门,却发现没带钱包。我只好回家去找,可是哪儿也找不到。(do the usual;do nothing but;fail to do)Last Saturday morning, I did the usual and went shopping in the supermarket.When I was about to open the door of my car, I found that I did not have my wallet on me.I could do nothing but go back home in search of it, but I failed to find it anywhere.5这些文件很重要,内容要绝对保密。如果要处理掉的话,应先把它们切碎,而不是直接当垃圾扔掉。(content of which;tear up;instead of)
These are important documents, the content of which should be kept strictly confidential.If you need to dispose them, you must shred them instead of throwing them out with the trash.6现在,像伪造支票、身份证和信用卡这类的白领犯罪已变得相当普遍。尽管我们学会了许多防止被骗的招数,可是看起来我们随时都可能被骗。(forge;prevent…from)Nowadays, white-collar crimes such as forging checks, ID cards and credit cards have become very common.Though we have learnt much about how to prevent ourselves from being cheated, it seems that we could be its victims at any time.
第二篇:大学英语综合教程2翻译
To improve our English, it is critical to do more reading, writing, listening and speaking.Besides, learning by heart as many well-written essays as possible is also very important.Without an enormous store of good English writing in your head you cannot express yourself freely in English.It is also helpful to summarize our experience as we go along, for in so doing, we can figure out which way of learning is more effective and will produce the most desirable result.As long as we keep working hard on it, we will in due course accomplish the task of mastering English.With more and more donations coming in, our university will be much better off financially next year.We will thus be able to focus on the most important task that we, educators, must take on: to encourage students to attain their scholarly/academic goals, to train them to be dependable and responsible inpiduals, to prepare them for the life ahead, and to guide them in their pursuit of spiritual as well as material satisfaction.George, the son of Mr.Johnson, liked listening to heavy metal music in the evenings, which made it hard for other residents in the community to fall asleep.Eventually the exhausted neighbors lost their patience and decided on direct interference.They called Mr.Johnson to tell him in a frank manner what they were thinking.Mr.Johnson assured them that he would certainly settle the issue.As soon as he put down the phone he scolded his son, “What has come over you? You should know better than to disturb others for your own amusement.” In the end George traded his CDs for computer games software from his classmates.Perhaps you envy me for being able to work from home on the computer.I agree that the Internet has made my job a lot easier.I can write, subm it and edit articles via email, chat with my colleagues on line and discuss work with my boss.With a click of the mouse, I can get all the data I need and keep up with the latest news.But then, communicating through the Net can be frustrating at times.The system may crash.Worse still, without the emotional cues of face-to-face communication, the typed words sometimes seem difficult to interpret
Numerous facts bear out the argument/statement/claim that in order to recover speedily from negative emotion, you should allow yourself to cry.You needn’t/don’t have to be ashamed of crying.Anxiety and sorrow can flow out of the body along with tears.Consider the case of /Take Donna.Her son unfortunately died in a car accident.The intensity of the blow made her unable to cry.She said, “It was not until two weeks later that I began to cry.And then I felt as if a big stone had been lifted from my shoulders.It was the tears that brought me back to earth and helped me survive the crisis.”
Nancy Hopkins is a biology professor at MIT.She craves knowledge and works hard.However, as a scientist, she could not help noticing all kinds of indications of gender inequality on campus.Men and women professors did the same work, but when it came to promotion the administrators were rather selective.It is ironic that after so much cultural progress, women were still at a disadvantage in institutions of higher education.When her request for more lab space was refused, she knew she had to fight.So she gritted her teeth and complained to the President.The fight ended in victory and Nancy was converted into a gender-equity advocate.Though how the English language came into existence remains a mystery to many people, linguists believe
that English and most other European languages have descended from a common source: the Indo-European parent language.English was first spoken by the Anglo-Saxons who invaded England in the fifth century.They passed onto us the basic vocabulary of English.In over fifteen centuries of its development, English has enriched itself by massive borrowing.As British immigrants landed in America and established the United States as an independent nation, a new variety was added to the English language: American English.Though some people worry that the language is running out of control, many native speakers of English take pride in the tolerance of their language
第三篇:大学英语综合教程2翻译
To improve our English, it is critical to do more reading, writing, listening and speaking.Besides, learning by heart as many well-written essays as possible is also very important.Without an enormous store of good English writing in your head you cannot express yourself freely in English.It is also helpful to summarize our experience as we go along, for in so doing, we can figure out which way of learning is more effective and will produce the most desirable result.As long as we keep working hard on it, we will in due course accomplish the task of mastering English.With more and more donations coming in, our university will be much better off financially next year.We will thus be able to focus on the most important task that we, educators, must take on: to encourage students to attain their scholarly/academic goals, to train them to be dependable and responsible inpiduals, to prepare them for the life ahead, and to guide them in their pursuit of spiritual as well as material satisfaction.George, the son of Mr.Johnson, liked listening to heavy metal music in the evenings, which made it hard for other residents in the community to fall asleep.Eventually the exhausted neighbors lost their patience and decided on direct interference.They called Mr.Johnson to tell him in a frank manner what they were thinking.Mr.Johnson assured them that he would certainly settle the issue.As soon as he put down the phone he scolded his son, “What has come over you? You should know better than to disturb others for your own amusement.” In the end George traded his CDs for computer games software from his classmates.Perhaps you envy me for being able to work from home on the computer.I agree that the Internet has made my job a lot easier.I can write, subm it and edit articles via email, chat with my colleagues on line and discuss work with my boss.With a click of the mouse, I can get all the data I need and keep up with the latest news.But then, communicating through the Net can be frustrating at times.The system may crash.Worse still, without the emotional cues of face-to-face communication, the typed words sometimes seem difficult to interpret
Numerous facts bear out the argument/statement/claim that in order to recover speedily from negative emotion, you should allow yourself to cry.You needn’t/don’t have to be ashamed of crying.Anxiety and sorrow can flow out of the body along with tears.Consider the case of /Take Donna.Her son unfortunately died in a car accident.The intensity of the blow made her unable to cry.She said, “It was not until two weeks later that I began to cry.And then I felt as if a big stone had been lifted from my shoulders.It was the tears that brought me back to earth and helped me survive the crisis.”
Nancy Hopkins is a biology professor at MIT.She craves knowledge and works hard.However, as a scientist, she could not help noticing all kinds of indications of gender inequality on campus.Men and womenprofessors did the same work, but when it came to promotion the administrators were rather selective.It is ironic that after so much cultural progress, women were still at a disadvantage in institutions of higher education.When her request for more lab space was refused, she knew she had to fight.So she gritted her teeth and complained to the President.The fight ended in victory and Nancy was converted into a gender-equity advocate.Though how the English language came into existence remains a mystery to many people, linguists believe
that English and most other European languages have descended from a common source: theIndo-European parent language.English was first spoken by the Anglo-Saxons who invaded England in the fifth century.They passed onto us the basic vocabulary of English.In over fifteen centuries of itsdevelopment, English has enriched itself by massive borrowing.As British immigrants landed in America and established the United States as an independent nation, a new variety was added to the Englishlanguage: American English.Though some people worry that the language is running out of control, many native speakers of English take pride in the tolerance of their language
第四篇:新标准大学英语综合教程2课后题翻译答案
Unit 1政府采取的一系列措施不但没有化解矛盾,反倒激起更多的暴力冲突。反对党联合工会发动了一次大罢工,最终导致政府的垮台。(give rise to;form an alliance with;launch;bring about)
Instead of resolving contradictions, the series of measures taken by the government gave rise to more violent clashes.The Opposition formed an alliance with the trade unions and launched a general strike, which ultimately brought about the downfall of the government.如今,大学与现实世界的距离越来越小,学生也变得越来越实际。从前,大学是一象牙塔,学者追求的是学问本身而不是把学问作为达到目的的手段,但这样的时代已经一去不复返了。(shrink;gone are the days;a means to an end)
Nowadays, the gap between the university and the real world is shrinking and the students are becoming more and more practical.Gone are the days when the university was an ivory tower in which scholars pursued knowledge as an end rather than a means to an end.我从未指望靠上课来学好这门课。但我确实去听课,因为在课上我能了解这门课的重点,学会如何组织材料、如何推理。(hope;by doing …;the place where)
I never hoped to learn the subject well by attending those lectures.But I did go to lectures, for it was the place where I could get the important points of the course and learn how to organize materials and how to reason.我一直想方设法解决这个难题,但就是找不到满意的答案。可是当我去厨房喝饮料的时候,我突然间灵机一动,意识到解决问题的方法实际上可能很简单。(work out;click)
Although I have been trying every means to solve the problem, I cannot work out a satisfactory solution.But when I went to the kitchen to get a drink, something clicked and made me realize that the solution might be quite simple.Unit 3这些文件很重要,内容要绝对保密。如果要处理掉的话,应先把它们切碎,而不是直接当垃圾扔掉。(content of which;tear up;instead of)
These are important documents, the content of which should be kept strictly
confidential.If you need to dispose them, you must shred them instead of throwing them out with the trash.现在,像伪造支票、身份证和信用卡这类的白领犯罪已变得相当普遍。尽管我们学会了许多防止被骗的招数,可是看起来我们随时都可能被骗。(forge;prevent…from)
Nowadays, white-collar crimes such as forging checks, ID cards and credit cards have become very common.Though we have learnt much about how to prevent ourselves from being cheated, it seems that we could be its victims at any time.地震已过去了好几个月,生活恢复了正常。人们与平时一样忙着各自的事情。但一个无法回避的事实是,地震给人们带来的精神创伤也许永远无法抹去。(go about;there is no escaping the fact that…;mental trauma;wipe out)
It has been several months since the earthquake.Life has returned to normal, and people are busy going about their business.But there is no escaping the fact that the mental trauma the earthquake brought to people will never be wiped out.为什么说一个图书馆拥有大量可供随时阅览的新书及电子图书资源很重要呢?因为那样的话,学者们就可以了解自己学科领域里的最新进展,知道自己的研究是否有价值。(matter;readily available to;if so)
Why does it matter that a library has many new books and electronic resources readily available to the readers? This is because if so, the scholars know the latest development in their own fields and know whether their research is valuable.Unit 4这个消息来得如此突然、如此令人震惊,我在沙发上呆呆地坐了几分钟。我的第一本能就是赶紧打电话把这件事告诉领导,看看我们能为那些在这起交通事故中死伤的同事做些什么。(so… that;first instinct)
So sudden, so striking was the news that I sat motionless on sofa for a few minutes.My first instinct was to call our leaders to tell them what had happened and see what we can do for those colleagues who died or got injured in this traffic accident.2 纸版的儿童书与电子书相比有很大的优势。对孩子们来说,一本印刷精美的纸版书不仅是一本书也是一个玩具。读纸版书的感觉与在屏幕上读书的感觉是很不同的。(have advantage over;be different from)
Paper books for children have an enormous advantage over e-books.For children, a beautifully printed paper book is not only a book but also a toy they can play with.Reading a paper book is rather different from reading a book on the screen.3近年来在西方国家,传统媒体呈现出衰退的趋势,新媒体迅速发展。然而新媒体的收入又不足以弥补传统媒体丢失的市场份额。(in the tendency of;not necessarily;when it comes to)
In recent years, traditional media in the western countries are in the tendency of decline and new media are developing rapidly.However, this does not necessarily mean that tradition media have lost the market.When it comes to reading things like news, people are still used to such traditional media as newspaper.随着金融危机的爆发,许多企业陷入了困境。对于那些因缺乏流动资金无法进行再生产又不想让恶性循环继续下去的企业,他们唯一能做的事情就是向政府求助。(find oneself in difficulty;turn to)
With the explosion of the financial crisis, many enterprises find themselves in difficulties.For those who have no circulating fund to invest on new production and would not let the vicious circle continue, the only thing they can do is to turn to government for help.Unit 8
1.整天把自己埋在书本里是没有用的。要培养一些业余爱好,每隔一段时间参加一些体育锻炼或课外活动。劳逸结合才是健康的学习习惯。(it’s no use doing sth;take up;at intervals;extracurricular activities)
It’s no use burying yourselves in books all day.You’d better take up some hobbies and take part in sports or extracurricular activities at intervals.A healthy study habit is to keep a balance between work and rest.2.工作选对了,不但是可以维持生计的手段,还来可以帮你摆脱无聊,是你不用担心接受了多年的高等教育之后会虚度人生。(a means of sustenance;banish sth from one’s mind)
If your job is rightly chosen, it will not only give you a means of sustenance, but also help escape from the boredom and banish from you mind the worry about learning a meaningless life after so many years of higher education.3.手头没有事情可做时,他常常主动帮助社区做些义务劳动。很有可能是受到他的影响,社区里越来越多的人加入到了志愿者的行列。(at hand;it may well be that)
When he had nothing to do at hand, he used to do volunteer to do something for his community.It may well be that under his influence more and more people in the community joined in to become volunteers.4.我以前看电视连续剧常常看到深夜,这太费时间,还影响我的健康和体型。为了避免诱惑,我把电视机搬出了我的屋子,开始从事别的休闲活动,比如读书、弹钢琴。(risk;take up)I used to watch TV series late into the night, which took up too much time and risked my health and shape.To avoid temptation, I removed the TV set from my room and took up other leisure activities such as reading and playing piano.Unit 9
1.如今对中国的中学毕业生而言,上大学已经不是什么太困难的事情了,因为现在大学的数量已经是二十年前的三倍。但是,要被一流大学录取,你还是要比同龄人有更强的竞争力才行。(times…as many…)
Nowadays in china, it’s no longer so hard for high school graduates to go to university, because there are three times as many universities as there were 20 years ago.But to be admitted by a first-class university, you still need to be more competitive than your peers.2.你花钱参加这个项目是很值的,因为你从中获取的职业技能可以改善你的就业前景,而且你所有的努力终将会得到回报。(acquire;prospects;pay off)
It is worthwhile to spend money on this project, for the career skills you acquire in the process will help improve your prospects in your search for a job and all your efforts will eventually pay off.3.虽然通过和这些志愿者并肩工作,我可以学会怎样与他人合作,但我得叫参加费。我不得不承认为此我正在花更多的时间去兼职挣钱,这让我总觉的时间不够用。(work side by side with/alongside …;acknowledge;save up for)
Though I can learn teamwork by working side by side with these volunteers, I need to pay for the participation.I have to acknowledge that I am now spending more time doing part-time jobs to save up for the project, which makes me feel a shortage of time.4.不同的运动在身高、年龄、力量、耐力等方面对参加者有不同的要求。因此有多少种运动就有多少种类型的运动员。想参加运动的人总能找到合适的项目。(in terms of;as many …as;no doubt)
Different sports have different requirements in terms of height, age, strength and
stamina/endurance.Therefore, there are as many types of athletes as there are sports.There can be no doubt that who wants to get some exercise can find the right sport.
第五篇:新标准大学英语综合教程4U1课文翻译
大学毕业找工作的第一要义:别躺在沙发上做梦
今年夏天,超过65万的大学生毕业离校,其中有许多人根本不知道怎么找工作。在当今金融危机的背景下,做父母的该如何激励他们?
七月,你看着英俊的21岁的儿子穿上学士袍,戴上四方帽,骄傲地握着优等学士学位证书,拍毕业照。这时,记忆中每年支付几千英镑,好让儿子吃好、并能偶尔参加聚会的记忆开始消退。但现在,你又不得不再考虑钱的问题。
等到暑假快要结束,全国各地的学生正在为新学期做准备的时候,你却发现大学毕业的儿子还歪躺在沙发上看电视。除此之外,他只是偶尔发发短信,浏览社交网站Facebook,或者去酒吧喝酒。
这位属于“千禧一代”的年青人一夜之间变成了“抱怨一代”的成员。他能找到工作吗?
这就是成千上万家庭所面临的状况:今年夏天,65万多大学生毕业,在当今金融危机的背景下,他们中的大多数人不知道自己下一步该做什么。父母只会唠叨,而儿女们则毫无缘由地变成了叛逆者。他们知道自己该找份工作,但却不知道如何去找。
来自米德尔塞克斯郡的杰克·古德温今年夏天从诺丁汉大学政治学系毕业,获得二级一等荣誉学土学位。他走进大学就业服务中心,但又径直走了出来,因为他看见很多人在那里排长队。跟他一起住的另外5个男孩子也都跟他一样,进去又出来了。找工作的压力不大,虽然他所认识的大多数女生都有更明确的计划。
他说:“我申请政治学研究工作,但被拒绝了。他们给的年薪是1万8千镑,交完房租后所剩无几,也就够买一罐豆子,可他们还要有研究经历或硕士学位的人。然后我又申请参加快速晋升人才培养计划,并通过了笔试。但在面试时,他们说我‘太冷漠’了,谈吐‘太像专家政治论者’。我觉得自己不可能那样,但我显然就是那样的。”
打那以后,他整个夏天都在“隐身”。他能够轻松地复述出电视剧《交通警察》中的若干片段。
他白天看电视的时间太长,已经到了影响健康的地步。跟朋友谈起自己漫无目标的日子时,他才发现他们的处境和自己一样。其中一位朋友在父母的逼迫下去超市上货,其余的则都是朝九晚五地“无所事事”,晚上则去酒吧喝酒打发时间。要么,干脆就在酒吧工作?这样还可以挣些酒钱。“我不想在酒吧工作。我上的是综合学校,我拼命读书才考上了一所好大学。到了大学,我又埋头苦读,才取得一个好学位。可现在我却跟那些没上过大学的做无聊的酒吧侍应的朋友处在同一个水平线上。我觉得自己好像兜了一圈,又回到了原来的起点。”
他的母亲杰奎琳·古德温替他辩护。她坚持认为她的儿子已经尽力了。因为她自己中学毕业后一直都在工作,所以她和她的丈夫发现,建议儿子如何继续找工作是件很棘手的事情。她说,“我一直都不得不工作。而现在的年青人很难做到这一点,因为如果你有了学
位,学位就会为你提供新的机会,至少你自己会这么想。”
虽然现在她对儿子的态度还比较温和,但是她心里很清楚,去南美度三星期的假之后,他的休假就该结束了。他可能还得付房租,并分担家庭开支。
她说,“在某个时候孩子们总要长大成人。我们已经帮他交了大学的学费,所以他也该给我们一点点回报了。南美度假就是一个分水岭,他回来以后如果找不到工作,那就圣诞节打零工好了。”
心理治疗师盖尔·林登费尔德是《情感康复策略》的作者。她说古德温夫妇的做法是很恰当的。
从大学到工作的转换对父母和孩子来说都很艰难,关键是父母要在支持理解孩子和不溺爱孩子之间找到一个平衡点。
“父母的主要任务就是支持孩子,如果他们教导孩子该如何做,那么就会引起矛盾,”她说。“如果有熟人,一定要找他们想办法。但很多父母心太软了。必须限制孩子的零花钱,要求他们交房租,或分担日常生活或养宠物的开销。父母要维持正常的生活,不要让孩子随便用你们的银行账户或者榨干你们的情感能量。”
为孩子支付职业咨询费、面试交通费及书费是好事,但不能催得太紧。林登费尔德建议:虽说父母不能太宽容,但是如果孩子找工作遇到了挫折,父母应该体谅他们,宽容他们几天甚至几周——这取决于他们受打击的程度。等他们缓过来之后,父母就该坚决要求孩子继续求职。
男孩更容易窝在家里。林登费尔德相信男人比母亲和姐妹更容易帮助儿子、侄子或朋友的儿子。
她说,由于男人和女人处理挫折的方式不同,所以男孩需要跟男人谈话才能度过难关。
林登费尔德强烈支持去酒吧打工:那是克服毕业冷漠症的一剂良方。这工作好不好要取决于你如何看待它。就是在酒吧打工的时候,林登费尔德找到了她的第一份当航拍助手的工作。她说在酒吧工作是拓展人际关系的绝好机会,肯定比赖在家里看电视更容易找到工作。
她说:“在超市上货也一样。如果干得好,你就会被人发现的。如果你聪明、活泼,礼貌待客,你很快就会升职。所以,把它看作是机会。那些最终成功的人土很多都有在超市上货的经历。”
你的儿女可能不会干好莱坞影星们干过的活,比如像乌比·戈德堡那样去停尸房给死人化妆,或者像布鲁斯·威利斯那样在核电站当警卫,但即便是布拉德·皮特也曾经不得不穿上宽大的小鸡模样的服装站在快餐连锁店E1 Pollo Loco的门口招揽生意。他们中没有一个人因为这些经历而变得更加穷困。
依我看
依我看,现实生活并没有人们想象的那么好。我们上了12年的中、小学,又上了3年的大学,这期间老师们一直在没完没了地谈论在备受呵护的学生生活之外的那个广阔天地里的各种机会,可我遇到的又是什么呢?
无论我怎么想保持心情愉快,可麻烦事总是接踵而来:有时是和人发生矛盾(尤其是跟男孩子,天哪!他们什么时候才能长大?),但通常是为钱发愁。这个地方什么东西都很贵!人人都想从我身上赚点钱:税务局要收个人所得税,银行经理要我偿清学生贷款,房东催我交房租、燃气费、水费、电费,手机账单也不断地寄来。所有这些还没算上吃饭的钱。更可气的是,不知从哪里冒出一个自作聪明的家伙给我打电话,问我要不要买养老金。照这样下去,我甚至都支撑不到年底,更别提活到60岁领养老金了。
我那时还不想出去工作。我的意思是,我并不是个逃避现实社会的人,但我知道自己未来某一天可能不得不逃避现实。许多人认为“生活不是野餐”,“没有免费的午餐”。但既然我拿到了优等生文凭,我想我应该继续攻读硕士学位。实际上,我已经看中了伦敦政治经济学院的课程。这是一所顶尖的学校,能给我的履历表增添一段光彩的经历。但当我跟妈妈谈起这件事时,她说她没法继续供我上学了。我大概能理解她的心情,但并不仅仅是因为我学的是经济学。15年来,为了能让我上学,她含辛茹苦。这些年来,父亲大部分时间都不在家。就算在家,他也没钱。他把钱都拿去赌狗、喝酒了。所以我听了妈妈的话,向命运低下了头。
依我看,不管人们说什么,幸运的是世上还有很多好心人。迈克就是其中的一个。大学毕业时,我想如果我回家,妈妈就会觉得她有责任照顾我。所以,我就收拾行李去伦敦找工作。我想找金融和投资方面的职位,因为你知道这样我就可以用上我的专业知识。可是那时候已经没有这样的工作了,但我又不愿意做复印文件、端茶倒水之类的乏味的办公室工作。
在伦敦,无论走到什么地方,你都能找到一个好酒吧。有一天,我意识到这个城市没有人会雇我,于是我走进位于利德贺街的索尔兹伯里酒吧去喝酒,顺便吃点东西。店主迈克正在店里,他一只手倒酒,一只手做三明治,同时还洗酒杯。他真的好像有三只手。他好像也认识所有的客人,叫得出常客的名字。他跟他们打招呼,帮他们调好酒,并问一句:“今天还喝这个,是吧?”我觉得他看起来蛮酷的,他在做着他最擅长的事情:为那些口渴的顾客服务,没人能比得上他。所以我就走上前去问他要不要雇人。
好吧,长话短说,某个周五的午餐时间我开始在那个酒吧打工。这份工作要求很高,但我喜欢。
顾客好像觉得我很有趣,这也让我感觉好一些。有位穿西服的中年常客总要半杯苦啤酒和一份火腿泡菜三明治,面包皮要削掉。他叫托尼。我一看见他进来,尽量不等他开口就准备好他的午餐。他也是一个好心人。
依我看,一个人没钱的时候花钱最容易。我开始琢磨怎么花第一个月的薪水了。我住的公寓房租很贵,我挣的钱刚够支付第一个月的大笔账单,但是我估计还能剩点钱好好犒劳一下自己。我想,何不买张CD或买盆花草装点一下房间?
发工资的那天正好是我的生日,除了迈克和托尼,我在伦敦就没有别的朋友了。如果你知道我那时还没有男朋友,你就会理解我为什么觉得对不起自己了。我给自己定了些鲜花,让卖花的人附上一张卡片,上面写道:“给你我所有的爱。无名氏”。我生日那天最精彩的瞬间将会是送花人送我花时大惑不解的眼神。
那周晚些时候,托尼像往常一样来了,在酒吧里坐下。“你怎么了?今天怎么不见你笑啦?”我跟他聊天„„嗯,差不多什么都跟他说了:钱、硕士学位、生日、命运。他很同情我。
托尼离开搁脚凳、走过去和另外几个人说话。别忘了:索尔兹伯里酒吧位于市中心,所以这里所有的顾客都从事银行、保险或证券工作。第二天,他拿着价值两万英镑的几张支票来到酒吧,对我说:“这是给你的创业贷款,你唯一的贷款担保就是我对你的信任,相信有一天你赚了钱会把钱还给我们。如果你还不了钱,那就太糟了,不过对你来说,也算是做过金融生意了。但是,我相信你还得了。”
我没说话,我怕我自己要哭了。世上怎么会有这么好的人?
那些花怎么处理?我叫花店改送到妈妈那里去了,我生日那天鲜花正好送到。她应该得到这些鲜花,不是吗?
依我看,回顾这些年的经历,我发现人一辈子只需要一两次的机缘就能成功。就算吃苦受累也不要紧,那还是值得的。
在索尔兹伯里酒吧干了一年之后,我去了伦敦政治经济学院深造。拿到硕士学位之后,我在一家投资银行找到了一份工作。我把那两万英镑投进了证券市场,在2008年金融崩盘之前卖掉了所有的股票。我把托尼和其他投资者的钱还了,付给他们10%的年息,并成立了自己的公司。公司的生意好得出乎意料,至今还红红火火。
托尼给我写了一封感谢信。他出了车祸,现在不能走路了。我还给他的钱正好可以用来改造房子。
房子改造后他就可以坐着轮椅在家里自由活动了。下面是他信里写的话:
“我从事银行业35年来最好的投资就是给你的这笔贷款,你连本带利地偿还了贷款,我对你的信任和你的诚实都获得了百倍的回报。依我看,在人身上投资能带来你所期望的最好的回报。”
依我看,他说得对。你说呢?
履历表面面观
没有它你哪里也去不了。我们说的不是最近流行的时尚配饰,或你的学生旅行卡,或卫星定位仪。
不,我们说的是不起眼的个人履历表——在任何地方申请工作都需要的那份最重要的文件。在英国,大学毕业生平均要寄出70份履历表才能找到第一份工作。
履历表(resume一词源自拉丁文curriculum vitae,是“人生历程”的意思)是一份简明扼要的清单,上面列着你的工作和/或教育经历,以及你认为应该让潜在雇主知道的其他个人信息。随着工作流动性的增加,以及越来越多的人寻求在国外工作的机会,履历表于是就成为跨文化交流的一个重要途径。但是请注意:每一个国家的履历表的格式以及自我介绍的方式都稍有不同。
例如在美国,“极力推销自己”是正常的行为。正面的自我评价是必不可少的,别不好意思说明为何你是最佳人选。在英国,与你所申请的工作无关的经历通常也会被列进去,这样可以让人更加“全面’’地了解你。但是英国人好像在这方面有时做得有些过了。最近的一份调查表明,有26%的英国人“美化”自己的履历,而世界其他国家的人平均只有14%的人会这样做。换句话说,英国人没有说实话。但是,在面试时,真相总会暴露出来的!
在欧洲大陆,履历表也是求职必备的材料,但写履历表的方法却不尽相同。例如,在西班牙和意大利,履历表上通常要贴照片。在法国,人们尽量把履历表的篇幅限制在一页之内,而德国人的履历表则要长得多。
为了协调各种做法,欧盟设计了一份名为Europass的履历通用表格供欧洲人下载和使用。可是到目前为止,大家对它似乎还没有太多的热情。
也许撰写履历表最有用的指导原则是牢记KISS哲学:即Keep It Simple,Stupid(简单才是最好的),并且要说真话。但是,如果你不擅长推销自己,那么你可以通过推销别人,即给他们撰写履历表来养活自己。在英国和美国,代人撰写履历表的小公司和自由撰稿人越来越多。如果按每份履历表挣50镑计算,你可以快速发财。