商务礼节美语第44期:社交网络(2)

　　Jimmy因为天性腼腆，所以每逢社交活动，一律能推就推。同事Brad和Pam努力说服Jimmy, 因为social networking是事业发展一个不可缺少的环节。Pam说，
P: You know, I'm not such a big fan of company events myself. I don't like all the organization involved. I don't like being told when and where to do things. In fact, I don't even like big crowds of people.
B: But, in today's society these are the ways we connect. Social networking has boosted¹ my career in so many ways.
J: Such as?
B: Well, take last week for example. I was at a club when I saw this guy I hadn't seen in a long time. He starts talking about his friend who is looking for a computer programmer.
Pam说，其实她也不是特别喜欢公司举办的各种活动。I'm not such a big fan of company events myself. 这里说的 a big fan of something，意思就是对某件事情非常热衷。
比如说，I'm a big fan of sushi. 我特别爱吃寿司。I'm a big fan of hip² hop³. 我特别爱听嘻哈歌曲。I'm not a big fan of horror⁴ movies. 我不喜欢看恐怖电影。
Brad补充说，参加社交活动为他提供了不少机会，上星期他去夜总会，遇到一个很久不见的熟人。这个人的朋友正好在找电脑编程师。
J: And you got the job?
B: Yeah! The next day his friend called me and yesterday we signed a contract⁵. I'm going to be setting⁶ up their company website, and the money is pretty good.
P: So I guess what Brad's saying is that if you don't get out there and be seen, people might forget about you.
J: Yeah, I can sort of understand your point. But how do I overcome my shyness? I'm just not very good with people.
结果，Brad还真拿到了这份工作，帮一家公司set up their company website，设计网站，而且the money is pretty good，报酬也很好。看来，有熟人介绍就是不一样。Jimmy听后表示，I can sort of understand your point，我大约明白你的意思了。这里所说的point是指问题核心。
我们经常听人，the point of the matter is... 问题关键是……言归正传，就算真愿意出去社交，Jimmy要如何克服性格腼腆的障碍呢？按他的话说，I'm just not very good with people，我就是不擅于跟人打交道。
P: I was super shy for years! Then one day I finally realized that the world isn't looking at me.
J: What do you mean?
B: In other words, sometimes we feel shy because we think people are looking at us and judging us. But in reality, that's almost never the case.
Pam说，自己以前也特别腼腆，I was super shy for years! 这里所说的super是特别的意思，用来加重语气。我们可以说，Her boyfriend is super sweet，她男朋友特别温柔体贴，或是，It's super hot in here，这里简直热死了，还可以说，I have been super busy this week，我这个星期忙得两脚朝天。
Brad也说，很多人天性腼腆，是因为觉得大家都在注意自己，但事实上that's almost never the case，根本不是这样。Pam跟Brad能说服Jimmy吗？我们下次继续听。

1 boosted   

v.促进( boost的过去式和过去分词 )；增加；吹捧；向上推起

参考例句：

• The shop's new look has boosted its takings considerably. 焕然一新的店铺大大提高了销售额。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The boy had to be boosted up onto the large horse. 那男孩必须让人托着才能骑上那高头大马。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 hip   

n.臀部，髋；屋脊

参考例句：

• The thigh bone is connected to the hip bone.股骨连着髋骨。
• The new coats blouse gracefully above the hip line.新外套在臀围线上优美地打着褶皱。

3 hop   

n.单脚跳，跳跃；vi.单脚跳，跳跃；着手做某事；vt.跳跃，跃过

参考例句：

• The children had a competition to see who could hop the fastest.孩子们举行比赛，看谁单足跳跃最快。
• How long can you hop on your right foot?你用右脚能跳多远？

4 horror   

n.惊骇，恐怖，惨事，极端厌恶

参考例句：

• The public has been awakened to the full horror of the situation.公众完全意识到了这一状况的可怕程度。
• The thought of working nights fills me with abject horror.一想到要夜间工作我就觉得惨兮兮的。

5 contract   

n.合同，契约，婚约；v.使缩短，感染，订约

参考例句：

• The terms of the contract are acceptable to us.我们认为这个合同的条件可以接受。
• I'm under contract to teach here for one year.我按照聘约要在这里教一年书。

6 setting   

n.背景

参考例句：

• The play has its setting in Vienna.该剧以维也纳为背景。
• Where and when a story takes place is called the setting.故事发生的地点和时间称为故事背景。