英语小达人 136 An Ear for Business

 　　An Ear for Business

　　 经商之“耳”

　　was in a terrible accident at work. He fell through a floor tile and ripped off both of his ears.

　　汤姆工作时发生严重意外。他因为摔倒撞到地板上的瓷砖，两只耳朵被扯掉了。

　　Since he was permanently¹ disfigured, he settled with the company for a rather large sum of money.

　　由于是永久性毁容，他向公司要求了一大笔赔偿金。

　　One day, decided² to invest his money in a small business.

　　有一天，汤姆决定用他的钱投资小生意。

　　After weeks of negotiations³, he bought the company outright⁴. But, he realized that he knew nothing about running such a business and quickly set out to hire someone who could do that for him.

　　经过几个星期的协商，他把公司全部买下来；不过他知道自己在经营公司方面一无所知，便立即着手雇请能够帮他的人。

　　He set up three interviews. The first guy was great. At the end of the interview, asked him, "Do you noticed anything different about me?" And the gentleman answered, "Why yes, I couldn't help but notice you have no ears."

　　他安排了三场面试。第一个家伙还不错，面试结束时，汤姆问他：“你有注意到我哪里不一样吗？”这位先生回答：“当然有啰，我很难不去注意到你没有耳朵。”

　　Tom got very angry and threw him out.

　　汤姆大发雷霆，把他给赶走了。

　　The second interview was with a woman, and she was even better than the first guy. He asked her the same question, “Do you notice anything different about me?” And she replied, “Well, you have no ears.”

　　第二次面试来的是一位女子，比第一个家伙还要优秀。他也问她同样的问题：“你注意到我哪里不一样吗？”她回答：“这个嘛，你没有耳朵啊。”

　　Tom again was upset and tossed her out.

　　他又气得把她轰出去了。

　　The third and last interview was the best of all three. He seemed to be a better businessman than the first two put together.

　　第三次，也是最后一次面试，应征者算是最优秀的。他似乎是个比前两个人加起来都还要棒的生意人。

　　Tom was anxious,but went ahead and asked the young guy the same question:"Do you notice anything different about me?"

　　汤姆有点担心，但还是直接问这个年轻人同样的问题：“你有注意到我哪里不一样吗？”

　　And to his surprise, the young guy answered, “Yes. You wear contact lenses.”

　　令他吃惊的是，这个年轻人竟回答：“有，你戴了隐形眼镜。”

　　Tom was shocked, and remarked, “What an incredibly observant young guy. How in the world did you know that?”

　　汤姆大为震惊，问道：“你这个年轻人观察力之敏锐，实在让人难以置信。你到底是怎么知道的？”

　　The young guy replied,“Well, it's pretty damn hard to wear glasses with no ears!”

　　年轻人回答：“这个嘛，没有耳朵又要戴眼镜实在是难如登天啊！”

1 permanently   

adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地

参考例句：

• The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

4 outright   

adv.坦率地；彻底地；立即；adj.无疑的；彻底的

参考例句：

• If you have a complaint you should tell me outright.如果你有不满意的事，你应该直率地对我说。
• You should persuade her to marry you outright.你应该彻底劝服她嫁给你。