TED演讲:来自阿拉伯女商人的成功经验(3)

 In my previous job, well before my current firm, 在进入我现在这间公司之前，在我的工作中，

I was working with a man, we will call John.  我与一个男人共事，我们称他约翰好了。

I had teamed up with John and was working hard, 我跟约翰组成一组，很努力地工作，

hoping he would notice how great I was 希望他能注意到我很能干。

and that he would come to support my case to make partner at the firm. 而他能够帮助我的业务并成为我的公司伙伴。

I was, in addition to delivering on my consulting projects, 此外，我正集中完成我的咨询项目，

writing passionately¹ on the topic of women economic empowerment. 情绪激昂地着手写着关于女性经济自主的主题。

One day, I got to present my research to a roomful of MBA students. 有一天，我给满屋子的工商管理学的硕士生呈现我的研究成果。

John was part of the audience listening for the first time to the details of my study. 约翰是第一次聆听我的研究细节其中的一名听众。 

As I proceeded with my presentation, I could see John in the corner of my eye. 当我在进行陈述时，我眼角可以看到约翰。

He had turned a dark shade of pink and had slid under his chair in apparent shame. 他的脸变成暗粉红色，因为明显的羞愧而滑下他的椅子。

I finished my presentation to an applauding audience 我在充满掌声的观众中完成了演讲，

and we rushed out and jumped into the car. There he exploded. 而我们快速离开并跳上车子。在那里他大发雷霆。

"What you did up there was unacceptable! You are a consultant², not an activist³!" “你做的事情是不可接受的！你是个顾问，不是个激进主义分子！”

I said, "John, I don't understand. 我说“约翰，我不明白。

I presented a couple of gender⁴ parity⁵ indices, and some conclusions about the Arab world. 我展示了数个性别待遇平等指数，和一些关于阿拉伯世界的结论。

Yes, we do happen to be today at the bottom of the index, 是的，我们现在碰巧地是在这指数的底部，

but what is it that I said or presented that was not factual?" 但是有什么我说的是不符合事实的地方吗？” 

To which he replied, "The whole premise⁶ of your study is wrong. 他回答，“你研究的所有前提都是错的。 

What you are doing is dangerous and will break the social fabric⁷ of our society." 你正在做的事情很危险而且将会破坏我们的社会结构。”

He paused, then added, "When women have children, their place is in the home." 他停了下来，又补充道，“当女人有小孩，她们归属就是在家里面。”

1 passionately   

ad.热烈地，激烈地

参考例句：

• She could hate as passionately as she could love. 她能恨得咬牙切齿，也能爱得一往情深。
• He was passionately addicted to pop music. 他酷爱流行音乐。

2 consultant   

n.顾问；会诊医师，专科医生

参考例句：

• He is a consultant on law affairs to the mayor.他是市长的一个法律顾问。
• Originally,Gar had agreed to come up as a consultant.原来，加尔只答应来充当我们的顾问。

3 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

4 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

5 parity   

n.平价，等价，比价，对等

参考例句：

• The two currencies have now reached parity.这两种货币现已达到同等价值。
• Women have yet to achieve wage or occupational parity in many fields.女性在很多领域还没能争取到薪金、职位方面的平等。

6 premise   

n.前提；v.提论，预述

参考例句：

• Let me premise my argument with a bit of history.让我引述一些史实作为我立论的前提。
• We can deduce a conclusion from the premise.我们可以从这个前提推出结论。

7 fabric   

n.织物，织品，布；构造，结构，组织

参考例句：

• The fabric will spot easily.这种织品很容易玷污。
• I don't like the pattern on the fabric.我不喜欢那块布料上的图案。