礼节美语 Business Etiquette 266 losing a job can be positive 2

 　　Mickey刚失业，跟朋友Suzanne 一起吃饭，Suzanne 劝他说，这未必不是件好事。她说，

　　S: Back at my old job there were some days where I barely¹ used my brain at all! I just did the same thing over and over again.

　　M: So what happened after you got fired? Did a new opportunity come your way?

　　S: Not exactly. It took me about a year to figure out that opportunities weren't going to come my way.... I learnt that you have to create your own opportunities.

　　M: So that's when you started your company.

　　S: Yeah! I always had an interest in gardening², so I thought to myself: There must be a lot of people who also have this interest and would like to have a garden but don't have the time to set one up.

　　Suzanne说，原来工作的时候，总是同样的工作来回做，did the same thing over and over again. 完全不用动大脑，失业后，她用一年的时间才发现，机会不会自己找上门来，opportunities weren't going to come my way, 还不如自己去创造机会。于是她决定自己开公司，帮助那些喜欢园艺但是没有时间整理花园的人整理花园。

　　M: So now you go around making custom-designed gardens for homes and offices, right?

　　S: Yes! I never would've thought in a million years that my interest in gardening would turn into a career! If I hadn't gotten fired, I would've never found my calling!

　　M: That's cool....and it does offer me some hope. I guess I need to do some thinking about what I really want to do.

　　S: I'm not saying it's going to be easy.... I spent almost one year doing odd³ jobs and trying to figure out what I wanted to do. Not having a stable⁴ income can be difficult.

　　因此，Suzanne 开了一家公司，专门为公司和家庭 custom-design 量身定做花园。她说，要不是被解雇，她死也不会想到自己的爱好竟然会成为职业，in a million years 是一种夸张的说法，就是无论如何也不会的意思。正是被解雇，才让她最终找到了自己的 calling, calling is spelled c-a-l-l-i-n-g, calling,  一个人最适合的职业。Suzanne 说，不过，这个过程也很艰难，她足足打了一年零工才走出低谷，odd jobs 是零工的意思。Mickey 听后深受启发。

　　M: Yeah....right now I have some savings⁵ so I'll be good for about six months...but if I can't find something after that it's going to start getting tough.

　　S: Do you have a "dream" or something you've always wanted to do?

　　M: Well, I have always had the idea of opening a bicycle store. I'm talking about selling rare⁶, vintage or special custom-made bicycles.

　　Mickey说，自己存款有限，撑半年还行，再久就扛不住了。Suzanne 问他有没有什么梦想。Mickey 说，他一直想开一家自行车店，专卖那些不多见，古香古色，或是订做的自行车。他在这里用的 vintage is spelled v-i-n t-a-g-e, vintage 意思是老式的，古典的。

　　S: Interesting! Cycling is quite a trend⁷ these days and if you can find bicycles that no one else has....it just might work!

　　M: I've always been interested in bicycles and I know a lot about them. I never thought I would have a chance to open a bike store.

　　S: Give it some thought! This could be your calling in life!!

　　M: I'll think about it! Thanks, Suzanne! Now let's eat!

　　Suzanne 说， Mickey 想开自行车店的梦想很有意思，因为现在很流行骑车，it's quite a trend.  Suzanne 觉得 Mickey 可以认真地琢磨琢磨， give it some thought 好好想想，没准真能行。Mickey 听了很受鼓舞，说从来没想到，自己这辈子真能有机会开一家自行车店，实现梦想。

1 barely   

adv.仅仅，几乎没有，几乎不

参考例句：

• The male bird is barely distinguishable from the female.雄鸟和雌鸟几乎无法辨别。
• He took barely enough money to keep the children in bread.他赚很少的钱仅够孩子们勉强糊口。

2 gardening   

n.造园，造园术，园艺

参考例句：

• Dad is always in a good humour for gardening.爸爸干园艺活时，心情总是很好。
• She's outdoors gardening every afternoon.她每天下午都在户外搞园艺。

3 odd   

adj.奇特的；临时的；奇数的；n.[pl.]机会

参考例句：

• She looks a bit odd.I wonder what has happened to her.她的神色有些异样，不知出了什么事。
• He's an odd character and no mistake!他的确是个怪人！

4 stable   

adj.稳定的；稳固的

参考例句：

• I'm glad she has become such a stable character.我很高兴她变得如此沉稳。
• This chair isn't very stable.这把椅子不大稳固。

5 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

6 rare   

adj.稀罕的，罕有的，珍贵的，稀薄的，半熟的，非常的；adv.非常

参考例句：

• It is rare to see a man over 160 years old.很少见到一个人能活到160岁。
• The zoo has a lot of rare animals in it.这个动物园有许多珍奇的动物。

7 trend   

n.趋势，倾向，方位；vi.倾向，转向

参考例句：

• Today's trend is toward less formal clothing.眼下时尚趋向于穿着随便。
• The trend of prices is still upwards.物价的趋向是仍在上涨。