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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
A GatheringChicago
One sunny Sunday in Chicago, several former classmates gathered for lunch, having attended their high school reunion the night before. They wanted to hear more about what was happening in each other’s lives. After a good deal of kidding, and a good meal, they settled1 into an interesting conversation.
Angela, who had been one of the most popular people in the class, said, “Life sure turned out differently than I thought it would when we were in school. A lot has changed.”
“It certainly has, “ Nathan echoed2. They knew he had gone into his family’s business, which had operated pretty much the same and had been a part of the local community for as long as they could remember. So, they were surprised when he seemed concerned. He asked, “But, have you noticed how we don’t want to change when things change?”
Carlos said, “I guess we resist3 changing because we’re afraid of change.”
“Carlos, you were Captain of the football team,” Jessica said. “I never thought I’d hear you say anything about being afraid!”
They all laughed as they realized that although they had gone off in different directions- from working at home to managing companies-they were experiencing similar feelings.
Everyone was trying to cope4 with the unexpected5 changes that were happening to them in recent years. And most admitted that they did not know a good way to handle them.
Then Michael said, “I used to be afraid of change. When a big change came along in our business, we didn’t know what to do. So we didn’t do anything differently and we almost lost it.
“That is,” he continued, “until I heard a funny little story that changed everything.”
“How so?” Nathan asked.
“Well, the story altered6 the way I looked at change, and after that, things quickly improved for me – at work and in my life.
“Then-I passed the story on to some people in our company and they passed it on to others, and soon our business did much better, because we all adapted to change better. And like me, many people said it helped them in their personal lives.”
“What’s the story?” Angela asked.
“It’s called, ‘Who Moved My Cheese?”
The group laughed. “I think I like it already,”
Carlos said. “Would you tell us the story?”
“Sure,” Michael replied. “I’d be happy to- It doesn’t take long.” And so he began.
芝加哥的同学聚会
芝加哥一个阳光明明媚的星期天，许多过去在学校曾是好朋友的同班同学聚在一起搞午餐会。前一天晚上，他们刚参加完全体高中同学的聚会。在一阵打闹嬉笑和丰盛和午餐后，他们坐下来开始了饶有兴致的交谈，希望彼此多了解一些分别后的生活经历。
安杰拉曾是班上最受欢迎的人之一，她第一个发表感慨：“生活真的是跟我们做学生时想像的完全不一样，变化太多了。”
“的确如此！”内森附和道。内森正如大家所预料的那样，毕业后就进入了他的家族企业。这家企业的经营模式经年未变，在当地人的记忆中，那可是一家历史悠久的老字号了。因此，当内森若有所思地附和着安杰拉，并发出如此感叹时，大家都感到有些吃惊。
内森好像并未注意到大家的诧异，表情忧郁地接着说：“你们是否注意到，当周围的事情已经发生变化时，我们却不想对自己有所改变。”
卡洛斯接着说道：“我们拒绝改变，是因为我们害怕改变。”
杰西卡接过他的话：“噢，卡洛斯，你可是学校的足球队长，我们心目中的英雄，我从没想过还有什么东西可以让你害怕的。”
大家都笑了起来。他们都意识到，尽管大家毕业后都在各自不同的方面发展——从在家里工作到在外经营管理公司——但好像都有着类似的感觉——害怕改变。
这些年来，每个人都试图应对发生在生活中的各种意想不到的变化。但大家都承认，他们找不到一种很好的应对办法。
这时，迈克尔发话了：“我过去也一直害怕改变，直到有一天，我们的生意出现了一个重大的变故，但我们公司所有的人都不知道该怎样去应付，由于我们没能及时做出调整，使我们几乎丢掉了全部的生意。”
“后来，”迈克尔继续讲道：“我听到了一个故事，这个故事使一切都改变了。”
“此话怎讲？”内森问道。
“喔，因为这个故事改变了我害怕改变的个性以及我对变化的看法——从害怕失去某些东西到期待获得某些东西——它教会我如何去做。从那以后，我的一切都迅速地改善了——无论工作还是生活。”
“是什么故事这么神奇？”好几个人异口同声地问道。
“一开始，我被这个故事显而易见的简单给苦恼了，它就像我们小时候听腻了的那些寓言故事一样。”
“再后来，我把这个故事告诉我们公司里的其他人，其他人又讲给其他人听。很快，公司里的业务有了明显的改进，因为我们大家都能及时地做出很好的调整以随时应对变化。与我的感受一样，许多人都说，这个故事使他们的个人生活大受裨益。”
“当然，也有人说他们从中没有得到什么，他们或者是知道这样的教训而且已经领教多次了。 或者，更普遍的是，他们觉得自己已经懂得够多，不需要再学习什么了。他们甚至假装看不到如此多的人正在从中受益。”
“我的一位有些呆板的高级主管就说，读这个故事只是浪费时间。然而大家都取笑他，把他比做故事中的一个角色——从不学习新的东西而且从不愿意改变。”
安杰拉有些迫不及待：“别卖关子了，这究竟是一个什么样的故事？”
“故事的名字叫作‘谁动了我的奶酪’。”
大家都哄笑起来。卡洛斯说：“我想仅凭这个名字，我就已经喜欢上这个故事了。你能讲给我们听听吗？或许我们也会从中有所收获。”
“当然，”迈克尔答道：“我非常愿意把这个故事讲给你们听。它并不长。”于是他开始给大家讲述这个故事。
收听单词发音 |
1
settled
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| a.固定的；稳定的 | |
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2
echoed
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| 重复，随声附和( echo的过去式和过去分词 )； 类似； 发射（声音等）； 发出回声 | |
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resist
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| vt.抵抗，反抗，抗，忍得住 | |
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cope
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| v.(with)竞争，对抗；对付，妥善处理 | |
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unexpected
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| adj.想不到的，意外的 | |
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altered
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| adj.[医]改变的v.改变，更改( alter的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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