商务礼节美语第63期:成人教育(2)

　　Lisa请Shirley吃饭，说自己想回学校去读个硕士或是博士学位，征求Shirley的意见。Shirley说，
Shirley:I got my Master's in Business Management. It's helped my career, but it took several years of hard studying. If I didn't have a supportive family and a husband with a good job, I don't think I could have done it.
L:So you're counseling² me against this idea?
S:Not necessarily, but I do recommend taking a slow approach.
Can you take some night classes or find some way to keep working while you go back to school?
L:Might be difficult.
Shirley念的商业管理硕士学位，她觉得，自己之所以能读下来，靠的是家人的支持，和老公的高收入。Lisa问Shirley是不是劝她放弃这种想法，so you're counseling me against it? to counsel¹ someone against something意思是劝说某人不要做某事。Shirley说，not necessarily那也不一定。她建议Lisa慢慢来，take a slow approach, 看能不能边工作边选课。Lisa觉得不太实际。
S:Maybe you could get an MBA or something more marketable.
L:That's worth considering.
S:I got my BA from Brown University. My major was Environmental Studies but that hasn't been as useful as the business courses I took.
L:Or maybe I should just take some courses that I'm interested in, but skip the Master's.
S:That's another idea, but if you really have a dream, don't let anything stop you from going for it! Going back to school is hard, but it's not impossible.
Shirley劝Lisa考虑其他更容易找高薪工作的专业。不过，她同时也鼓励Lisa说，if you really have a dream, don't let anything stop you from going for it! 如果这真是你的梦想的话，那就不要让任何事情阻挡你。
L:You're right! I need to decide if this is truly what I want.
S:And take your time. You're still young. Maybe there's even a correspondence³ course you can take during your free time.
L:Yeah! Then I could slowly build up credits and maybe later transfer into a university program.
S:There you go! That's some clear thinking.
L:I guess I just love learning! I remember the day my SAT test scores came back....I was so excited!
S:(chuckle) I don't remember loving school quite so much....most of the time I was either bored or totally stressed out. But like I said earlier, if you have a dream, don't let anything hold you back!
Shirley说，Lisa甚至可以抽空先选几门correspondence course函授课程，这样可以慢慢积攒一些学分credits, 以后如果真想读学位，也可以用得上。她再次强调说，If you have a dream, don't let anything hold you back. 意思是有梦想，就不要让任何事情拉你的后腿。

1 counsel   

n.忠告，劝告，律师，法律顾问；vt.劝告

参考例句：

• The judge asked counsel for the defence to explain.法官要求被告的辩护律师做出解释。
• He refused to listen to the old man's counsel.他拒不听从老人的忠告。

2 counseling   

n.咨询服务

参考例句：

• A multimillionaire media magnate has shocked his employees with his candor by telling them all that he's putting his business affairs on hold to enter an alcoholism-counseling program. 一位身份数百万的媒体大亨，坦诚地告诉他全体员工他将暂时搁置他的事业以便参加戒酒班，令员工大为惊愕。
• She will need medical help and counseling to overcome the tragedy. 她将需要医疗帮助和心理咨询来平复这场悲剧。

3 correspondence   

n.信件，通信（联系）符合，一致，相似

参考例句：

• He showed me all the correspondence relating to the matter.他把与这件事有关的全部信件都给我看了。
• What she has just said isn't in correspondence with the views of the majority.她刚才所说的同大多数人所持的观点不一致。