Staying single
By Cathy

China is a traditional country, whose people have a fierce sense of family. Although with the development of society, some youth emphasize individualism but staying single is still an unusual phenomenon in Chinese society.

One day, we had a free talk with our American teacher that seems to be in his forties. He had been covering various questions. "Talk about your wife and children, okay?" a boy requested. "I have no wife and child. I have never married." He said lightly. Everyone was shocked to hear that and became lost in silence. One of my classmates broke the ice, "Why not marry, sir?" "En...well...this is a really personal question, but I will answer. I have lots of things to do, you know, I am a good student of Chinese learning. I want to travel to different countries and get more experience. I can go anywhere without worrying about family." He answered with a smile. Another one asked, "Do you feel lonely?" "Well, sometimes I feel lonely when I am in my big apartment. But I have lots of friends and I feel happy to be together with them. Life is life. It is up to you." I saw a little embarrassment in his eyes. After class, the teacher felt puzzled, and asked me, "Why were the Chinese students so surprised about that? Being single and middle-aged is common in my country." "China is really different from the U.S. Staying single is still not accepted by society." I said. The American laughed, "It is a culture clash, right?"

Neither is being single a weird phenomenon nor a modern trend. We should keep a natural attitude towards being single. No matter what kind of life one lives, happiness is the most valuable in life and everyone has the right to choose their own lifestyle.

 

 

Make your meeting more productive
By the Chef

Dear Chef,
I am a manager and I hate those meetings that I have to hold, as most of the people in my meetings are half asleep and there is seldom creative feedback from the participants. They simply don't seem to care about whatever I have to say. Do you have any suggestions how I can make my meetings more productive?
An HR Manager

Dear HR Manager,

I used to be one of those who slept in meetings and now I have to hold meetings myself occasionally. With the thorough understanding of the pain of attending a meaningless meeting, I have been working very hard to figure out ways to make my meetings different. Anyway, the following is something that I do in my meetings to make sure participants don't fall asleep so easily.

First of all, I never call on a meeting if it is not absolutely necessary, as I believe that meetings were created for people to gather and communicate in order to find a solution to certain problems, and not a kind of status symbol, or a badge of honor. So if there is no problem, there is no meeting. Then before a meeting that has to be held, circulated agenda should be sent out to state clearly what is going to be discussed: what the problem is and what we can possibly do to solve the problem. Notifications like this will help people better prepare for the meeting and arrange their schedules. The circulated agenda memo should include only those individuals who are involved in decision-making and implementation of the projects to be discussed. Besides that here are some other tips that you may find useful to make a meeting more productive with less people sleeping in it.

-Make sure the meeting room is conducive to effectiveness. That means it should be clean and well-lit.
-Make sure everyone involved in the meeting has sufficient background material in advance so they'll have time to read and digest it.
-Make sure all participants have been introduced to one another.
-Summarize the key points at meeting's end and restate the consensus.
-Try to speak standing up rather comfortably sitting there.
-Interrupt anyone who seems not clear about what he is talking about.
-Make sure each participant leaves the meeting with a clear picture of the next steps.

Anyway, try to think about those meetings that you used to hate and why. Then work hard not to make it happen again.

Vocabulary
participant 与会者
a badge of honor 荣誉勋章
circulated 传阅的
implementation 执行
conducive 有益于
sufficient 足够的
consensus 一致的意见

 

 

Candy time
By Suky

《六人行》中,六个好朋友在一起,乌龙连篇,搞笑连连.在第七季第九集里,为搞好邻里关系,Monica做糖果送给左邻右舍,大受欢迎,Monica家的门槛都被踏破了.

1. My roommate says that they taste like little drops of heaven.
我室友说,那些糖尝起来像是天堂掉下的.

little drops of heaven来自天堂.这里我们学到了什么?"掉下来"这个动词,已经完完全全被drops这个名词给表现了出来.老外比较喜欢用名词表现动作.

2. See, this is why I told you never get involved with your assistant And there is no such thing as keeping secrets when it comes to affairs.
你看,这就是为什么我告诉你,永远不要和你助手发生关系!当发展到恋爱时没有什么事是可保密的.

get involved in:涉及(事情),get involved with:给...缠住,这里特指和别人擦出爱情的火花.Affair一般指事务,比如foreign affairs外交事务.还指风流韵事,比如Your affair is not a secret to me.(你那点风月之事已经不是秘密啦.)

3. I would ring the bell to distract him and then I would knock the gun out of his hand as a Chinese throwing star.
我会按铃铛使他分神,再像中国功夫明星那样打掉他的枪.

要是谁和Suky一样喜欢边看电视边打电话,乱说一气,浪费电话费,你就别忘了提醒他:Don't be distracted!
Chinese throwing star中国功夫明星.Throwing不是投掷运动吗?可能在老外的眼中,中国功夫就是把人扔来扔去吧(包括自己飞来飞去).

4. I told them your candy is absolutely indescribable
我告诉他们你的糖果实在是无法形容!

absolutely indescribable 好得难以形容,糟得难以形容,总之都是难以形容.

5. Her hair is not brushed, she's got dark circles under her eyes, chocolate on her face and she is still stunning
头发没梳,眼睛像"熊猫",脸上粘着巧克力,可她依旧如此迷人!

糖果大受欢迎,Monica日夜忙于制作,于是有了dark circles under her eyes(熊猫眼).担心Monica听多了不高兴,Chandler忙补上一句安慰,she is still stunning. Stun本意指晕倒,stunning好得让人晕倒.

6. Don't be so corny Ross, it's not an after-school special.
别那么老土,罗斯,这又不是课后开小灶.

Corny土人;after-school special开小灶.记得以前Suky经常被老师抓去开小灶,当时很郁闷.上了大学就没人给我开小灶了,反而有点不习惯.

 

 

Crossword Puzzle



Across
4. A place or collection containing records, documents.
6. Someone who extremely adores himself or herself.
8. The name of a beautiful city.

Down
1. A wide street or thoroughfare.
2. To reach a destination.
3. Jack Daniels.
5. To take into the body by the mouth for digestion or absorption.
7. Sweet dried grape.
9. An overland expedition, especially one for hunting or exploring in eastern Africa.

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