Human life is priceless
By Jessie Wang
Picture by Zhu Lijun

倘若遭遇抢劫, 作为当事人的你会选择挺身而出治服歹徒还是保全性命为先, 顾全他人人身安全为重呢? 紧急关头下做出的选择可以直接影射出一个人的价值观念. 对于这一点, 中西方文化有不同的见解.

David is my friend who immigrated(移民) to Australia some years ago. When he paid me a visit last month he was still very impressed, talking about his first working experience in the world-famous 7-11 convenience store(便利店).

Before starting his work, David received some training courses during which the teacher showed them a classic case to learn how to deal with robberies. Here is the story:

An armed robber ran into a 7-11 store demanding money in the early morning. The clerk dropped the cash drawer on the floor and made him work for it. After the robber picked up all the money, the clerk asked: "Do you want a bag for that?" the robber nodded, quickly put the money into a plastic bag and ran away. After making sure that the robber was far away from the store, the clerk called the police.

This clerk was highly appreciated by the storeowner and the policeman afterwards because he stayed calm and especially since he didn’t "expose the customers’ lives to danger".

David was astonished by the story. The value about human life that he got from the lesson clashed directly and strongly with that which he had in his mind.

As all other Chinese students, David had been educated from childhood by many heroic stories about how people protected the nation’s assets at the risk of their lives. Even today we can often see and hear these sorts of reports, from which we can easily get a leading opinion, which is much different from the west.

Fortunately, safety education has been changed a lot in practice nowadays in China. Before starting this article, I inquired with some managers in banks and stores. They told me that they no longer encouraged heroic actions and instead they have developed safer systems of work and have provided more instructions to prevent incidents from happening in the first place. They thoroughly(完全) understand that property or money taken during robberies can be replaced while people can’t be. But they all think it’s incredible to train workers in a public and open way as 7-11 does by giving safety tips such as "Obey the robber’s orders","Don’t try to stop the robber","Don’t chase or follow the robber" and so on.

This phenomenon(现象) is really significant and gives me a lot to think about.

 

 

Crossword Puzzle
本栏目内容由 www.1cm.com.cn 提供



Across
1.A mild animal.
3. below waist
5. pyramids .
7. drinks, snacks, and sometimes live performance.
8. to inquiry
9. very bad.
10. "window of the heart".

Down
1. Being without a shape.
2. With nothing in,
4. name of very famous cat.
6. a number,
7. almost.

欲知上期答案, 请登录www.common-talk.com.

 

 

Hot Word
Collected by Jianjiang

● tsunami
An earthquake of epic power struck deep beneath the Indian Ocean at 6:58 a.m.; the tsunami came as much as 2 and 1/2 hours later, without warning, on a morning of crystal blue skies.
明净的蓝天下, 闲适的游客享受日光浴, 毫无预兆中灾难降临. 苏门答腊岛附近海域发生了近40年来世界上最强烈的地震与海啸.
tsunami, 海啸. 这个单词源自日文. Tsu在日语中是"岛屿, 港口", nami是"海浪, 浪花".

● headhunter
"Returned scholars are more than welcome due to their sound foreign language competence and familiarity with international practices," a headhunter said.
"2004海外学人回国创业周"吸引了众多大型国有企业参加. 一位招聘人员说, 海外派大受欢迎, 主要归功于他们的外语能力和对国际业务的熟悉.
headhunter, 征聘人才者. 我们通常都是直译过来叫"猎头".

● clearing
The memorial, honoring World Trade Center victims will include a forest of oak trees with a clearing for Sept. 11 gatherings and a Memorial Hall.
世贸双塔遗址纪念地的设计草案包括一片橡树林和一个纪念馆, 边上还有两汪清池代表不复存在的双塔. 橡树林中辟出的空地, 将作为纪念911事件的公共集会区.
clearing, 空旷地. clear可以做形容词表示"空旷"的意思.

● half-blood
Harry Potter readers received an extra special holiday gift: J.K. Rowling announced that she has completed the sixth Potter novel, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince."
这个新年, 哈利·波特迷们收到了一份大礼. J·K·罗琳宣布, 她已经完成了第六部"魔法书"--《哈里·波特和同父异母的王子》.
half-blood, 双亲中有一方是不同血缘的. 同父异母或者同母异父的兄弟, 就是half-brother.



● eyelid
China's Miss Artificial Beauty winner Feng Qian had doctors to thank for four procedures including an added fold to her eyelids.
中国首届人造美女大赛在一片众说纷纭中收场. 冠军冯倩在颁奖时向整容医生群致谢. 她的整容历程包括做双眼皮, 抽脂, 丰臀和面部整形.
eyelid,眼皮, 眼睑. not stir an eyelid, 眼皮眨也不眨.

● buff
There'll be plenty of pressure on the wallets of China's movie buffs this year with six foreign blockbusters due for release.
中国影迷们有福了, 2005年引进的6部大片精彩不断. 《网住爱情》, 《超人家族》, 《极地特快》...每一部都在诱惑您掏钱呢.
buff, 爱好者, 迷. 简单又好记的词, 我们就不再多说了.

 

 

Cartoon English
By Bo & Bob

 

 

Tongue Twister
Collected by Lily Yang

If you understand, say "understand".
If you don't understand, say "don't understand".
But if you understand and say "don't understand",
How do I understand that you understand?
Understand!?

大意:
如果你明白, 就说你明白.
如果你不明白, 就说你不明白.
但如果你明白却说不明白.
那我怎么明白你明白了?
明白吗?

 

 

吉祥的祝福满天飞
By Suky

又是年终岁首, 意味着我们又长了一岁. 而贺卡, 短信也在这个时候载着我们的祝福飞向四面八方. 当我们和外国朋友携手共祝新年好时, 除了Happy New Year, 你还会用其他祝福吗?

1. As the New Year begins, let us also start anew.
一元复始, 万象更新.

2. Happy New Year and hope you strike it rich!
恭喜发财. 估计这是全世界人民都喜欢的一句话. 再来一句.

3. May wealth and riches be drawn your way.(May you walk the path of prosperity. )
招财进宝.

4. May a river of gold flow into your pockets.
财源广进. 这句厉害了, 金子源源不断流进口袋里, 岂不堆成金山银海?

5. May you succeed at whatever you try.(May all your wishes come true. )
心想事成.

6. Hope everything goes your way.
万事如意.

7. May the New Year bring you good fortune.
迎春接福. 新年新运气哦.

8. I wish you good fortune and every success.
大吉大利.
把台词稍做修改, fortune改为future, 完全可以写在毕业纪念册里了.

9. May you always get more than you wish for.
年年有余 .

这么多的祝福可供选择, 现在给朋友发英语祝福短信不愁没词了, 大家赶快用起来吧.