要是我有個(gè)水晶球能窺見未來(lái)，我會(huì)怎么樣呢?接下來(lái)，小編給大家準(zhǔn)備了我怎樣白手起家雙語(yǔ)美文,歡迎大家參考與借鑒。

　　我怎樣白手起家雙語(yǔ)美文

　　By Howard Schultz

　　霍華德·舒爾茨

　　[1]When I was a child growing up in public-housing projects in Canarsie, Brooklyn, I remember lying in bed at night thinking: what if I had a crystal ball『水晶球』and could see the future? But I quickly shut out『摒棄』the thought. I realized I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life. All I knew was I had to get out of the projects, get out of Brooklyn.

　　[1]小時(shí)候我住在紐約市布魯克林區(qū)卡納西的房租低廉的住宅區(qū)，有一天夜里躺在床上思量：要是我有個(gè)水晶球能窺見未來(lái)，我會(huì)怎么樣呢?不過(guò)我迅即拋開了這個(gè)念頭。我知道自己在人生路上仍然漫無(wú)目標(biāo)，只知道必須設(shè)法離開這里，離開布魯克林。

　　【額外知識(shí)】Brooklyn：美國(guó)紐約市的五大行政區(qū)之一(其余四區(qū)是曼哈頓、布朗克斯、昆斯和里士滿)，為黑人和窮人聚居區(qū)。

　　[2]I was fortunate to go to college, but I didn't know what to do next. I had no mentor 『導(dǎo)師;良師』to help me sort out my options『選擇』. My main goal was to escape the struggles my working-class parents lived with every day.

　　[2]后來(lái)我有幸上了大學(xué)，卻不知道下一步該怎么走，也沒有人替我指點(diǎn)迷津。我的父母都是工人階級(jí)，每天都必須操勞，而我當(dāng)時(shí)最大的愿望就是不步他們的后塵。

　　[3]Eventually I discovered I had a talent for sales, and was hired by a Swedish housewares corporation. By age 28, I was vice president in charge of sales in the United States. I had an excellent salary and a co-op『合作』apartment in New York City, and was happily married to a beautiful woman, Sheri. My parents couldn't believe I had come so far so fast. The life I was leading was beyond their best dreams for me.

　　[3]我發(fā)現(xiàn)自己善于推銷，便進(jìn)入了一家瑞典人開的家庭用品公司工作。我表現(xiàn)出色，28歲就晉升為主管國(guó)內(nèi)銷售的副總裁，薪金優(yōu)厚。我買了套住宅，又娶了如花似玉的妻子--雪瑞，生活舒適愉快。連我的父母都不敢相信我會(huì)如此飛黃騰達(dá)。他們從未夢(mèng)想過(guò)我能過(guò)上這樣的生活。

　　[4]Most people would be satisfied with all this. But I was getting antsy『熱鍋上螞蟻般的;坐立不安的』. I wanted to be in charge of my own destiny 『命運(yùn)』. It was around this time, in the early 1980s, that I became aware of a strange phenomenon. A little retailer『零售商』in Seattle was placing large orders for a drip coffee maker: a simple plastic cone 『圓錐體』set on a thermos『保溫瓶』. The company, Starbucks Coffee and Tea, had only four small stores, yet it was buying our product in quantities larger than Macy's was. Why was Seattle so taken with this coffee maker when the rest of the country was using electric coffee makers?

　　[4]一般人有了如此成就，也許會(huì)志得意滿，我卻還想更上一層樓，決意要主宰自己的命運(yùn)。就在這個(gè)時(shí)候(80年代初期)，一個(gè)奇特現(xiàn)象引起了我的注意。西雅圖有家經(jīng)營(yíng)零售業(yè)的小公司向我們訂購(gòu)滴濾式咖啡壺。這家公司名叫"明星咖啡連鎖公司"，只有4家小店，向我們買這種產(chǎn)品的數(shù)量卻超過(guò)百貨業(yè)巨擘梅西公司。當(dāng)時(shí)美國(guó)各地普通使用電氣咖啡壺。何以此器具在西雅圖那么受歡迎?

　　【額外知識(shí)】

　　Seattle：美國(guó)西北部華盛頓州首府。瀕臨太平洋，著名的波音(Boeing)飛機(jī)制造公司坐落于此。

　　Macy's：即R. H. Macy & Co.梅西公司。美國(guó)資格最老、最著名的百貨公司，總部設(shè)在紐約。

　　[5]I had to find out, so I went to Seattle.

　　[5]為了查明原委，我前往西雅圖。

　　Fresh Approach

　　濃郁香氣撲鼻而來(lái)

　　[6]Starbucks's flagship store was modest『樸素的』but full of character. The minute the door opened, a heady『刺鼻的;濃烈的』aroma『芳香』of coffee drew me in. Behind a wooden counter stood bins containing coffees from all over: Sumatra, Kenya, Ethiopia, Costa Rica. Along one wall was a shelf full of coffee-related merchandise『商品;貨物』, including our thermos-and-cone coffee maker.

　　[6]明星咖啡連鎖公司的總店樸實(shí)無(wú)華，卻別具風(fēng)格。我一推開店門，濃郁醉人的咖啡香氣便撲鼻而來(lái)。木柜臺(tái)后面有一列箱子，分別裝盛從蘇門答臘、肯尼亞、埃塞俄比亞和哥斯達(dá)黎加世界各地進(jìn)口的咖啡?？恐鴫Φ呢浖苌蠑[滿各種咖啡用具，包括我們生產(chǎn)的滴濾式咖啡壺。

　　[7]The counterman scooped『用勺舀』out Sumatran coffee beans, ground『grind的過(guò)去式。磨;碾碎』them, put the grounds in a filter『過(guò)濾器』 in the cone and poured hot water over them to give me a sample of their product. When he handed me the coffee, the aroma enveloped『籠罩;掩蓋』my entire face. I took a tentative『實(shí)驗(yàn)性的;試探性的』sip.

　　[7]柜臺(tái)服務(wù)員用勺子舀出少許蘇門答臘咖啡豆，磨成粉，倒入滴濾式咖啡壺的濾格，澆下熱水，沖一杯咖啡供我品嘗。他把杯子遞過(guò)來(lái)時(shí)，咖啡的香氣籠罩了我的臉。我淺嘗了一口。

　　[8]Whoa. My eyes shot wide open. It was stronger than any coffee I had ever tasted. By comparison, I realized, the coffee I had been drinking was swill『洗碟水;泔水』. That night I had dinner with one of Starbucks's owners, Jerry Baldwin. I had never heard anyone talk about a product the way Jerry talked about coffee. He wasn't just calculating『算計(jì)』 how to maximize『使增加/擴(kuò)大到最大限度』 sales. He and his partner, Gordon Bowker, believed they were providing customers with something they ought to enjoy. It was an approach to business that was fresh and appealing『動(dòng)人的;有吸引力的』to me.

　　[8]"哇!"我心里贊嘆，不由得兩眼圓睜。這是我有生以來(lái)所喝過(guò)的最濃烈的咖啡，以前喝的咖啡相形之下像洗碟水。當(dāng)晚我跟明星咖啡連鎖公司的股東杰里·巴登一起吃飯。我以前從未見過(guò)有誰(shuí)像他談咖啡那樣談?wù)撃承┊a(chǎn)品。巴登不只是努力推銷而已：他和合伙人戈登·博格都相信，他們所賣的都是顧客會(huì)喜愛的東西。這樣的經(jīng)商態(tài)度令我耳目一新，也為之心折。

　　Inexplicable Attraction

　　不可言喻的吸引力

　　[9]I tried to persuade Jerry Baldwin to hire me-although it did not seem to be a logical career move. Taking a job at Starbucks would mean giving up my job and Sheri's job-and for what? Moving across the country to join a tiny outfit 『公司;機(jī)構(gòu)』with four coffee stores? It didn't make sense to my friends or family, especially my mother. "You're doing well-you have a future," she argued. "Don't give it up for a small company nobody's heard of ."

　　[9]我想說(shuō)服巴登雇用我--老實(shí)說(shuō)，此舉似乎并不明智。我如果去明星咖啡連鎖公司上班，就必須辭去現(xiàn)在的職位，而我的妻子也必須放棄現(xiàn)在的工作。我的親友，尤其是母親，都認(rèn)為我的想法沒有道理。"你現(xiàn)在干得很不錯(cuò)--前途遠(yuǎn)大，"她勸道："不要為一個(gè)誰(shuí)都沒有聽說(shuō)過(guò)的小公司而放棄現(xiàn)在的工作。"

　　[10]I thought of the loss of security『保障』, remembering how when I was seven my father had broken his ankle at work. He was stuck at home for more than a month. He was a truck driver delivering diapers『尿布』, so when he didn't work, he didn't get paid. Our family had no income, no health insurance『保險(xiǎn)』-nothing to fall back on. That image of my father-slumped『垂頭彎腰地坐』on the couch, leg in a cast-was burned into my mind.

　　[10]我考慮的是失去保障，不禁想起7歲那年父親工作時(shí)摔斷踝骨，在家里困了一個(gè)多月的往事。他的職業(yè)是開卡車運(yùn)送尿布，不上班就沒有工資，我們一家人的生活頓時(shí)陷入困境。他一條腿裹著石膏頹然坐在長(zhǎng)沙發(fā)上的情景，深深印在我的記憶中。

　　擴(kuò)展：泥石流詞匯

　　Mudslide 泥石流

　　mudslide-stricken region 泥石流受災(zāi)地區(qū)

　　the lake's water volume 湖水水量

　　landslide 山體滑坡

　　rain-triggered landslide 暴雨引發(fā)的山體滑坡

　　raised riverbed 抬高的河床

　　geological disasters 地質(zhì)災(zāi)害

　　secondary disaster 次生災(zāi)害

　　barrier lake 堰塞湖

　　upper reaches 上游河段

　　the water level of the lake 湖水水位

　　mountain torrents 山洪

　　flood peak 洪峰

　　blackout 斷電/停電

　　Rescue 救援

　　mass evacuation 大規(guī)模疏散

　　voluntary rescue work 志愿救援工作

　　bamboo bed 竹床

　　disinfectant 消毒劑

　　living subsidy 生活補(bǔ)助

　　resettlement 重新安置

　　the emergency rescue headquarters 緊急救援指揮部

　　excavator 開鑿機(jī)

　　controlled explosions 受控爆炸

　　discharge flood waters 分流洪水

　　flood prevention ability 防洪能力

　　downstream residences 下流住宅

　　golden window 救援黃金時(shí)間

　　relief vehicles 救援車輛

　　epidemic prevention 傳染病預(yù)防

　　psychological trauma 心理創(chuàng)傷

　　death toll
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