劳动合同法第47条-中国人民大学自主招生

Unit 5
Speaking Chinese in America
在美国说中文
Once, at a dinner on the Monterey Peninsula, California, my mother whispered to me confidentially:
(brother's wife) pretends too hard to be a polite recipient! Why bother with such nominal courtesy? In the end, she
always takes everything.
有一次，在加州蒙特雷半岛上用 餐时，我母亲私下悄悄地对我说：“嫂嫂想做个彬彬有礼的客人，但是装得
太厉害了！何必费劲讲究形式 上的客套呢？到最后她还是什么都要。”
My mother acted like a waixiao, an emigrant, no longer patient with old taboos and courtesies. To prove her point,
she reached across the table to offer my elderly aunt from Beijing the last scallop from the garlic seafood dish,
along with the flank steak and the cucumber salad.
我母亲行事像个“外侨”，即一个移民国外的侨民，因为她 已经不耐烦老一套的禁忌和礼数了。为了证明她
刚才的观点，她手伸过桌子，把蒜香海鲜拼盘里的最后一 个扇贝，连同牛腩排及黄瓜沙拉一起，递给我从
北京来的年长舅妈。
Sau-sau frowned.
嫂嫂皱起了眉头，“不要，真不要！”她一边大声说一边拍着自己已经吃得很饱的肚 子。我不要了，真的不
要了。

“拿去吧！拿去吧！”我母亲用中文责备道。预料到她就会这样，就像月亮盈亏周期似的。

“饱了，我已经饱了，”嫂嫂低声嘀咕着，眼睛却瞟着扇贝。

“哎！”我母亲感叹着说，“没人愿意吃，只能让它坏掉了！”
Sau-sau sighed, acting as if she were doing my mother a favor by taking the scrap off the tray and sparing us the
trouble of wrapping the leftovers in foil.
嫂嫂叹了口气，从碟子上拿去了那个扇贝，就好像是帮了我母亲一个大忙，并省去了我们用 箔纸将剩菜打
包的麻烦似的。
My mother turned to her brother, an experienced Chinese magistrate, visiting us for the first time.

Chinese person could starve to death. If you don't breach the old rules of etiquette and say you want it, they won't
ask you again.
我母亲转头看着她兄长——一位经验丰 富的中国地方法官，这是他初次来看我们。她说：“在美国，一个中
国人可能会饿死。要是你不打破老一 套的礼数说你要吃，他们就不会再问你了。”
My uncle nodded and said he understood fully: Americans take things quickly because they have no time to be
polite.
我舅舅点点头，说他完全理解：美国人待人接物快速迅捷，因为他们没有时间客气来客气去。
I read an article in The New York Times Magazine on changes in New York's little cultural colony of Chinatown,
where the author mentioned that the interwoven configuration of Chinese language and culture renders its speech
indirect and polite. Chinese people are so

我在《纽约时报杂志》上读到过一篇文章，描述的是纽约市内的中国城这一小块文化聚居地的变迁。作 者
在文章中提到，中国语言与文化错综交织，使中文十分委婉和客套。中国人是如此“谨慎和谦虚”，文 章开
头写道，以至于他们都没有词语来表达“是”和“不是”。
Why do people keep fabricating these rumors? I thought. They describe us as though we were a tribe of those little
dolls sold in Chinatown tourist shops, heads moving up and down in contented agreement! < br>我思索着，为什么人们会不断地编造这样的谣言呢？他们把我们描述得就像是唐人街旅游品商店里出售的< br>一批小布娃娃。那些布娃娃的头不停地上下晃动，似乎对一切都心满意足，完全赞同。
As any child of immigrant parents knows, there is a special kind of double bind attached to knowing two languages.
My parents, for example, spoke to me in both Chinese and English; I spoke back to them in English.
生于移民家庭的孩子都清楚，有一种特殊的两难境地与说两种语言 的生活联系在一起。比如我父母，他们
和我说话时中文和英文都用，但我和他们说话时只用英文。

“艾米啊！”他们会这样责备我。

“怎么啦？”我会回问道。

“我们叫你时，不要对我们反问，”他们会用中文训斥道。“这是不礼貌的！”

“你们什么意思？”

Didn't we just tell you not to question?is If I consider my upbringing carefully, I find there was nothing
discreet about the Chinese language I grew up with, no censorship for the sake of politeness. My parents made
everything abundantly clear in their consecutive demands: course you will become a famous aerospace
engineer, they prodded.
仔细 想想自己的成长过程，我发现，我从小到大所接触到的中文并不是什么特别谨慎的语言，也不存在出
于客 气而对所说的话进行仔细检查的现象。我父母向我提一连串的要求时，总是把一切都表述得清清楚楚：
“ 你当然会成为著名的航空工程师，”他们会鼓励我说，“对了，你业余时间还要做音乐会的钢琴师。”
It seems that the more forceful proceedings always spilled over into Chinese:
not a single grain is lost.
似乎更加强硬的事情总是通过中文倾泻出来：“不能那样！你淘米的时候 ，必须一粒都不漏。”
Having listened to both Chinese and English, I'm suspicious of comparisons between the two languages, as I notice
the reciprocal challenges they each present. English speakers say Chinese is extremely difficult because different
words can be denoted by very subtle variations in tone. English is often bracketed with the label of inconsistency, a
language of too many broken rules.
由于一直同时听着中英文两种语言，故而我对它们之间的任何对比总是心 存怀疑，因为我注意到它们各自
都有对方所没有的难点。说英文的人会认为中文极其难，因为中文用非常 微妙的声调变化就可以表示不同
的词语。而英文则常常被认为缺乏一致性，因为英文具有太多不合规则的 用法。
Even more dangerous, in my view, is the temptation to view the gulf between different languages and behavior in
translation. To listen to my mother speak English, an outside spectator might make the deduction that she has no
concept of the temporal differences of past and future or that she is gender blind because she refers to my husband
as
the point. It is, rather, my mother's individual tendency to ornament her language and wander around a bit.
在我看来，更危险的做法是，人们往往倾向于通过翻译来理解不同语言和行为之间的差异。如果一个旁观
的外人听我母亲说英语，可能会得出结论，说她对过去和将来这样的时间区别没有概念，或者认为她对人
的性别不加区分，因为她提到我丈夫时总是说“她”。如果一个人对此类现象不假思虑，他也许还会概括说，< br>所有中国人都是通过委婉迂回的方式才能说到话题重点的。而实际上喜欢修饰和绕弯子只是我母亲个人的< br>说话风格。
I worry that the dominant society may see Chinese people from a limited perspective, hedging us in with the
stereotype. I worry that the seemingly innocent stereotype may lead to actual intolerance and be part of the reason
why there are few Chinese in top management positions, or in the main judiciary or political sectors. I worry about
the power of language: If one says anything enough times, it might become true, with or without malicious intent.
我担心主流社 会可能会从一个狭隘的角度、以一种成见看待中国人。我担心这种看似无害的成见实际会导

致人们对中国人难以容忍，并成为中国人在高层管理职位或主要的司法及政府部门寥寥无几的部分原因。
我担心语言的力量，即如果一个人将一件事说了很多遍，无论其是否有恶意，这件事都会变成事实。
Could this be why the Chinese friends of my parents' generation are willing to accept the generalization?
这会不会就是我父母辈的中国朋友愿意接受那些对中国人的简单概括的原因呢？

Wouldn't Americans appreciate such an honorary description?
“你为什么要抱怨呢？”他们中有人问我。“如果人们认 为我们谦虚礼让，就让他们那样想好了。难道美国人
不喜欢这种赞誉性的话吗？
And I do believe that anyone would take the description as a compliment - at first. But after a while, it annoys, as if
the only things that people heard one say were what had been filtered through the sieve of social niceties: I'm so
pleased to meet you. I've heard many wonderful things about you.
我当然相信每个人在一开始都会把这种描述的话当成称赞。但过了一段时间，这 种话就会让人恼怒，就好
像所听到的只是些经过细微的社交区别过滤后的言辞，诸如“很高兴认识你，我 听到许多人都夸奖你”之类
的话。
These remarks are not representative of new ideas, honest emotions, or considered thought. Like a piece of bread,
they are only the crust of the interaction, or what is said from the polite distance of social contexts: greetings,
farewells, convenient excuses, and the like. This generalization, therefore, is not a true composite of Chinese
culture but only a stereotype of our exterior behavior.
这些话不能表达什么新观点，也不能传达什么真实的情感或深思熟虑的想法。它们 就像一片面包，只是人
们交往中最表层的东西，或社交场合下出于礼貌而说的一些话：问候、道别、顺口 的托词，诸如此类。由
此看来，那些对中国人的概括性评价并非是对中国文化成分的真实描述，而仅仅是 对我们外在行为的一种
成见而已。

“那么中文究竟怎么表达„是‟和„不是‟呢？”我的朋友也许会小心翼翼地问。
At this junction, I do agree in part with The New York Times Magazine article. There is no one word for


在这一点上，我的确在某种程度上同意《纽约时报杂志》的那篇文 章。在中文里，没有哪一个字专门用于
表达“是”或“不是”，但这并非是因为需要保持谨慎。若的确有 什么不同的话，那我会说中文里对应的“是”

或“不是”的表达通常是针对所问的具体内 容而定的。
Ask a Chinese person if he or she has eaten, and he or she might say chrle (eaten already) or meiyou (have not).
如果你问一个中国人是否吃饭了，他（或她）会说“吃了”（已经吃过）或“没有”（没有吃过）。
Ask, you stopped beating your wife?and the answer refers directly to the proposition being asserted or
denied: stopped already, still have not, never beat, have no wife.
你若问：“你停止打老 婆了吗？”他会直接就所断定或所否认的假设进行回答：已经停止了，还没有，从来
不打，没有老婆。
What could be clearer?
还有什么能比这更明了的呢？


Unit 4

Achieving sustainable environmentalism
实现可持续性发展的环保主义
Environmental sensitivity is now as required an attitude in polite society as is, say, belief in democracy or
disapproval of plastic surgery. But now that everyone from Ted Turner to George H. W. Bush has claimed love for
Mother Earth, how are we to choose among the dozens of conflicting proposals, regulations and laws advanced by
congressmen and constituents alike in the name of the environment? Clearly, not everything with an environmental
claim is worth doing. How do we segregate the best options and consolidate our varying interests into a single,
sound policy?
在上流社会，对环境的敏感就如同信仰民主、 反对整容一样，是一种不可或缺的态度。然而，既然从泰德•
特纳到乔治•W.H.布什，每个人都声称 自己热爱地球母亲，那么，在由议员、选民之类的人以环境名义而提
出的众多的相互矛盾的提案、规章和 法规中，我们又该如何做出选择呢？显而易见，并不是每一项冠以环
境保护名义的事情都值得去做。我们 怎样才能分离出最佳选择，并且把我们各自不同的兴趣统一在同一个
合理的政策当中呢？
There is a simple way. First, differentiate between environmental luxuries and environmental necessities. Luxuries
are those things that would be nice to have if costless. Necessities are those things we must have regardless. Call
this distinction the definitive rule of sane environmentalism, which stipulates that combating ecological change that
directly threatens the health and safety of people is an environmental necessity. All else is luxury.
有一种简便的方法。首先要区分什 么是环境奢侈品，什么是环境必需品。奢侈品是指那些无需人类付出代
价就能拥有的给人美好感受的东西 。必需品则是指那些无论付出什么代价，都一定要去拥有的东西。这一

区分原则可以被称 为理性环保主义的至高原则。它规定，对那些直接威胁人类健康与安全的生态变化采取
应对措施是环境保 护的必需品，而其他则都属于奢侈品。
For example, preserving the atmosphere - stopping ozone depletion and the greenhouse effect - is an environmental
necessity. Recently, scientists reported that ozone damage is far worse than previously thought. Ozone depletion
has a correlation not only with skin cancer and eye problems, it also destroys the ocean's ecology, the beginning of
the food chain atop which we humans sit.
例 如，保护大气层——阻止臭氧损耗及控制温室效应——是环境保护的必需品。近来，科学家报告说臭氧
层 遭受破坏的程度远比我们先前认为的要严重得多。臭氧损耗不仅与皮肤癌及眼疾有关，而且它还会破坏
海 洋生态。而海洋生态是食物链的起点，人类则位于该食物链的顶端。
The possible thermal consequences of the greenhouse effect are far deadlier: melting ice caps, flooded coastlines,
disrupted climate, dry plains and, ultimately, empty breadbaskets. The American Midwest feeds people at all
corners of the atlas. With the planetary climate changes, are we prepared to see Iowa take on New Mexico's desert
climate, or Siberia take on Iowa's moderate climate?
温室效应所可能引发的热效应是非常具有毁灭性的：冰川融化、海岸线被淹没、气候 遭受破坏、平原干涸，
最终食物消失殆尽。美国中西部地区的粮食供养着全世界。随着全球气候的变化， 我们难道准备看到衣阿
华州变成新墨西哥州的沙漠气候，而西伯利亚变成衣阿华州的温和气候吗？
Ozone depletion and the greenhouse effect are human disasters, and they are urgent because they directly threaten
humanity and are not easily reversible. A sane environmentalism, the only kind of environmentalism that will strike
a chord with the general public, begins by openly declaring that nature is here to serve human beings. A sane
environmentalism is entirely a human focused regime: It calls upon humanity to preserve nature, but merely within
the parameters of self-survival.
臭氧损耗和温室效应是人类的灾难，而 且是需要紧急处理的灾难，因为它们直接威胁到人类，且后果很难
扭转。理性环保主义——唯一能够引起 公众共鸣的环保主张——首先公开声明，自然是服务于人类的。理
性环保主义是一种完全以人类为中心的 思想。它号召人类保护自然，但是是在人类自我生存得到保证的前
提之下。
Of course, this human focus runs against the grain of a contemporary environmentalism that indulges in overt earth
worship. Some people even allege that the earth is a living organism. This kind of environmentalism likes to
consider itself spiritual. It is nothing more than sentimental. It takes, for example, a highly selective view of the
kindness of nature, one that is incompatible with the reality of natural disasters. My nature worship stops with the
twister that came through Kansas or the dreadful rains in Bangladesh that eradicated whole villages and left
millions homeless.
当然，这种以人类为中心的主张与当下盛行的环保主 义是格格不入的，后者已经沉溺于对地球的公然崇拜。

有的人甚至声称地球是一个活的生 物体。这种环保主义喜欢把自己看作是神圣的，其实它只是感情用事而
已。比如，在自然是否友善的问题 上，当下的环保主义采取了高度选择性的片面的观点，而这种观点与自
然造成的灾难这一现实是不相协调 的。当龙卷风肆虐堪萨斯州，当瓢泼大雨袭击孟加拉国，毁灭了整座整
座的村庄，使几百万人失去家园的 时候，我对自然的崇拜便停止了。
A non-sentimental environmentalism is one founded on Protagoras's idea that
establishing the sovereignty of man, such a principle helps us through the dense forest of environmental arguments.
Take the current debate raging over oil drilling in a corner of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).
Environmentalist coalitions, mobilizing against a legislative action working its way through the US Congress for
the legalization of such exploration, propagate that Americans should be preserving and economizing energy
instead of drilling for it. This is a false either-or proposition. The US does need a sizable energy tax to reduce
consumption. But it needs more production too. Government estimates indicate a nearly fifty-fifty chance that
under the ANWR rests one of the five largest oil fields ever discovered in America. It seems illogical that we are
not finding safe ways to drill for oil in the ANWR.
非感情用事的环保主义是建立在普罗泰哥拉的格言“人是万物的尺度”的基础上的 。在建立人类权威的过程
中，这条原则会帮助我们梳理各种错综复杂的关于环境保护的争议。就以当前关 于是否在北极国家野生动
物保护区的某一角落开采石油的激烈争论为例吧。环保主义者联盟动员人们反对 目前正在试图通过美国国
会审议、使这一开采行为变得合法化的一项立法行动。他们散布说美国应该保护 并且节约能源而不是开采
能源。这其实是一个错误的非此即彼的主张。美国确实需要征收高额的能源税以 减少能源消耗，但同时也
需要生产更多的能源。政府的估测表明，在北极国家野生动物保护区的地下蕴藏 着美国五大油田之一的可
能性几乎到达 50%。我们没有寻找安全的方法开采北极国家野生动物保护区地下的石油，这看上去是不符
合情理的。
The US has just come through a war fought in part over oil. Energy dependence costs Americans not just dollars
but lives. It is a bizarre sentimentalism that would deny oil that is peacefully attainable because it risks disrupting
the birthing grounds of Arctic caribou.
美国 刚刚经历了一场战争，其部分原因就是为了获取石油。对能源的依赖使美国不但付出了金钱的代价，
而且 也付出了生命的代价。就因为可能破坏北美驯鹿的繁衍地而放弃能够以和平手段获得的石油，这是一
种十 分怪异的感情用事。
I like the caribou as much as the next person. And I would be rather sorry if their mating patterns were disturbed.
But you can't have your cake and eat it too. And in the standoff of the welfare of caribou versus reducing an oil

reliance that gets people killed in wars, I choose people over caribou every time.
我像别人一样喜欢驯鹿。如果他们的交配模式受到干扰，我会感到非常遗憾。但是，鱼和熊掌不能兼得。
是要保护驯鹿，还是要为了避免人们在战争中丧生而减少对石油的依赖，面对这一僵局，我每次都会选择
人类而不是驯鹿。
I feel similarly about the spotted owl in Oregon. I am no enemy of the owl. If it could be preserved at a negligible
cost, I would agree that it should be - biodiversity is after all necessary to the ecosystem. But we must remember
that not every species is needed to keep that diversity. Sometimes aesthetic aspects of life have to be sacrificed to
more fundamental ones. If the cost of preserving the spotted owl is the loss of livelihood for 30,000 logging
families, I choose the families (with their saws and chopped timber) over the owl.
我 对俄勒冈州的斑点猫头鹰的态度也是一样。我绝不是仇视猫头鹰。如果花很少的代价就可以保护猫头鹰，
我会赞同它应受保护——毕竟，生物多样性对生态系统是非常必要的。但是，我们必须记住，保持生物多
样性并不意味着要留住每一种物种。有时候，为了更加根本的利益，我们不得不牺牲一部分生活中美的东
西。如果为了保护斑点猫头鹰而让三万伐木工家庭失去生计，我会选择伐木工家庭（包括他们的锯子和砍
伐的木材），而不是猫头鹰。
11 The important distinction is between those environmental goods that are fundamental and those that are not.
Nature is our ward, not our master. It is to be respected and even cultivated. But when humans have to choose
between their own well-being and that of nature, nature will have to accommodate.
重要 的是，我们要区分哪些东西对环境保护是根本性的，哪些是非根本性的。自然受我们的监护，而不是
我们 的主人。我们应该尊重自然，也可以开发利用自然。但是，如果人类必须在自身的福利和自然的福利
之间 作出选择，自然则必须作出让步。
12 Humanity should accommodate only when its fate and that of nature are inseparably bound up. The most urgent
maneuver must be undertaken when the very integrity of humanity's habitat, e.g., the atmosphere or the essential
geology that sustains the core of the earth, is threatened. When the threat to humanity is lower in the hierarchy of
necessity, a more modest accommodation that balances economic against health concerns is in order. But in either
case the principle is the same: protect the environment - because it is humanity's environment.
只有当人类的命运与自然的命运密不可分时，人类 才应该作出让步。当人类栖息地的完整性（比如大气层
或维持地球核心的基本地质状况）受到威胁时，人 类就必须立即调整自己的行为。而当人类受到的威胁不
大，不太需要对自己的行为进行调整时，恰当的做 法是平衡考虑经济方面和与之相对的健康方面的因素，
以便作出适度的调整。但是，无论是哪种情况，其 遵循的原则是一致的：保护环境，因为这是我们人类的

环境。
13 The sentimental environmentalists will call this saving nature with a totally wrong frame of mind. Exactly. A
sane and intelligible environmentalism does it not for nature's sake but for our own.
感情用事的环保主义者会说这种拯救自然的思路是完全错误的。的确是这样 。理性、明确的环保主义保护
环境是为了人类自身，而不是为了自然。

Unit3
Fred Smith and FedEx: The vision that changed the world
弗雷德·史密斯与联邦快递：一个改变了世界的创想
Every night several hundred planes bearing a purple, white, and orange design touch down at Memphis Airport, in
Tennessee. What precedes this landing are package pickups from locations all over the United States earlier in the
day. Crews unload the planes' cargo of more than half a million parcels and letters. The rectangular packages and
envelopes are rapidly reshuffled and sorted according to address, then loaded onto other aircraft, and flown to their
destinations to be dispersed by hand - many within 24 hours of leaving their senders. This is the culmination of a
dream of Frederick W. Smith, the founder, president, chief executive officer, and chairman of the board of the
FedEx Corp. - known originally as Federal Express - the largest and most successful overnight delivery service in
the world. Conceived when he was in college and now in its 28th year of operation, Smith's exquisite brainchild has
become the standard for door- to-door package delivery.
每天夜晚，在田纳西州的孟菲斯机场，都有几 百架带着白、紫、桔色图案的飞机降落。而在每天此前的早
些时候，这些飞机都在美国各地收集包裹。工 作人员从飞机上卸下的包裹及信件数量超过五十万之巨。长
方形的包裹和信封又在这里依据收件地址被迅 速整理分拣，然后装载上其他飞机，飞往各自的目的地，在
那儿再由人工投递——到这时很多邮件离开寄 件人之手还不到 24 小时。这是弗雷德里克·W·史密斯的终极
梦想，他就是联邦快递集团（最初为 联邦快递）这一全球最大、最成功的隔夜送达服务企业的创始人、总
裁、首席执行官及董事会主席。如今 ，史密斯这一源于大学时代的妙想已在现实中经营到了第 28 个年头，
并已成为包裹快递入户行业的标杆。
Recognized as an outstanding entrepreneur with an agreeable and winning personality, Smith is held in high regard
by his competitors as well as his employees and stockholders. Fred Smith was just 27 when he founded FedEx.
Now, so many years later, he's still the of the shipHe attributes the success the company simply to
leadership, something he deduced from his years in the military, and from his family.
史密斯被公认为是一位和蔼可亲、性格迷人的杰出企业家。无论是他的竞争者 、员工，还是他公司股票的
持有人，都对他十分敬重。弗雷德·史密斯创建“联邦快递”时只有 27 岁。现在多年过去了，他仍然坐在“掌

门人”的位置上。他将公司的成功简单地归因于领 导力，而这一推论则来自于他的军旅生涯及其家庭的影响。
Frederick Wallace Smith was born into a wealthy family clan on August 11, 1944 in Mississippi. His father died
when he was just four years old. As a juvenile, Smith was an invalid, suffering from a disease that left him unable
to walk normally. He was picked on by bullies, and he learned to defend himself by swinging at them with his alloy
walking stick. Cured of the disease by the age of 10, he became a star athlete in high school, playing football,
basketball, and baseball.
弗雷德里克·华莱士·史密斯 1944 年 8 月 11 日出生于密西西比州一个富裕的家族。他 四岁时父亲就离世
了。史密斯年少时被视为病残者，因为他得了一种病，使他无法正常行走。为此他常遭 受坏孩子的侮辱捉
弄，他学会了挥舞合金拐杖来保护自己。十岁时他的病治好了，到了高中他则成了学校 里的体育明星，足
球、篮球、棒球样样能行。
Smith's passion was flying. At 15, he was operating a crop-duster over the skyline of the Mississippi Delta, a terrain
so flat that there was little need for radar navigation. As a student at Yale University, he helped revive the Yale
flying club; its alumni had populated naval aviation history, including the famous
I. Smith administrated the club's business end and ran a small charter operation in New Haven.
史密斯对飞行充满了激情。15 岁时，他就曾驾驶一架作物喷粉飞机在密西西 比三角洲的天际翱翔，三角洲
的地形平坦开阔，甚至都不需要雷达导航。在耶鲁大学上学时，他参与重建 了耶鲁飞行倶乐部，在美国海
军航空史的每个时期都有这一俱乐部出来的校友的身影，包括一战时期著名 的“百万富翁飞行队”。史密斯
负责管理俱乐部的事务，同时还在纽黑文经营一项小规模的租赁业务。
With his study time disrupted by flying, his academic performance suffered, but Smith never stopped looking for
his own
prototype for a transportation company that would guarantee overnight delivery of small, time-sensitive goods,
such as replacement parts and medical supplies, to major US regions. The professor wasn't impressed and told
Smith he couldn't quantify the idea and clearly it wasn't feasible.
由于飞行打乱了学习时间，他的学业受到了影响，但史密斯从未停止寻找自己的“伟大想法”。在撰写一 门
经济学课程的学期论文时，他认为自己已经找到了它。他设计了一份运输企业的经营草案，该运输企业 可
以确保连夜递送小型或时间紧迫的货品到达美国的主要地区，如替换零件、医药用品等等。教授对这篇 论
文未予重视，他告诉史密斯说，他无法量化他的想法，并说这一想法明显不切合实际。
However, Smith was certain he was onto something, even though several more years elapsed before he could turn
his idea into reality. In the interim, he graduated from Yale in 1966, just as America's involvement in the Vietnam
War was deepening. Since he was a patriot and had attended officers' training classes, he joined the Marines.
然而，史密斯确信自己已经发现了些什么，尽管又过了好几年他才得以把自己的想法 付诸实施。在此期间，

他于 1966 年从耶鲁大学毕业，那时正值美国在越战中越陷 越深，而他是个充满爱国热情的人，又参加过
士官训练课程，所以他加入了美国海军陆战队。
Smith completed two tours in Vietnam, eventually flying more than 200 missions. the military, leadership
means getting a group of people to subordinate their individual desires and ambitions for the achievement of
organizational goals,
very measurable effects on a company's bottom line.
史密斯在越南战场上服役 两期，完成了两百多次飞行任务。“在军队中，领导力意味着能使团队中所有成员
将个人的期望与抱负置 于从属地位，而以实现集体目标为重，”史密斯说道，这其中融合了他军旅生涯和经
营管理的经验。“而 优秀的领导力对控制一个公司的盈亏底线来说具有相当重要的作用。”
Home from Vietnam, Smith became fascinated by the notion that if you connected all the points of a network
through an intermediary hub, the streamlined efficient could be enormous compared to other disjointed,
decentralized businesses, whether the system involved moving packages and letters or people and planes. He
decided to take a stab at starting his own business. With an investment from his father's company, as well as a
chunk of his own inheritance, Smith bought his first delivery planes and in 1971 formed the Federal Express.
从越南战场回国后，史密斯开始执着于这样一个理念，即如果能将某个运输网络的各 个节点通过一个中介
枢纽相互连接，其效率较之其他各环节相互之间无联系的分散经营的模式来说要高出 许多，不论这一系统
所涉及的是运送包裹和信件还是人员和飞机。他决定放手一搏，创建自己的企业。史 密斯用父亲公司的投
资和他自己继承财产的一部分购买了第一架快递飞机，并于 1971 年创建了联邦快递。
The early days were underscored by extreme frugality and financial losses. It was not uncommon for FedEx drivers
to pay for gasoline for their vans out of their own pockets. But despite such problems, Smith showed concern for
the welfare of his employees. Just as he recalled, even when they didn't have the money, even when there weren't
couches in the office and electric typewriters, they still set the precedent to ensure a good medical and dental plan
for their people.
最初的日子伴随着极度的拮据乃至财务损失。联邦快递 公司的司机自己掏腰包为货车付汽油费的情况屡见
不鲜。但是，尽管面对这样的问题，史密斯仍然为公司 雇员的福利着想。正如他所回忆的那样，即使在他
们公司没有钱、办公室没有沙发和打字机的情况下，他 们仍然开辟先例，保证员工享受很好的医疗和牙齿
保健福利。
Along the way, FedEx pioneered centralization and the
almost all major airlines. The phrase FedEx it has become a fixture in our language as much as Xerox or Google.
一路走来，联邦快递率先践行了集中调控和“轴辐式”空中交通系统。自它以后，该系 统被几乎所有大航空

公司所采纳。而“联邦快递一下”也成为了像“复印一下”或“谷歌 一下”这样的固定说法，成为了我们的词汇。
Smith says success in business boils down to three things. First, you need to have appealing product or service and
a compelling strategy. Then you need to have an efficient management system. Assuming you have those things,
leading a team is the single most important issue in running an organization today.
史密斯说生意上的成功归根结底就是三点：首先你需要一项吸引人的产品或服务以及一套 制胜的战略；其
次你需要一套高效的管理系统；在拥有这些之后，如何领导好一个团队就是当今经营一家 公司最为重要的
事了。
Although Smith avoids the media and the trappings of public life, he is said to be a friendly and accessible
employer. He values his people and never takes them for granted. He reportedly visits FedEx's Memphis site at
night from time to time and addresses sorters by name. For years he extended an offer to any courier with 10 years
of service to come to Memphis for an breakfastThat embodies Fred Smith's philosophy: People,
Service, Profit (P-S-P). Smith says,
definable points of entry or exit. Each link upholds the others and is, in turn, supported by them.
this philosophy and in personally involving himself in its implementation, Frederick Smith is the forerunner of the
new sphere of leadership that success in the future will demand.
尽管史密斯回避媒体采访和公众生活的荣耀 ，但他却被称为是一位友善而平易近人的雇主。他重视自己的
雇员，从不认为他们理所应当该为自己工作 。有报道称，他会时不时在晚上造访联邦快递位于孟菲斯的基
地，并且称名道姓地与包裹分拣人员打招呼 。他会主动发邀请给任何一位已在公司服务十年的快递员，请
他们到孟菲斯出席“周年庆典早餐”，这已 经持续了很多年。而这其中包含了弗雷德•史密斯自己的哲学：人
员，服务，利润（P-S-P）。史密 斯说，“P-S-P 的哲学理念就好像一个不可分割的循环，没有清晰可辨的入
口或出口，每一个环节 都支持着其他环节，同时也反过来受其他环节支撑。”通过明确表达并亲身践行这一
理念，弗雷德里克• 史密斯已成为未来成功所必需的新领导领域的开拓者。


Unit 2
The confusing pursuit of beauty
令人困惑的对美的追求
If you're a man, at some point a woman will ask you how she looks.
如果你是一位男士，肯定在某个时候会有女士问你她看起来怎么样。
You must be careful how you answer this question. The best technique is to form an honest yet sensitive response,
then promptly excuse yourself for some kind of emergency. Trust me, this is the easiest way out. No amount of

rehearsal will help you come up with the right answer.
对 于如何应对这个问题，你一定得小心。最好的对策就是给一个诚实但又谨慎的回答，然后借口有急事马
上 脱身。相信我，这是最简单的方法。对于她的这一问题，无论你事先练习多少次，都不会找到正确答案。
The problem is that men do not think of their looks in the same way women do. Most men form an opinion of
themselves in seventh grade and stick to it for the rest of their lives. Some men think they're irresistibly desirable,
and they refuse to change this opinion even when they grow bald and their faces visibly wrinkle as they age.
其原因是，男性和女性对外表的看法截然不同。大多数男性对自己外表的评价在七年级时就形成了，而且
终生不变。有些男性认为自己有不可抗拒的魅力，即使随着年龄的增长，他们头发掉光了，脸上布满皱纹 ，
他们仍然拒绝改变这种看法。
Most men, I believe, are not arrogant about their looks. If the transient thought passes through their minds at all,
they like to think of themselves as average- looking. Being average doesn't bother them; average is fine. They don't
affix much value to their looks, or think of them in terms of aesthetics. Their primary form of beauty care is to
shave themselves, which is essentially the same care they give to their lawns. If, at the end of his four-minute
allotment of time for grooming, a man has managed to wipe most of the shaving cream out of the strands of his hair
and isn't bleeding too badly, he feels he's done all he can.
我相信，大多数男性都不会对自己的相貌感到过分自傲。如果他们 偶尔想到自己外表的话，他们愿意认为
自己样貌中等。长相普通不会使他们有任何烦恼，因为普通就已经 是很好了。男性不是特别注重自己的外
貌，也不会从美学的角度去审视自己。他们的打扮方式主要就是刮 刮胡子，就像打理自家草坪一样。对于
一位男性来说，如果能花四分钟刮刮胡子，结束之后再把粘到头发 上的剃须膏擦净，又没有出血太厉害，
他就觉得自己已经尽心尽力了。
Women do not look at themselves this way. If I had to guess what most women think about their appearance, it
would be:
the beauty industry. She has trouble thinking I'm beautiful, She magnifies the smallest imperfections in her body
and imagines them as glaring flaws the whole world will notice and ridicule.
女性可不是这样看待自己的。如果非要我猜测 大多数女性对自己的相貌是如何评价的话，那肯定是：“还不
够好。”一位女士，无论她看起来多么吸引 人，她对自己的看法总是由于受美容业的影响而蒙着一层阴影。
要她认为“我很漂亮”是一件难事。她把 身体上的极小的不完美之处加以放大，并且幻想这些缺点十分明显，
以至于全世界的人都会注意到并且嘲 笑她。
Why do women consider their looks so deficient? This chronic insecurity isn't inborn, but created through the
interaction of many complex psychological and societal factors, beginning with the dolls we give them as children.

Girls grow up playing with dolls proportioned so that, if they were human, they would be seven feet tall and weigh
61 pounds, with tiny thighs and a large upper body. This is an absurd standard to live up to, especially when you
consider the size of the doll's waist, a relative measurement physically impossible for a living human to achieve.
Contrast this absurd standard with that presented to little boys with their figuresMost of the toys that
young boys have played with were weird-looking, like the one called Buzz-Off that was part human, part flying
insect. This guy was not a looker, but he was still extremely self-confident. You could not imagine him saying to
the others,
为什么女性会把自 己的外貌想得这么差呢？这种长期的不安全感并不是与生倶来的，而是由许多复杂的心
理和社会因素的相 互作用造成的，从小时候大人们给她们买洋娃娃时就开始了。女孩成长过程中摆弄的洋
娃娃，如果按照身 材比例还原为真人大小的话，就会是 7 英尺高，61 英磅重，大腿纤细，上身丰满。要
达到这样的 标准是很荒唐的，尤其是当我们想想那种洋娃娃的腰围尺寸，就知道其相对尺寸对任何一个活
人来说都是 不可企及的。与女孩玩具的这种荒唐标准相比，小男孩们得到的“动作玩偶”却是完全不同的模
样。大多 数男孩的玩具都样貌古怪，例如那个叫作“蜜蜂侠”的玩偶，一半像人，一半像会飞的昆虫。这个
玩偶尽 管样子不好看，但仍然非常自信。你肯定无法想象他会问别人说：“这个配饰的紫罗兰色和这件外套
配不 配呢？”
But women grow up thinking they need to look like Barbie dolls or girls on magazine covers, which for most
women is impossible. Nonetheless, the multibillion-dollar beauty industry, complete with its own aisle in the
grocery store, is devoted to constant warfare on female self-esteem, convincing women that they must buy all the
newest moisturizing creams, bronzing powders and appliances that promise to
once saw an Oprah Show in which supermodel Cindy Crawford dispensed makeup tips to the studio audience.
Cindy had all these middle-aged women apply clay masks and other
she stressed how important it was to adhere to the guidelines, like applying products via the tips of their fingers to
protect elasticity. All the women dutifully did this, even though it was obvious to any rational observer that, no
matter how carefully they applied these products, they would never have Cindy Crawford's face or complexion. 然而，女性在成长过程中却认为自己应该长得像芭比娃娃或杂志的封面女郎那样，这对大多数女性来说是不可能的。尽管如此，产值达几十亿美元的美容业，在超市化妆品销售专区的配合下，总是在不停地攻击着女性的自尊，使其相信自己只有购买最新的保湿面霜、古铜散粉，以及各种美容器具，才能“激发和恢复”
肌肤活力。我曾经看过一期《奥普拉脱口秀》，在节目中，超级名模辛迪•克劳馥和演播室里的观众分享 了自
己的化妆秘诀。辛迪要求这些中年妇女在脸上敷上黏土面膜和其他去皱产品；她还强调一定要遵守这 些方
法，例如：往脸上涂抹这些产品时，要用指尖，这样可以保护皮肤的弹性。所有这些妇女都非常忠实 地按

照辛迪说的做了。可是对任何一个理智的旁观者来说，无论她们如何认真地使用这些 产品，她们都不可能
拥有辛迪那样的面容或肤色。
I'm not saying that men are superior. I'm just saying that you're not going to get a group of middle-aged men to
plaster cosmetics to themselves under the instruction of Brad Pitt in hopes of looking more like him. Men don't face
the same societal focus purely on physical beauty, and they're encouraged to reach out to other characteristics to
promote their self-esteem. They might say to Brad: yeah? Well, what do you know about lawn care, pretty
boy?
我并不是说男性优于女性。我的意思是你不可能让一群中 年男子在布拉德•皮特的指导下把化妆品敷到自己
脸上，期望自己能看起来更像布拉德。与女性不同，男 性的外貌美不是社会所关注的唯一焦点。人们会鼓
励男性借助其他特征来提升自尊。他们也许会对布拉德 说：“是吗？那么帅哥，你对草坪维护又知道多少？”
Of course women argue that they become obsessed with appearance as a reaction to pressure from men. The truth is
that most men think beauty is more than just lipstick and perfume and take no notice of these extra details. I have
never once, in more than 40 years of listening to men talk about women, heard a man say, had gorgeous
fingernails!To most men, little things like fingernails are all homogeneous anyway, and one woman's flawless
pink polish is exactly as invisible as another's bare nails.
当然，女性会争辩说她们对外表的热衷追求是出于对来 自男性的压力的一种反应。而事实是，大多数男性
认为美丽不仅仅来自于口红和香水，而且他们也不会去 注意这些额外的细节。四十多年来，我在听男性谈
论女性时，从来没有一次听到过哪位男性这样说：“她 的指甲真漂亮啊！”对大多数男性来说，像指甲这样
小的东西看起来都一样，无论一个女士的指甲是用粉 色指甲油涂得完美无瑕，还是光光的毫无修饰，男性
都一概视而不见。
By participating in this system of extreme conformity, women are actually opening themselves up to the scrutiny of
other women, the only ones qualified to judge their efforts. What is the real benefit of working this hard to appease
men who don't notice when it only exposes women to prosecution from other women?
女性参与这种极 端的从众行为，实际上是把自己置于其他女性的审视之下，因为只有那些女性才有资格评
价她们所付出的 努力。但是，如此费力地去取悦男性而他们却根本不会注意，同时又只是招致其他女性的
指责，这样做究 竟有什么好处呢？
Anyway, to get back to my original point: If you're a man, and a woman asks you how she looks, you can't say she
looks bad without receiving immediate and well-deserved outrage. But you also can't shower her with empty
compliments about how her shoes complement her dress nicely because she'll know you're lying. She has spent
countless hours worrying about the differences between her looks and Cindy Crawford's. Also,she suspects that
you're not qualified to voice a subjective opinion on anybody's appearance. This may be because you have shaving

cream in your hair and inside the folds of your ears.
不管怎样，言归正传：如果你是一位男性，当有女 士问你她看起来怎么样时，你千万不能说她看起来很糟
糕，那样肯定会使她立刻迁怒于你，这也是你咎由 自取。但是，你也不能慷慨地大放空洞之词，赞美她的
鞋子和裙子是多么相配，因为她知道你是在说谎。 她已经花费了无数个小时发愁自己的容貌不能和辛迪•克
劳馥的一样。而且，也许因为你的头发和耳廓上 粘着剃须膏，她会怀疑你根本没有资格对任何人的外表给
出主观评价。


Unit1

Love and logic: The story of fallacy
爱情与逻辑：谬误的故事
I had my first date with Polly after I made the trade with my roommate Rob. That year every guy on campus had a
leather jacket, and Rob couldn't stand the idea of being the only football player who didn't, so he made a pact that
he'd give me his girl in exchange for my jacket. He wasn't the brightest guy. Polly wasn't too shrewd, either.
在我和室友罗伯的 交易成功之后，我和波莉有了第一次约会。那一年校园里每个人都有件皮夹克，而罗伯
是校足球队员中唯 一一个没有皮夹克的，他一想到这个就受不了，于是他和我达成了一项协议，用他的女
友换取我的夹克。 他可不那么聪明，而他的女友波莉也不太精明。
But she was pretty, well-off, didn't dye her hair strange colors or wear too much makeup. She had the right
background to be the girlfriend of a dogged, brilliant lawyer. If I could show the elite law firms I applied to that I
had a radiant, well- spoken counterpart by my side, I just might edge past the competition.
但她漂亮而且富有，也没有把头发染成奇怪的颜色或是 化很浓的妆。她拥有合适的家庭背景，足以胜任一
名坚忍而睿智的律师的女友。如果我能够让我所申请的 顶尖律师事务所看到我身边伴随着一位光彩照人、
谈吐优雅的另一半，我就很有可能在竞聘中以微弱优势 获胜。

“光彩照人”，她已经是了。而我也能施予她足够多的“智慧之珠”，让她变得“谈吐优雅”。
After a banner day out, I drove until we were situated under a big old oak tree on a hill off the expressway. What I
had in mind was a little eccentric. I thought the venue with a perfect view of the luminous city would lighten the
mood. We stayed in the car, and I turned down the stereo and took my foot off the brake pedal.
to talk about?
在一起外出度过了美好的一天之后，我驱车来到 了高速公路旁一座小山上一棵古老的大橡树下。我的想法

有些怪异。而这个地方能够俯瞰 灯火灿烂的城区，我觉得它会使人的心情变轻松。我们呆在车子里，我调
低了音响并把脚从刹车上挪开。 “我们要谈些什么？”她问道。

“逻辑学。”

“好酷啊，”她一边嚼着口香糖一边说。
ogic,” I said,
well known. First let's look at the fallacy Dicto Simpliciter.
“逻辑学的原理，”我说道，“即清晰思考的主要原则。逻辑上 出现的问题会歪曲事实，其中有些还很普遍。
我们先来看看一种叫做„绝对判断‟的逻辑谬误。”
reed.
“好啊，”她表示同意。
Simpliciter means an unqualified generalization. For example: Exercise is good. Therefore, everybody
should exercise.
“„绝对判断‟是指在证据不足的情况下所作出的推断。比方说：运动是有益的，所以每个人都应该运动 。
She nodded in agreement.
她点头表示赞同。
I could see she was stumped.
extreme obesity, exercise is bad, not good. Therefore, you must say exercise is good for most people.
我看得出她没弄明白。“波莉 ，”我解释说，“这个推断太过简单化了。如果你有心脏病或者超级肥胖症什么
的，运动就变得有害而不 是有益。所以你应该说，运动对大多数人来说是有益的。”

French. Looks like nobody at this school can speak French.
“接 下来是„草率结论‟。这似乎不言自明，对吧？仔细听好了：你不会说法语，罗伯也不会说法语，那么这
所学校里好像是没有人会说法语。”

“是吗？”波莉吃惊地说。“没有人吗？”
is also a fallacy,I said. generalization is reached too hastily. Too few instances support such a
conclusion.
“这也是一种逻辑谬误，”我说，“这一结论太草率了 ，因为能够支持这一结论的例证太少了。”

She seemed to have a good time. I could safely say my plan was underway. I took her home and set a date for
another conversation.
她似乎学得很开心，而我也可以放心地说我的 计划正在稳步推进中。我把她送回家，并且定下了下一次约
会交谈的日子。
Seated under the oak the next evening I said,
第二天晚上，坐在那棵橡树下，我说：“今天晚上我们要谈的第一个逻辑谬误叫„文不对题‟。”
She nodded with delight.
她高兴地点了点头。

six children to feed.
“听好了，”我说，“有个人去申请工 作，当老板问他有什么应聘资格时，他说他有六个孩子要抚养。”

“哇，这太可怕了，太可怕了，”她哽咽着轻声说到。
d he appealed
to the boss's sympathy - Ad Misericordiam.
“对，是挺可怕的，”我表示赞同地说，“但这不是理由。这个人根本没有回答老板的问题，而只是在博取老板的同情，这就是„文不对题‟。”
She blinked, still trying hard to keep back her tears.
她眨着眼睛，仍在竭力地忍住眼泪。
Next,
textbooks during exams, because surgeons have X-rays to guide them during surgery.
“接下来”，我小心地说，“我们来讨论„错误类比‟。举个例子：学生考试时应该允许看课本，因为外 科医生
在做手术时可以看 X 光片。”

“我喜欢这个主意，”她说。

they have learned, but students are. The situations are altogether different. You can't make an analogy between
them.
“波莉，”我抱怨道，“别打 岔，这一推论是错误的。医生们不是在参加考试以检查他们学到了多少，而学生
却是。他们的情况完全不 同，你不能将他们作类比。”

“我仍然认为这是一个好主意，”波莉说。
With five nights of diligent work, I actually made a logician out of Polly. She was an analytical thinker at last. The
time had come for the conversion of our relationship from academic to romantic.
经过五个夜晚的辛勤努力，我竟然真的将波莉打造成了 一个逻辑行家，她总算能够分析思考了。现在应该
是时候让我们的关系从学术向浪漫发展了。

“波莉，”当我们又一次坐在那棵橡树下的时候我对她说，“今晚我们不讨论逻辑谬误了。”

“哦？”她回答说，有一点失望。
Favoring her with a grin, I said,
pretty good couple.
我赞许地对她笑了笑 ，说：“我们在一起已经度过了五个晚上，相互之间挺合得来，我们是蛮相配的一对。”

think?
said, patting her hand in a tolerant manner,
know it's good.
“草率结论，”波莉伶 俐地说，“或者是按一般人的说法，这个结论有些不成熟，你不这样认为吗？”我被逗
得笑了起来，她功 课还真学得不错，大大超过了我的预期。“亲爱的，”我开口说，同时宽容地拍了拍她的
手，“五次约会 已经够多了，毕竟你不需要吃掉整个蛋糕才知道它是不是好吃。”
。“错误类比，”波莉立即回应。
“你的前提是约会就如同吃东西。可你不是蛋糕，你是个男孩。”
我又笑了笑，不过不觉得那么有趣了，同时还不能表露出我害怕她学得太好了。 再错几步我可就无法挽回
了。我决定改变策略，转而尝试奉承她的办法。 “波莉，我爱你。请答应做我的女朋友，没有你我什么也不
是。” “文不对题，”她说。
“你还真是能在遇到逻辑谬误时一一辨别它们了，”我说，心里的希望已经开始动摇。
“不 过不要对它们太死板，我是说这都是些学术的东西。你知道，学校里学的东西和实际生活根本没有什么
联 系。” “绝对判断，”她说道，“而且，你自己教的东西应该自己身体力行。” 我一下跳了起来，怒火中烧，“你到

底愿不愿意做我的女朋友？” “我不愿意，”她答道。
“为什么？”我追问道。“我对另一位求爱者更感兴趣――罗伯和我重归于好了。” 我极力地保持着平静，说道：“你
怎么会甩了我而选择罗伯？
看看我，一个聪明过人的学生，一个不同凡响的学者，一个前途无量的人。
32 “错误类比，”波莉立即回应。“你的前提是约会就如同吃东西。可你不是蛋糕，你是个男孩。”
33 我又笑了笑，不过不觉得那么有趣了，同时还不能表露出我害怕她学得太好了。 再错几步我可就无法挽
回了。 我决定改变策略，转而
尝试奉承她的办法。 34 “波莉，我爱你。请答应做我的女朋友，没有你我什么也不是。”
35 “文不对题，”她说。
36 “你还真是能在遇到逻辑谬误时一一辨别它们了，” 我说，心里的希望已经开始动摇。 “不过不要对它们
太死板，我是说这都是些学术
的东西。你知道，学校里学的东西和实际生活根本没有什么联系。”
7 “绝对判断，”她说道，“而且，你自己教的东西应该自己身体力行。” 38 我一下跳了起来，怒火中烧，“你
到底愿不愿意做我的女朋友？”
39 “我不愿意，”她答道。
40 “为什么？”我追问道。
41 “我对另一位求爱者更感兴趣——罗伯和我重归于好了。”
42 我极力地保持着平静，说道：“你 怎么会甩了我而选择罗伯？看看我，一个聪明过人的学生，一个不同凡
响的学者，一个前途无量的人。
再看看罗伯，一个肌肉发达的蠢材，一个有了上顿没下顿的家伙。你是否能给我一个充足的理由，为什么
要选择跟他？”
43 “喔，这是什么假设啊！为了让像你这样聪明的人能够明白，我这么 说吧，”波莉反驳道，声音里充满了

讽刺，“事情的真相是——我喜
欢罗伯穿皮衣。是我让他同意你们的协议的，这样他就能拥有你的夹克！”
再看看罗伯，一 个肌肉发达的蠢材，一个有了上顿没下顿的家伙。你是否能给我一个充足的理由，为什么
要选择跟他？”
43 “喔，这是什么假设啊！为了让像你这样聪明的人能够明白，我这么说吧，”波莉反驳道，声音里 充满了
讽刺，“事情的真相是——我喜
欢罗伯穿皮衣。是我让他同意你们的协议的，这样他就能拥有你的夹克！”

Unit 5
Speaking Chinese in America
在美国说中文
Once, at a dinner on the Monterey Peninsula, California, my mother whispered to me confidentially:
(brother's wife) pretends too hard to be a polite recipient! Why bother with such nominal courtesy? In the end, she
always takes everything.
有一次，在加州蒙特雷半岛上用 餐时，我母亲私下悄悄地对我说：“嫂嫂想做个彬彬有礼的客人，但是装得
太厉害了！何必费劲讲究形式 上的客套呢？到最后她还是什么都要。”
My mother acted like a waixiao, an emigrant, no longer patient with old taboos and courtesies. To prove her point,
she reached across the table to offer my elderly aunt from Beijing the last scallop from the garlic seafood dish,
along with the flank steak and the cucumber salad.
我母亲行事像个“外侨”，即一个移民国外的侨民，因为她 已经不耐烦老一套的禁忌和礼数了。为了证明她
刚才的观点，她手伸过桌子，把蒜香海鲜拼盘里的最后一 个扇贝，连同牛腩排及黄瓜沙拉一起，递给我从
北京来的年长舅妈。
Sau-sau frowned.
嫂嫂皱起了眉头，“不要，真不要！”她一边大声说一边拍着自己已经吃得很饱的肚 子。我不要了，真的不
要了。

“拿去吧！拿去吧！”我母亲用中文责备道。预料到她就会这样，就像月亮盈亏周期似的。

“饱了，我已经饱了，”嫂嫂低声嘀咕着，眼睛却瞟着扇贝。

“哎！”我母亲感叹着说，“没人愿意吃，只能让它坏掉了！”
Sau-sau sighed, acting as if she were doing my mother a favor by taking the scrap off the tray and sparing us the
trouble of wrapping the leftovers in foil.
嫂嫂叹了口气，从碟子上拿去了那个扇贝，就好像是帮了我母亲一个大忙，并省去了我们用 箔纸将剩菜打
包的麻烦似的。
My mother turned to her brother, an experienced Chinese magistrate, visiting us for the first time.

Chinese person could starve to death. If you don't breach the old rules of etiquette and say you want it, they won't
ask you again.
我母亲转头看着她兄长——一位经验丰 富的中国地方法官，这是他初次来看我们。她说：“在美国，一个中
国人可能会饿死。要是你不打破老一 套的礼数说你要吃，他们就不会再问你了。”
My uncle nodded and said he understood fully: Americans take things quickly because they have no time to be
polite.
我舅舅点点头，说他完全理解：美国人待人接物快速迅捷，因为他们没有时间客气来客气去。
I read an article in The New York Times Magazine on changes in New York's little cultural colony of Chinatown,
where the author mentioned that the interwoven configuration of Chinese language and culture renders its speech
indirect and polite. Chinese people are so

我在《纽约时报杂志》上读到过一篇文章，描述的是纽约市内的中国城这一小块文化聚居地的变迁。作 者
在文章中提到，中国语言与文化错综交织，使中文十分委婉和客套。中国人是如此“谨慎和谦虚”，文 章开
头写道，以至于他们都没有词语来表达“是”和“不是”。
Why do people keep fabricating these rumors? I thought. They describe us as though we were a tribe of those little
dolls sold in Chinatown tourist shops, heads moving up and down in contented agreement! < br>我思索着，为什么人们会不断地编造这样的谣言呢？他们把我们描述得就像是唐人街旅游品商店里出售的< br>一批小布娃娃。那些布娃娃的头不停地上下晃动，似乎对一切都心满意足，完全赞同。
As any child of immigrant parents knows, there is a special kind of double bind attached to knowing two languages.
My parents, for example, spoke to me in both Chinese and English; I spoke back to them in English.
生于移民家庭的孩子都清楚，有一种特殊的两难境地与说两种语言 的生活联系在一起。比如我父母，他们
和我说话时中文和英文都用，但我和他们说话时只用英文。

“艾米啊！”他们会这样责备我。

“怎么啦？”我会回问道。

“我们叫你时，不要对我们反问，”他们会用中文训斥道。“这是不礼貌的！”

“你们什么意思？”

Didn't we just tell you not to question?is If I consider my upbringing carefully, I find there was nothing
discreet about the Chinese language I grew up with, no censorship for the sake of politeness. My parents made
everything abundantly clear in their consecutive demands: course you will become a famous aerospace
engineer, they prodded.
仔细 想想自己的成长过程，我发现，我从小到大所接触到的中文并不是什么特别谨慎的语言，也不存在出
于客 气而对所说的话进行仔细检查的现象。我父母向我提一连串的要求时，总是把一切都表述得清清楚楚：
“ 你当然会成为著名的航空工程师，”他们会鼓励我说，“对了，你业余时间还要做音乐会的钢琴师。”
It seems that the more forceful proceedings always spilled over into Chinese:
not a single grain is lost.
似乎更加强硬的事情总是通过中文倾泻出来：“不能那样！你淘米的时候 ，必须一粒都不漏。”
Having listened to both Chinese and English, I'm suspicious of comparisons between the two languages, as I notice
the reciprocal challenges they each present. English speakers say Chinese is extremely difficult because different
words can be denoted by very subtle variations in tone. English is often bracketed with the label of inconsistency, a
language of too many broken rules.
由于一直同时听着中英文两种语言，故而我对它们之间的任何对比总是心 存怀疑，因为我注意到它们各自
都有对方所没有的难点。说英文的人会认为中文极其难，因为中文用非常 微妙的声调变化就可以表示不同
的词语。而英文则常常被认为缺乏一致性，因为英文具有太多不合规则的 用法。
Even more dangerous, in my view, is the temptation to view the gulf between different languages and behavior in
translation. To listen to my mother speak English, an outside spectator might make the deduction that she has no
concept of the temporal differences of past and future or that she is gender blind because she refers to my husband
as
the point. It is, rather, my mother's individual tendency to ornament her language and wander around a bit.
在我看来，更危险的做法是，人们往往倾向于通过翻译来理解不同语言和行为之间的差异。如果一个旁观
的外人听我母亲说英语，可能会得出结论，说她对过去和将来这样的时间区别没有概念，或者认为她对人
的性别不加区分，因为她提到我丈夫时总是说“她”。如果一个人对此类现象不假思虑，他也许还会概括说，< br>所有中国人都是通过委婉迂回的方式才能说到话题重点的。而实际上喜欢修饰和绕弯子只是我母亲个人的< br>说话风格。
I worry that the dominant society may see Chinese people from a limited perspective, hedging us in with the
stereotype. I worry that the seemingly innocent stereotype may lead to actual intolerance and be part of the reason
why there are few Chinese in top management positions, or in the main judiciary or political sectors. I worry about
the power of language: If one says anything enough times, it might become true, with or without malicious intent.
我担心主流社 会可能会从一个狭隘的角度、以一种成见看待中国人。我担心这种看似无害的成见实际会导

致人们对中国人难以容忍，并成为中国人在高层管理职位或主要的司法及政府部门寥寥无几的部分原因。
我担心语言的力量，即如果一个人将一件事说了很多遍，无论其是否有恶意，这件事都会变成事实。
Could this be why the Chinese friends of my parents' generation are willing to accept the generalization?
这会不会就是我父母辈的中国朋友愿意接受那些对中国人的简单概括的原因呢？

Wouldn't Americans appreciate such an honorary description?
“你为什么要抱怨呢？”他们中有人问我。“如果人们认 为我们谦虚礼让，就让他们那样想好了。难道美国人
不喜欢这种赞誉性的话吗？
And I do believe that anyone would take the description as a compliment - at first. But after a while, it annoys, as if
the only things that people heard one say were what had been filtered through the sieve of social niceties: I'm so
pleased to meet you. I've heard many wonderful things about you.
我当然相信每个人在一开始都会把这种描述的话当成称赞。但过了一段时间，这 种话就会让人恼怒，就好
像所听到的只是些经过细微的社交区别过滤后的言辞，诸如“很高兴认识你，我 听到许多人都夸奖你”之类
的话。
These remarks are not representative of new ideas, honest emotions, or considered thought. Like a piece of bread,
they are only the crust of the interaction, or what is said from the polite distance of social contexts: greetings,
farewells, convenient excuses, and the like. This generalization, therefore, is not a true composite of Chinese
culture but only a stereotype of our exterior behavior.
这些话不能表达什么新观点，也不能传达什么真实的情感或深思熟虑的想法。它们 就像一片面包，只是人
们交往中最表层的东西，或社交场合下出于礼貌而说的一些话：问候、道别、顺口 的托词，诸如此类。由
此看来，那些对中国人的概括性评价并非是对中国文化成分的真实描述，而仅仅是 对我们外在行为的一种
成见而已。

“那么中文究竟怎么表达„是‟和„不是‟呢？”我的朋友也许会小心翼翼地问。
At this junction, I do agree in part with The New York Times Magazine article. There is no one word for


在这一点上，我的确在某种程度上同意《纽约时报杂志》的那篇文 章。在中文里，没有哪一个字专门用于
表达“是”或“不是”，但这并非是因为需要保持谨慎。若的确有 什么不同的话，那我会说中文里对应的“是”

或“不是”的表达通常是针对所问的具体内 容而定的。
Ask a Chinese person if he or she has eaten, and he or she might say chrle (eaten already) or meiyou (have not).
如果你问一个中国人是否吃饭了，他（或她）会说“吃了”（已经吃过）或“没有”（没有吃过）。
Ask, you stopped beating your wife?and the answer refers directly to the proposition being asserted or
denied: stopped already, still have not, never beat, have no wife.
你若问：“你停止打老 婆了吗？”他会直接就所断定或所否认的假设进行回答：已经停止了，还没有，从来
不打，没有老婆。
What could be clearer?
还有什么能比这更明了的呢？


Unit 4

Achieving sustainable environmentalism
实现可持续性发展的环保主义
Environmental sensitivity is now as required an attitude in polite society as is, say, belief in democracy or
disapproval of plastic surgery. But now that everyone from Ted Turner to George H. W. Bush has claimed love for
Mother Earth, how are we to choose among the dozens of conflicting proposals, regulations and laws advanced by
congressmen and constituents alike in the name of the environment? Clearly, not everything with an environmental
claim is worth doing. How do we segregate the best options and consolidate our varying interests into a single,
sound policy?
在上流社会，对环境的敏感就如同信仰民主、 反对整容一样，是一种不可或缺的态度。然而，既然从泰德•
特纳到乔治•W.H.布什，每个人都声称 自己热爱地球母亲，那么，在由议员、选民之类的人以环境名义而提
出的众多的相互矛盾的提案、规章和 法规中，我们又该如何做出选择呢？显而易见，并不是每一项冠以环
境保护名义的事情都值得去做。我们 怎样才能分离出最佳选择，并且把我们各自不同的兴趣统一在同一个
合理的政策当中呢？
There is a simple way. First, differentiate between environmental luxuries and environmental necessities. Luxuries
are those things that would be nice to have if costless. Necessities are those things we must have regardless. Call
this distinction the definitive rule of sane environmentalism, which stipulates that combating ecological change that
directly threatens the health and safety of people is an environmental necessity. All else is luxury.
有一种简便的方法。首先要区分什 么是环境奢侈品，什么是环境必需品。奢侈品是指那些无需人类付出代
价就能拥有的给人美好感受的东西 。必需品则是指那些无论付出什么代价，都一定要去拥有的东西。这一

区分原则可以被称 为理性环保主义的至高原则。它规定，对那些直接威胁人类健康与安全的生态变化采取
应对措施是环境保 护的必需品，而其他则都属于奢侈品。
For example, preserving the atmosphere - stopping ozone depletion and the greenhouse effect - is an environmental
necessity. Recently, scientists reported that ozone damage is far worse than previously thought. Ozone depletion
has a correlation not only with skin cancer and eye problems, it also destroys the ocean's ecology, the beginning of
the food chain atop which we humans sit.
例 如，保护大气层——阻止臭氧损耗及控制温室效应——是环境保护的必需品。近来，科学家报告说臭氧
层 遭受破坏的程度远比我们先前认为的要严重得多。臭氧损耗不仅与皮肤癌及眼疾有关，而且它还会破坏
海 洋生态。而海洋生态是食物链的起点，人类则位于该食物链的顶端。
The possible thermal consequences of the greenhouse effect are far deadlier: melting ice caps, flooded coastlines,
disrupted climate, dry plains and, ultimately, empty breadbaskets. The American Midwest feeds people at all
corners of the atlas. With the planetary climate changes, are we prepared to see Iowa take on New Mexico's desert
climate, or Siberia take on Iowa's moderate climate?
温室效应所可能引发的热效应是非常具有毁灭性的：冰川融化、海岸线被淹没、气候 遭受破坏、平原干涸，
最终食物消失殆尽。美国中西部地区的粮食供养着全世界。随着全球气候的变化， 我们难道准备看到衣阿
华州变成新墨西哥州的沙漠气候，而西伯利亚变成衣阿华州的温和气候吗？
Ozone depletion and the greenhouse effect are human disasters, and they are urgent because they directly threaten
humanity and are not easily reversible. A sane environmentalism, the only kind of environmentalism that will strike
a chord with the general public, begins by openly declaring that nature is here to serve human beings. A sane
environmentalism is entirely a human focused regime: It calls upon humanity to preserve nature, but merely within
the parameters of self-survival.
臭氧损耗和温室效应是人类的灾难，而 且是需要紧急处理的灾难，因为它们直接威胁到人类，且后果很难
扭转。理性环保主义——唯一能够引起 公众共鸣的环保主张——首先公开声明，自然是服务于人类的。理
性环保主义是一种完全以人类为中心的 思想。它号召人类保护自然，但是是在人类自我生存得到保证的前
提之下。
Of course, this human focus runs against the grain of a contemporary environmentalism that indulges in overt earth
worship. Some people even allege that the earth is a living organism. This kind of environmentalism likes to
consider itself spiritual. It is nothing more than sentimental. It takes, for example, a highly selective view of the
kindness of nature, one that is incompatible with the reality of natural disasters. My nature worship stops with the
twister that came through Kansas or the dreadful rains in Bangladesh that eradicated whole villages and left
millions homeless.
当然，这种以人类为中心的主张与当下盛行的环保主 义是格格不入的，后者已经沉溺于对地球的公然崇拜。

有的人甚至声称地球是一个活的生 物体。这种环保主义喜欢把自己看作是神圣的，其实它只是感情用事而
已。比如，在自然是否友善的问题 上，当下的环保主义采取了高度选择性的片面的观点，而这种观点与自
然造成的灾难这一现实是不相协调 的。当龙卷风肆虐堪萨斯州，当瓢泼大雨袭击孟加拉国，毁灭了整座整
座的村庄，使几百万人失去家园的 时候，我对自然的崇拜便停止了。
A non-sentimental environmentalism is one founded on Protagoras's idea that
establishing the sovereignty of man, such a principle helps us through the dense forest of environmental arguments.
Take the current debate raging over oil drilling in a corner of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).
Environmentalist coalitions, mobilizing against a legislative action working its way through the US Congress for
the legalization of such exploration, propagate that Americans should be preserving and economizing energy
instead of drilling for it. This is a false either-or proposition. The US does need a sizable energy tax to reduce
consumption. But it needs more production too. Government estimates indicate a nearly fifty-fifty chance that
under the ANWR rests one of the five largest oil fields ever discovered in America. It seems illogical that we are
not finding safe ways to drill for oil in the ANWR.
非感情用事的环保主义是建立在普罗泰哥拉的格言“人是万物的尺度”的基础上的 。在建立人类权威的过程
中，这条原则会帮助我们梳理各种错综复杂的关于环境保护的争议。就以当前关 于是否在北极国家野生动
物保护区的某一角落开采石油的激烈争论为例吧。环保主义者联盟动员人们反对 目前正在试图通过美国国
会审议、使这一开采行为变得合法化的一项立法行动。他们散布说美国应该保护 并且节约能源而不是开采
能源。这其实是一个错误的非此即彼的主张。美国确实需要征收高额的能源税以 减少能源消耗，但同时也
需要生产更多的能源。政府的估测表明，在北极国家野生动物保护区的地下蕴藏 着美国五大油田之一的可
能性几乎到达 50%。我们没有寻找安全的方法开采北极国家野生动物保护区地下的石油，这看上去是不符
合情理的。
The US has just come through a war fought in part over oil. Energy dependence costs Americans not just dollars
but lives. It is a bizarre sentimentalism that would deny oil that is peacefully attainable because it risks disrupting
the birthing grounds of Arctic caribou.
美国 刚刚经历了一场战争，其部分原因就是为了获取石油。对能源的依赖使美国不但付出了金钱的代价，
而且 也付出了生命的代价。就因为可能破坏北美驯鹿的繁衍地而放弃能够以和平手段获得的石油，这是一
种十 分怪异的感情用事。
I like the caribou as much as the next person. And I would be rather sorry if their mating patterns were disturbed.
But you can't have your cake and eat it too. And in the standoff of the welfare of caribou versus reducing an oil

reliance that gets people killed in wars, I choose people over caribou every time.
我像别人一样喜欢驯鹿。如果他们的交配模式受到干扰，我会感到非常遗憾。但是，鱼和熊掌不能兼得。
是要保护驯鹿，还是要为了避免人们在战争中丧生而减少对石油的依赖，面对这一僵局，我每次都会选择
人类而不是驯鹿。
I feel similarly about the spotted owl in Oregon. I am no enemy of the owl. If it could be preserved at a negligible
cost, I would agree that it should be - biodiversity is after all necessary to the ecosystem. But we must remember
that not every species is needed to keep that diversity. Sometimes aesthetic aspects of life have to be sacrificed to
more fundamental ones. If the cost of preserving the spotted owl is the loss of livelihood for 30,000 logging
families, I choose the families (with their saws and chopped timber) over the owl.
我 对俄勒冈州的斑点猫头鹰的态度也是一样。我绝不是仇视猫头鹰。如果花很少的代价就可以保护猫头鹰，
我会赞同它应受保护——毕竟，生物多样性对生态系统是非常必要的。但是，我们必须记住，保持生物多
样性并不意味着要留住每一种物种。有时候，为了更加根本的利益，我们不得不牺牲一部分生活中美的东
西。如果为了保护斑点猫头鹰而让三万伐木工家庭失去生计，我会选择伐木工家庭（包括他们的锯子和砍
伐的木材），而不是猫头鹰。
11 The important distinction is between those environmental goods that are fundamental and those that are not.
Nature is our ward, not our master. It is to be respected and even cultivated. But when humans have to choose
between their own well-being and that of nature, nature will have to accommodate.
重要 的是，我们要区分哪些东西对环境保护是根本性的，哪些是非根本性的。自然受我们的监护，而不是
我们 的主人。我们应该尊重自然，也可以开发利用自然。但是，如果人类必须在自身的福利和自然的福利
之间 作出选择，自然则必须作出让步。
12 Humanity should accommodate only when its fate and that of nature are inseparably bound up. The most urgent
maneuver must be undertaken when the very integrity of humanity's habitat, e.g., the atmosphere or the essential
geology that sustains the core of the earth, is threatened. When the threat to humanity is lower in the hierarchy of
necessity, a more modest accommodation that balances economic against health concerns is in order. But in either
case the principle is the same: protect the environment - because it is humanity's environment.
只有当人类的命运与自然的命运密不可分时，人类 才应该作出让步。当人类栖息地的完整性（比如大气层
或维持地球核心的基本地质状况）受到威胁时，人 类就必须立即调整自己的行为。而当人类受到的威胁不
大，不太需要对自己的行为进行调整时，恰当的做 法是平衡考虑经济方面和与之相对的健康方面的因素，
以便作出适度的调整。但是，无论是哪种情况，其 遵循的原则是一致的：保护环境，因为这是我们人类的

环境。
13 The sentimental environmentalists will call this saving nature with a totally wrong frame of mind. Exactly. A
sane and intelligible environmentalism does it not for nature's sake but for our own.
感情用事的环保主义者会说这种拯救自然的思路是完全错误的。的确是这样 。理性、明确的环保主义保护
环境是为了人类自身，而不是为了自然。

Unit3
Fred Smith and FedEx: The vision that changed the world
弗雷德·史密斯与联邦快递：一个改变了世界的创想
Every night several hundred planes bearing a purple, white, and orange design touch down at Memphis Airport, in
Tennessee. What precedes this landing are package pickups from locations all over the United States earlier in the
day. Crews unload the planes' cargo of more than half a million parcels and letters. The rectangular packages and
envelopes are rapidly reshuffled and sorted according to address, then loaded onto other aircraft, and flown to their
destinations to be dispersed by hand - many within 24 hours of leaving their senders. This is the culmination of a
dream of Frederick W. Smith, the founder, president, chief executive officer, and chairman of the board of the
FedEx Corp. - known originally as Federal Express - the largest and most successful overnight delivery service in
the world. Conceived when he was in college and now in its 28th year of operation, Smith's exquisite brainchild has
become the standard for door- to-door package delivery.
每天夜晚，在田纳西州的孟菲斯机场，都有几 百架带着白、紫、桔色图案的飞机降落。而在每天此前的早
些时候，这些飞机都在美国各地收集包裹。工 作人员从飞机上卸下的包裹及信件数量超过五十万之巨。长
方形的包裹和信封又在这里依据收件地址被迅 速整理分拣，然后装载上其他飞机，飞往各自的目的地，在
那儿再由人工投递——到这时很多邮件离开寄 件人之手还不到 24 小时。这是弗雷德里克·W·史密斯的终极
梦想，他就是联邦快递集团（最初为 联邦快递）这一全球最大、最成功的隔夜送达服务企业的创始人、总
裁、首席执行官及董事会主席。如今 ，史密斯这一源于大学时代的妙想已在现实中经营到了第 28 个年头，
并已成为包裹快递入户行业的标杆。
Recognized as an outstanding entrepreneur with an agreeable and winning personality, Smith is held in high regard
by his competitors as well as his employees and stockholders. Fred Smith was just 27 when he founded FedEx.
Now, so many years later, he's still the of the shipHe attributes the success the company simply to
leadership, something he deduced from his years in the military, and from his family.
史密斯被公认为是一位和蔼可亲、性格迷人的杰出企业家。无论是他的竞争者 、员工，还是他公司股票的
持有人，都对他十分敬重。弗雷德·史密斯创建“联邦快递”时只有 27 岁。现在多年过去了，他仍然坐在“掌

门人”的位置上。他将公司的成功简单地归因于领 导力，而这一推论则来自于他的军旅生涯及其家庭的影响。
Frederick Wallace Smith was born into a wealthy family clan on August 11, 1944 in Mississippi. His father died
when he was just four years old. As a juvenile, Smith was an invalid, suffering from a disease that left him unable
to walk normally. He was picked on by bullies, and he learned to defend himself by swinging at them with his alloy
walking stick. Cured of the disease by the age of 10, he became a star athlete in high school, playing football,
basketball, and baseball.
弗雷德里克·华莱士·史密斯 1944 年 8 月 11 日出生于密西西比州一个富裕的家族。他 四岁时父亲就离世
了。史密斯年少时被视为病残者，因为他得了一种病，使他无法正常行走。为此他常遭 受坏孩子的侮辱捉
弄，他学会了挥舞合金拐杖来保护自己。十岁时他的病治好了，到了高中他则成了学校 里的体育明星，足
球、篮球、棒球样样能行。
Smith's passion was flying. At 15, he was operating a crop-duster over the skyline of the Mississippi Delta, a terrain
so flat that there was little need for radar navigation. As a student at Yale University, he helped revive the Yale
flying club; its alumni had populated naval aviation history, including the famous
I. Smith administrated the club's business end and ran a small charter operation in New Haven.
史密斯对飞行充满了激情。15 岁时，他就曾驾驶一架作物喷粉飞机在密西西 比三角洲的天际翱翔，三角洲
的地形平坦开阔，甚至都不需要雷达导航。在耶鲁大学上学时，他参与重建 了耶鲁飞行倶乐部，在美国海
军航空史的每个时期都有这一俱乐部出来的校友的身影，包括一战时期著名 的“百万富翁飞行队”。史密斯
负责管理俱乐部的事务，同时还在纽黑文经营一项小规模的租赁业务。
With his study time disrupted by flying, his academic performance suffered, but Smith never stopped looking for
his own
prototype for a transportation company that would guarantee overnight delivery of small, time-sensitive goods,
such as replacement parts and medical supplies, to major US regions. The professor wasn't impressed and told
Smith he couldn't quantify the idea and clearly it wasn't feasible.
由于飞行打乱了学习时间，他的学业受到了影响，但史密斯从未停止寻找自己的“伟大想法”。在撰写一 门
经济学课程的学期论文时，他认为自己已经找到了它。他设计了一份运输企业的经营草案，该运输企业 可
以确保连夜递送小型或时间紧迫的货品到达美国的主要地区，如替换零件、医药用品等等。教授对这篇 论
文未予重视，他告诉史密斯说，他无法量化他的想法，并说这一想法明显不切合实际。
However, Smith was certain he was onto something, even though several more years elapsed before he could turn
his idea into reality. In the interim, he graduated from Yale in 1966, just as America's involvement in the Vietnam
War was deepening. Since he was a patriot and had attended officers' training classes, he joined the Marines.
然而，史密斯确信自己已经发现了些什么，尽管又过了好几年他才得以把自己的想法 付诸实施。在此期间，

他于 1966 年从耶鲁大学毕业，那时正值美国在越战中越陷 越深，而他是个充满爱国热情的人，又参加过
士官训练课程，所以他加入了美国海军陆战队。
Smith completed two tours in Vietnam, eventually flying more than 200 missions. the military, leadership
means getting a group of people to subordinate their individual desires and ambitions for the achievement of
organizational goals,
very measurable effects on a company's bottom line.
史密斯在越南战场上服役 两期，完成了两百多次飞行任务。“在军队中，领导力意味着能使团队中所有成员
将个人的期望与抱负置 于从属地位，而以实现集体目标为重，”史密斯说道，这其中融合了他军旅生涯和经
营管理的经验。“而 优秀的领导力对控制一个公司的盈亏底线来说具有相当重要的作用。”
Home from Vietnam, Smith became fascinated by the notion that if you connected all the points of a network
through an intermediary hub, the streamlined efficient could be enormous compared to other disjointed,
decentralized businesses, whether the system involved moving packages and letters or people and planes. He
decided to take a stab at starting his own business. With an investment from his father's company, as well as a
chunk of his own inheritance, Smith bought his first delivery planes and in 1971 formed the Federal Express.
从越南战场回国后，史密斯开始执着于这样一个理念，即如果能将某个运输网络的各 个节点通过一个中介
枢纽相互连接，其效率较之其他各环节相互之间无联系的分散经营的模式来说要高出 许多，不论这一系统
所涉及的是运送包裹和信件还是人员和飞机。他决定放手一搏，创建自己的企业。史 密斯用父亲公司的投
资和他自己继承财产的一部分购买了第一架快递飞机，并于 1971 年创建了联邦快递。
The early days were underscored by extreme frugality and financial losses. It was not uncommon for FedEx drivers
to pay for gasoline for their vans out of their own pockets. But despite such problems, Smith showed concern for
the welfare of his employees. Just as he recalled, even when they didn't have the money, even when there weren't
couches in the office and electric typewriters, they still set the precedent to ensure a good medical and dental plan
for their people.
最初的日子伴随着极度的拮据乃至财务损失。联邦快递 公司的司机自己掏腰包为货车付汽油费的情况屡见
不鲜。但是，尽管面对这样的问题，史密斯仍然为公司 雇员的福利着想。正如他所回忆的那样，即使在他
们公司没有钱、办公室没有沙发和打字机的情况下，他 们仍然开辟先例，保证员工享受很好的医疗和牙齿
保健福利。
Along the way, FedEx pioneered centralization and the
almost all major airlines. The phrase FedEx it has become a fixture in our language as much as Xerox or Google.
一路走来，联邦快递率先践行了集中调控和“轴辐式”空中交通系统。自它以后，该系 统被几乎所有大航空

公司所采纳。而“联邦快递一下”也成为了像“复印一下”或“谷歌 一下”这样的固定说法，成为了我们的词汇。
Smith says success in business boils down to three things. First, you need to have appealing product or service and
a compelling strategy. Then you need to have an efficient management system. Assuming you have those things,
leading a team is the single most important issue in running an organization today.
史密斯说生意上的成功归根结底就是三点：首先你需要一项吸引人的产品或服务以及一套 制胜的战略；其
次你需要一套高效的管理系统；在拥有这些之后，如何领导好一个团队就是当今经营一家 公司最为重要的
事了。
Although Smith avoids the media and the trappings of public life, he is said to be a friendly and accessible
employer. He values his people and never takes them for granted. He reportedly visits FedEx's Memphis site at
night from time to time and addresses sorters by name. For years he extended an offer to any courier with 10 years
of service to come to Memphis for an breakfastThat embodies Fred Smith's philosophy: People,
Service, Profit (P-S-P). Smith says,
definable points of entry or exit. Each link upholds the others and is, in turn, supported by them.
this philosophy and in personally involving himself in its implementation, Frederick Smith is the forerunner of the
new sphere of leadership that success in the future will demand.
尽管史密斯回避媒体采访和公众生活的荣耀 ，但他却被称为是一位友善而平易近人的雇主。他重视自己的
雇员，从不认为他们理所应当该为自己工作 。有报道称，他会时不时在晚上造访联邦快递位于孟菲斯的基
地，并且称名道姓地与包裹分拣人员打招呼 。他会主动发邀请给任何一位已在公司服务十年的快递员，请
他们到孟菲斯出席“周年庆典早餐”，这已 经持续了很多年。而这其中包含了弗雷德•史密斯自己的哲学：人
员，服务，利润（P-S-P）。史密 斯说，“P-S-P 的哲学理念就好像一个不可分割的循环，没有清晰可辨的入
口或出口，每一个环节 都支持着其他环节，同时也反过来受其他环节支撑。”通过明确表达并亲身践行这一
理念，弗雷德里克• 史密斯已成为未来成功所必需的新领导领域的开拓者。


Unit 2
The confusing pursuit of beauty
令人困惑的对美的追求
If you're a man, at some point a woman will ask you how she looks.
如果你是一位男士，肯定在某个时候会有女士问你她看起来怎么样。
You must be careful how you answer this question. The best technique is to form an honest yet sensitive response,
then promptly excuse yourself for some kind of emergency. Trust me, this is the easiest way out. No amount of

rehearsal will help you come up with the right answer.
对 于如何应对这个问题，你一定得小心。最好的对策就是给一个诚实但又谨慎的回答，然后借口有急事马
上 脱身。相信我，这是最简单的方法。对于她的这一问题，无论你事先练习多少次，都不会找到正确答案。
The problem is that men do not think of their looks in the same way women do. Most men form an opinion of
themselves in seventh grade and stick to it for the rest of their lives. Some men think they're irresistibly desirable,
and they refuse to change this opinion even when they grow bald and their faces visibly wrinkle as they age.
其原因是，男性和女性对外表的看法截然不同。大多数男性对自己外表的评价在七年级时就形成了，而且
终生不变。有些男性认为自己有不可抗拒的魅力，即使随着年龄的增长，他们头发掉光了，脸上布满皱纹 ，
他们仍然拒绝改变这种看法。
Most men, I believe, are not arrogant about their looks. If the transient thought passes through their minds at all,
they like to think of themselves as average- looking. Being average doesn't bother them; average is fine. They don't
affix much value to their looks, or think of them in terms of aesthetics. Their primary form of beauty care is to
shave themselves, which is essentially the same care they give to their lawns. If, at the end of his four-minute
allotment of time for grooming, a man has managed to wipe most of the shaving cream out of the strands of his hair
and isn't bleeding too badly, he feels he's done all he can.
我相信，大多数男性都不会对自己的相貌感到过分自傲。如果他们 偶尔想到自己外表的话，他们愿意认为
自己样貌中等。长相普通不会使他们有任何烦恼，因为普通就已经 是很好了。男性不是特别注重自己的外
貌，也不会从美学的角度去审视自己。他们的打扮方式主要就是刮 刮胡子，就像打理自家草坪一样。对于
一位男性来说，如果能花四分钟刮刮胡子，结束之后再把粘到头发 上的剃须膏擦净，又没有出血太厉害，
他就觉得自己已经尽心尽力了。
Women do not look at themselves this way. If I had to guess what most women think about their appearance, it
would be:
the beauty industry. She has trouble thinking I'm beautiful, She magnifies the smallest imperfections in her body
and imagines them as glaring flaws the whole world will notice and ridicule.
女性可不是这样看待自己的。如果非要我猜测 大多数女性对自己的相貌是如何评价的话，那肯定是：“还不
够好。”一位女士，无论她看起来多么吸引 人，她对自己的看法总是由于受美容业的影响而蒙着一层阴影。
要她认为“我很漂亮”是一件难事。她把 身体上的极小的不完美之处加以放大，并且幻想这些缺点十分明显，
以至于全世界的人都会注意到并且嘲 笑她。
Why do women consider their looks so deficient? This chronic insecurity isn't inborn, but created through the
interaction of many complex psychological and societal factors, beginning with the dolls we give them as children.

Girls grow up playing with dolls proportioned so that, if they were human, they would be seven feet tall and weigh
61 pounds, with tiny thighs and a large upper body. This is an absurd standard to live up to, especially when you
consider the size of the doll's waist, a relative measurement physically impossible for a living human to achieve.
Contrast this absurd standard with that presented to little boys with their figuresMost of the toys that
young boys have played with were weird-looking, like the one called Buzz-Off that was part human, part flying
insect. This guy was not a looker, but he was still extremely self-confident. You could not imagine him saying to
the others,
为什么女性会把自 己的外貌想得这么差呢？这种长期的不安全感并不是与生倶来的，而是由许多复杂的心
理和社会因素的相 互作用造成的，从小时候大人们给她们买洋娃娃时就开始了。女孩成长过程中摆弄的洋
娃娃，如果按照身 材比例还原为真人大小的话，就会是 7 英尺高，61 英磅重，大腿纤细，上身丰满。要
达到这样的 标准是很荒唐的，尤其是当我们想想那种洋娃娃的腰围尺寸，就知道其相对尺寸对任何一个活
人来说都是 不可企及的。与女孩玩具的这种荒唐标准相比，小男孩们得到的“动作玩偶”却是完全不同的模
样。大多 数男孩的玩具都样貌古怪，例如那个叫作“蜜蜂侠”的玩偶，一半像人，一半像会飞的昆虫。这个
玩偶尽 管样子不好看，但仍然非常自信。你肯定无法想象他会问别人说：“这个配饰的紫罗兰色和这件外套
配不 配呢？”
But women grow up thinking they need to look like Barbie dolls or girls on magazine covers, which for most
women is impossible. Nonetheless, the multibillion-dollar beauty industry, complete with its own aisle in the
grocery store, is devoted to constant warfare on female self-esteem, convincing women that they must buy all the
newest moisturizing creams, bronzing powders and appliances that promise to
once saw an Oprah Show in which supermodel Cindy Crawford dispensed makeup tips to the studio audience.
Cindy had all these middle-aged women apply clay masks and other
she stressed how important it was to adhere to the guidelines, like applying products via the tips of their fingers to
protect elasticity. All the women dutifully did this, even though it was obvious to any rational observer that, no
matter how carefully they applied these products, they would never have Cindy Crawford's face or complexion. 然而，女性在成长过程中却认为自己应该长得像芭比娃娃或杂志的封面女郎那样，这对大多数女性来说是不可能的。尽管如此，产值达几十亿美元的美容业，在超市化妆品销售专区的配合下，总是在不停地攻击着女性的自尊，使其相信自己只有购买最新的保湿面霜、古铜散粉，以及各种美容器具，才能“激发和恢复”
肌肤活力。我曾经看过一期《奥普拉脱口秀》，在节目中，超级名模辛迪•克劳馥和演播室里的观众分享 了自
己的化妆秘诀。辛迪要求这些中年妇女在脸上敷上黏土面膜和其他去皱产品；她还强调一定要遵守这 些方
法，例如：往脸上涂抹这些产品时，要用指尖，这样可以保护皮肤的弹性。所有这些妇女都非常忠实 地按

照辛迪说的做了。可是对任何一个理智的旁观者来说，无论她们如何认真地使用这些 产品，她们都不可能
拥有辛迪那样的面容或肤色。
I'm not saying that men are superior. I'm just saying that you're not going to get a group of middle-aged men to
plaster cosmetics to themselves under the instruction of Brad Pitt in hopes of looking more like him. Men don't face
the same societal focus purely on physical beauty, and they're encouraged to reach out to other characteristics to
promote their self-esteem. They might say to Brad: yeah? Well, what do you know about lawn care, pretty
boy?
我并不是说男性优于女性。我的意思是你不可能让一群中 年男子在布拉德•皮特的指导下把化妆品敷到自己
脸上，期望自己能看起来更像布拉德。与女性不同，男 性的外貌美不是社会所关注的唯一焦点。人们会鼓
励男性借助其他特征来提升自尊。他们也许会对布拉德 说：“是吗？那么帅哥，你对草坪维护又知道多少？”
Of course women argue that they become obsessed with appearance as a reaction to pressure from men. The truth is
that most men think beauty is more than just lipstick and perfume and take no notice of these extra details. I have
never once, in more than 40 years of listening to men talk about women, heard a man say, had gorgeous
fingernails!To most men, little things like fingernails are all homogeneous anyway, and one woman's flawless
pink polish is exactly as invisible as another's bare nails.
当然，女性会争辩说她们对外表的热衷追求是出于对来 自男性的压力的一种反应。而事实是，大多数男性
认为美丽不仅仅来自于口红和香水，而且他们也不会去 注意这些额外的细节。四十多年来，我在听男性谈
论女性时，从来没有一次听到过哪位男性这样说：“她 的指甲真漂亮啊！”对大多数男性来说，像指甲这样
小的东西看起来都一样，无论一个女士的指甲是用粉 色指甲油涂得完美无瑕，还是光光的毫无修饰，男性
都一概视而不见。
By participating in this system of extreme conformity, women are actually opening themselves up to the scrutiny of
other women, the only ones qualified to judge their efforts. What is the real benefit of working this hard to appease
men who don't notice when it only exposes women to prosecution from other women?
女性参与这种极 端的从众行为，实际上是把自己置于其他女性的审视之下，因为只有那些女性才有资格评
价她们所付出的 努力。但是，如此费力地去取悦男性而他们却根本不会注意，同时又只是招致其他女性的
指责，这样做究 竟有什么好处呢？
Anyway, to get back to my original point: If you're a man, and a woman asks you how she looks, you can't say she
looks bad without receiving immediate and well-deserved outrage. But you also can't shower her with empty
compliments about how her shoes complement her dress nicely because she'll know you're lying. She has spent
countless hours worrying about the differences between her looks and Cindy Crawford's. Also,she suspects that
you're not qualified to voice a subjective opinion on anybody's appearance. This may be because you have shaving

cream in your hair and inside the folds of your ears.
不管怎样，言归正传：如果你是一位男性，当有女 士问你她看起来怎么样时，你千万不能说她看起来很糟
糕，那样肯定会使她立刻迁怒于你，这也是你咎由 自取。但是，你也不能慷慨地大放空洞之词，赞美她的
鞋子和裙子是多么相配，因为她知道你是在说谎。 她已经花费了无数个小时发愁自己的容貌不能和辛迪•克
劳馥的一样。而且，也许因为你的头发和耳廓上 粘着剃须膏，她会怀疑你根本没有资格对任何人的外表给
出主观评价。


Unit1

Love and logic: The story of fallacy
爱情与逻辑：谬误的故事
I had my first date with Polly after I made the trade with my roommate Rob. That year every guy on campus had a
leather jacket, and Rob couldn't stand the idea of being the only football player who didn't, so he made a pact that
he'd give me his girl in exchange for my jacket. He wasn't the brightest guy. Polly wasn't too shrewd, either.
在我和室友罗伯的 交易成功之后，我和波莉有了第一次约会。那一年校园里每个人都有件皮夹克，而罗伯
是校足球队员中唯 一一个没有皮夹克的，他一想到这个就受不了，于是他和我达成了一项协议，用他的女
友换取我的夹克。 他可不那么聪明，而他的女友波莉也不太精明。
But she was pretty, well-off, didn't dye her hair strange colors or wear too much makeup. She had the right
background to be the girlfriend of a dogged, brilliant lawyer. If I could show the elite law firms I applied to that I
had a radiant, well- spoken counterpart by my side, I just might edge past the competition.
但她漂亮而且富有，也没有把头发染成奇怪的颜色或是 化很浓的妆。她拥有合适的家庭背景，足以胜任一
名坚忍而睿智的律师的女友。如果我能够让我所申请的 顶尖律师事务所看到我身边伴随着一位光彩照人、
谈吐优雅的另一半，我就很有可能在竞聘中以微弱优势 获胜。

“光彩照人”，她已经是了。而我也能施予她足够多的“智慧之珠”，让她变得“谈吐优雅”。
After a banner day out, I drove until we were situated under a big old oak tree on a hill off the expressway. What I
had in mind was a little eccentric. I thought the venue with a perfect view of the luminous city would lighten the
mood. We stayed in the car, and I turned down the stereo and took my foot off the brake pedal.
to talk about?
在一起外出度过了美好的一天之后，我驱车来到 了高速公路旁一座小山上一棵古老的大橡树下。我的想法

有些怪异。而这个地方能够俯瞰 灯火灿烂的城区，我觉得它会使人的心情变轻松。我们呆在车子里，我调
低了音响并把脚从刹车上挪开。 “我们要谈些什么？”她问道。

“逻辑学。”

“好酷啊，”她一边嚼着口香糖一边说。
ogic,” I said,
well known. First let's look at the fallacy Dicto Simpliciter.
“逻辑学的原理，”我说道，“即清晰思考的主要原则。逻辑上 出现的问题会歪曲事实，其中有些还很普遍。
我们先来看看一种叫做„绝对判断‟的逻辑谬误。”
reed.
“好啊，”她表示同意。
Simpliciter means an unqualified generalization. For example: Exercise is good. Therefore, everybody
should exercise.
“„绝对判断‟是指在证据不足的情况下所作出的推断。比方说：运动是有益的，所以每个人都应该运动 。
She nodded in agreement.
她点头表示赞同。
I could see she was stumped.
extreme obesity, exercise is bad, not good. Therefore, you must say exercise is good for most people.
我看得出她没弄明白。“波莉 ，”我解释说，“这个推断太过简单化了。如果你有心脏病或者超级肥胖症什么
的，运动就变得有害而不 是有益。所以你应该说，运动对大多数人来说是有益的。”

French. Looks like nobody at this school can speak French.
“接 下来是„草率结论‟。这似乎不言自明，对吧？仔细听好了：你不会说法语，罗伯也不会说法语，那么这
所学校里好像是没有人会说法语。”

“是吗？”波莉吃惊地说。“没有人吗？”
is also a fallacy,I said. generalization is reached too hastily. Too few instances support such a
conclusion.
“这也是一种逻辑谬误，”我说，“这一结论太草率了 ，因为能够支持这一结论的例证太少了。”

She seemed to have a good time. I could safely say my plan was underway. I took her home and set a date for
another conversation.
她似乎学得很开心，而我也可以放心地说我的 计划正在稳步推进中。我把她送回家，并且定下了下一次约
会交谈的日子。
Seated under the oak the next evening I said,
第二天晚上，坐在那棵橡树下，我说：“今天晚上我们要谈的第一个逻辑谬误叫„文不对题‟。”
She nodded with delight.
她高兴地点了点头。

six children to feed.
“听好了，”我说，“有个人去申请工 作，当老板问他有什么应聘资格时，他说他有六个孩子要抚养。”

“哇，这太可怕了，太可怕了，”她哽咽着轻声说到。
d he appealed
to the boss's sympathy - Ad Misericordiam.
“对，是挺可怕的，”我表示赞同地说，“但这不是理由。这个人根本没有回答老板的问题，而只是在博取老板的同情，这就是„文不对题‟。”
She blinked, still trying hard to keep back her tears.
她眨着眼睛，仍在竭力地忍住眼泪。
Next,
textbooks during exams, because surgeons have X-rays to guide them during surgery.
“接下来”，我小心地说，“我们来讨论„错误类比‟。举个例子：学生考试时应该允许看课本，因为外 科医生
在做手术时可以看 X 光片。”

“我喜欢这个主意，”她说。

they have learned, but students are. The situations are altogether different. You can't make an analogy between
them.
“波莉，”我抱怨道，“别打 岔，这一推论是错误的。医生们不是在参加考试以检查他们学到了多少，而学生
却是。他们的情况完全不 同，你不能将他们作类比。”

“我仍然认为这是一个好主意，”波莉说。
With five nights of diligent work, I actually made a logician out of Polly. She was an analytical thinker at last. The
time had come for the conversion of our relationship from academic to romantic.
经过五个夜晚的辛勤努力，我竟然真的将波莉打造成了 一个逻辑行家，她总算能够分析思考了。现在应该
是时候让我们的关系从学术向浪漫发展了。

“波莉，”当我们又一次坐在那棵橡树下的时候我对她说，“今晚我们不讨论逻辑谬误了。”

“哦？”她回答说，有一点失望。
Favoring her with a grin, I said,
pretty good couple.
我赞许地对她笑了笑 ，说：“我们在一起已经度过了五个晚上，相互之间挺合得来，我们是蛮相配的一对。”

think?
said, patting her hand in a tolerant manner,
know it's good.
“草率结论，”波莉伶 俐地说，“或者是按一般人的说法，这个结论有些不成熟，你不这样认为吗？”我被逗
得笑了起来，她功 课还真学得不错，大大超过了我的预期。“亲爱的，”我开口说，同时宽容地拍了拍她的
手，“五次约会 已经够多了，毕竟你不需要吃掉整个蛋糕才知道它是不是好吃。”
。“错误类比，”波莉立即回应。
“你的前提是约会就如同吃东西。可你不是蛋糕，你是个男孩。”
我又笑了笑，不过不觉得那么有趣了，同时还不能表露出我害怕她学得太好了。 再错几步我可就无法挽回
了。我决定改变策略，转而尝试奉承她的办法。 “波莉，我爱你。请答应做我的女朋友，没有你我什么也不
是。” “文不对题，”她说。
“你还真是能在遇到逻辑谬误时一一辨别它们了，”我说，心里的希望已经开始动摇。
“不 过不要对它们太死板，我是说这都是些学术的东西。你知道，学校里学的东西和实际生活根本没有什么
联 系。” “绝对判断，”她说道，“而且，你自己教的东西应该自己身体力行。” 我一下跳了起来，怒火中烧，“你到

底愿不愿意做我的女朋友？” “我不愿意，”她答道。
“为什么？”我追问道。“我对另一位求爱者更感兴趣――罗伯和我重归于好了。” 我极力地保持着平静，说道：“你
怎么会甩了我而选择罗伯？
看看我，一个聪明过人的学生，一个不同凡响的学者，一个前途无量的人。
32 “错误类比，”波莉立即回应。“你的前提是约会就如同吃东西。可你不是蛋糕，你是个男孩。”
33 我又笑了笑，不过不觉得那么有趣了，同时还不能表露出我害怕她学得太好了。 再错几步我可就无法挽
回了。 我决定改变策略，转而
尝试奉承她的办法。 34 “波莉，我爱你。请答应做我的女朋友，没有你我什么也不是。”
35 “文不对题，”她说。
36 “你还真是能在遇到逻辑谬误时一一辨别它们了，” 我说，心里的希望已经开始动摇。 “不过不要对它们
太死板，我是说这都是些学术
的东西。你知道，学校里学的东西和实际生活根本没有什么联系。”
7 “绝对判断，”她说道，“而且，你自己教的东西应该自己身体力行。” 38 我一下跳了起来，怒火中烧，“你
到底愿不愿意做我的女朋友？”
39 “我不愿意，”她答道。
40 “为什么？”我追问道。
41 “我对另一位求爱者更感兴趣——罗伯和我重归于好了。”
42 我极力地保持着平静，说道：“你 怎么会甩了我而选择罗伯？看看我，一个聪明过人的学生，一个不同凡
响的学者，一个前途无量的人。
再看看罗伯，一个肌肉发达的蠢材，一个有了上顿没下顿的家伙。你是否能给我一个充足的理由，为什么
要选择跟他？”
43 “喔，这是什么假设啊！为了让像你这样聪明的人能够明白，我这么 说吧，”波莉反驳道，声音里充满了

讽刺，“事情的真相是——我喜
欢罗伯穿皮衣。是我让他同意你们的协议的，这样他就能拥有你的夹克！”
再看看罗伯，一 个肌肉发达的蠢材，一个有了上顿没下顿的家伙。你是否能给我一个充足的理由，为什么
要选择跟他？”
43 “喔，这是什么假设啊！为了让像你这样聪明的人能够明白，我这么说吧，”波莉反驳道，声音里 充满了
讽刺，“事情的真相是——我喜
欢罗伯穿皮衣。是我让他同意你们的协议的，这样他就能拥有你的夹克！”