Hold Your Own Fate

王秀鳳

漫漫人生路，有誰能說自己是踏著一路鮮花、一路陽光走過來的？又有誰能夠放言自己以后不會遭遇挫折和打擊？如果因為一時的受挫就輕易地退出“戰場”，半途而廢，到頭來懊悔的只能是你自己。命運把握在自己的手中！

A jobless man wanted very much to have the position of “office boy” at Microsoft. The HR manager interviewed him and then watched him cleaning the floor as a test. “You have passed the test，”he said. “Give me your e-mail address and I’ll send you the form to fill in and the date when you may start.” The man replied， “But I don’t have a computer， neither an e-mail.” “I’m sorry，” said the HR manager. “If you don’t have an e-mail， that means you are not living. ①And anyone who isn’t living cannot have the job.”

The man left with no hope at all. ②He didn’t know what to do with only $10 in his pocket. He thought and thought. Then he went to the supermarket and bought 10 kilos of tomatoes. He sold the tomatoes from door to door. In less than two hours， he had 20 dollars. He repeated the operation three times， and started to go early every day， and returned home late. Shortly， he bought a cart， then a truck， then he had his own fleet of delivery vehicles. Five years later， the man was one of the biggest food retailers in the US.

One day， one of his friends asked him for his e-mail. He said， “I haven’t got one.” His friend couldn’t believe his ears. “Can you imagine what you could have been if you had an e-mail？” The man thought for a while and replied， “Yes， I’d be an office boy at Microsoft！”

精彩譯文

把握住你自己的命運

一個失業的人非常想在微軟謀求一個“勤雜工”的工作。人事經理面試他，然后看著他打掃地板作為一個測試。他說，“你已經通過了測試，給我你的e-mail地址，我將給你郵去要填的表格并通知你可能上班的日期。”該男子回答說，“但是，我沒有電腦，也沒有電子郵箱?！薄昂苓z憾，”人事經理說， “如果你沒有一個電子郵箱，這意味著你沒有活著。沒有活著的人是不能有這份工作的?！?/p>

這個男子絕望地離開了。他不知道如何利用他兜里僅剩的10塊錢。他想了又想，然后，他去超市買了10公斤西紅柿。他挨家挨戶賣西紅柿。不到2個小時，他就有20塊錢。他每天開始早出晚歸，重復買賣物品3次。很短的時間里，他買了個手推車，然后買了卡車，再后來他有了自己的運輸車隊（運貨車隊）。5年后，該名男子成為美國最大的食品零售商之一。

有一天，他的一個朋友問他要電子郵箱。他說，“我沒有。”他的朋友簡直不敢相信自己的耳朵。 “你想過要是當初你有一個電子郵箱會怎樣嗎？”他想了一會兒，回答說：“是的，我會是微軟公司的一個員工?！?/p>

難點解讀：

生詞

1. position ?n. 地位，職位

2. interview ?vt. 面試

3. operation ?n.操作，經營

4. cart ? n.運貨馬車，手推車

5. delivery ?n.傳送，投遞

6. vehicle ?n.車輛

7. retailer ?n.零售商

句型

1. And anyone who isn’t living cannot have the job.

沒有活著的人是不能有這份工作的。

本句中的who isn’t living作anyone的定語，例如：

Anyone who breaks the laws will be punished.

任何人違法都會遭到懲罰。

2. He didn’t know what to do with only $10 in his pocket.

他不知道如何利用他兜里僅剩的10塊錢。

do with 常與連接代詞 what 連用，例如：

I don’t know how they deal with the problem.

= I don’t know what they do with the problem. 我不知道他們如何處理這個問題。