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Alice: Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English. I’m Alice…
大家好,欢迎收听英语六分钟。我是爱丽丝。
Rob: And I’m Rob.
我是罗伯。
Alice: So Rob, did you have a part time job while you were at university?
罗伯,你上大学时有没有做过兼职?
Rob: Yes, I worked in the student bar.
有,我在一家学生酒吧工作。
Alice: Did you learn anything from the experience?
你从那段经历中学到了什么?
Rob: I learned how to pull a decent pint.
我学会了如何打满一品脱的啤酒。
Alice: Did you learn anything else?
你还学会了什么?
Rob: Yes, I learned how to add up.
恩,学会如何合计账目。
Alice: Didn’t they teach you that at school?
你上学的时候没有学过吗?
Rob:
I wasn’t good at doing sums in my head – you know – mental arithmetic.
But I got pretty good at it as a barman. They didn’t have computerized
cash registers in my day, you see.
我不擅长用脑计算,也就是心算。但我做酒保时很擅长心算。那时还没有电脑收银机。
Alice:
I didn’t realize you were that old, Rob! Anyway, the subject of today’s
show is young business entrepreneurs. So, can you answer this question:
How young were the founders of Facebook and Microsoft when they first
set up their companies? Were they…a) junior high-school students b)
high-school students or c) university students?
罗伯,我没意识到你已经这么老了!总之,今天节目的话题是年轻的企业家。所以,你可以回答下面这个问题吗?脸书和微软的创始人创办自己第一家企业时有多年轻?选项有a) 初中生b) 高中生 c) 大学生
Rob:
And Alice in case you think I don’t know, Facebook is an online social
networking service and Microsoft is a computer software company. OK?
爱丽丝,你是不是以为我不知道,脸书是在线社交媒体,微软是一家计算机公司,对吧?
Alice: Very good. Well done!
很好。不错!
Rob: Well I'm going to say they were b) high-school students.
我选b) 高中生。
Alice:
We’ll find out if you chose the right answer later on in the programme.
But let’s talk now about what drawbacks – or disadvantages – there are
for young entrepreneurs. What do you think, Rob?
稍后我们再看你回答得是否正确。现在我们谈谈年轻企业家的缺点。你觉得是什么呢?
Rob:
Hmm. Well, I suppose one of the drawbacks of being young and your own
boss is that everyone who works for you is older than you!
我觉得年轻人做自己的老板的一个缺点是每个为你工作的人都比你年长。
Alice: Is that a drawback?
这是缺点吗?
Rob:
Well, let’s consider a real case. Young British entrepreneur Suleman
Sacranie started his first company when he was 17, followed by another
business shortly afterwards. Then whilst studying chemistry at
university he started his third company, an online version of the pound
shop – or dollar store in the US – where everything in the shop is
priced at one pound. Let's listen to Suleman Sacranie talking about his
company.
让我们来看一个真实案例。年轻的英国企业家苏莱曼·桑克雷尼在他十七岁时创办了自己的第一家公司,不久以后成立了第二家公司。之后还在大学学化学时,开办了第三家公司,网上一磅店——类似于美国的一元店——商店里所有东西的价格都是一英镑。让我们一起来听听苏莱曼·桑克雷尼讲述他的公司。
I’m
actually quite fortunate now, compared to what I was six months ago
because now I’ve got two additional directors who have grey hair. It
actually… commercial meetings are excellent now, you know. But before
that I think I came across quite professional but you could still tell
they were thinking in the back of their heads, “I’ve got a kid sitting
in front of me.”
和六个月前的我相比,现在的我真的很幸运,因为现在的我有两个年长的主管。如今商业会议谈的很成功。但在这之前我认为我已经很专业了,但你还是能看出来他们内心深处在想,“我面前坐着的是个孩子。”
Rob: So young entrepreneur Suleman Sacranie has got two grey-haired directors working with him now.
所以现在年轻的企业家苏莱曼·桑克雷尼有两个年长的主管与他共事。
Alice: That’s right – but how does having grey-haired executives on board help, Rob?
没错,董事会中有年长的高管对他到底有什么帮助呢?
Rob:
Well,“executives” are people who run a business and on board means
being part of a team. Well, to answer your question, Alice, they bring
experience to the table. I have a few grey hairs you know – you could
learn a lot from me.
高管是指经营生意的人,进入董事会是指成为团队中的一员。我来回答你的问题,他们可以给公司提供很多经验。我也有些经验,你可以从我这学到很多。
Alice:
I do, Rob. Everyday. And if you bring something to the table it means
you provide something useful. Well, what do you bring to the table, Rob?
我会的罗伯。每天都在向你学习。“给公司提供很多经验”是指提供有用的东西。你能提供什么有用的东西吗?
Rob: Well, bad jokes, peanuts, crisps, cups of coffee, that sort of thing…
冷笑话、花生、薯片、咖啡、这之类的……
Alice: I was going to say a keen mind, in other words, a well-developed mind, and… great business acumen!
我想说的是你有敏捷的头脑,换句话说你有发达的头脑、了不起的商业智慧。
Rob: Come on, you weren’t going to say that!
得了吧,你才不是要说这个。
Alice:
You’re right, I wasn’t. Acumen means good judgement. But don’t worry,
you have an abundant enthusiasm that makes up for it. But moving on now,
do you think that school prepared you well for working life?
你说得对,我不是要说这个。Acumen是指正确的判断。但是不要担心,你有充足的热情,可以弥补你判断上的不足。我们继续,你觉得在学校里学到的东西是否能够运用到生活中?
Rob:
No, not really. I studied Latin at school, and I don’t use that much.
And maths – well, I never use trigonometry or calculus. So I’m not sure
how useful maths lessons were…
不能。我在学校学了拉丁文,但是我不经常使用。数学,我从来没用过三角法或微积分。我不知道数学课到底多有用。
Alice: Yes, and you only learned to add up in the university bar after all…
毕竟你在大学酒吧只学加法。
Rob:
Yes, but I am very good at it! And the point is that I’ve got a
fantastic job now. And if you’re really interested in something you can
always acquire – or get – the skills you don’t have. Let’s listen to
successful young entrepreneur Jessica Rose talking about her experience.
She works with jewellery.
是的,但是我很擅长!重要的是我现在已经有一份很棒的工作了。如果你对某事真的非常感兴趣,你就能掌握一门你之前不会的技能。我们听听成功的年轻企业家杰西卡·罗斯讲述她的经历。她做珠宝相关的生意。
I
didn’t need all these previous skills and experience to go out there
and start on my own. When I first started I had no business training
whatsoever, no jewellery training whatsoever, but I kind of woke up one
day and thought I’d really love to be a jewellery designer. Which is
kind of a tricky position to be in, because it’s you know, a lot of
people would say and did say, well, you know, you’re mad.
我不需要利用之前所有技能和经历就可以创办公司。当我初创公司时,我没参加过商业培训,珠宝培训也不知道。有一天醒来,我觉得自己真的很想成为珠宝设计师。这看似有些困难,因为很多人都会说,你疯了。
Alice: So Jessica Rose used her savings to learn jewellery making and then set up her own jewellery-making business.
所以杰西卡·罗斯用她的存款学习了珠宝制造,然后创办了自己的珠宝制造公司。
Rob: And despite setting out with no business experience and no jewellery training – her enthusiasm for the article paid off.
尽管起步时没有任何商业经验和珠宝培训经历,但她的热情助她成功。
Alice: And that means it was successful.
Paid off 是指成功。
Rob: A bit like me…
有点像我。
Alice:
Yes. OK, I think it’s time for the answer to today’s quiz question. I
asked: How young were the founders of Facebook and Microsoft when first
set up their companies? Were they… a) junior high-school students, b)
high-school students or c) university students?
是的。好了,是时候公布今天问题的答案了。脸书和微软的创始人创办自己第一家企业时有多年轻?a) 初中生b) 高中生还是c) 大学生?
Rob: I said b) high-school students.
我选的是b) 高中生。
Alice: And you were wrong, I’m afraid, Rob. Sorry.
抱歉罗伯,恐怕你答错了。
Rob: Again.
又答错了。
Alice:
Yes. Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates were both university students when
they started their companies. Zuckerberg was studying at Harvard in the
US when he launched Facebook in 2004. And Bill Gates took a break from
Harvard to launch Microsoft in 1976, but never returned to his studies.
是的。马克·扎克伯格和比尔·盖茨都是上大学时创办了他们自己的公司。2004年马克·扎克伯格创办脸书时,正在哈佛大学学习。比尔·盖茨从哈佛中途退学,于1976年建立微软,但之后未返回学校读书。
Rob: Both at Harvard – that’s a coincidence. I wonder if the bar there was any good…Now can we hear the words we learned today?
都在哈佛上学,多巧。我在想在酒吧工作是不是也有好处。好了,现在我们再听一遍今天学到的单词吧?
Alice: Yes. OK. They are:
好的,今天提到的单词有:
drawbacks
缺点
executives
高管
on board
董事会
bring something to the table
提供
keen
敏锐的
(business) acumen
商业头脑
acquire
掌握
paid off
成功
Rob:
Thanks, Alice. Well, that’s the end of today’s 6 Minute English.We hope
you’ve enjoyed the new vocabulary we brought to the table.
谢谢你爱丽丝。今天的六分钟英语就到这里了。希望你们喜欢我们带来的新单词。
Alice: Very good.
说得好。
Rob: Please join us again soon!
请记得收听我们下期的节目。
Both: Bye.
再见!