书城外语课外英语——人生加油站(双语版)
26184900000002

第2章 成功励志(2)

你的词汇是你思维的关键。你所掌握的词汇越多,你的思想就越深邃、越清晰、越准确。

掌握英语不仅可以改进你的思维方式,它还给你信心,令你自信,带给你鲜明的个性,使你更受欢迎。你的用词反映了你的个性。所谓词如其人。

作为你的朋友,我们大家都是从你的言辞中来了解你和评价你的。除此以外,你无法用别的什么交际手段来告诉我们你的想法--无法使我们信服,无法 劝服我们,无法给我们下命令。

单词是具有破坏性的。词组中则充斥着火药。一个简简单单的词可以摧垮一份友谊,可以使一大批订货泡汤。售货员言辞得体的话可以使商场的销售 额翻两番。竞选演说者用词失当则会使他竞选失利。例如,在一次共和党的竞选学说中,因演讲者不慎将“离奇古怪、罗马一塌湖涂、主教和叛乱”等词 连在了一起,结果罗马天主教徒都投了格洛弗·克利夫兰的票,让他赢得了总统竞选的胜利。战争也要靠言语来获胜。战士们往往为一句口号而战。“为 保卫世界民主而战。”“一切为了英格兰。”“必胜。”西班牙战争时代的口号是“牢记缅因”,如今已换成“牢记珍珠港”了。

词汇曾改变过历史的方向。词汇也能改变你生活的方向。它们常常使一个平凡之辈迈向成功。

如果你在有意识地增加着你的词汇量,你将在不知不觉中爬到一个更显要的位置上,得到这个新的、更高的位置以后,反过来,你又会有更好的机会进一 步丰富你的词汇量。这是一个诱人的、带给人成功的循环过程。

因为词将使你卓越不凡!

Look Out, Baby, I"m

Your Love Man

Les Brown and his twin brother were adopted by Mamie Brown, a kitchen worker and maid, shortly after their birth in a poverty stricken Miami neighborhood.

Because of his hyperactivity and nonstop jabber, Les was placed in special education classes for the learning disabled in grade school and throughout high school. Upon graduation, he became a city sanitation worker in Miami Beach. But he had a dream of being a disc jockey.

At night he would take a transistor radio to bed where he listened to the local jivetalking deejays. He created an imaginary radio station in his tiny room with its torn vinyl flooring. A hairbrush served as his microphone as he practiced his patter, introducing records to his ghost listeners.

His mother and brother could hear him through the thin walls and would shout at him to quit flapping his jaws and go to sleep. But Les didn"t listen to them. He was wrapped up in his own world, living a dream.

One day Les boldly went to the local radio station during his lunch break from mowing grass for the city. He got into the station manager"s office and told him he wanted to be a disc jockey.

The manager eyed this disheveled young man in overalls and a straw hat and inquired, “Do you have any background in broadcasting? ”

Les replied, “No sir, I don"t.”

“Well, son, I"m afraid we don"t have a job for you then.”

Les thanked him politely and left. The station manager assumed that he had seen the last of this young man. But he underestimated the depth of Les Brown"s commitment to his goal. You see, Les had a higher purpose than simply wanting to be a disc jockey. He wanted to buy a nicer house for his adoptive mother, whom he loved deeply. The disc jockey job was merely a step toward his goal.

Mamie Brown had taught Les to pursue his dreams, so he felt sure that he would get a job at that radio station in spite of what the station manager had said.

And so Les returned to the station every day for a week, asking if there were any job openings. Finally the station manager gave in and took him on as an errand boy-at no pay. At first, he fetched coffee or picked up lunches and dinner for the deejays who could not leave the studio. Eventually his enthusiasm for their work won him the confidence of the disc jockeys who would send him in their Cadillacs to pick up visiting celebrities such as the Temptations and Diana Ross and the Supremes. Little did any of them know that young Les did not have a driver"s license.

Les did whatever was asked of him at the station-and more. While hanging out with the deejays, he taught himself their hand movements on the control panel. He stayed in the control rooms and soaked up whatever he could until they asked him to leave. Then, back in his bedroom at night, he practiced and prepared himself for the opportunity that he knew would present itself.

One Saturday afternoon while Les was at the station, a deejay named Rock was drinking while on the air. Les was the only other person in the building, and he realized that Rock was drinking himself toward trouble. Les stayed close. He walked back and forth in front of the window in Rock"s booth. As he prowled, he said to himself. “Drink, Rock, drink!”

Les was hungry, and he was ready. He would have run down the street for more booze if Rock had asked. When the phone rang, Les pounced on it. It was the station manager, as he knew it would be.

“Les, this is Mr. Klein.”

“Yes,” said Les. “I know.”

“Les, I don"t think Rock can finish his program.”

“Yes sir, I know.”

“Would you call one of the other deejays to come in and take over?”

“Yes, sir. I sure will.”

But when Les hung up the telephone, he said to himself, “Now, he must think I"m crazy.”

Les did dial the telephone, but it wasn"t to call in another deejay. He called his mother first, and then his girlfriend. “You all go out on the front porch and turn up the radio because I"m about to come on the air!” he said.

He waited about 15 minutes before he called the general manager. “Mr. Klein, I can"t find nobody,” Les said.

Mr. Klein then asked, “Young man, do you know how to work the controls in the studio?”

“Yes sir,” replied Les.

Les darted into the booth, gently moved Rock aside and sat down at the turntable. He was ready. And he was hungry. He flipped on the microphone switch and said, “Look out! This is me LB, triple P-Les Brown, Your Platter Playing Poppa. There were none before me and there will be none after me. Therefore, that makes me the one and only. Young and single and love to mingle. Certified, bona fide, indubitably qualified to bring you satisfaction, a whole lot of action. Look out, baby, I"m your looove man.”

Because of his preparation, Les was ready. He vowed the audience and his general manager. From that fateful beginning, Les went on to a successful career in broadcasting, politics, public speaking and television.

机遇只垂青那些有准备的人

莱斯·布朗和他的双胞胎兄弟出生在迈阿密一个非常贫困的社区,出生后不久就被帮厨女工梅米·布朗收养了。

由于莱斯非常好动,又含含糊糊地说个不停,所以他小学就被安排进一个专门为学习有障碍的学生开设的特教班,直到高中毕业。毕业以后,他成了 迈阿密滩的一名城市环卫工人。但他却一直梦想成为一名电台音乐节目主持人。

每天晚上,他都要把他的晶体管收音机抱到床上,听本地电台的音乐节目主持人谈论摇摆乐。就在他那间狭小的铺着已经破损的地板革的房间里,他 创建了一个假想的电台--用一把梳子当麦克风,他念经一般喋喋不休地练习用行话向他的“影子”听众介绍唱片。

透过薄薄的墙壁,他母亲和兄弟都能听到他的声音,于是,就会对他大吼大叫,让他别再耍嘴皮子而去睡觉。但是,莱斯根本就不理睬他们,他已经 完全沉醉在自己的世界里,努力想要实现他的梦想。

一天,莱斯利用在市区割草的午休时间,勇敢地来到了本地电台。他走进经理办公室,说他想成为一名流行音乐节目主持人。

经理打量着眼前这位头戴草帽、衣衫不整的年轻人,然后问道:“你有广播方面的背景吗?”

莱斯答道:“我没有,先生。”

“那么,孩子,恐怕我们这儿没有适合你的工作。”

于是,莱斯非常有礼貌地向他道了谢,然后就离去了。经理以为再也不会见到这个年轻人了。然而,他低估了莱斯·布朗对自己理想的投入程度。要 知道,莱斯还有比成为一名音乐节目主持人更高的目标--他要为他深爱的养母买一幢更好的房子。电台音乐节目主持人的工作只不过是他迈向这个目标 的一步而已。

梅米·布朗曾经教莱斯要去追寻自己的梦想,因此,莱斯觉得无论电台经理怎么说,他都一定会在这家电台找到一份工作。