The meanest2 principal3 in the world was worried that his private4 school would close because of lack of5 students. One day the principal called in his assistant and demanded that he go out and recruit more students or be fired.
The next day five new students signed up6. The day after that another ten signed up. Within a week the enrollment was sky high.
Pulling his assistant aside one day, the principal asked, "How did you get so many new students to sign up?"
It was easy, replied the assistant. "I just started a rumor7 that you were quitting8."
Notes:
1. recruitment 招生
2. mean 吝嗇的
3. principal 校長
4. private 私人的
5. lack of 缺乏
6. sign up 報名,簽名
7. rumor 謠言
8. quit 放棄,辭職
世上最吝嗇的校長擔(dān)心他的私立學(xué)校會因?yàn)槿狈ι炊P(guān)閉。一天,這個校長把助理叫來,命令他出外招生,如果招不到便要解雇他。
第二天,有五個新生來報名,第三天又來了10名新生,一個星期后報名人數(shù)已經(jīng)變得非常多。
校長把助理拉到一邊,問:“你是怎么讓這么多新生來報名的?”
“這很容易”,助理回答道,“我只是散布了一個謠言而已,說你就要辭職了?!?
Useful link:
全英共有約2500所獨(dú)立學(xué)?;蛩搅W(xué)校(Independent Schools),遍布在英國各地。這些學(xué)校有時被稱為“收費(fèi)學(xué)校”(Fee-paying),因?yàn)橄鄬τW(xué)校對本國學(xué)生不收學(xué)費(fèi)而言,私立學(xué)校無論是對本國還是國際學(xué)生都收取同樣的學(xué)費(fèi)。