胡敏讀故事記托福詞匯 第235期:A Worldly Wholesaler 老于世故的批發(fā)商

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胡敏讀故事記托福詞匯 第235期:A Worldly Wholesaler 老于世故的批發(fā)商

I'll admit to anyone that I am a worldly person.

我愿意向任何人承認(rèn)，我是個(gè)老于世故的人。

I enjoy wrapping myself in luxury.

我喜歡耽于奢華。

Poverty, or even a middle-class existence, is not something I would be able to withstand.

貧困，或者即使是中產(chǎn)階級(jí)的生活，也是我無(wú)法承受的。

If I had to give up my fresh pate and my caviar,

如果讓我放棄肉餡餅和魚(yú)子醬，

I would suffer such bad withdrawal symptoms that I would most assuredly die.

我會(huì)出現(xiàn)嚴(yán)重的脫癮癥狀，我確定無(wú)疑會(huì)死掉。

When people tell me that my extravagant lifestyle is withering away my soul,

當(dāng)人們告訴我說(shuō)我奢華的生活方式正消磨著我的靈魂，

I tell them I'd much rather wither away in a mansion than in a shack.

我告訴他們我寧愿在豪宅中消磨，也不想在陋室中生活。

Where money whirs, there I am. It wasn't just on a whim that I became a wholesaler.

哪里金錢(qián)叮當(dāng)作響，我就在哪里。我成為批發(fā)商并非一時(shí)的心血來(lái)潮。

The wholesaler business was where the action was when I first began.

批發(fā)生意是我最初從事的行業(yè)。

It has since whittled down to just a few companies,

從此以后削減到只剩幾家公司，

but back when I was first starting out in business, a fortune could be made there by just about anyone.

但是如果回到我最初開(kāi)始做生意的時(shí)候，幾乎任何人都可以大賺一筆。

After making a small, modest fortune, I withdrew my interests from the wholesale business.

在適當(dāng)發(fā)了一筆小財(cái)之后，我從批發(fā)生意中撤出股權(quán)。

It was still doing well at the time I left, and people thought I was crazy for leaving.

我離開(kāi)的時(shí)候，生意運(yùn)行得不錯(cuò)，人們都以為我瘋了。

I didn't wince even once, however.

但我從未退縮過(guò)。

What some people refer to as a wily disposition, I simply refer to as a smart business decision.

人們所稱(chēng)的詭詐脾性，我將其稱(chēng)為精明的商業(yè)決定。

I wasn't being wily when I left. Now understand, I wasn't being wholesome, either.

我離開(kāi)時(shí)并非表現(xiàn)詭詐。現(xiàn)在明白了，我當(dāng)時(shí)也并非身心健全。

There's limited amount of money out there, and if I don't get it, someone else will.

錢(qián)數(shù)有限，如果我不拿，別人也會(huì)拿。

By quietly wiggling out of the wholesale industry

我不聲不響地從批發(fā)行業(yè)扭轉(zhuǎn)屁股就開(kāi)溜，

instead of making a huge announcement and encouraging others to do the same, I actually made money.

而沒(méi)有大張旗鼓，不讓別人效仿，我實(shí)際上賺了錢(qián)。

There was nothing mean spirited to this. It was just me being a businessman.

這樣做沒(méi)有什么卑鄙的。只是因?yàn)槲沂莻€(gè)批發(fā)商。

If the industry is about to have a calamitous wreck,

假如這個(gè)行業(yè)要有災(zāi)難性的破壞，

why should I hold the responsibility of wrestling people away from it?

我為什么要負(fù)責(zé)拉扯別人從中脫身呢？

I was not going to stand by and witness my own investments become nothing.

我不會(huì)眼睜睜她看著自己的投資化為烏有。

That would have been quite a woolly lose.

那將是不明不白的損失。

I'm wistful when I lose money, but as it stands, my wits are still intact.

我賠錢(qián)時(shí)會(huì)愁眉苦臉，但就目前的情況來(lái)說(shuō)，我的神志仍然完好無(wú)損。

I just built a new winter residence, a nice cabin, out in the woods of Oregon.

我在俄勒岡的森林中剛剛建造了一處新的冬季住所，一個(gè)漂亮的小木屋。

I wrap myself in the finest woolen jackets, made from the most expensive wool.

我身穿用最昂貴的羊毛制成的最漂亮的毛料夾克衫。

I go out in the evenings and listen to the beautiful sounds of the surrounding wildlife.

我在晚上走出屋子，傾聽(tīng)周?chē)吧鷦?dòng)物美妙無(wú)比的叫聲。

I dare not complain about how I made my money.

我絕不抱怨自己賺錢(qián)的方式。

重點(diǎn)詞匯

adj. 謙虛的，適度的，端莊的

n. 通知，發(fā)表，宣布

vi. 抱怨，悲嘆，控訴

n. 一時(shí)的興致，突然的念頭；奇想，幻想

n. 奢侈，豪華，奢侈品

n. 財(cái)產(chǎn)，命運(yùn)，運(yùn)氣

adj. 狡猾的

n. 貧困，貧乏

adj. 完好無(wú)缺的，原封不動(dòng)的，未經(jīng)觸碰的

n. 決定，決策