365个英语简短小故事- 16. The New Realtor

Norma was discouraged¹. She was a new realtor. She had recently passed the state test on her first try. Then she joined a realty company. They offered training classes two to four times a week. Norma attended the classes faithfully.

But because English was her second language, she didn’t catch everything that the instructor² said. When she asked the instructor to repeat something, he told her to see him after class. But when other students asked a question, the instructor answered the question right then and there.

To Norma, the instructor always said, "See me after class." Then, when she tried to see him after class, he would say that he was late for an appointment. "How about next time?" he would say. He was always too busy to help her.

"He’s not too busy, he’s just too lazy," her boyfriend said. “There are too many ‘instructors' like that. All they care about is presenting their information. If the students don’t get it, that’s their problem. You have to be strong. These people are not going to help you. They want you to fail, because that means³ less competition for them. It’s a dog-eat-dog business."
 

1 discouraged   

a.泄气的，沮丧的

参考例句：

• She tactfully discouraged their uninvited guests from staying longer. 她巧妙地使这些不请自到的客人知趣儿，没有再呆下去。
• Husbands are discouraged from voting as proxy for their wives. 不主张丈夫代妻子投票。

2 instructor   

n.指导者，教员，教练

参考例句：

• The college jumped him from instructor to full professor.大学突然把他从讲师提升为正教授。
• The skiing instructor was a tall,sunburnt man.滑雪教练是一个高高个子晒得黑黑的男子。

3 means   

n.方法，手段，折中点，物质财富

参考例句：

• That man used artful means to find out secrets.那人使用狡猾的手段获取机密。
• We must get it done by some means or other.我们总得想办法把它干完。