英语角-圆桌会议 RoundTable0106 - 《武媚娘》变身捂没娘

 Topic1 How to Succeed in Business Without Really TryingIs there a way to succeed in one's career without working hard? This sounds like a no brainer as most people would say no. But according to a Broadway musical, there is. The musical is called How to succeed in business without really trying, in Chinese"一步登天", and is being reproduced and brought to China by Chinese company Sevenages. Today we're joined by founder¹ and CEO and Sevenages Yang Jiamin.

Topic2 Cleavage Gone from Period TV ShowThe television drama Saga² of Wu Zetian was previously³ pulled off air after female characters appeared on screen showing cleavage. Now it returns to the screen, though this time all the scenes with obvious cleavage were re-edited, leaving only the actresses' heads.

Is it necessary?

Topic3 More female civil servantsAccording to a policy think tank, in the recent years, more female than male were recruited through civil servants examination, resulting in gender⁴ imbalance in civil service, especially in the publicity⁵ departments. Is it a problem?

Is there such a trend? How true is the statement?

Topic4 Driving school reforms in ShanghaiDriving schools in Shanghai are embracing a new pilot program for driver education that's proven both effective and popular among trainees⁶.

The program makes it possible for learners to learn first and pay second, choose their trainers and preferable training time slots and so on.

Why do we care? Is there a problem with the current driver's education?

Topic5 Paying for Luxury But Not for ToiletRecently, South China Morning Post published an article named Chinese tourists have the money, but not the manners. It says mainlanders can afford expensive watches during their outbound trips but are not willing to pay less than 1 Euro to go to the toilet.

Is the criticism tenable?

1 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

2 saga   

n.(尤指中世纪北欧海盗的)故事，英雄传奇

参考例句：

• The saga of Flight 19 is probably the most repeated story about the Bermuda Triangle.飞行19中队的传说或许是有关百慕大三角最重复的故事。
• The novel depicts the saga of a family.小说描绘了一个家族的传奇故事。

3 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

4 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

5 publicity   

n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告

参考例句：

• The singer star's marriage got a lot of publicity.这位歌星的婚事引起了公众的关注。
• He dismissed the event as just a publicity gimmick.他不理会这件事，只当它是一种宣传手法。

6 trainees   

新兵( trainee的名词复数 )； 练习生； 接受训练的人； 训练中的动物

参考例句：

• We've taken on our full complement of new trainees. 我们招收的新学员已经满额了。
• The trainees were put through an assault course. 受训人员接受了突击训练课程。