向前一步:第139期 不要身还在 心已远(13)

 Imagine that a career is like a marathon—a long, grueling, and ultimately rewarding endeavor. 我们可以把事业想象成马拉松——一项历时漫长、备受磨炼最后可能有所收获的运动。

Now imagine a marathon where both men and women arrive at the starting line equally fit and trained. 再想象一下，这条起跑线上既有男人也有女人，他们都做好了准备、受过专业训练。

The gun goes off. The men and women run side by side. 一声枪响，他们开始一起向前奔跑。

The male marathoners are routinely cheered on: "Lookin' strong! On your way!" 一路上都有人为男人打气：“加油！坚持下去！”

But the female runners hear a different message. 但女人听到的则是不同的声音：

"You know you don't have to do this!" the crowd shouts. “你知道你并不是非得这么做！”

Or "Good start—but you probably won't want to finish." 或是“开始还不错……不过你很可能跑不完全程”。

The farther the marathoners run, the louder the cries grow for the men: "Keep going! You've got this!" 运动员跑得越远，给男人加油的声音也就越大：“坚持！你必须坚持！”

But the women hear more and more doubts about their efforts. 但女人听到的却是越来越多的质疑声。

External voices, and often their own internal voice, repeatedly question their decision to keep running. The voices can even grow hostile. 外界的声音，加上内心的声音，都不断在质疑她们坚持跑下去的决心，甚至还会出现反对声。

As the women struggle to endure the rigors¹ of the race, spectators shout, "Why are you running when your children need you at home?" 正当女性努力地承受激烈竞争带来的压力时，旁观者却大声喊道：“家里的孩子需要你照顾，你为什么还在跑？”

Back in 1997, Debi Hemmeter was a rising executive at Sara Lee  回到1997年，德比·黑梅特尔是莎莉集团新提拔的一位执行官。

who aspired² to someday lead a major corporation like her role model, Pepsi-Cola North America CEO Brenda Barnes. 她立志要像她的偶像、百事可乐北美地区首席执行官布林达·巴尼斯一样，有能力领导一个大公司。

Even after starting a family, Debi continued to pursue her career at full speed. 即使在成家以后，黑梅特尔仍然在全力追求自己的职业目标。

Then one day when Debi was on a business trip, she opened her hotel door to find USA Today with the startling headline  然而，有一天她吃惊地看到《今日美国》的惊人头条是

"Pepsi Chief Trades Work for Family." The subhead elaborated: "22-Year Veteran Got Burned Out." “百事高管以工作换家庭”，副标题是“22年的职场老将精疲力竭”。

1 rigors   

严格( rigor的名词复数 )； 严酷； 严密； （由惊吓或中毒等导致的身体）僵直

参考例句：

• The rigors of that lonely land need no further description. 生活在那个穷乡僻壤的困苦是无庸赘言的。
• You aren't ready for the rigors of industry. 你不适合干工业的艰苦工作了。

2 aspired   

v.渴望，追求( aspire的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She aspired to a scientific career. 她有志于科学事业。
• Britain,France,the United States and Japan all aspired to hegemony after the end of World War I. 第一次世界大战后，英、法、美、日都想争夺霸权。 来自《简明英汉词典》