英语小达人 206 An Amazing Salesman

 　　An Amazing Salesman

　　不可思议的推销员

　　The manager of a department store came to check on his new salesman. In fact, it was really a megastore--you could get anything there.

　　一家百货商场的经理到店里检视新来的推销员。事实上，这是一家超大的商场，里面应有尽有，什么都能买到。

　　"How many sales did you make today?" the manager asked.

　　“你今天做成了几笔买卖？”经理问。

　　"One," replied the new guy.

　　“一笔，”新来的推销员答。

　　"Only one?" said the manager. "Most of my staff make some 20 sales a day. How much was the sale worth?"

　　“只有一笔吗？”经理说，“我们的大部分员工每天都能大约成交20笔呢。你卖了多少钱？”

　　The salesman answered, "$43,868."

　　推销员答：“43，868美元。”

　　Flabbergasted, the manager asked him to explain.

　　经理大吃一惊，要他说说看。

　　"First I sold a man a fishhook," the salesman said. "Then I sold him a rod and a reel¹. Then I asked where he was going fishing, and he said down by the coast. So I suggested he'd need a boat, then I took him down to the boat department. He bought a runabout. When he said his Volkswagen might not be able to pull it, I took him to the automotive department and sold him a big SUV."

　　“首先，我卖给他一个钓钩，”推销员说，“然后卖给他钓竿和线轴。接着我问他准备去哪儿钓鱼，他说要去海边。于是我就建议他买一条船，并把他带到船只部，他买了一艘小小汽艇。当他说他的车装不下这小汽艇时，我就把他带到汽车部，卖给他一辆大SUV。”

　　The amazed manager asked, "You sold all that to a guy who came in for a fishhook?"

　　惊讶的经理问道：“你把所有这些东西卖给了一个来买钓钩的人？”

　　"No," the new salesman replied. "He actually came in for a bottle of aspirin² for his wife's migraine. I told him, your weekned's shot. You may as well go fishing."

　　“不是，”新来的推销员说，“事实上，他是因为妻子的偏头痛而来给她买阿司匹林的。我对他说：‘你这个周末算是泡汤了，不如去钓鱼吧。’”

　　重点讲解：

　　1. check on

　　检查，查看（以确保一切正常）；

　　eg. He decided³ to check on things at the warehouse⁴.

　　他决定去仓库查看一下。

　　eg. Don't forget to check on your work.

　　别忘记检查一下你们的工作。

　　2. in fact

　　事实上，其实；

　　eg. That sounds rather simple, but in fact it's very difficult.

　　那听来简单，但实际上很难。

　　eg. In fact, I'm sure that's the only satisfactory way out.

　　我想，事实上那是唯一令人满意的出路。

　　3.go+现在分词

　　go 后接 dancing, shopping, fishing, hiking, hunting, skating, skiing, surfing, swimming, walking等，表示去进行该活动；文中用到的就是go fishing去钓鱼；

　　eg. It's dangerous to go skating on the lake.

　　在湖上滑冰有危险。

　　eg. He finished lunch and went shopping.

　　他吃完午饭而后去买东西。

　　4. may as well

　　不妨；最好；还不如；

　　eg. You may just as well tell me the truth.

　　你告诉我真相也无妨。

　　eg. So you may as well give us something.

　　所以现在你最好告诉我们一些情况。

1 reel   

n.卷筒，线轴；vi.蹒跚地走，旋转，骚乱，退缩，摇晃；vt.卷，卷...于轴上；旋转

参考例句：

• He cast the line and then reel it back.他把线抛出，然后把线绕回。
• The child could reel off many poems of the Tang Dynasty at the age of five.这孩子五岁时就能把许多唐诗倒背如流。

2 aspirin   

n.阿司匹林

参考例句：

• The aspirin seems to quiet the headache.阿司匹林似乎使头痛减轻了。
• She went into a chemist's and bought some aspirin.她进了一家药店，买了些阿司匹林。

3 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

4 warehouse   

n.仓库；vt.存入仓库

参考例句：

• We freighted the goods to the warehouse by truck.我们用卡车把货物运到仓库。
• The manager wants to clear off the old stocks in the warehouse.经理想把仓库里积压的存货处理掉。