新视角研究生英语3-第一章AppearanceandFirstImpressions课文和翻译.doc

Appearance and First Impressions
1. "You only get one chance to make a first impression.”
你只有一次机会给别人留下第一印象。
2. Although I do not know who said it, I agree one hundred percent with the above quotation. Surely you must have suspected that a book entitled Winning Images would have a chapter on appearances. And you were absolutely correct, because appearances definitely have a great deal to do with your image.
虽然我不知道上面这句话是谁说的,但我百分之百同意这句引语。当然你肯定能猜到名为《成功形象》的书,肯定会有一章谈论外表。你猜得绝对没错,因为外表与你的形象的确有极大的关系。
3.I do not intend to recommend any such drastic changes as a face lift, a nose job, a hair transplant or silicone injections in your breasts; but I do want to encourage you to be aware of how easily you can rectify some of the most obvious appearance images. In short, if you have a homely face, I simply want you to learn to make the best of your homeliness.
我无意推荐任何重大的整容改变,诸如拉皮、隆鼻、植发,或是在胸部注射硅胶;但我的确想帮助你意识到,你可以很容易地改进某些最明显的外表形象。简单地说,如果你长着一张很平常的脸。希望你学会把你的平常外表发挥到极致。
*4.Dressing properly is the most obvious appearance image. Depending on what you do and in what part of the country you live, there is a right way and a wrong way to dress. Because there are so many different dress codes, the discussion here will be limited to those styles most appropriate for the executive-type male. However, the suggestions made can, with a little thought, be easily adapted to your own situation.
穿着得体就是最明显的外表形象。你的职业和居住地决定了怎样穿着是合适的、怎样是不合适的。因为着装规范是多种多样的,这里的讨论将仅限于最适合男性管理人员的着装风格。不过,只要稍微开动一下脑筋,这里所提的建议可以很容易加以调整以适合你自己的情况。
*5.My philosophy has always been to dress in a relatively conservative manner when conducting business so that I would offend the least number of people. Since it is most important to have everything going for you in business, you cannot afford to wear clothes that might have an adverse effect on certain customers.
我的穿着信念一直是,在商场上着装应相对保守,从而将因着装而冒犯他人的可能性降到最低,因为在生意中最重要的就是让所有一切都有利于你,所以你不能穿那些可能在某些客户身上产生相反效果的衣服。
6.Sam Slade, a life insurance agent, is a good example of a person who precipitated this kind of negative response from the people he dealt with. He habitually wore leisure clothes, in which he felt most comfortable, and told me,” I dress to please two people - my wife and Sam Slade. You’re out of date, Bob. In this modern carefree society, people do their own thing. I never liked to wear a suit and tie even as a little kid when my parents made me dress up to go to Sunday schoo1, and now that I'm adult and don't have to, I won’t!”
保险代理人萨姆·斯莱德就是一个很好的例子,他会使与他打交道的客户一下子产生这种负面反应。他习惯穿让自己感觉非常舒适的休闲服,他告诉我说“我穿衣服就为了讨好两个人我太太和萨姆·斯莱德。你落伍了,鲍勃。在这个自由自在的现代社会里,人们做自己的事。即使在小时候,我父母叫我穿戴整齐去主日学校的时候,我也不喜欢穿西装打领带,既然现在我是成年人了,就不必西装革履,我决不这样穿戴!”
7.“Let me ask you a very important question, Sam,” I said. “For an extra hundred dollars, or perhaps as much as two or three hundred per week, would you be willing to dress conservatively, as I do? Stop and think before you answer this. I’m talking about wearing Brooks Brothers-type suits, button-down shirts, a rep tie, and cordovan wingtip shoes every day you go to work.”
“我问你一个很重要的问题,萨姆。”我说。“如果一星期多给你100美元,或者也许是200、300美元,你愿不愿意穿着保守一些,就像我一样?好好想一想再回答我。我说的是每天上班都得穿布鲁克斯兄弟品牌式样的西装、领尖钉有纽扣的衬衫、棱纹平布领带和科尔多瓦翼波状盖饰鞋。”
8."For that kind of money, I’d have to be a damn fool not to!"
“有那么多钱的话,我不愿意穿就是个该死的傻瓜了!”
9.”Well,” I said, smiling, “it’s impossible for me to know exactly how many important clients you turn off throughout the year because of the way you dress, but I suspect you're losing a great deal of money, perhaps thousands or tens of thousands of dollars each year in unmade sales. Those leisure suits you wear are definitely a luxury item because they’re costing you a small fortune in terms of lost business!”
“那好,”我微笑着说,“我不能确切知道在一年中你会因为自己的穿着方式赶跑多少重要客户，不过我猜你正在损失许多钱,也许每年这些没做成的生意有成千上万美元。你穿的那些休闲服确确实实是件奢侈品,因为就损失的生意来说,它们让你失去了一大笔钱。”
10.Sam looked worried. “Do you really think I turn off that many people with my mod clothes?” he asked.
萨姆看起来有些不安了。“你真的认为我的新潮服装赶走了那么多客户?
11.”Absolutely,” I replied. “This is particularly true of the business you’ve been trying to break into. The big sales that involve group, key man, partnership, retirement, and pensions generally mean dealing with an executive on the upper echelon. I’m sure you've noticed that most of these men who make important decisions dress the way I do. Since you rarely find them wearing leisure suits to work, you can conclude they don't approve of that kind of dress for business. On the basis of this conclusion, you can probably assume that their first impression of you will be a bad one because they will more than likely resent the way you dress. Since all businessmen place a high value on their time, they probably won't even let you give them a sales presentation. They must say no to most salesmen who call on them, and because they are selective, you'll be one of the first to get the axe before you even get your foot in the door."
“绝对是这样,”我回答道,“尤其是你一直试图想打进去的那些业务。那些牵涉到团体、关键人物、合伙人、退休人员,以及养老金领取者的大宗生意通常意味着要与上层管理人员打交道。我敢肯定你已经注意到了大部分作重要决定的人物穿着打扮与我是一样的。既然你很少看到他们穿休闲服去上班,你可以推断他们并不赞同在谈业务时穿这类衣服。在这个结论的基础上,你或许可以推测到你留给他们的第一印象很糟糕,因为他们很可能讨厌你的穿着打扮。由于所有的生意人都很珍惜时间,他们或许根本不会给你推销的机会。他们必须拒绝大部分拜访他们的销售人员,而正因为他们对于推销是有选择性的,你的脚甚至还没踏进他们公司的门,就首当其冲被拒之门外了。”
12.”Okay,” Sam said, “I’ll go along with you when you say I turn off businessmen with my mod clothes. But what about when I call on a working man at his home in the evening, or on prospects who dress much the same way I do — like entertainers, hair stylists, and florists?”
“好吧,”萨姆说,“我同意你说的我的新潮穿着赶跑了商人。但是如果我晚上去一个工人家里拜访,或者是拜访一个穿着跟我差不多的潜在客户--比如艺人、发型师,或者花商呢?
13.”You can't afford to have your clothes decrease your odds in any way. Don't you think you're limiting your market potential by calling on just those types of prospects? It's my opinion,” I added, “that you lose something even with the mod-type prospects because they, too, want to have complete confidence in the agent they're dealing with. They want to know you’ll be around for a long time to give them service, and conservative dress signals this kind of stability. On the other hand, to many people the mod look suggests that you might be both flighty and mutable."
“你可不能让你的着装在任何方面减少你的商机。你难道不认为仅仅拜访这几类客户会限制你的市场潜力吗？这只是我的看法，“我补充道，“即使在穿着新潮的客户中，你也失去了一些东西，因为他们同样希望对与自己打交道的代理人有完全的信任。他们需要知道你能长时间从事这个行业，从而一直为他们提供服务，而保守的穿着能给人这种稳定的信号。从另外一方面来说，在很多人看来，新潮外表意味着你喜欢幻想、反复无常。”
14.That my conversation with Sam had made a favorable impression on him was evident a few weeks later when I encountered him lunching with a business client. He was wiring a new pinstripe suit. On weekends and at cocktail parties, Sam continued to wear his leisure suits, but he was on his own tune then, so I certainly couldn’t criticize him, even though such clothes are not to my liking.
几个星期后当我看到萨姆与一个客户吃午餐时，显而易见我与萨姆的谈话对他产生了好的影响。他穿了一套新的细条纹西装。在周末和鸡尾酒会上，萨姆仍然穿他的休闲服，但那时是他的私入时间，所以我当然不能批评他，虽然这样的衣服不是我所喜欢的。
15. Because I believe in my appearance philosophy so strongly, I have often told my now salesmen that one of the best investments they can make is to buy themselves two expensive suits- one a pinstripe and the other a lighter gray, preferably with a vest. These two suits are worth more than a closetful of second-rate suits that lack style. If I were on a very tight budget, I would rather own these two suits and alternate them throughout the work week than purchase several suits that would not give me the image I wished to project. The secret is not quantity, but quality.
由于我坚信自己对外表的信念，我常常这样告诉新来的销售人员，他们所能进行的最好投资之一就是给自己买两套昂贵的西装——一件细条纹的，另一件浅灰色的，最好再配上马甲。这两套西服要比挂满整个壁橱、但缺乏品位的普通西装更有价值。如果我手头不宽裕，我宁可拥有这两套西装，在一周内替换着穿，也不会买几套不能展现我想要树立的形象的西服。奥秘在于质量，而不在于数量。
16. A similar line of thinking can be applied to hair. Certainly, hair styles change from year to year, and what was considered long hair in the fifties and early sixties is, by today’s standards, quite conservative. The important thing to consider is neatness rather than length. The same holds true for beards and moustaches. Neatly trimmed, they can give you a very clean-cut look. However, handlebar moustaches and Fu Manchus hardly seem appropriate for an executive. If you insist on wearing either, you are hurting your image, and doing so is going to cost money.
同样的思路可以运用于发型。当然，发型每年都会变，50年代和60年代被认为的长发，用今天的标准来衡量，就太保守了。在发型上最重要的考虑是整洁而不是长度。这一条同样适用于胡须。把胡须修剪整齐能给你一个十分整洁的形象。然而翘八字胡以及傅满洲式的胡须对管理人员就不太合适。如果你坚持蓄这两种胡子，就会损坏自己的形象，这样做会让你损失金钱。
17. Another suggestion I’ve made to many salesmen and business executives who work evenings is that they carry a portable electric shaver in their briefcases. Before an important late-afternoon or early-evening business meeting that end-of-the-day, worn-out look, so detrimental to a positive first impression, can be eliminated by taking a five-minute break to shave.
我向许多需要晚上工作的销售人员和管理人员提的另一条建议是在公文箱里备一把便携式电动剃须刀。在重要的晚午会议或早晚会议之前，可以花5分钟的休息时间剃一下胡子，使那种一天工作后疲惫的样子焕然一新，否则就有损于建立良好的第一印象。
18. In my book Total Commitment Dr. Denton Cooley is quoted as saying that trim physical condition and neat grooming are very important for a heart surgeon. “You can call it vanity, but I think it’s really a matter of pride,” he says, ”I think it would destroy the faith my patients have in me if I were to give them medical advice about how to take care of themselves, and at the same time I was talking to them, I’d be fat and dumpy, with a cigarette hanging out of the side of my mouth…Nobody wants to be operated on by a slovenly surgeon.”
我在《全力以赴》一书中，曾引用丹顿.库利医生的话说，健康的身体和整洁的打扮对心脏外科大夫尤为重要。“你可以把这个叫做虚荣心，但我认为这其实是一种自豪感”他说，“我想如果我在给予病人有关如何照料自己的医学建议时，自己看起来肥胖臃肿，嘴角还叼着香烟，那将影响病人对我的信任……没人愿意让一个邋遢的大夫给自己动手术。”faith(信仰)
19. Equally important to a good appearance is your own self-image. Although I’m not being original when I say it, I ’m sure you’ll agree that the way you see yourself will reflect the image you portray to others.
与好的外表同样重要的是你的自我形象。虽然这话并非是我的原创，但我肯定，你一定同意一个人对自己的看法会反映出你在他人心目中的形象。portray(描绘;描述；画像)
20. Along with your own personal appearance and attitude about yourself, your business approach can create a good first impression on your client. When calling on a customer, it’s very important that you begin your conversation with him by getting right down to business. He’s not really interested in what you have to say about the weather, last night’s presidential speech, or Sunday’s football game. Neither is he interested in being flattered about his beautiful offices, nice-looking suit, or the “knockout” he has for a daughter, whose picture is on his wall. (For all you know, the woman in the picture could be his wife or girlfriend!) Such small talk is a form of insincerity and an intrusion on his time. I have always found it effective to get to the point, and I assure you that any businessman will respect you for doing likewise.
与你的个人外表和自我态度一样，你做生意的方式也可以使客户产生良好的印象。当拜访客户时，很重要的一点是谈话开门见山。他并不会真的对你所谈论的天气状況、前一天晚上的总统演说、或是星期天的概榄球赛感兴趣。他也不会对你夸奖他的办公室漂亮、西装好看，或者墙上照片中他女儿的模样令人倾倒感兴趣。（说不定照片中的女人可能是他的太太或女朋友！）这样的闲聊是一种不真诚的表现形式，而且侵占了他的时间。我一直认为直截了当是最有效的，因此我向你保证任何一个商人都会因为你能这样做而对你尊重有加。
21. Just as appearances determine first impressions of individuals, so do they of products, places, and businesses.
正如外表决定了人的第一印象，外表也同样决定了产品、地点以及公司的第一印象。
22.For example, you’ve probably noticed that parking lot attendants of successful restaurants always park the Rolls-Royces, Mercedes, Cadillacs, and Continentals in the most conspicuous places so that you can’t help but see them as you walk toward the entrances. I used to think this was done because wealthy people gave bigger tips, but the real reason is that every good restaurant man knows that good images sell food. He wants to tell the public: “We cater to discriminating people. It’s obvious, therefore, that our food has to be excellently prepared.”
比方说，你也许注意到了生意兴隆饭店的泊车服务生会把劳斯莱斯、奔驰、凯迪拉克和大陆牌汽车停在最显眼的位置，这样你在走向饭店门口的时候一定会看到它们。我过去以为这么做是因为有钱人给了更多的小费，但真实的原因是每个成功的饭店经营者都懂得良好的形象能推销食品。他想告诉公众：我们招待的是懂格调的客人。因此，很明显，我们的食物一定是精心烹任的。
23. A neat and tidy appearance also suggests that you are efficient and well-organized —and there isn’t a business I know of that doesn’t want that type of image. If you've ever walked into a neat and orderly garage at a service station, I am sure that, as I do, you feel more comfortable leaving your car there to be serviced.
—个干净整洁的外表也表示你讲效率有条理——我所知道的公司无不希望拥有这样的形象。如果你曾经走进过汽车维修站一间干净而整齐的车库，我确信你会和我一样，认为把车留在那里进行维护感觉更舒服一些。
*24.In this chapter I have highlighted just a handful of instances in which appearance determined a first impression and greatly affected the desired image. You should be able to apply the philosophy across the board so that you can benefit from this message in other areas.
在这一章里，我着重举了几个例子来说明外表决定第一印象,并且对所渴望的形象有很大影响。你应该将这几条原理运用到各个方面，从而在其他方面也能从中获益。
*25.I sincerely apologize to the female reader for discussing only the appearance of men, but quite frankly, I do not have the expertise to advise women on how to dress. The same basic message, however, is equally applicable to you. I might add that you should avoid trying to look sexy on your job – unless, of course, you happen to be a hostess in an all-night massage parlor!
我真诚地向女读者们表示歉意，因为我只讨论了男子的外表，不过说实话，我并没有足够的专业知识向女性提供着装建议。但是基本的要旨也同样适用于你们。或许我应该补充一句在工作中你们不该穿得很性感——当然，除非你正好是通宵服务的按摩店小姐！