地铁上的面试官
A job interview in Chinese: the man on the metro
Name: ________________ Date: ________
Key words
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 地铁 | dìtiě | subway; metro |
| 站 | zhàn | station; stop |
| 旁边 | pángbiān | beside; next to; nearby |
| 一会儿 | yíhuìr | a moment; a while |
| 准备 | zhǔnbèi | to prepare; to get ready; preparation |
| 后面 | hòumiàn | back; rear; behind |
| 过 | guò | (particle) marks a past experience: have ever |
| 有时候 | yǒushíhou | sometimes |
| 笑 | xiào | to laugh; to smile |
| 心里 | xīnli | in one's heart; in one's mind |
| 重要 | zhòngyào | important |
| 男人 | nánrén | man; men |
English (for the teacher)
It’s eight in the morning, and the metro is packed. Su Qing stands by the doors, feeling very nervous. At ten this morning she has a very important interview.
The man next to her has his earphones in and won’t stop singing. He sings loudly, and not very well.
Everyone is looking at him, but he doesn’t seem to notice a thing.
A few minutes later, he’s still singing. Su Qing says to him, “Excuse me, could I ask you to stop singing? I’m preparing for an interview.”
The man stops at once, very embarrassed: “Sorry, sorry! Whenever I’m nervous, I sing.”
At ten to ten, Su Qing arrives at a company. She’s dressed beautifully, and she’s well prepared.
She walks into a room. The person sitting behind the desk glances at her, and neither of them says a word.
It’s the man from the metro.
“Please sit down,” he says. “We’ve… met.”
Su Qing thinks, “That’s it, then.”
The man looks over her CV and asks her lots of questions. Su Qing answers them all well.
Finally he asks, “What do you think your weaknesses are?”
Su Qing thinks, “Just tell the truth.” Then she says, “Sometimes I’m too direct.”
The man laughs: “I found that out this morning. I have a weakness too: whenever I’m nervous, I sing. Today is my first time interviewing anyone.”
A week later, Su Qing gets a call from him: “Can you start work next Monday?”
“Yes,” says Su Qing. “But… on Monday morning, could you not sing on the metro?”