老板点的歌
KTV in China: the boss picks the first song
Name: ________________ Date: ________
我来公司的第一个星期五，同事们说：“今天晚上我们去KTV，欢迎你！”
坐在我旁边的同事小声告诉我：“在我们这儿，第一首歌一定是老板选。”
我有点儿紧张。为了这个晚上，我在家练了一个星期的歌。那是一首很难的歌，我想让大家知道，我唱得很好。
到了KTV，大家都坐好了，没有人去点歌。老板站起来说：“第一首歌，我来选。”房间里一下子安静了。
电视上出来了四个大字：《两只老虎》。
老板把话筒给我：“新同事，你来唱！”
我看着大家，大家都看着我。这不是给小孩子唱的歌吗？
音乐开始了，我只好唱：“两只老虎，两只老虎……”
我刚唱了一句，大家都站了起来，跟我一起唱，声音比我还大。老板唱得最大声，也最不好听。
唱完了，大家都给我鼓掌。老板说：“唱得真好，欢迎你！”
后来我才知道，每个新同事来公司以后，第一首歌都是《两只老虎》。老板说，这首歌谁都会唱，谁也不会紧张。
那首很难的歌，我到现在还没唱过。
上个星期，公司来了一个新同事。这一次，是我去点的歌。
Key words
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 旁边 | pángbiān | beside; next to; nearby |
| 告诉 | gàosù | to tell; to inform |
| 站 | zhàn | station; stop |
| 开始 | kāishǐ | to begin; to start; beginning |
| 一起 | yìqǐ | together |
| 过 | guò | (particle) marks a past experience: have ever |
| 同事 | tóngshì | colleague; coworker |
| 欢迎 | huānyíng | to welcome; welcome |
| 一定 | yídìng | surely; certainly; must |
| 选 | xuǎn | to choose; to select |
| 练 | liàn | to practice; to train; to drill |
| 难 | nán | difficult; hard |
English (for the teacher)
On the first Friday at my new company, my colleagues said, “Tonight we're going to KTV to welcome you!”
The colleague sitting next to me told me quietly, “Here, the boss always picks the first song.”
I was a bit nervous. I had practised singing at home for a whole week for this night. It was a very hard song, and I wanted everyone to know I could sing well.
At KTV, everyone sat down and nobody went to pick a song. The boss stood up and said, “I'll choose the first song.” The room went quiet at once.
Four big characters came up on the screen: Two Tigers.
The boss handed me the microphone. “New colleague, you sing!”
I looked at everyone, and everyone looked at me. Wasn't this a song for little kids?
The music started, so I had no choice but to sing: “Two tigers, two tigers …”
I'd only sung one line when everyone stood up and sang along with me, louder than I was. The boss sang the loudest, and the worst.
When it was over, everyone clapped for me. The boss said, “Really well sung, welcome!”
Only later did I find out that every new colleague's first song at the company is Two Tigers. The boss says everyone can sing it, so nobody gets nervous.
I still haven't sung that hard song.
Last week a new colleague joined the company. This time, I was the one who picked the song.