【推荐2】Have you ever felt a wave of anxiety (焦虑) when going out in public? Have you ever felt as if people were talking about you or laughing at you?     1    . Luckily, here are three tips to help you overcome this issue.

Understand the spotlight effect (焦点效应)

Many people assume that they’re being judged all the time but actually it may only be occasional. Keeping this in mind, we can look at others and think to ourselves, “Ah, they’re probably thinking about themselves right now”. Whenever you start feeling anxious outside, you can remind yourself of this.     2    . It will give you an advantage in social situations.

Use cognitive restructuring (认知重建)

    3    . For example, you stutter (结巴) a bit while talking with someone else. Then you begin to worry you’ve messed up and that this person now thinks less of you. In this situation. you can remind yourself that everyone stutters from time to time. And since the spotlight effect exists, chances are this person didn’t even notice it. This way of thinking will immediately relax you.

    4    

If you always run away from a fear, your body and mind will remember it as something dangerous enough to run away from. But if you face your fears, over time your body will start to accept them as something manageable. And your anxiety should decrease little by little. You can take baby steps here. Start off by saying thank you to people you often meet, such as cashiers or bus drivers. Then when you feel comfortable enough, move on to making small talks with them.     5    . This should help you with your anxiety.

【推荐3】How to Find the Theme of a Book or Short Story

If you’ve ever been assigned a book report, you may have been asked to address the theme of the book.     1     A book’s theme is the main idea that flows through the narrative and connects the components of the story together. A work of fiction may have one theme or many, and they aren’t always easy to pinpoint right away. In many stories, the theme develops over time, and it isn’t until you’re well into reading the novel or short story that you fully understand the underlying theme or themes.

Themes can be broad or they can focus on a specific notion. For example, a romance novel may have the obvious, but very general, theme of love, but the storyline may also address issues of society or family.     2    

A book’s theme is not the same as its plot or its moral lesson, but these elements are related and necessary in building the larger story.     3     The moral is the lesson that the reader is supposed to learn from the plot’s conclusion. Both reflect the larger theme and work to present what that theme is to the reader.

    4     Often it is suggested by a thinly veiled lesson or details contained within the plot. In the nursery tale “The Three Little Pigs,” the narrative revolves around three pigs and a wolf’s pursuit of them. The wolf destroys their first two homes, shoddily built of straw and twigs. But the third home, painstakingly built of brick, protects the pigs and the wolf is defeated. The pigs (and the reader) learn that only hard work and preparation will lead to success. Thus, you can say that the theme of “The Three Little Pigs” is about making smart choices.

If you find yourself struggling to identify the theme of a book you’re reading, there’s a simple trick you can use.     5     For example, you could say preparation best symbolizes “The Three Little Pigs.” Next, use that word as the foundation for a complete thought such as, “Making smart choices requires planning and preparation, which could be interpreted as the moral of the story.”

【推荐3】People often imagine that a knowledge of languages is sufficient to make an interpreter. Of course it is a prerequisite, as are two hands to a professional boxer. But just as the fact of having two hands does not make a boxer, so the knowledge of different languages, be they many or few, does not make an interpreter. It is only an instrument which you must learn how to use in a particular way — for which you may or may not be gifted.

The basic qualities required of the interpreter are not exceptionally rare, but their combination is very uncommon. They are:

(1) A capacity for being passively receptive, i.e. for drinking in readily and without any personal reaction all that may be said by the speaker.

(2) The type of quick-wittedness which makes for prompt and effective repartee (妙语), interpretation being a sort of mental game of tennis.

(3) A good memory, because all the tricks of the trade are intended only to make up for its deficiencies. Two things are expected of the interpreter’s memory: first, that it should store up an exceptionally large vocabulary in the related languages and supply instantly the required word or phrase; second, that it should retain for a very brief period(seldom more than one hour) a picture as full, detailed, and accurate as possible of what has just been said after which the interpreter will be well advised to wash his mind clear of most of what he has memorized. In this latter function, the interpreter’s memory is therefore the reverse of the comedian’s. Whereas the actor has ample time to learn his part, gradually, and methodically, and is then expected to remember it over a long period and repeat it on a succession (连续) of occasions, the interpreter must wholly commit to his memory fleeting thoughts and words as they fly past, and then bring them back to mind only once, a very short while later.

The work of the translator and that of the interpreter are fundamentally different and can hardly be combined. Very rare indeed are people who can do both. The reason for this is clear: the translator can or should search at leisure for the accurate term, as well as effort to express himself in the best possible grammar and style; he may re-write the same paragraph ten times or more, improving it each time; he may consult all dictionaries and reference books, and ask for help and advice. The interpreter, on the other hand, is given hardly any time to think, can consult neither books nor friends, and must “put across”, immediately and as accurately as possible, whatever the speaker wishes to convey. But he may express nuances (微妙) by varying the tone of his voice, he may paraphrase when he does not find the exact word, he may repeat, correct or add to what he has just said, if he sees that he was not properly understood. These are in reality two contrary techniques.