The Importance of Words

詞匯量大的重要性

Your boss has a bigger vocabulary than you have. That’s one good reason why he’s your boss. This discovery has been made in the word laboratories of the world. Not by theoretical English professors, but by practical, hard-headed scholars who have been searching for the secrets of success. 你老板的詞匯量比你的大,。他之所以是你的老板，這是一個(gè)很好的理由,。世界各地的詞匯實(shí)驗(yàn)室都發(fā)現(xiàn)了這一點(diǎn),，發(fā)現(xiàn)者不是精于理論的英語教授，而是講究實(shí)際,、頭腦精明,、一直在尋找成功秘訣的學(xué)者。

After a host ofexperiments and years of testing they have found out: That if your vocabulary is limited your chances of success are limited. That one of the easiest and quickest ways to get ahead is by consciously building up your knowledge of words. That the vocabulary of the average person almost stops growing by the middle twenties. And that from then on it is necessary to have an intelligent plan if progress is to be made. No haphazard hit-or-missmethods will do.

經(jīng)過一大堆試驗(yàn)和許多年測試之后,，他們發(fā)現(xiàn)：如果你的詞匯有限,，你成功的機(jī)會也會有限,；超越別人最簡單、最快捷的一種方法是有意識地?cái)U(kuò)充你的詞匯知識,；普通人的詞匯量到二十五六歲就基本上停止增加了,；從這時(shí)起，要想進(jìn)步就有必要制定一個(gè)聰明的計(jì)劃,，隨隨便便,、毫無計(jì)劃可不行。

It has long since been satisfactorily established that a high executive does not have a large vocabulary merely because of the opportunities of his position. That would be putting the cart before the horse. Quite the reverse is true. His skill in words was a tremendous help in getting him his job.

很早以前就有人充分證明了,，高級經(jīng)理之所以詞匯量大不僅僅是因?yàn)樗桓邫?quán)重,、機(jī)會很多。那樣認(rèn)為就有可能因果倒置了,。事實(shí)恰恰相反,，他的詞匯技巧對他獲得職位起了很大的幫助作用。

Dr. Johnson O’Connor of the Human Engineering Laboratory of Boston and of the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey, gave a vocabulary test to 100 young men who were studying to be industrial executives.

約翰遜·奧康納博士是波士頓人類工程學(xué)實(shí)驗(yàn)室和新澤西州霍博肯斯蒂文斯理工學(xué)院的工作人員,，他對 100 名正在學(xué)習(xí)成為產(chǎn)業(yè)主管的年輕人進(jìn)行了詞匯測試,。

Five years later those who had passed in the upper ten percent all, without exception, had executive positions, while not a single young man of the lower twenty-five percent had become an executive.

5 年以后，通過測試的前 10% 無一例外地都獲得了管理職位,，而最差的 25% 的年輕人沒有一個(gè)成為經(jīng)理,。

You see, there are certain factors in success that can be measured as scientifically as the contents of a testtube, and it has been discovered that the most common characteristic of outstanding success is “an extensive knowledge of the exact meaning of English words.”

你瞧，成功的某些因素是可以用科學(xué)方法測量的,，就像試管里的物質(zhì)能用科學(xué)方法測量一樣,。他們同時(shí)還發(fā)現(xiàn)，巨大成功最普遍的特點(diǎn)就是“對英語單詞的確切含義有廣泛的了解,?！?/p>

The extent of your vocabulary indicates the degree of your intelligence. Your brain power will increase as you learn to know more words. Here’s the proof.

你的詞匯量顯示你的智力水平。學(xué)會擴(kuò)充詞匯,，你的智能也會得到提高,。下面就是很好的證明。

Two classes in a high school were selected for an experiment. Their ages and their environment were the same. Each class represented an identical cross-section of the community. One, the control class, took the normal courses. The other class was given special vocabulary training. At the end of the period the marks of the latter class surpassed those of the control group, not only in

English, but in every subject, including mathematics and the sciences.

一所中學(xué)的兩個(gè)班被選為實(shí)驗(yàn)對象,。他們的年齡和環(huán)境都一樣,，每個(gè)班在社區(qū)具有同樣的代表性。對照班學(xué)習(xí)正常的課程,，另外那個(gè)班開了特殊詞匯訓(xùn)練課,。試驗(yàn)結(jié)束的時(shí)候，后面這個(gè)班的成績超過了對照組,，不光是英語成績,，每門課都處于領(lǐng)先地位，包括數(shù)學(xué)和自然科學(xué),。

The study of words is not merely something that has to do with literature. Words are your tools of thought. You can’t even think at all without them. Try it. If you are planning to go downtown this afternoon you will find that you are saying to yourself: “I think I will go downtown this afternoon.” You can’t make such a simple decision as this without using words. Without words you could make no decisions and form no judgments whatsoever.

詞匯學(xué)習(xí)不光與文學(xué)有聯(lián)系,。詞匯是你的思考工具,，沒有詞匯你根本無法思考。試試看,，假如你準(zhǔn)備今天下午去市中心，你會發(fā)現(xiàn)你在對自己說：“我想今天下午我會去市中心,?！辈皇褂迷~匯，你連這么個(gè)簡單的決定都做不了,。沒有詞匯,，你無法做任何決定，也無法做任何判斷,。

A pianist may have the most beautiful tunes in his head, but if he had only five keys on his piano he would never get more than a fraction of these tunes out. Your words are your keys for your thoughts. And the more words you have at your command the deeper, clearer and more accurate

will be your thinking.

一位鋼琴家的腦子里可能有最優(yōu)美的曲子,，但如果他的鋼琴上只有5個(gè)鍵，他彈出的曲子只可能是一小部分,。你的詞匯就是你進(jìn)行思考的鍵,，供你使用的詞匯越多，你的思想就越深刻,、越清楚,、越準(zhǔn)確。

A command of English will not only improve the processes of your mind. It will give you assurance; build your self-confidence; lend color to your personality; increase your popularity. Your words are your personality. Your vocabulary is you.

對英語的掌握不但能促進(jìn)你的思維活動,，而且還能給你信心,，增強(qiáng)你的自信，證實(shí)你的人格,，提高你的知名度,。你的詞匯就是你的人格，你的詞匯就是你,。

Your words are all that we, your friends, have to know and judge you by. You have no othermedium for telling us your thoughts—for convincing us, persuading us, giving us orders.

你的詞匯是我們——你的朋友——對你進(jìn)行了解,、做出判斷的唯一依據(jù)，你沒有其他辦法告訴我們你的想法——說服我們,、勸說我們,、給我們下命令。