12.1 Losing weight Ladies, don’t try to lose any more weight, because no matter how hard you try, you’ll never be slim enough! Do you know the official definition for slimness? Remember the following, as it’s going to save you lots of money, time and suffering. Listen: The official definition is: Lose 10 more pounds! So how much do you have to lose till you are called slim? You are skinny. No, I need to lose 10 more pounds. You’ve lost 10 pounds. No, I’ll be slim if I can still lose 10 more pounds. This goes on, until you weigh no more than 30 pounds. Dear friends, do you know that, in order to attune myself to your sense of beauty, I have started training myself to stare at a lamppost each day, because that is what you look like after you have lost all that weight. This is sick, because no man really likes women to be so skinny. So why do you ladies still try to lose more weight? It is because modern women no longer care what men think. What you think is:”I’m not beautiful until all my fellow ladies think I’m beautiful. You men might think I’m slim enough, but if my fellow ladies think I’m not trying hard enough, I’ll lose more.” But, ladies, stop being silly. To your fellow ladies, you’ll never look beautiful. Can’t you see that? 12.2 仁者见智 我每周三次在UNLV大学教经济。上周一开始上课的时候，我问学生周末过得怎样。有一个小伙子说他过得不怎么样，因为他拔了一颗智齿。然后他又问我为什么总是看上去很开心。 他让我想起了曾经看过得一句话：每天早晨醒来的时候，你都可以选择如何对待这一天，而我选择了开心对待。 我给在座的60个学生举了自己的例子。我除了在UNLV大学教书外，还在离我家17英里的汉德森社区大学兼职。几个星期前的一天，我开了17英里的车到达汉德森。我下了公路，使如大学路，再开1/4英里我就能到学校了。可就在这时我的车熄火了，我怎么也无法再点着它。所以我打开闪光灯，抓起课本径直走到校区。 我立即给AAA打了电话，让他们下课后安排拖车过来。院长办公室的秘书问我怎么回事，我笑着告诉她这是我的幸运日。 她对此非常不解，车坏了我怎么还说是幸运日？ 我住在17英里外，如果今天我的车注定要坏，它可能坏在公路的任何一段，可它偏偏在最合适不过的地方熄火了，我既没有妨碍公路上的车流，还可以不行到教室，安排下课后拖车。 秘书的眼睛睁得大大的，然后她笑了。我也笑着来到教室。这就是我的故事。 我注意到，尽管还很早，我的经济课堂上60个学生没有一个在睡觉。也许我的故事 感染了他们，也许，一切都是因为一个学生注意到了我很高兴。 12.3 新款手机推介 女士们，先生们： 欢迎参加此次产品推介会。 我们公司是一家经过注册的美国有限责任公司，是十大手机经销商之一。今天我们很高兴地向您介绍（展示）一款最新型的手机—MT100。它必将成为高端产品中最热卖的机型。 当今人们工作方式的两个要素就是随时随地方便地进行通讯、获取信息. TM100就是为了完全满足这两种需求而设计的。 首先，此款手机支持蓝牙功能，连接性能超强。它是一款3频手机，可与G3,GPRS和CDMA网络兼容，实现随时随地的呼叫。其设计独特的高增益天线将信号盲点降至最低。耳机与扬声器均采用最新技术，保证了通话双方的出色音质。MT100还配备了蓝牙无线耳机。 500个号码的内存以及通讯簿的存储容量都是其他手机所望尘莫及的。本款手机还可与任何支持蓝牙功能的PDA或电脑数据保持同步。 当今的生活方式不再仅限于工作，娱乐业同样重要。因此，MT100还内设MP3播放器，其容量可连续播放5小时的音乐，并且内置多款游戏，还可以上网进行在线游戏。 外观是当代摩登社会的另一要素。MT100时尚的外观设计凝结了数月的市场调查和测试成果，我们都有自己的喜好。可换外套、可自编曲的多和弦铃音以及可编程的软件都使得MT100个性十足，能满足不同场合，不同心情的需要。 超凡的MT100必将成为市场上最受欢迎的机型。 亲身体验才最有说服力。欢迎大家都来亲身体验MT100的魅力。您一定不会失望的！ 12.4 Nanotechnology The term, nanotechnology, may not sound unfamiliar anymore. It has become a buzzword within the hi-tech community, but when asked what’s it about and its impact on our life, I’m afraid many people are not able to answer right away. As a matter of fact, it’s already a part of daily life for many. The promise of nanotechnology is almost unlimited. Some may think nanotechnology is all in the future; however, that’s not the cause. In the United States, nano trousers are already on sale. They feel like ordinary cotton trousers but there’s a thin nano layer, which resists spills and stains. So, if you spill your drink, it just runs off. The trousers don’t even get damp. Nano trousers are just one application of the techonology. Nano can be used to produce almost anything you want. Nanotechonology is the science of the very small. But how small is small? Well, imagine I was shrunk to a size 1,000 times smaller. I’d be about as big as the eye of a fly, but nano is even smaller than that. In fact, much, much smaller. Imagine I was shrunk again, this time by 10,000 times. I’d be about as big as a virus, but nano is even smaller than that. You’d have to shrink me another 100 times to get the nano version of me, a billion times smaller than the real me. Industry is already building devices on that scale. In Cambridge, they’re making very thin nano 本文来源：https://www.wddqw.com/doc/15a2957b168884868762d6bb.html