VOA慢速：如何定义成功？

How do You Define Success?

刘立军 供稿

TRANSCRIPT

And now, Words and Their Stories, from VOA Learning English. 

We all want to be a success in life. But success can look different from person to person. Perhaps the key to success is really knowing yourself. What do you want? What are your skills and strong suits? What are you really good at and what are you not? Climbing the ladder of success also requires different strategies in different industries. If you want to be a success in a traditional corporate environment, you may have to wear business clothing like a suit. As they say, you may have to dress for success. If you want a creative job, you may need to wear the latest fashions. Again, English has a common expression about clothes and future job goals: “Dress for the job you want, not the one you have.” 

However, success takes more than just the right clothes. It also takes hard work. Oftentimes others do not see all the hard work that goes into a project. They think success comes suddenly, for example overnight. Let’s say an unknown writer makes it big with her first book. People may call her an overnight success. But they do not know about the many years she spent studying and writing. 

Another ingredient in the recipe for success is a plan. To reach your goal, you need to get organized and break the goal down into doable steps. You know what they say — if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Many English phrases make the road to success sound like a real physical path — something we could find on a map. Real roads are paved with materials such as asphalt. But when we talk about success, the roads to it are paved with different materials. Sometimes we say the roads are paved with gold. This suggests a place where success, especially financial wealth, is easy to come by. For some people the road to success is paved with hard work or luck. Others may find their road to success is paved with failures. Learning from their failures taught them how to succeed. Often if you follow the right road, you can achieve your goal. Then, life is filled with the sweet smell of success. You have the world at your feet. You are riding high. You’ve got it made and are killing it. You are golden. 

As you can see, we have many expressions describing success. But make sure that you do not lose sight of what really makes you happy and successful. Some people become a victim of their own success. This means you start having problems because of your success. And that explains our final popular English saying, a gentle warning: Be careful what you wish for: you just might get it. 

And that’s all the time we have for this Words and Their Stories. How would you define success for your English studies? And do you have a plan to reach it? Go to our website and comment on the story. Or you can send us an email to this address: LearningEnglish@voanews.com. In the subject line, write Words and Their Stories and “success.” 

Until next time. I’m Anna Matteo.

VOCABULARY

1. ladder n. a device consisting of steps or rungs that enables a person to climb up or down; in the context of the passage, it refers metaphorically to the process of advancing or progressing in one’s career or achieving success. 梯子；阶梯

2. recipe n. a set of instructions for preparing a particular dish or achieving a desired outcome; figuratively used here to indicate the necessary components or steps for achieving success. 配方；秘诀

3. doable adj. able to be done or completed 可做的，可行的

4. pave v. to cover or lay a road, path, or area with a hard surface, typically made of concrete or asphalt; used metaphorically in the passage to describe the materials that make up the path to success. 铺设；铺平

5. asphalt n. 沥青；柏油

QUESTIONS

Listen to the news and choose the best answer to each question you hear.

1. What does “Dress for the job you want, not the one you have” imply according to the passage?

A. One should always wear business clothing.

B. One should dress appropriately based on the aspiration job.

C. Wearing the latest fashions can lead to success.

D. Dressing well is the most important aspect of success.

2. What is often overlooked about successful people according to the text?

A. The hard work they’ve put into their projects.

B. Their plans for the future.

C. Their financial wealth.

D. Their personal strategies for success.

3. Which phrase indicates failing to plan might lead to failure?

A. Dress for the job you want, not the one you have.

B. If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.

C. Be careful what you wish for: you just might get it.

D. Life is filled with the sweet smell of success.

4. What does the phrase “Be careful what you wish for: you just might get it” suggest?

A. People should be grateful for what they have.

B. People can achieve anything they wish for.

C. Success may bring unexpected difficulties.

D. Wishes are often fulfilled easily.

5. How does the passage suggest achieving success?

A. By following others’ paths blindly.

B. By focusing solely on financial wealth.

C. By relying only on luck and hard work.

D. By understanding oneself and planning strategically.

KEY 

1. What does “Dress for the job you want, not the one you have” imply according to the passage?

A. One should always wear business clothing.

B. One should dress appropriately based on the aspiration job.

C. Wearing the latest fashions can lead to success.

D. Dressing well is the most important aspect of success.

【答案】B

【解析】细节题，出自文本第一段：Dress for the job you want, not the one you have. 根据该句可以推断，此表达意味着人们应根据他们渴望的工作来适当地装扮，而不仅仅是依据他们当前的工作。

2. What is often overlooked about successful people according to the text?

A. The hard work they’ve put into their projects.

B. Their plans for the future.

C. Their financial wealth.

D. Their personal strategies for success.

【答案】A

【解析】细节题，来源于文本第二段：It also takes hard work. Oftentimes others do not see all the hard work that goes into a project. 这段话说明，别人经常忽视成功人士在他们的工作中投入的辛勤努力。

3. Which phrase indicates failing to plan might lead to failure?

A. Dress for the job you want, not the one you have.

B. If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.

C. Be careful what you wish for: you just might get it.

D. Life is filled with the sweet smell of success.

【答案】B

【解析】细节题，出处是文本第三段：If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. 这个短语直接表明，如果你没有计划，那么你可能就在计划失败。

4. What does the phrase “Be careful what you wish for: you just might get it” suggest?

A. People should be grateful for what they have.

B. People can achieve anything they wish for.

C. Success may bring unexpected difficulties.

D. Wishes are often fulfilled easily.

【答案】C

【解析】细节题，来源于文本最后一段：Be careful what you wish for: you just might get it. 根据这句话，可以理解为成功可能会带来意想不到的困难。

5. How does the passage suggest achieving success?

A. By following others’ paths blindly.

B. By focusing solely on increasing your financial wealth.

C. By relying on luck and hard work.

D. By understanding oneself and planning strategically.

【答案】D

【解析】推理题，问题来源于全文。文章通过一系列的描述和建议（了解自己、制定战略计划、努力工作等），体现出实现成功需要了解自己并且有策略地规划，所以答案为D。

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