胡敏读故事记托福词汇039：协作 The Collaboration
There’s nothing more powerful than collaboration between colleagues. How does that coinage go? “Two heads are better than one.” I wonder who coined that phrase. A collective effort can render even the most confusing problem coherent. Coherence is the key to understanding and resolving dilemmas.
没有什么力量能比同事间的协作更强大的了。那句新造的话是怎么说来的?“三个臭皮匠赛过一个诸葛亮。”不知是谁新造了那个说法。集体努力能将最为错综复杂的问题变得条理清晰，而条理清晰正是理解和化解种种窘境的关键所在。
By coincidence, my best friend and I ended up working at the same advertising firm. We’ve had a cohesive relationship ever since we accidentally collided into each other on bicycles in college. Fortunately, nobody was hurt from the collision and we quickly became friends. Since then, we have cohered through thick and thin. Remember the market collapse of 1967? When he needed a loan to recover from his losses, I helped him. When I needed collateral to secure a home loan, he helped me. When a snake coiled is 4-year-old son and sent him to the hospital, we were there with him all right. The cohesion benefits both sides and makes each side twice as strong as before.
纯属巧合，我最好的朋友和我竟在同一家广告公司工作。自从在大学里意外骑车相撞后，我们之间就建立起了紧密的联系。幸好那次碰撞事件中没有人受伤，我们很快成了朋友。打那以后，无论艰难险阻，我们都会团结一致，并肩作战。还记得1967年的市场崩溃吗?当他需要一笔贷款来弥补损失时，我伸出了援助之手。当我需要抵押品来担保一笔家庭贷款时，是他帮助了我。当他4岁的儿子被蛇缠住、送进医院时，我们两一起守护了他一整夜。这一凝聚力对对方都有利，并使得每一方变得比以前坚强上两倍。
That’s why I’m so glad that my colleague and I are collaborating on this special project. There’s nothing coincident about how we ended up in the same group. However, it is a coincidence that the starting dates of our present collaboration coincides with the time we first met last year.
所以，我很高兴能在这个特别的项目上与我的同事合作。我们能分到同一组毫无巧合可言。但确实凑巧的是，我们目前这个合作项目的开始日期碰巧跟去年我们第一次相遇时的日期相同。
So what is the purpose of our collaboration? Our purpose is to come up with an advertising slogan that’s catchy and that uses colloquial English. By using a colloquialism, we hope we can turn the slogan into a household phrase.
那么，我们合作的目的何在? 我们的目的就是要想出一个既引人注目又语言通俗的广告词。通过使用通俗语言，我们希望这一广告词能成为家喻户晓的用语。
Words:
cohere vi. 粘着，附着;连贯，紧凑;(为了共同的利益或主义等)团结一致
coherence n. 一致
coherent adj. 粘在一起的;连贯的，有条理的
cohesion n. 附着力，凝聚力
cohesive adj. 粘在一起的
coll n. (一)卷;线圈;vt. 盘绕，卷
coin n. 铸币;vt. 创造(一个新的词或短语)
coinage n. 造币，货币制度;创造新的词语(或用法等)
coincide vi. (事情等)同事发生;相符合，相巧合
coincidence n. 一致;同时发生或同时存在(尤指偶然)的事
coincident adj. 一致的，巧合的
collaborate vi. (文艺、科学等方面)协作，合作
collaboration n. 合作
collapse n. 倒塌，崩溃
collateral n. 抵押品，担保物;adj. 间接的
colleague n. 同事，同僚
collective adj. 集体的，共同的
collide vi. 碰撞;冲突;
collision n. 碰撞;冲突;抵触
colloquial adj. 口语的，通俗的
colloquialism n. 俗话，白话，口语
