課文篇

　　The French claim that visiting cards first appeared intheir land in the seventeenth century while theChinese seek to prove that visiting cards wereinvented by their ancestors shortly after they hadconcocted explosive powder. However, the firstever known sample of a visiting card, dating back to1786, was found in Germany. Gradually, with thedevelopment of certain rules of use, the cards hadbecome common by the nineteenth century.

　　法國(guó)人認(rèn)為拜訪卡于十七世紀(jì)在他們的土地上率先出現(xiàn)，而中國(guó)人則設(shè)法證明拜訪卡是在他們的祖先發(fā)明了火藥后不久發(fā)明的。不管怎樣，人們所知道的第一個(gè)拜訪卡樣本-追溯到1786年-出現(xiàn)于德國(guó)。慢慢地，隨著某些使用規(guī)則的出現(xiàn)，到十九世紀(jì)時(shí)名片變得普遍起來(lái)。

　　Do you know which corner of a visiting card you must fold when leaving it with a footman inorder to indicate that you have called on to inquire after the master's health? No? Neither doI, but only a hundred years ago this knowledge was as vital for an aristocrat as dancing andpolite conversation.

　　你知不知道當(dāng)你把拜訪卡留與仆人時(shí)，為了暗示你來(lái)拜訪過(guò)主人給他請(qǐng)安，你必須折疊拜訪卡的哪一角?不知道?我也不知道，不過(guò)就在一百年以前這點(diǎn)學(xué)問(wèn)對(duì)于貴族來(lái)說(shuō)有如跳舞和有教養(yǎng)的交談那樣至關(guān)重要。

　　Visiting cards used to be an indispensable attribute of the etiquette and the rules of theiruse were as sophisticated as those of cutlery. At that time visiting cards belonged to thenotions of such consequence like title, rank, land, horses etc.

　　過(guò)去拜訪卡是禮節(jié)一個(gè)不可缺少的組成部分，而且它們的使用規(guī)則像餐具的使用規(guī)則那樣復(fù)雜。在那個(gè)時(shí)候，拜訪卡有如頭銜、等級(jí)、土地、馬匹等一樣重要。

　　First businessmen used their cards as marks of distinction and thus introduced the firstmodifications in their design. Later, as the growing demand for the cards boosted thedevelopment of the printing industry, more and more sophisticated card design patternsappeared.

　　最早的商人將他們的卡片作為區(qū)別于他人的一個(gè)標(biāo)志，因此在他們的設(shè)計(jì)中首先出現(xiàn)了修改。后來(lái)，隨著名片需求的增加，推進(jìn)了印刷工業(yè)的發(fā)展，出現(xiàn)了越來(lái)越多復(fù)雜的卡片設(shè)計(jì)圖案。

　　On the other hand, there appeared an ever-growing social group of private entrepreneurs whohad a constant need to exchange their contact information. These pragmatic people startedto print out their own cheaper business cards to give them at presentations, exhibitions, conferences etc.

　　另一方面，私人企業(yè)家的社會(huì)團(tuán)體也在日益增長(zhǎng)。這些人需要經(jīng)常交換他們的聯(lián)系信息。這些注重實(shí)效的人開(kāi)始印出自己便宜的名片，在見(jiàn)面、展覽以及開(kāi)會(huì)等場(chǎng)合送出。

　　In the modern business card design, with its developed professional conventions, one can stilldetect the two conflicting approaches, the fanciful and the functional one. The purpose of thefirst approach is to show that there is nothing impossible for the card's owner. The morestriking by its design and materials and the more sophisticated in its manufacturingtechnology, the card will be the better. What matters is the card's uniqueness. The content ofthe card does not matter much either.

　　在現(xiàn)代名片設(shè)計(jì)中，隨著其職業(yè)協(xié)定的發(fā)展，人們?nèi)匀豢梢圆煊X(jué)到互相矛盾的兩個(gè)方面：裝飾性與功能性。第一個(gè)方面的目的是為了炫耀對(duì)于名片主人來(lái)說(shuō)沒(méi)有什么是不可能的。設(shè)計(jì)與材料越精美，生產(chǎn)技術(shù)越復(fù)雜，名片就越好。重要的是名片的獨(dú)特性。名片的內(nèi)容也不太重要。

　　The other approach, on the contrary, emphasizes functionality. It is the one that rules in thepragmatic West. And the English name of the item - "business card"- also focuses on itsspecific functionality. These cards are essential for those company workers that interact withclients. That is why, on the one hand, you can see a small clerk, a service engineer or even aheaver with his own business card and a head of the department without such if he or she doesnot interact with clients.

　　另一個(gè)方面恰恰相反，強(qiáng)調(diào)功能性。注重實(shí)效的西方崇尚這一點(diǎn)。此外，名片的英文名-"business card"-也強(qiáng)調(diào)了它具體的功能性。這些名片對(duì)那些與客戶有聯(lián)系、在公司里工作的職員來(lái)說(shuō)很關(guān)鍵。這就是為什么，一方面，你會(huì)看到一個(gè)小小的職員、一個(gè)維修工程師乃至一個(gè)搬運(yùn)工都有他自己的名片，而另一方面，部門(mén)頭頭如果他/她不和客戶打交道的話卻沒(méi)有名片。

　　Business cards used to be made exclusively of stiff paper (card), but today come in materialsfrom plastics to thin metals and even glass! A name or business card reflects the owner - itshould represent visually the company or the person passing it. Take the time to have a closerlook at your own cards and decide if they really suit you and your company.

　　以前名片無(wú)一例外都是用硬紙來(lái)做成的(卡片)，不過(guò)現(xiàn)在用來(lái)制作的材料很多，從塑料到薄金屬片甚至玻璃!名片反映著主人的風(fēng)格-在視覺(jué)上它應(yīng)該代表著公司或給名片的人。仔細(xì)看你自己的名片，看看它是否真的適合你或者你的公司。