III.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 to 1786, was found in Germany. Gradually, with thedevelopment of certain rules of use, the cards hadbecome common by the nineteenth century.

　　法國人認為拜訪卡于十七世紀在他們的土地上率先出現(xiàn)，而中國人則設(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拜訪卡樣本-追溯到1786年-出現(xiàn)于德國。慢慢地，隨著某些使用規(guī)則的出現(xiàn)，到十九世紀時名片變得普遍起來。

　　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.

　　你知不知道當你把拜訪卡留與仆人時，為了暗示你來拜訪過主人給他請安，你必須折疊拜訪卡的哪一角?不知道?我也不知道，不過就在一百年以前這點學(xué)問對于貴族來說有如跳舞和有教養(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.

　　過去拜訪卡是禮節(jié)一個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。在那個時候，拜訪卡有如頭銜、等級、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)別于他人的一個標志，因此在他們的設(shè)計中首先出現(xiàn)了修改。后來，隨著名片需求的增加，推進了印刷工業(yè)的發(fā)展，出現(xiàn)了越來越多復(fù)雜的卡片設(shè)計圖案。

　　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)家的社會團體也在日益增長。這些人需要經(jīng)常交換他們的聯(lián)系信息。這些注重實效的人開始印出自己便宜的名片，在見面、展覽以及開會等場合送出。

　　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)計中，隨著其職業(yè)協(xié)定的發(fā)展，人們?nèi)匀豢梢圆煊X到互相矛盾的兩個方面：裝飾性與功能性。第一個方面的目的是為了炫耀對于名片主人來說沒有什么是不可能的。設(shè)計與材料越精美，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.

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

　　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.

　　以前名片無一例外都是用硬紙來做成的(卡片)，不過現(xiàn)在用來制作的材料很多，從塑料到薄金屬片甚至玻璃!名片反映著主人的風(fēng)格-在視覺上它應(yīng)該代表著公司或給名片的人。仔細看你自己的名片，看看它是否真的適合你或者你的公司。