【新唐人2013年10月10日訊】 (美國之音電)
- 禮節美語-267 You Are What You Wear 1
Cathy 早上上班見到同事 Adam.
Cathy: Hi, Adam, nice tie.
Adam: Thanks.
C: By the way, can I ask you a personal question?
A: Ask away!
C: How come you’re the only one at the office who wears a tie to work every day? I’m not criticizing your fashion choices, and you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.
A: No. I’m happy to answer that question! I assume you’re like most people: you prefer to wear comfortable clothing whenever possible, right?
Cathy 問了 Adam 個personal question 私人問題，問Adam 為甚麼每天上班都西裝領帶的，而公司的著裝標準並不嚴格，所以其他人一般都是怎麼舒服怎麼穿。Cathy 還補充說，I’m not criticizing your fashion choices. 意思是說我不是想對你的穿著指手劃腳，而是好奇。Cathy 承認，平時如果沒事，他就會穿得很隨便。
C: Absolutely! If it’s a special event or a business meeting or something, then sure, I’ll put on a suit or a nice business dress. But I much prefer to dress more casually.
A: I understand that logic. But of course you’ve heard about “power-dressing," no?
C: Yeah….if you wear nicer looking clothes, people take you more seriously, right?
A: That’s the idea. I think everybody knows that the clothing we wear affects how others perceive us. But I’ve also discovered that what I wear affects how I think.
C: Really? That’s an interesting idea. What exactly do you mean?
Cathy 說，如果有甚麼特別活動或是要開會，She’ll put on a suit or a nice business dress. 穿西裝或套裝，否則的話，她還是喜歡穿得隨便些，to dress more casually. Adam 問 Cathy 有沒有聽過 power-dressing 的說法，也就是說，如果穿得正式，別人就會更把你當回事。Adam 說，他發現，power-dressing 不僅會影響別人對自己的看法，同時也會對他自己的精神狀態產生影響。
A: Well, there’s a lot of research out there that says the position of our bodies affects our thoughts.
C: I’ve heard about that. I read an article that said if you sit up straight your thoughts become sharper than if you were slouching.
A: Exactly! But there are some new studies that show what you are wearing can also affect your thoughts.
C: Give me an example.
A: Scientists found that students who were wearing white lab coats performed better on tests than students who were wearing their own clothes.
C: Ah! So because the white lab coat has an association with intelligence, the students’ brains actually got more intelligent?
有很多研究顯示，一個人身體的姿勢，往往會對人的思維產生影響，比如，坐直了就比窩著的時候思維更敏銳。Slouch is spelled s-l-o-u-c-h, slouch 意思是很放鬆地窩在那裏，蜷在那裏。Adam 補充說，現在的一些新的研究結果發現，what you are wearing can also affect your thoughts. 一個人的穿著也會對他的思維產生影響。比如說，穿著實驗室白大褂的學生，考試往往比穿日常衣服的學生成績好，因為穿著白大褂，會讓學生覺得自己智商更高，因此考試時大腦的表現也就更出色。
