The secretary told me that Mr. Harmsworth would see me. I felt very nervous when I went into his office. He did not look up from his desk when I entered. After I had sat down, he said that business was very bad. He told me that the firm could not afford to pay such large salaries. Twenty people had already left. I knew that my turn had come.
‘Mr. Harmsworth, ’I said in a weak voice.
‘Don't interrupt, ’he said.
Then he smiled and told me I would receive an extra thousand pounds a year!
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News words and expressions 生词和短语
secretary(1. 1)/'sekrtəri/n. 秘书
weak(1. 7)/wi:k/adj. 弱的
nervous(1. 2)/'nə:vəs/adj. 精神紧张的
interrupt(1. 8)/'int'rʌpt/v. 插话，打断
afford(1. 4)/'ə'fɔ:d/ v. 负担得起
Notes on the text 课文注释
1 look up, 抬头看。
2 could not afford to…, 不可能支付，afford为“有能力做……”，常和can, could连用。
3 I knew that my turn had come. 我知道这次该轮到我了。my turn指上文中有人被公司解雇这件事。
参考译文
秘书告诉我说哈姆斯沃斯先生要见我。我走进他的办公室，感到非常紧张。我进去的时候，他连头也没抬。待我坐下后，他说生意非常不景气。他还告诉我，公司支付不起这么庞大的工资开支，有20个人已经离去。我知道这次该轮到我了。
“哈姆斯沃斯先生，”我无力地说。
“不要打断我的话，”他说。
然后他微笑了一下告诉我说，我每年将得到1, 000英镑的额外收入。