Unit 29
Book series: Shoe Dog, the Nike Story Part 2
新知思想/閱讀種子
New Knowledge/Reading Knowledge
BRAIN STORM
Share your ideas with your teacher and try to make sentences.
What do you think is the formula for success?
VOCABULARY
Repeat these sentences after your teacher.
1. root problem (phr.) 根源問題
We should know first the root problem.
我們首先應該知道根本問題。
2. logistics (n.) 物流、後勤
The product is now in the logistics department.
該產品現在在物流部門。
3. ulcers (n.) 潰瘍
Take care of your body well. Having ulcers is awful.
好好照顧自己的身體。潰瘍是可怕的。
4. mechanics (n.) 機械、結構
Do you know the mechanics of the game?
您知道遊戲的機制嗎？
5. went public (phr.) 公司上市
The secret formula immediately went public.
秘密配方立即公開。
6. fantasy (n.) 不真實的幻想
Do you like fantasy books?
你喜歡幻想書嗎？
7. coherence (n.) 一致性、連貫性
The essay as a whole lacks coherence.
整個論文缺乏連貫性。
Dialogue
Read the dialogue aloud with your teacher.
About the real problems of companies:.
Supply and demand is always the root problem in business.
It’s hard enough to invent and manufacture and market a product, but then the logistics and mechanics of getting it to the people who want it, when they want it – this is how companies die and how ulcers are born.
About wealth:
The night before Nike went public, I sat in front of the TV with my wife Penny.
Neither of us was really watching. She was reading a book and I was doing calculations in my head.
By this time next week my business partners Bowerman would be worth $9 million.
Cale $6.6 million. … Fantasy numbers.
關於公司面臨的實際問題：
供需是企業的根本問題。
發明、生產、推廣一個產品已經很艱難，但接下來你還需要解決物流、配送等等，這就是很多企業倒閉的原因，也是我們長潰瘍的原因。
關於財富：
耐克上市的前一夜，我跟太太Penny坐在電視機前。
但我們都沒有真正在看電視。她在看書，而我則在腦海裡計算。
下個星期的這個時候，我合夥人Bowerman的身家會是9百萬美元；Cale660萬…夢幻般的數字。
Numbers that meant nothing. I never knew that numbers could mean so much, and so little, at the same time.
I woke up the next day, the world was the same as it had been the day before, as it had always been.
About what makes a great initial team:
We were more alike than different, and that gave a coherence to our goals and our efforts.
We were mostly Oregon guys, which was important. We had an inborn need to prove ourselves, to show the world that we weren’t hicks and hayseeds.
And we were nearly all merciless self-loathers, which kept the egos in check.
About success
但這些數字都沒有真正的意義。我以前從來不知道數字可以同時如此有意義，又如此無意義。
第二天早上我醒來，世界還跟昨天一樣，一如從前。什麼都沒有改變，而且我也什麼都沒變。儘管現在我的身家是1.78億美元。
什麼造就偉大的初期團隊：
我們的共同點勝過不同點，這使我們有一致的目標和努力。
我們中的大多數都來自俄勒岡，這很重要。因為我們有一種與生俱來要證明自己的需要，要告訴世界我們不是鄉巴佬、土包子。
我們也都對自己很狠、自我厭惡，這讓我們經常自省、不要自大。
關於成功：
Hard work is critical, a good team is essential, brains and determination are invaluable, but luck may decide the outcome.
About giving up:
And those who urge entrepreneurs to never give up? Sometimes you have to give up.
Sometimes knowing when to give up, when to try something else, is genius. Giving up doesn’t mean stopping. Don’t ever stop.
About faith:
Have faith in yourself, but also have faith in faith. Not faith as others define it. Faith as you define it. Faith as faith defines itself in your heart.
努力工作很關鍵，好團隊很要緊，頭腦和決心缺一不可，但運氣可能是最終決定結果的因素。
關於放棄：
老有人鼓動創業者永不放棄，但有些時候你必須要放棄。
有時，知道什麼時候該放棄；該換條路走才是一種才能。但放棄不意味著停止。你永遠不要停止。
關於信念：
相信自己，相信你的信念。不是別人定義的信念，而是你自己所定義的信念。是你內心所定義的信念。
Grammar
More about “Check”
In today‘s lesson, Phil Knight jokingly tells us that being merciless self-loathers helped him and his team keep their egos in check when Nike was still a young company. Here, “check” doesn’t mean to look or inspect, but rather to control. Apart from “keep…in check”, we also say “hold something in check.” It‘s also commonly used when talking about modern governments, which usually have different branches that keep each other in check. Here, and especially in America, check can be used as a noun. Lastly, the adjective “unchecked” is also used a lot, which as you might have guessed means “something that has not been kept in check” and is thus out of control. Below are a few examples:
1. His emotions were always kept in check by a strong rational side.
2. Many scientists fear that it might be too late to hold global warming in check.
3. After he defeated his political opponents, there was no one left to check his power.
4. Unchecked population growth continues to strain the planet’s resources.
5. ________________________________________________________________________.
DISCUSSION
Make a conversation with your teacher.
1.Do you idolize someone? What makes you idolize them?
