想想

"《英汉大词典》第二版出版发行。"这条短短的新闻把我从早晨的迷糊中唤醒，这对我这种字典爱好者来说当然是好消息。上班忙完手头的事情就赶紧上网搜索相关信息，还在复旦bbs上还看到了出版社工作的同学提供的优惠购买信息。人处于一种很亢奋的状态，就像小时候知道晚上有的好吃的饭菜一样，满心期待，希望和别人分享这份快乐情绪。我在msn上好友名单里扫了一遍，发现我找不出能够和我一起激动的伙伴。

这本身倒也是一件挺有意思的事情。我msn好友的主力是上外同学，大部分还都是英语专业的，可是现在绝大部分人都和语言类工作没有直接联系了。"硕果仅存"的，如老板，人家期待的是《阿汉大词典》！

当年老师分析就业形势的时候就提到，毕业之后把自己专业当成职业的是少数。尽管当时坐在台下的我听了不觉得很意外，因为我知道很多同学对语言（甚至对英语）的兴趣远不如奖学金的点数，但也并没有太特别的感觉。几年后的今天回过头来看看，当时老师说的已经在我们身上应验了。

我知道我的没有拿英语“当饭吃”的同学们分布在各个行业，她们在和我一起听那次就业形势分析的时候也一定想不到自己今天从事会从事手头这份工作的。

几年前一艘运输玩具小鸭子的中国货轮在公海沉没，船载小鸭子从此开始了漫漫旅途，被大洋环流带到了世界各地。我们也是一样，一群四散漂游的鸭子，冷暖自知。

One point about the use of "Shall".

An excerpt from an email I sent to the chief translator, who rejected my deliberate erasion of "shall" in the phrase "shall become effective" in an Agreement she polished.

The reason I adopted "** become effective on..." instead of "shall become" is that "shall" is used for mainly two purposes, (1) an obligation; and (2) future sense. Generally in legal documents, "shall" is abused. In many documents we deal with every day, "shall" is taken as a panacea to be employed anywhere where a word is used.

The date when the agreement becomes effective or binding is a fact or an stipulation between the parties not an obligation. Actually it is impossible to hold an agreement liable for 'not becoming effective' at all. A descriptive "be" in its correct form is sufficient.

We may find similar cases as follows:

"This Agreement shall be made in ** copies. "

"This Agreement shall be executed on..."

"It shall be agreed that ..."

"...the English version shall prevail."

However, a better solution could be:

"This Agreement is made in ** copies. "

"This Agreement is/was executed on..."

"** parties agree that ..." (active voice)

"...the English version prevails."

姚明今天对记者说

记者：你现在还关注cba联赛么？

大姚：我其实一直在关注中超联赛，自95年开始，我就一直是申花的忠实球迷，对于申花目前的状况我感到非常痛心，虽然我训练比赛完以后一直去国内网打魔兽，但我觉得朱俊目前的做法实在有些过头，如果可以的话，我愿意出1。5亿美金买下朱俊的所有股份，并把联城球员集体请出申花，下放预备队。对于jmns，我希望通过法律手段解决他的合约问题，毕竟他的执教履历存在多处不实。zdf同志，我想说，你可以去快船队打球。