64. Be self-employed, work for someone else, or own a business?
There are advantages to all three kinds of employment. Owning one's own business might very well be the fastest way to fortune. Working for an employer, on the other hand, is often less risky and usually there are fewer responsibilities. However, I would like to be self-employed. Being self-employed would cater to my strength of working independently, it would give me a maximum of professional and personal freedom, and I would not have to take responsibility for the continued financial security of any employees and their families.
I am a perfectionist and enjoy working by myself. When I work in a team or together with a group of people, usually the others' quality standards are much lower than my own. Furthermore, I like to be involved in every step of the development process. For example, if I could become a journalist I would like to be self-employed because I would be responsible for researching, writing, and editing. At most major newspapers and magazines these are three different areas.
Another great benefit of being self-employed is the ability to balance personal life and career. When working for a major company I would have to work on assignments that don't interest me very much. Also, it would be difficult for me to take vacation time whenever I needed. However, as a self-employed person I can decide which jobs I want to take and which jobs to reject. Nobody would order me around. Also, I could design my own work schedule and adjust or change it if it interfered with my personal life.
Lastly, as a self-employed professional I would neither have to give orders nor take orders. After all, I don't work for anybody and nobody works for me. As I am not very fond of managing people and even less interested in being bossed around, the independent or self-employed work would suit me just fine.
译文
64. 自己单干，受雇于人，还是拥有自己的公司？
三种工作方式各有好处。拥有自己的公司也许是迅速致富的最佳途径。另一方面呢，受雇于他人比较保险，承担的责任也小。但是我还是喜欢自己单干。自己单干可以培养自己独立工作的能力，无论是工作时还是下班后都享有最大的自由，也不用为员工和他们家庭的财政安全承担责任。
我是个完美主义者，喜欢一个人工作。当我在一个团队或者小组里工作时，通常他们的工作标准比我的低。另外，我喜欢亲身经历事情发展的每一阶段。如果我能成为一名记者，我喜欢成为一名单干的记者，因为我喜欢为采访、写作和编辑全程负责。但是在大多数报社和杂志社里这三个程序是由不同的人完成的。
自己单干的另一大好处是可以平衡自己私人生活和工作之间的关系。如果受雇于一家大公司，你就不得不干自己毫不感兴趣的工作，同时，你不能在需要休假的时候就休假。但是，如果自己单干，自己可以决定该干什么、不该干什么，没有人在我周围发号施令。同时，我还可以安排自己的工作时间，如果工作干扰了我的个人生活，我还可以调整工作时间。
最后，自己单干，我不用听别人的命令也不用对别人发号施令。毕竟，我不为别人干活，也没有人为我效劳。既然我并不喜欢管理别人更不喜欢被别人管理，单干正适合我。
Word List
- advantage ［ədˈvæntidʒ］ n. 优势
- cater ［ˈkeitə］ v. 满足
- perfectionist ［pəˈfekʃənist］ n. 完美主义者
- journalist ［ˈdʒə:nəlist］ n. 新闻记者
- vacation ［veiˈkeiʃən］ n. 假期，休假
- adjust ［əˈdʒʌst］ v. 调整，调节
- interfere ［ˌintəˈfiə］ v. 干涉，打扰
- suit ［sju:t］ v. 合适，适合