Hard work

成功需苦幹！每位運動員，不論能否奪得獎牌，都一定是經過艱辛和努力練習（hard work），才能夠踏進奧運場館，與世界好手一較高下。

視乎語境，hard work可以有不同意思。上文提到的hard work指勤奮工作、努力做事、努力完成任務。

例如，The medal reminds me of all the hard work and effort I have put into achieving my success.（獎牌提醒我為取得成功所付出的所有努力和工夫。）Without your hard work and dedication, our company would not be this successful today.（沒有你們的辛勤工作和奉獻，我們公司不會有今天的成功。）

Hard work也可以指太吃力的工作，不願意做。例如，It's too much of a hard work to find places that are pet-friendly when you travel.（旅行時要找寵物友好的地方，實在太辛苦了。）Of course it's hard work！If it weren't hard work, everyone would be doing it. The pay is so attractive.（當然辛苦！若非辛苦工，人人都會去做了。薪水那麼吸引。）

（本欄逢周三、五刊登）