The economy is not going well and an unemployed engineer desperately needing work is nervous about an upcoming accountant job interview. The interview goes well，but as the engineer stands up to leave the manager says，“Oh just one more question. How much is four times eight？”Puzzled，the engineer responds that in all calculations，even simple ones like that，he never relies on his memory. He always uses a calculator with a paper printout，and double-checks his answer.“Fine，”says the manager，“but I just want you to tell me the answer anyway from memory without using your calculator.”“Sure，”says the engineer.“Four times eight is，uh，thirty-four.”After saying goodbye and leaving the building，the engineer hurriedly pushes up four times eight into his calculator and curses when he sees the answer.
Nonetheless，he gets the job. Six months later，when he’s doing well and feels confident enough，he walks up to his boss and asks him.“Sir，I’m curious. Why is it that out of all those engineering candidates，you hired me，when I gave you the wrong answer to four-times-eight？”His boss looks up and says，“Your answer was the closest.”
economy - 经济
unemployed - 失业的
engineer - 工程师
desperately - 绝望地
job interview - 工作面试
nervous - 紧张的
accountant - 会计
interview - 面试
manager - 经理
question - 问题
times - 乘以
puzzled - 困惑的
relies on - 依赖于
memory - 记忆
calculator - 计算器
paper printout - 纸质打印输出
double-checks - 双重检查
fine - 好的
anyway - 无论如何
without - 没有
printout - 打印输出
curses - 咒骂
nonetheless - 尽管如此
confident - 自信的
curious - 好奇的
candidates - 候选人
wrong answer - 错误答案
closest - 最接近的
正确答案
经济状况非常糟糕，一位失业的工程师拼命想得到一份工作。他申请了会计的岗位，对于即将到来的面试，这位工程师感到忐忑不安。面试进行得倒挺顺利，当工程师站起来准备离开的时候，经理对他说：“还有一个问题。4乘以8等于多少？”工程师有些疑惑，他回答说对于所有的计算题，即使像这道题那么简单，也从来不依赖自己的记忆，而是使用一台能打印的计算器，并且对于计算出来的答案总是再三检查。“很好”，经理答道，“但我希望你就凭记忆告诉我答案，而不是用计算器。”“当然可以，”工程师道，“4乘以8等于，噢，34 。”他向经理告别。出了大楼以后，赶紧在计算器上按4乘以8，看到答案后，不停地咒骂自己。
但是，他竟然被录取了。6个月以后，工作已经做得很顺利了，他也有了足够的信心，于是走到老板那儿问他：“经理，我感到有些奇怪。为什么在所有那些工程师候选人当中，您偏偏选中了我？要知道“4乘以8“那道题，我给的答案是错的。”老板抬起头，说道：“你的答案是最接近的。”