當考官生涯當中有多位學生令我印象難忘，最記得這位考生跟我說：

　　"Madam, unlike other candidates, I am not here to pass the test, I am here to perform."

　　自負Cocky(Adjective) / Cockiness (Noun) 還是自信Self-confident (Adjective) / Self-confidence (Noun)，可能是一線之差。

　　自信就是相信自己本身的能力或欣賞質(zhì)素，把事情做好。自信的人意識到自己的長處及短處，努力提升自己而不貶低他人。很多人也認為是幸福及成功的重要因素。而狂妄自負就是過分自信，對自己的重要性或能力有一種夸張的感覺，也低估他人的能力。

　　謙虛的行為、不夸耀自己成就或能力就更加容易被人接受。例如：Miss Carol會比較接受：

　　"I could send you a revised essay later today."

而不太接受：

　　"I could revise this essay with my eyes closed in no time flat."

　　以下節(jié)錄一個電郵，內(nèi)容有關學生為邀請老師們推薦自己當暑期練習生而做presentation后作出跟進，大家有興趣可試試改寫以下小段落。

　　I thought my yesterday's presentation was great. You won't find a better?student than me to improve the public relations skill in your class. 　Based on my excellent academic performance this semester, I have secured my internship offer with Oxfam.　　But they asked for some references, that is why I seek help from you and maybe other teachers. I expect my references from you and other teaching staff will be honestly awesome.　　You can check out the website of Oxfam if you want to know the details of my internship.　　I look forward to hearing back from you with good news.

　　真的夸張了一點，但大家可以感受到這股自大的氣度。

　　要改寫也不困難，以下是其中一個參考版本：

　　It was my great pleasure to deliver my presentation yesterday. I enjoyed meeting you and the rest of the fellow classmates.

　　I am pleased with my academic achievement in your Public Relations Writing class.　　In the past 10 months, I learnt a great deal about the public relations industry while attending your class.　　As you know, the opportunity at Oxfam is related to solid knowledge in marketing communications with a specific focus on public relations.　　I believe that you would be able to provide the kind of professional insight into my skills that would consolidate my internship offer.

　　Thank you very much for considering my request. A copy of my updated resume and a document of the job specification are attached for your information.　　Ms Marilyn Ma from Human Resources will be the contact person at Oxfam who will be in touch if you agree to provide the reference for me.　　I look forward to hearing from you favourably.

　　似乎長了一點，但收件人喜歡這類型的文字。

　　很多人也認為成功的人往往是謙虛的，你也相信嗎？

　　Miss Carol 資深英語老師、國際英文考試主考官；前大專院校導師及企業(yè)培訓導師。