Weird Butterfly Ceremony

課文：

“What do you do?” This common question usually figures fairly quickly into a conversation with a stranger. The question is a good place to start looking for common ground, and there are some fascinating jobs out there that make for great conversation.

Personal shopper

What could be better than getting paid to shop? But the catch is – the shopping is for someone else. Busy people who lack fashion sense sometimes hire someone with fashion expertise to hit the stores for them. While there is no schooling required to be a personal shopper, a background in retail sales is an asset. And a personal shopper should have plenty of enthusiasm, energy and patience. In some cases, they may need to shop till they drop!

figure into：列入、包括進
fairly：相當
common ground：共同點
common：共同的、共有的
ground：基礎、範圍
fascinating：吸引人的
lack：缺少、沒有
expertise：專業知識、專長
expert：專家
expertise in：對…專精
retail：零售的
asset：優勢、優點、長處、有用的人
enthusiasm：熱心
shop till they drop：購物到腿軟

Cruise ship pianist

Playing the piano for a living becomes more exciting when travel is involved. Cruise ship pianists provide music of many kinds – Broadway-style, classical, jazz, pop, etc. A pianist will accompany singers of many kinds as well as playing solo music. Being able to travel extensively is the best part of the job.

pianist：鋼琴家、鋼玪演奏者
for a living：以…維生
involved：有關的
extensively：廣泛地

文法：
… is a good place to start …（…很適合用來開始…）

特別補充：
patience：耐心
persistence：堅持
practice：熟練
state the obvious：廢話
commitment：投入