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It’s About Time! 抓住时间的尾巴

 

课文朗读

 

课文讲解

 

繁體中文譯本

 

Jerry has an appointment. He is waiting in the company’s reception area when Grace sits down next to him.  杰瑞和人有约。他正在公司会客区等候的同时，葛瑞丝在他旁边坐了下来。

 

G: Are you done with that magazine?

你杂志看完了吗？

 

J: I’ve read it cover to cover, twice.

我从头读到尾，还读了两次。

 

G: Industrial Lubricants Weekly – you must be bored to death.

《工业润滑剂周刊》──你一定无聊死了。

 

J: I’ve been here for nearly an hour now.

我在这儿快待上一个小时了。

 

G: Were you early?

你提早到吗？

 

J: About ten minutes.

大概早了十分钟吧。

 

G: That was your first mistake. You should never show up more than five minutes early for an appointment – unless you want to give the impression you’ve got time to waste.

那就是你犯的第一个错误了。你不该比约定时间早五分钟以上出现──除非你想给人你多的是时间可以浪费的那种印象。

 

J: Are you saying that coming late would be better?

妳是说迟到比较好喔？

 

G: No. But you should leave the arrival time a bit fuzzy. Also, make sure you bring something to do. Presumably, you’ve got more compelling things to do than read Industrial Lubricants Weekly.

不是。但别让别人清楚你到达的时间。还有啊，记得带点事来做。想必你有比读《工业润滑剂周刊》更急迫的事情待办。

 

J: Hold on a second! I’m the one who was on time, yet I have to suffer for it?

等等，我是准时到的人，难道还得受准时到的苦？

 

G: Not at all. If somebody makes you wait more than fifteen minutes, and you can afford to leave, go.

大可不必。要是有人让你等超过十五分钟，你就可以离开走人了。

 

J: Because they might be playing power games?

因为他们可能在玩权力游戏？

 

G: Right. But give him or her a chance to come out and explain the holdup before taking off.

没错。但在闪人之前，要给人家一个出面解释迟到理由的机会。

 

J: Regardless, I know the guy I’m waiting for isn’t playing power games. He’s just irresponsible and habitually late.

不管怎样，我知道我在等的那个家伙不是在玩权力游戏。他只是没责任感又习惯性迟到而已。

 

G: How can you be so sure?

你怎能如此肯定？

 

J: He’s my brother.

他是我哥。

 

－End

 

Vocabulary

单词发音

 

lubricant [ˋlubrɪkənt] n. 润滑油，润滑剂

bored [bɔrd] adj. 无趣的, 烦人的, 无聊的

impression [ɪmˋprɛʃən] n. 印象

fuzzy [ˋfʌzɪ] adj. 模糊不清的

presumably [prɪˋzuməblɪ] adv. 想必

compelling [kəmˋpɛlɪŋ] adj. 不得不接受的

afford [əˋford] adj. 有足够的……

power game 权力游戏

holdup [ˋhold͵ʌp] n. 造成延搁的事物; （交通、运输等的）阻塞；停滞

take off  匆忙离去 to leave in a hurry

 

 

Sentence of the Day

Do it on your own time.

这是请用自个儿的时间做。(别在工作或上课等时间做)

 

 

 

 

课文讲解

 

Janet has just stood up to greet her boss, Bill, who has stepped into her cubicle. 老板比尔已经步入办公室了，珍娜特才起身迎接。

 

B: Why don’t you have a seat, Janet. You look exhausted.

妳就坐嘛，珍娜特。妳看起来相当疲惫。

 

J: I’m spent. I’ve been getting up an hour earlier every day to come here.

我累死了。来这儿我每天都得提早一个钟头起床。

 

B: So you must’ve got that memo on time management I sent around?

那妳一定有收到我发的有关时间管理的便条啰？

 

J: Yes, all three times.

有啊，三次都有。

 

B: Great. I’m sure you saw the part about delegating jobs, then?

很好。那妳一定有看到关于分派工作的那部份啰？

 

J: Yeah. Work that isn’t cost-effective for you to do should be reassigned.

看到了。会让你的付出徒劳无功的工作，就应该分配给别人做。

 

B: Uh-huh. Ideally, a manager such as myself should be able to plan and improve efficiency while my staff handle all the routine matters.

说得对。理想中，像我这样的管理者，在属下处理所有例行事务时，应该要能善加计划以增进效率。

 

J: Bill, maybe you’re not aware of my workload, but ….

比尔，或许你不清楚我的工作量，可是……

 

B: Tsk, tsk. Janet, what you might not realize is that the project I’m giving you will increase your job satisfaction. I’m entrusting you with the whole thing.

啧啧，珍娜特，妳可能不太了解，我交给妳负责的计划将会提高妳的工作满足感。我是把整件事都托付给妳喔。

 

J: Could you prioritize the new project with regard to my existing work?

你可以把跟我手边工作有关的新计划排优先吗？

 

B: Tell ya what, I’ll check on that, and then we can chat more at the meeting.

这样吧，我会再看看，然后我们开会时可以多聊一下。

 

J: Meeting?

开会？

 

B: Yeah, I’ve called a meeting for eleven fifty-three.

是啊，我已经说了要在十一点五十三分开会。

 

J: Eleven fifty-three? Seven minutes before lunch?

十一点五十三分？午餐前七分钟？

 

B: It’s been proven that punctuality improves when meetings are set at odd times. I just hope nobody wastes my time blowing around the hot air.

经证实，在零碎的时间开会能促进守时。我只希望没人浪费我的时间净讲些废话。

 

J: Believe me, I understand.

相信我，我了解。

 

－End

 

Vocabulary

单词发音

 

cubicle [ˋkjubɪk!] n. 小隔间

spent [spɛnt] adj. 精疲力竭的，极为衰弱的

delegate [ˋdɛlə͵get] v. 委派；委托

cost-effective [ˋkɑstəˋfɛktɪv] adj. 有成本效益的

ideally [aɪˋdiəlɪ] adv. 理想情况下

efficiency [ɪˋfɪʃənsɪ] n. 效率；效能

workload [ˋwɝk͵lod] n. 工作量

entrust [ɪnˋtrʌst] v. 委托；委派

prioritize [praɪˋɔrə͵taɪz] v. 把事情优先级排好

with regard to  关于

punctuality [͵pʌŋktʃʊˋælətɪ] n. 严守时间

hot air【口】空话; 大话  if something that someone says is just hot air, it is not sincere and will have no practical results

 

 

Sentence of the Day

We’re working against the clock.

我们分秒必争地工作。