礼节美语078讲

陈豪在北京的ABC美国公司工作。他到办公室去找美国同事Amy 。

(Office ambience)

CH：Hi Amy. 几天不见，来看看你。

A: That`s nice of you. I`m fine.

CH: 你有几分钟的时间吗？

A: Certainly. Have a seat, please.

CH: 你要不要口香糖？

A: Thank you, Chen Hao, but I don`t believe so.

CH: 这是一种新口味。我今天早上去买咖啡的时候顺便买的。

A: I personally don`t like chewing gum.

CH: 真的吗? 为什么呢？

A: Chewing gum is a personal preference. Where and when you chew it is NOT. I see too many people chewing gum at inappropriate times and places.

CH: 嚼口香糖还有规定的时间和地点吗？我不太明白你的意思。

A: I`ll be happy to explain what I mean later. Right now I have to prepare for a meeting.

CH: 那我们下班后一起走？

A: OK. I`ll meet you at the exit at 5:30.

******

两人下班后一起去地铁站。

CH: Amy, 你上午说嚼口香糖还有规矩？

A: Yes. If you like to chew gum, that is your business, but chewing gum does not belong in the workplace.

CH: 为什么不？

A: It is totally unprofessional anywhere in the business environment.

CH: 我在电脑前面工作的时候最喜欢嚼口香糖。这样可以让我放松。

A: I understand, but what if the boss walks up at that moment and starts a conversation with you?

CH: 那我就装作嘴里没有口香糖。

A: Why would you hide it if you think its okay?

CH: 我想老板看见我嚼口香糖，心里一定不高兴。

A: See. You already know that chewing gum is not a good idea in certain professional situations.

CH: 可我还是不明白为什么我独自工作的时候就不能嚼口香糖。

A: You never know who will walk up to your desk or call you on the phone. If you are caught smacking, it could affect your current job or the career move you had planned for.

CH: 影响前程？你说得太严重了吧？

A: I don`t think so. Chewing gum is a leisure activity at best. At its worst, it can make you look sloppy and incompetent.

CH: 我知道你说的有道理，可我还是觉得独自工作的时候可以嚼口香糖。

A: Well good luck. If it gets to be a habit, consider this. One day you will have gum in your mouth when you walk into a meeting. I`ve seen it happen.

CH: 有过先例？那结果呢？

A: The poor fellow who forgot about his gum got stuck. Every time someone asked him a question, he tried to hide his gum in his cheek. Finally he decided to swallow it.

CH: 我也听说过这件事，后来成了全公司的笑料。我以后一定注意，在办公室里绝不再嚼口香糖。

流行美语第311课

Larry下班后跟李华一起吃晚饭。今天我们要学两个常用语： hothead和even keel.

LH: Larry, 今天上班忙吗？

LL: Well, to be honest Li Hua, it was a bit stressful. One of our ad campaigns was not successful and my boss had a total meltdown. He is such a hothead.

LH: A hothead? 你是说老板性情急躁，动不动就发脾气吗？

LL: Yes, exactly, a hothead means someone who gets very angry very quickly. When something makes a hothead mad, you absolutely do not want to be around him.

LH: 没错，急脾气的人要是生气了，最好是离他们远点，否则一不小心就成了出气筒。

LL: That is exactly right, a hothead can really be dangerous sometimes, though often they`ll just throw a tantrum and be done with it.

LH: 他们倒是出气了，可旁边的人却要跟着倒霉。快说说，你们老板当时什么反应？

LL: Well, when he heard that the campaign was not successful, he blamed ME. He was such a hothead, he slammed down his coffee mug and broke it.

LH: 那咖啡还不洒得到处都是？

LL: It got all over his shirt. This got him even angrier.

LH: 太可怕了。我有个同学，就是典型的hothead。

LL: In what way, Li Hua?

LH: 比方说吧，前不久他的一篇作文，教授只给了C，他气得脸红脖子粗，竟然把课本一下子扔到地上。He is such a hothead.

LL: Wow, what did your professor do?

LH: 教授当时已经走了，可教室里还有很多人，大家都没想到他的脾气如此暴躁。对了，刚才说到一半，那你们老板是什么时候消的气呢？

LL: He didn`t talk to anyone for the rest of the day. He just stormed off to his office. Because he was such a hothead, no one dared to knock on his door.

LH: 可想而知，办公室里的气氛肯定一天都好不了。

LL: Well, the afternoon actually turned out alright.

LH: Oh? And why was that?

LL: Once he stormed off, the boss was out of everyone`s hair for the rest of the day. It was pretty relaxing from there on out.

******

LH: Larry, 广告没做好，你那些同事是不是也特别气馁？

LL: No one was happy, of course, but I would say that everybody managed to keep an even keel.

LH: An even what?

LL: Even keel. It means to stay calm or keep your cool, like a boat on calm water.

LH: 我明白了，even keel就是情绪稳定。老板发那么大的火，换成我，肯定没法保持even keel.

LL: I`ll admit I was pretty nervous when my boss became such a hothead, but I was able to maintain an even keel.

LH: 还好你没有过于激动，在这种情况下，是很容易说错话的。