第一页：片段欣赏
第二页：巧学口语
第三页：小小翻译家
第四页：文化一瞥

 

精彩对白

Ryan: Tell me you're not taking this seriously.

Craig: That's why I brought the entire company in from the road, because we're not taking it seriously.

Ryan: There is a methodology to what I do. There is a reason why it works.

Craig: Coke and IBM have been doing this for years, all right. Are you familiar with them? Now just like anything else, you know, it's gonna take a few months of sort of transition and then everybody is gonna settle in.

Ryan: Who are you taking off the road?

Craig: How are you not getting this? You're grounded. Everybody's grounded. It's done.

Ryan: What we do here is brutal, and it does leave people devastated. But there is a dignity to the way I do it.

Craig: By stabbing them in the chest instead of the back, is that right?

Natalie: You wanted to see me?

Craig: Well...

Ryan: Yeah. You know what? Yeah, come on in. Come on in here.

Craig: Great job out there, Natalie.

Natalie: Thank you. How's everyone taking it?

Ryan: Great. Listen, I admire your... Your zeal. And I think you have some very good ideas. But you know nothing about the realities of my industry. You can set up an iChat, but you don't know how people think.

Natalie: Actually, I minored in psychology.

Ryan: Nice. Okay, kiddo, fire me.

Craig: Ryan.

Ryan: Well, since she's gonna be doing this on a regular basis, don't you wanna know if she can fire somebody?

Craig: She's fired Ned.

Ryan: My dog can fire Ned. Fire me.

Craig: You don't need to do this.

Natalie: No, it's okay. I got this. Mr. Bingham, I regret to inform you that your position at this company is no longer available.

Ryan:  Who the hell are you?

Natalie: My name is Miss Keener. I'm here today to discuss your future.

Ruan: My future? The only one who can fire me is Craig Gregory.

Natalie: Mr. Gregory hired me to handle this for him.

Ryan: Handle what? Handle me? Mr. Gregory hired me, he's the only one who can fire me. You know what? I'm gonna go talk to him.

Natalie: Mr. Bingham.

Ryan: No, no, no. You can't follow me. You're on a computer screen, remember?

Natalie: Ryan.

Ryan: All right. Let's try this again. Fire me again.

Natalie: I just did.

Ryan: Actually, you didn't. Fire me.

Craig: That's enough. I think we get it.

Natalie: Mr. Bingham, I'm here today to inform you that your position is no longer available.

Ryan: I'm fired?

Natalie: Yes, you're fired.

Ryan: Never say fired. 

Natalie: You've been let go.

Ryan: Why? 

Natalie: This is a mythical situation. How could I possibly know why?

Ryan: Why doesn't matter. You never know why.

Natalie: It's important not to focus on the why and rather to spend your energy thinking about your future.

Ryan: Well, I'm gonna spend my energy on suing you unless you give me a good reason why you're firing me.

Natalie: Mr. Bingham, the reason's not important.

Ryan: So, you're firing me without grounds? Now I really have a lawsuit.

Craig: I get what you're trying to say, Ryan.

Natalie: Don't take this personally, Mr. Bingham.

Ryan: Personally? This is the most personal situation that you are ever gonna enter, so before you try to revolutionize my business, I'd like to know that you actually know my business.

Craig: That's a hell of a way to welcome her to the team.

Ryan: Am I the only one that sees that by doing this we're making ourselves irrelevant?

Craig: No, frankly, we're making you irrelevant.

Ryan: Nice.

Craig: Don't blame me. Blame the high fuel costs. Blame insurance premiums. Blame technology. You know, you better watch yourself. You're a little too young to become a dinosaur.

Ryan: I'm not a dinosaur.

Craig: I want you to show her the ropes.

Ryan: What do I know what goes on here? Get Ferguson to do it.

Craig: I'm not talking about here.

Ryan: No.

Craig: Yeah. Come on. You're very, very confident this girl doesn't know what she's doing, so... 

Ryan: Well, I'm sorry. I don't think a MySpace page qualifies you to rewire an entire company.

Craig: Well, then great. Here's your chance. Go out there, show her the magic, take her through the paces.

Ryan: I'm not a fucking tour guide. Now here we go.

Craig: Bingham, here's the boat. And here's you. Do you want to be in the boat?

Ryan: Yeah, alone.

Craig: We're ringing the bell. We're rounding everybody up. You want to stay out there a little bit longer, you're welcome to do it, but you will not be alone, okay? You let me know.[page]

第一页：片段欣赏
第二页：巧学口语
第三页：小小翻译家
第四页：文化一瞥

 

1. take seriously: 重视，认真对待。瑞恩在这里的意思是“你没有当真吧？不是在动真格的吧？”

2. iChat: 网络聊天。

3. minor in: 兼修，辅修。

主修某门课程则用major in表示。例如：I major in French and minor in English.（我主修法语，辅修英语。）

4. without grounds：毫无理由。

Ground在这里指“充分的理由、根据”，例如：You have no real grounds for complaint.（你没有真正的理由发牢骚。）

5. a hell of a:（用来加重语气）极恶劣的、不像样的、使人受不了的。

例如：You did a hell of a job.（你的工作一塌糊涂。）

此外，a hell of a用在口语中还可以表示“非常、极”，例如：I like you a hell of a lot.（我非常喜欢你。）He has a hell of a lot of money.（他很有钱。）

6. frankly：在这里相当于frankly speaking，坦率地说。

7. insurance premium: 保险费。

8. dinosaur: 守旧落伍的人；过时落后的东西。在这里可以翻译为“老古董”。

9. show someone the ropes: 传授秘诀。某人知道或学会秘诀则用know/learn the ropes来表示。

例如：At first I did not know what to do, but he patiently showed me the ropes（最初我不知道该怎么样，幸而他耐心教导。）

Ropes在这里表示“秘诀，窍门，规矩”，例如：We want someone who knows all the ropes of the trade（我们要一位完全熟悉行内规矩的人。）

平时我们还用show sb the back door来表示“下逐客令”。

10.take someone through the paces: 在这里的意思是“在工作中带带她，教教她做这一行”。

类似的用法put someone through his paces 用来指“考查、考验某人”。

11.ring the bell：按门铃，成功。

这里注意要和ring a bell区分开。Ring a bell: [俗]使人想起某事或引起兴趣。例如：Once you mentioned her plan to be a professional tennis player, then her name rang a bell with me.（每次说起她要成为专业网球球员的计划，我就会想起她的名字。）

12.round up: 聚拢；聚集。

例如：Both parties had an active campaign to round up the votes.（双方都积极开展竞选运动来拉选票。）[page]

第一页：片段欣赏
第二页：巧学口语
第三页：小小翻译家
第四页：文化一瞥

 

1.不从后面捅刀子，而是在胸前来一刀,是这样吗？

______________________________________
2.其实我辅修心理学。

______________________________________
3.那么说，你是毫无理由地开除我？

______________________________________
4.你就用这种方法欢迎她加入公司，真是绝了。

答案见下期

 

Up in the air《在云端》精讲之二 参考答案
1.Our global must become local.
2.That's my fucking line.
3.As a favor to me, I'd appreciate it if you didn't spread the news just yet.
4.Our inflated travel budget is eviscerated by 85%.[page]

第一页：片段欣赏
第二页：巧学口语
第三页：小小翻译家
第四页：文化一瞥

娜塔莉开发的远程裁员系统其实是基于一种远程办公的理念。那么，什么是远程办公呢？它又有什么优点和劣势呢？

Telecommuting：远程办公

Telecommuting, e-commuting, e-work, telework, working from home (WFH), or working at home (WAH) is a work arrangement in which employees enjoy flexibility in working location and hours. In other words, the daily commute to a central place of work is replaced by telecommunication links. Many work from home, while others, occasionally also referred to as nomad workers or web commuters utilize mobile telecommunications technology to work from coffee shops or myriad other locations.

Benefits:

Telecommuting offers benefits to communities, employers, and employees.

For communities, telecommuting can offer fuller employment (by increasing the employ-ability of proximal or circumstantially marginalized groups.

For companies, telecommuting expands the talent pool, reduce the spread of illness, reduces costs, increases productivity, reduces their carbon footprint and energy usage, offers an inexpensive method of complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), reduces turnover and absenteeism, and improves employee morale, offers a continuity of operations strategy, improve their ability to handle business across multiple timezones, and hasten their cultural adaptability.

For individuals, telecommuting, or more specifically, work from home arrangements, improves work-life balance, reduces their carbon footprint and fuel usage, frees up the equivalent of 15 to 25 workdays a year—time they would have otherwise spent commuting, and saves between $4,000 and $21,000 per year in travel and work-related costs (not including daycare).

Telework flexibility is a desirable perquisite for employees. A 2008 Robert Half International Financial Hiring Index, a survey of 1,400 CFOs by recruitment firm Robert Half International, indicated that 13% consider telework the best recruiting incentive today for accounting professionals. In earlier surveys, 33% considered telework the best recruiting incentive, and half considered it second best.

Concerns:

Employers largest concerns about telecommuting are: fear of loss of control; 75% of managers say they trust their employees, but a third say they'd like to be able to see them, just to be sure.

For employees, teleworking can negatively affect a person's career. A recent survey of 1,300 executives from 71 countries indicated that respondents believe that people who telework were less likely to get promoted. Companies rarely promote people into leadership roles who haven't been consistently seen and measured.