2015年考研英语(二)阅读真题(MP3+字幕)第3篇 The Origins of Office Speak
日期:2017-09-01 18:13

(单词翻译:单击)

Even in traditional offices, "the lingua franca of corporate America has gotten much more emotional and much more right-brained than it was 20 years ago," said Harvard Business School professor Nancy Koehn.
哈佛商学院教授南希·科恩说道,即使是在传统的办公室,“美国企业的通用语已变得比二十年前更有感染力和更有创造性。”
She started spinning off examples.
她开始列举例子来具体说明。
"If you and I parachuted back to Fortune 500 companies in 1990, we would see much less frequent use of terms like journey, mission, passion.
“如果你和我回到1990年《财富》杂志500强企业,我们会发现他们那时很少使用历程、使命、激情等这些词。
There were goals, there were strategies, there were objectives, but we didn't talk about energy; we didn't talk about passion."
他们那时用的是目的、战略、任务,但是既没有提及力量;也没有提及激情。”
Koehn pointed out that this new era of corporate vocabulary is very "team"-oriented—and not by coincidence.
科恩指出,新时代的企业用词非常突出以“团队”为导向——这不是偶然。
"Let's not forget sports—in male-dominated corporate America, it's still a big deal.
“我们不要忘了体育运动——在男性主导的美国企业中,体育中的团队精神依然非常重要。”
It's not explicitly conscious; it's the idea that I'm a coach, and you're my team, and we're in this together.
团队精神并不那么突出;其实是这个想法:我是教练,你们是我的队伍,我们是一起的。
There are lots and lots of CEOs in very different companies, but most think of themselves as coaches and this is their team and they want to win."
尽管很多的首席执行官所属的企业类型很不相同,但他们中的大多数人都以教练自居,企业是他们的队伍,他们想要赢。
These terms are also intended to infuse work with meaning—and, as Khurana points out, increase allegiance to the firm.
这些词语也旨在使工作充满意义——正如库拉纳说指出的那样,增加员工对公司的忠诚。
"You have the importation of terminology that historically used to be associated with non-profit organizations and religious organizations: Terms like vision, values, passion, and purpose," said Khurana.
库拉纳说道,“企业引入了那些过去常常与非盈利组织和宗教组织相联系的用语:像远见、价值、激情和目的等词语。”
This new focus on personal fulfillment can help keep employees motivated amid increasingly loud debates over work-life balance.
这种对实现个人价值的新的关注有助于保持员工的积极性,尤其是在如何平衡工作与生活关系的争论日趋激烈的时候。
The "mommy wars" of the 1990s are still going on today, prompting arguments about why women still can't have it all and books like Sheryl Sandberg's Lean In, whose title has become a buzzword in its own right.
二十世纪九十年代的“妈妈间的论战”直到今天仍在继续,该论战引发了人们对《妇女为什么不能工作与家庭两不误呢?》和诸如谢丽尔·桑德伯格的《向前一步》等书的热议,而“向前一步”这个书名本身就已成为一个流行词语。
Terms like unplug, offline, life-hack, bandwidth, and capacity are all about setting boundaries between the office and the home.
像拔掉电源、下线、生活黑客(指各种能提高个人办事效率的方法和技巧)、带宽和能力等这些词语全都与设定工作与家庭之间的界线有关。
But if your work is your "passion," you'll be more likely to devote yourself to it, even if that means going home for dinner and then working long after the kids are in bed.
但是如果你的工作是你的“激情”所在,你就更可能全身心投入其中,即使那意味着你回家吃晚饭,然后在孩子睡觉后你还要工作很久。
But this seems to be the irony of office speak: Everyone makes fun of it, but managers love it, companies depend on it, and regular people willingly absorb it.
但是这似乎是办公室语言的可笑之处:人人都嘲笑它,但管理者喜爱它,公司依靠它,而且一般人愿意吸收它。
As Nunberg said, "You can get people to think it's nonsense at the same time that you buy into it."
正如那伯格所说的,“你能让别人觉得办公室语言是胡扯,但同时你却又相信它。”
In a workplace that's fundamentally indifferent to your life and its meaning, office speak can help you figure out how you relate to your work—and how your work defines who you are.
在一个和你的生活和生活意义根本就没有关系的工作场所,办公室语言能让你明白你是如何与你的工作联系起来的,以及你的工作是如何定义你是谁的。

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重点单词
  • indifferentadj. 漠不关心的,无重要性的,中立的
  • settingn. 安装,放置,周围,环境,(为诗等谱写的)乐曲 动词
  • intendedadj. 故意的,有意的;打算中的 n. 已订婚者 v.
  • coachn. 大巴,教练;(火车)客车车厢,四轮马车,经济舱 v
  • coincidencen. 巧合,同时发生
  • explicitlyadv. 明白地,明确地
  • fortunen. 财产,命运,运气
  • promptingn. 刺激,激励,暗示 动词prompt的现在分词
  • infusevt. 注入,鼓舞,泡制,植入
  • fulfillmentn. 满足,完成,履行