高傲的英文新职业英语2unit2

2021年1月19日发(作者：机壳)
新职业英语
2unit
Unit
Two Business
Meeting
Meetings Are a Matter of Precious Time
会议关乎宝贵的时间

The
meeting
spills
over
into
its
second
hour.
We
are
discussing
a
productivity
initiative. At
this
moment,
our
most
talkative
member
chimes
in
with the idea that we need some kind of system to reward employees. This is
the same solution he offers for every problem at every meeting. Then, another
member cuts in with a long story
—
just to make the point that we are not the
proper
entity
to
recommend
the
kinds
of
changes
we
are
proposing.
I,
meanwhile, contribute nothing useful. Finally, the woman who set the meeting
calls it quits and tells us we’ll continue next week. We drift back to our offices,
wondering how to make up for the wasted time. This meeting occurred many
years ago, but similar ones happen at companies everywhere every day


会议已经拖拖 拉拉开了一个多小时，我们正在讨论如何提高生产效率的提
案。
这时，
最能言善道的同 事插话说需要某种制度来激励员工。
每次会上，
不管
讨论什么问题，
他都会提 出同一个方案。
紧接着，
另一位同事长篇累牍地说明我
们都不是提出这些建议的合适人 选。
我也没说啥有用的。
最后，
召集会议的女同
事宣布散会，
并告知 下周继续开会。
我们游荡回各自的办公室，
盘算着怎样才能
把浪费的时间补回来。这是多年前的一次会议，
但类似的情景仍然随时随地在不
同公司上演

chime in:

to join in or interrupt a conversation; to agree with something
e.g. Her expectation chimes in with the belief of













many others.
Tran
：他总是插话表达自己的看法。







He kept chiming in with his own opinions.

Propose:
v
.
to
suggest
a
plan
or
idea,
etc.
for
people
to
think
about
or
decide on
e.g. The government proposed changes to the voting system.

Tran:
她建议封杀那个作者的著作。








She
proposed
that
the
books
written
by
the
author
should
be
banned.
Proposal: n. = suggestion


Contribute v.

to speak during a meeting or a conversation, or write things
for a newspaper, magazine, etc.
e.g. We hope everyone will contribute to the discussion.
Tran
：他给这家杂志写了很多文章。


He contributed a number of articles to the magazine.


Part of the problem at such meetings is that the leader has not set clear
objectives
or
an
agenda,
and
didn’t
assign
pre
-meeting
preparation
tasks.
Instead, the leader seems to hope that magic will occur, producing solutions to
the problems. Of course, that doesn’t happen.

这种会议的问题部分在于会议召集人没有明确的目标或议程 ，
也没有布置好
会前的准备工作，
而是寄希望于奇迹发生，
带来解决问题的方 法。
当然，
奇迹从
未发生。


assign
v.


to
give
someone
a
particular
job
or
responsibility;
to
give
money; equipment, etc. to someone to use
e.g.

The teacher assigned a different task to each of the students.


e.g.

I was assigned a pleasant room to work in.
Tran
：我们可以指派他完成一项重要任务。







We can assign him an important mission.

3




The main reason we don’t make meetings more productive is that
we don’t value our time properly. The people who call meetings and thos
e who
attend them are not thinking about time as their most valuable resource. But
time is the most perishable good in the world. You can’t earn an extra hour to
use on a busy day. Nonetheless, we usually have a vague feeling that there is
plenty of time
—
somewhere in the future
—
so we waste it now and carelessly
steal time from our families, friends or ourselves.
3


会议之所以效率不 高，
主要是因为没有很好地珍惜时间。
召开和参加会
议的人都没有将时间当做最宝贵的 资源。
但时间是世上最易逝的东西。
忙碌的一
天中你无法得到额外的一个小时来做事。
尽管如此，
我们还总是依稀觉得未来有
大把时间，故而不珍惜当下，漫不经心地把家庭 、朋友和自己的时间浪费掉。

vague a. of an uncertain, indefinite or unclear character or meaning

e.g. They were vague about their backgrounds.

Tran:
协议的条款故意含糊不清。












The terms of the agreement were left deliberately vague.

4





I used to be the disengaged participant
—
one who had good ideas
about how to solve a problem, but didn’t contribute. I now take a more active
role, aiming to make meetings more effective. Here are three simple principles
I use. First, whoever calls a meeting should be explicit about its objectives. This
means
specifying
tangible
goals
and
assigning
responsibilities.
Second,
everyone
should
think
carefully
about
the
costs
of
a
meeting:
How
many
participants are really needed? How long should the meeting last? Finally, after
meetings,
assign
credit
or
blame
to
the
person
in
charge.
If
people
have
records
of
leading
ineffective
meetings,
they
are
not
allowed
to
lead
future
sessions.

4


过去，我开会时参与度不高，对要解决的问题有好想法却不说。现在，
我采取更积极 的态度，希望会议能更有效。我遵循以下三个简单的原则。第一，
无论谁召集会议，
都必须明确 目的。
这意味着说明会议的切实目标并将任务布置
下去。
第二，
每个人都要仔 细考虑会议成本：
到底需要几人参加？要开多久？最
后，
会议结束后，
要给会 议负责人评评分。
如果谁有开会效率低的记录，
那么下
次他就不能再担任召集人。
Disengaged a. not involved with or interested in something or someone,
and feeling separate from them