新视野大学英语视听说教程 2 Unit 4-12

V. Let’s Talk
A  Job Ad for a Friendly Employee
A firm advertising¹ for a “friendly” employee has been asked to change its wording because it discriminates² against unfriendly people.
Travelco, a travel agency, put in a request for a “Friendly employee” to provide food for its staff. But the Job Center in Bristol told managing director Harry³ Smith that he would have to remove the word “friendly” before the advertisement could be accepted.
Mr. Smith said he could not believe the decision and thought it was “ridiculous.” He said: “We were told we could not use that particular word because it was discriminatory against people who looked unfriendly. We thought it was ridiculous. It’s only too natural for us to specify⁴ what kind of people we want.” He added, “The people at the center have since said they thought they had been a little over the top.”
The center had made it a rule that certain words were nor allowed in ads and the words “motivated” and “enthusiastic” had been banned in the past.
An official of the center said: “We do have guidelines of not using personality characteristics in advertisements to ensure that there is no discrimination in the process.”
She added: “We should leave the dispute to the local judges. They’ll make the final decision. It’s possible that a member of our staff has been over-enthusiastic in cutting out words in ads.”

Persons/Agencies	Words/Actions	Reasons/Purposes
A firm	advertised for a friendly employee; Was asked to change the wording	discrimination against unfriendly people
Travelco	requested for a friendly employee	to provide food for its staff/employees
The Job Center	told the Travelco managing director to remove the word “friendly”
The managing director	said was told not to use that word; thought it was ridiculous	It was natural to specify the kind of people they wanted
	added that the people at the center thought they had been a little over the top
The center	had decided5 that certain words were not allowed; e.g. motivated, enthusiastic
An official	said they had guidelines of not using personality characteristics	no discrimination
	added that they should leave the dispute to the local judges	to make the final decision
	maybe a member of their staff had been over-enthusiastic	in cutting words

1 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

2 discriminates   

分别，辨别，区分( discriminate的第三人称单数 )； 歧视，有差别地对待

参考例句：

• The new law discriminates against lower-paid workers. 这条新法律歧视低工资的工人。
• One test governs state legislation that discriminates against interstate commerce. 一个检验约束歧视州际商业的州立法。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

3 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

4 specify   

vt.指定，详细说明

参考例句：

• We should specify a time and a place for the meeting.我们应指定会议的时间和地点。
• Please specify what you will do.请你详述一下你将做什么。

5 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。