2020年经济学人 日本白领努力适应社会距离(1)

Business

商业

Office culture

办公室文化

The presenteeism premium¹

出勤率超额

Japan’s white-collar warriors² struggle to adapt to social distancing

日本的白领战士们努力适应社会距离

In 57 ad a Chinese emperor, Guangwu, gave an envoy³ from the kingdom of Wa, as Japan was then known, a solid gold seal, with a handle in the form of a coiled serpent.

公元57年，中国光武帝给来自倭奴国的使者，即当时的日本，一块纯金铸造的金印，金印上有一个蛇钮。

Such seals, or hanko, are still commonly used in Japan in place of signatures on official documents and contracts.

在日本仍然常用这样的印章（hanko）在官方文件和合同上代替签名。

During the covid-19 pandemic, with many workers forced to defy social-distancing guidelines and trudge⁴ to their offices to put ink to paper,

在新冠状病毒疫情期间，许多员工被迫违反社会距离的准则，赶到办公室，并把墨水涂在纸上进行签字，

the hanko captures corporate⁵ Japan’s struggle to modernise⁶ its anachronistic⁷ workplace culture.

日本企业努力去对过时的办公室文化进行现代化建设，而印章抓住了这一斗争的时机。

Despite its reputation for hi-tech wizardry, Japan can be stubbornly analogue⁸.

尽管日本以其高科技上非凡的成就而闻名，它固执的程度可以与之类比。

When the pandemic hit, only 40% of Japanese firms had used digitised contracts at all and just 30% had systems in place to enable remote working.

疫情袭击日本时，只有40%的日本公司使用数字化合同，只有30%的公司有系统支持远程办公。

Faxes remain ubiquitous; in many prefectures, doctors have been faxing coronavirus test results to public- health officials.

传真仍然无处不在；在许多县，医生们已经将冠状病毒检测结果传真给公共卫生官员。

The pandemic has also exposed Japan Inc’s unusually heavy reliance on face-to-face communication.

这场疫情也暴露；了日本一场严重地依赖于面对面的沟通。

Meeting clients or business partners in person is de rigueur.

亲自会见客户或商业伙伴是不必要的。

The Japanese style of collective decisionmaking depends on people huddling⁹ in a room together.

日本式的集体决策取决于人们挤在一个房间里。

Salarymen and women put in long days in the office to demonstrate their dedication¹⁰ to their company and colleagues— and then late nights of sake-fuelled carousing¹¹ to build camaraderie¹².

工薪族在办公室里花了很长时间来展示他们对公司和同事的奉献精神，然后在深夜的清酒狂欢中建立起友谊。

1 premium   

n.加付款；赠品；adj.高级的；售价高的

参考例句：

• You have to pay a premium for express delivery.寄快递你得付额外费用。
• Fresh water was at a premium after the reservoir was contaminated.在水库被污染之后，清水便因稀而贵了。

2 warriors   

武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I like reading the stories ofancient warriors. 我喜欢读有关古代武士的故事。
• The warriors speared the man to death. 武士们把那个男子戳死了。

3 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

4 trudge   

v.步履艰难地走；n.跋涉，费力艰难的步行

参考例句：

• It was a hard trudge up the hill.这趟上山是一次艰难的跋涉。
• The trudge through the forest will be tiresome.长途跋涉穿越森林会令人疲惫不堪。

5 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

6 modernise   

vt.使现代化

参考例句：

• If it works,it would help to modernise the entire economy.这项（改革）一旦实施起效，将有助于整体经济的现代化进程。
• They attempted in vain to modernise these antiquated industries.他们企图使这些陈旧的工业现代化，结果劳而无功。

7 anachronistic   

adj.时代错误的

参考例句：

• In remembering historic events,the mistake you tend to make is anachronistic.在记历史事件时，你容易犯的错误是时代错误。
• English public schools are anachronistic.英国的公立学校已经落伍过时了。

8 analogue   

n.类似物；同源语

参考例句：

• The gill of a fish is the analogue of the lung of a cat.鱼的鳃和猫的肺是类似物。
• But aside from that analogue standby,the phone, videoconferencing is their favorite means of communication.除了备用的相似物电话，可视对话是他们最喜欢的沟通手段。

9 huddling   

n. 杂乱一团, 混乱, 拥挤 v. 推挤, 乱堆, 草率了事

参考例句：

• Twenty or thirty monkeys are huddling along the thick branch. 三十只猴子挤在粗大的树枝上。
• The defenders are huddling down for cover. 捍卫者为了掩护缩成一团。

10 dedication   

n.奉献，献身，致力，题献，献辞

参考例句：

• We admire her courage,compassion and dedication.我们钦佩她的勇气、爱心和奉献精神。
• Her dedication to her work was admirable.她对工作的奉献精神可钦可佩。

11 carousing   

v.痛饮，闹饮欢宴( carouse的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• During the next nine years he alternated between service in several armies and carousing in Paris. 在那以后的九年里，他时而在几个军队中服役，时而在巴黎狂欢作乐。 来自辞典例句
• In his youth George W. Bush had a reputation for carousing. 小布什在年轻时有好玩的名声。 来自互联网

12 camaraderie   

n.同志之爱，友情

参考例句：

• The camaraderie among fellow employees made the tedious work just bearable.同事之间的情谊使枯燥乏味的工作变得还能忍受。
• Some bosses are formal and have occasional interactions,while others prefer continual camaraderie.有些老板很刻板，偶尔才和下属互动一下；有些则喜欢和下属打成一片。