常春藤生活英语【40】Employment Traps 职场陷阱

Dialogue A
Seth and Fran are meeting for lunch.
Fran:　Congratulations on the new job.
Seth:　Thanks! I'm really excited about it.
Fran:　What are you going to be doing?
Seth:　I'll be working in sales. The hours are flexible and they say I can earn a lot of money easily.
Fran:　That sounds too good to be true.
Seth:　I think I will like this job. Please don't be a wet blanket.
Fran:　I'm sorry. You're right. We're here to celebrate.

赛斯跟法兰正碰面吃午餐。
法　兰：恭喜你找到新工作。
赛　斯：谢谢！我真的好兴奋喔。
法　兰：你将要做什么？
赛　斯：我会在业务部工作。工时弹性，而且他们说我可以轻轻松松就赚很多钱。
法　兰：听起来好到令人难以相信。
赛　斯：我觉得我会喜欢这份工作。请别扫兴了。
法　兰：对不起啦。你说的对。我们来这里就是要庆祝的。

Dialogue B
Seth and Fran meet for coffee a week later.
Fran:　What's wrong, Seth? You seem a bit down.
Seth:　I am concerned about my new job.
Fran:　Why? You said it would be great.
Seth:　I know, but we had orientation¹ last week and I didn't like anything I heard.
Fran:　What do you mean?
Seth:　For example, I have to buy a lot of the company's products before I even start working.
Fran:　That sounds fishy² to me.

一星期后，赛斯跟法兰碰面喝咖啡。
法　兰：赛斯，怎么啦？看你似乎有点沮丧耶。
赛　斯：我很担心我的新工作。
法　兰：为什么？你说过它会很棒的。
赛　斯：我知道，不过我不喜欢我们上星期新进员工训练里听到的任何事。
法　兰：你的意思是？
赛　斯：举例来说，我还没开始工作前就必须买一大堆公司产品。
法　兰：听起来还蛮可疑的。

Building Your Vocabulary

1.flexible　a. 可变通的，灵活的
Our schedule is very flexible because we are on vacation.
我们现在在度假，所以我们的行程很有弹性。

2.down　a. 情绪低落的，消沈的
I feel so down. I need someone to talk to.
我觉得好沮丧。我需要找人聊聊。

3.fishy　a. 可疑的
Brian's fake³ smile looked fishy.
布莱恩假惺惺的笑容看起来很可疑。

Phrases for Learning⁴

1.wet blanket　　扫兴的人
While we were talking about the party, Bill kept being a wet blanket.
我们在谈派对的事时，比尔一直扫我们的兴。

2.a bit + 形容词　　有点……
The purse is a bit expensive for me.
这个皮包对我来说有点贵。

3.be concerned about...　　担心……
Joe is concerned about the math test later.
阿乔很担心待会儿的数学考试。

参考字词

1.congratulations　n. 恭喜，祝贺（恒为复数）
2.orientation　n.（为熟悉新工作的）培训；准备

Enjoy Box

求职停看听

失业率不断攀升，刚踏出校园的学生一出社会就面临艰困的就业环境。在僧多粥少的市场推波助澜下，不肖之徒紧抓着求职者的弱点，乘隙而入，一般求职大众不可不防。当一个人急着谋得一职时，往往较为缺乏沈稳而理性的态度，更何况一些居心叵测的职缺，都会用诱人的糖衣加以掩饰。例如坊间很多征人广告，以『兼职，高奖金』、『免经验，月入数万』、『无须甄试，立即上班』等幌子大肆吹嘘，实不宜贸然应征。此外，社会上最常见的伪装征人伎俩，莫过于老鼠会的推广手段。

其实只要从广告字眼及征职者的口中就可分析真伪，像上述『兼职，高奖金』等噱头，大多是老鼠会的骗人伎俩。除了这些耳熟能详的招数外，近年来职场的新陷阱也层出不穷，例如『预缴万元保证金，加盟创业，月回本』、『家庭代工，按件计酬』、『新兴网络购物公司』等。有些甚至假借公家机关名义，要求预缴保证金才会介绍职业。为了不要成为冤大头，应征工作时要牢记『不支出，不购买，不签字』的三不原则，也不可留下身分证或驾照等证件正本。其它凡是需要缴费受训或先购买物品者，都有可能是陷阱，求职者务必特别小心，以防受骗。

Tips In Use

You seem a bit down.
（看你似乎有点沮丧耶。）　

1.本句中，"a bit"作副词用，表『有点』的意思。
a bit = a little bit = somewhat⁵ = a little

It's a bit hot today.
= It's a little bit hot today.
= It's somewhat hot today.
= It's a little hot today.
（今天有点热。）　

2.此外，"a bit"也等于 slightly，但 slightly 较为正式。

Bob is a bit serious.
= Bob is slightly serious.
（鲍伯有点严肃。）

1 orientation   

n.方向，目标；熟悉，适应，情况介绍

参考例句：

• Children need some orientation when they go to school.小孩子上学时需要适应。
• The traveller found his orientation with the aid of a good map.旅行者借助一幅好地图得知自己的方向。

2 fishy   

adj. 值得怀疑的

参考例句：

• It all sounds very fishy to me.所有这些在我听起来都很可疑。
• There was definitely something fishy going on.肯定当时有可疑的事情在进行中。

3 fake   

vt.伪造，造假，假装；n.假货，赝品

参考例句：

• He can tell a fake from the original.他能分辨出赝品和真品。
• You can easily fake up an excuse to avoid going out with him.你可以很容易地编造一个借口而不与他一同外出。

4 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

5 somewhat   

pron.一些，某物；adv.多少，几分

参考例句：

• The cake we made was somewhat of a failure.我们做的蛋糕不大成功。
• The two office buildings are somewhat alike in appearance.这两座办公楼在外形上有点相似。