常春藤生活英语【67】A Co-Worker's Bad Habits

Dialogue A
Burt is in Kate's cubicle1.
Burt: Kate, can I ask you…Hey, what's wrong?
Kate: Don't you hear that?
Burt: Hear what? I don't hear anything.
Kate: That loud drumming2 sound! It's Bob! He is so bothersome. I hate sitting behind him.
Burt: I thought he was a nice guy. Is he really that bad?
Kate: It's not really him that I hate. It's his bad habits. They're driving me up the wall!
Burt: Well, what does he do?

Dialogue B
Kate: He drums his fingers while he's reading. Besides that, he doesn't take out his trash often enough.
Burt: I see what you mean.
Kate: And whenever he comes to ask me questions, he tends to spill² coffee on my desk.
Burt: I'm sure that's just by accident.
Kate: I know, but he does it every time and I have to clean it up!
Burt: If you can't tolerate³ his bad habits, it is best to talk to him about them.

Dialogue A
伯特在凯特的办公室小隔间里。
伯　特：凯特，借问一下……喂，怎么了？
凯　特：你没听到吗？
伯　特：听到什么？我什么都没听到。
凯　特：那个很吵的敲击声！是鲍伯啦！他好烦哦。我超讨厌坐在他后面。
伯　特：我以为他人还不错。他真的有那么糟吗？
凯　特：我也不是真的讨厌他的人啦。我是讨厌他的坏习惯。我真的被搞到快要抓狂了。
伯　特：嗯，他会做些什么啊？

Dialogue B
凯　特：他在看东西时会用手指敲桌子。此外，他也不常把垃圾拿出来倒。
伯　特：我了解妳的意思。
凯　特：而且每当他来问我问题时，他往往会把咖啡溅到我桌上。
伯　特：我敢肯定那只是意外而已。
凯　特：我知道，但他每次都这样，我还得要善后！
伯　特：妳若不能忍受他的坏习惯，就最好要跟他说。

Building Your Vocabulary

1. bothersome　 　a. 讨厌的，引起麻烦的
My neighbor is so bothersome. He always parks his car in front of my house.
我邻居很讨厌。他总是把车停在我家门口。

2. spill 　vt. 使泼出
I'm sorry that I spilled milk on your coat.
不好意思把牛奶溅到你外套上。

3. tolerate　vt. 容忍，忍受
Roger can't tolerate the pain in his back.
罗杰受不了他背上的疼痛。
Phrases⁴ for Learning⁵

1. drive + 人 + up the wall　　使某人非常恼火
That smell is driving me up the wall.
那股臭味快把我逼疯了。

2. tend to + 原形动词　　易于∕往往会……
Alice tends to forget to turn off the lights.
艾丽丝往往会忘记关灯。

3. by accident　　意外地；碰巧
Martin cut his finger by accident.
马丁无意间割伤了手指。

参考字词

1.　cubicle¹　n.（办公室里的）小隔间

2.　drum　vt. 有节奏地击打（本文中亦以现在分词作形容词用）
drum one's fingers　　某人用手指扣击东西

Enjoy Box

同事间的相处哲学

许多人一天当中大半的时间都处在职场里，跟同事的互动也自然十分频繁。然而部份同事的习惯实在令人不敢领教，有些人的缺点是跟工作相关：没有时间观念、不愿意加班或协助同事、衣着不够专业等。有的缺点则属比较个人方面，如同本篇对话中描述的状况一样。一开始我们可能对同事的坏习惯不以为意，但日子久了以后，或多或少就会产生一些抱怨。倘若您能自行释怀，设身处地为人着想，或是告诉自己问题其实并不严重，这样的做法固然最好。不过要是同事的坏习惯真的很恼人，并且已经严重到影响您的工作的话，您可以请那位同事的好朋友予以提醒。若您得亲自跟他说，切记要表达得自然且不露痕迹才好，也就是从婉转到正面以对。无论如何，切忌要顾及到同事的自尊，这样大家日后才能和谐地继续共事。

Tips In Use

They're driving me up the wall!
（我真的被搞到快要抓狂了！）

本句词组"drive + 人 + up the wall"的用法非常生动，把某人逼到想要去撞墙壁的境界也就是『把某人搞疯了』。以下为各位介绍相似的用法：
drive + 人 + up the wall　　令某人抓狂
= drive + 人 + nuts
= drive + 人 + bananas
= drive + 人 + crazy
= drive + 人 + insane⁶
The screaming baby is driving me nuts.
（这个尖叫的宝宝快把我搞疯了。）

1 cubicle   

n.大房间中隔出的小室

参考例句：

• She studies in a cubicle in the school library.她在学校图书馆的小自习室里学习。
• A technical sergeant hunches in a cubicle.一位技术军士在一间小屋里弯腰坐着。

2 spill   

n.溢出，溅出，涌出，摔下，暴跌，溢出量，木片，小塞子；vt.使溢出，使散落，洒

参考例句：

• The coffee is so full that it might spill over.咖啡太满可能会溢出来。
• He took a spill when he rode the horse.他骑马时从马上跌了下来。

3 tolerate   

v.忍受，容忍，容许，宽恕；vt.容忍，忍受，容许

参考例句：

• She can tolerate that rude fellow.她能容忍那个粗鲁的家伙。
• The teacher cannot tolerate eating on the class.老师不容许在课堂上吃东西。

4 phrases   

n.短语( phrase的名词复数 )；成语；说法；乐句

参考例句：

• Sports commentators repeat the same phrases ad nauseam. 体育解说员翻来覆去说着同样的词语，真叫人腻烦。
• Television sports commentators repeat the same phrases ad nauseam. 电视体育解说员说来说去就是那么几句话，令人厌烦。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 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。

6 insane   

adj.蠢极的，荒唐的，精神错乱的，疯狂的

参考例句：

• Insane people are sometimes dangerous.精神病人有时非常危险。
• The letter made her insane with jealousy.那封信使她妒忌得发疯。