美国国家公共电台 NPR What's More Distracting Than A Noisy Co-Worker? Turns Out, Not Much

What's More Distracting Than A Noisy Co-Worker? Turns Out, Not Much

play pause stop mute unmute max volume 00:0003:46repeat repeat off Update Required To play the media you will need to either update your browser¹ to a recent version or update your Flash plugin. STEVE INSKEEP, HOST: 

Got a question for you. What do you do when your workplace sounds like this?

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: (Coughing).

INSKEEP: Do you think to yourself, go home? Do you want to scream at co-workers to take a lozenge? Well, welcome to the club. As cold and flu season fast approaches, it may only get worse. NPR's Yuki Noguchi has more on how irritating noises can disrupt workplaces.

YUKI NOGUCHI, BYLINE²: Earlier this year, Milwaukee web developer Taj Shahrani had a colleague who sat on the other side of a cubicle³ wall and would, as he says, shout cough at regular intervals⁴.

TAJ SHAHRANI: Yeah, he never covered his mouth.

NOGUCHI: The violence of it would shake his desk, interrupt conversations and phone calls.

SHAHRANI: I would always know when it was coming because you would hear, like, you know, that sharp intake⁵, like (inhales) he's about to cough. And then you would always kind of wince⁶ and stop what you're doing because you knew it was about to be sort of, like, loud and hard to hear.

NOGUCHI: Shahrani and another colleague kept running tallies⁷. It happened a few times every hour for months. But they never complained.

SHAHRANI: It's sort of taboo⁸ to criticize someone for, like, an illness.

NOGUCHI: When Shahrani got a new desk in an office reshuffling, he realized just how much more work he accomplished⁹ without constant interruption. Sound interruption is by far the greatest workplace distraction¹⁰ according to Alan Hedge, an expert in workplace design at Cornell University. Three quarters of workers have problems, he says, foremost with intelligible¹¹ speech and other human sounds.

ALAN HEDGE: Because we are tuned¹³ in to trying to pay attention to that.

NOGUCHI: The trend toward open offices offers little sound absorption. And at least one study shows the layout makes workers more likely to take a sick day. Rue¹⁴ Dooley is an advisor¹⁵ at the Society for Human Resource Management and says HR professionals often call in asking how to manage co-worker complaints about various bodily noises. It depends, he says. For example, in a previous job, Dooley shared space with double trouble.

RUE DOOLEY: He loved to eat carrots - frozen carrots.

(SOUNDBITE OF CHEWING)

NOGUCHI: All day long.

DOOLEY: And he had chronic¹⁶ bronchitis.

NOGUCHI: Dooley says he was able to laugh off the carrots. But coughing, he says, is another matter. Employers worry about contagion¹⁷ and lost productivity, but they also have a legal obligation to accommodate those with an illness or a disability. What those accommodations are might vary. A waitress or a shop clerk with a hacking¹⁸ cough might require a sick day or a reassignment, in which case Dooley says it's OK for a manager to say...

DOOLEY: That cough is turning customers away. We can't have you on the floor with that.

NOGUCHI: There are other noises that fall into a gray area where it's not clear whether intervention¹⁹ is necessary. Four years ago, the Social Security Administration reprimanded a worker for his excessive flatulence. After numerous complaints and warnings, the agency charged him with, quote, "conduct unbecoming a federal employee." The employee claimed his lactose intolerance caused it. After his union intervened, the reprimand was rescinded²⁰.

Then there is the gross interruption that is totally preventable. Denver electrical engineer Kendra Lyons sits a few cubicles²¹ down from a loud talker, whose phone conversations include details about her gynecology and family disputes.

KENDRA LYONS: I would find it really hard to tune¹² out and not listen to her for the rest of the conversation. So I would end up eavesdropping²², rather than doing my work.

NOGUCHI: Now, she says, she drowns it out with headphones blasting electronica or the "Hamilton" soundtrack - anything with a strong beat. Yuki Noguchi, NPR News, Washington.

1 browser   

n.浏览者

参考例句：

• View edits in a web browser.在浏览器中看编辑的效果。
• I think my browser has a list of shareware links.我想在浏览器中会有一系列的共享软件链接。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 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。

4 intervals   

n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息

参考例句：

• The forecast said there would be sunny intervals and showers. 预报间晴，有阵雨。
• Meetings take place at fortnightly intervals. 每两周开一次会。

5 intake   

n.吸入，纳入；进气口，入口

参考例句：

• Reduce your salt intake.减少盐的摄入量。
• There was a horrified intake of breath from every child.所有的孩子都害怕地倒抽了一口凉气。

6 wince   

n.畏缩，退避，（因痛苦，苦恼等)面部肌肉抽动；v.畏缩，退缩，退避

参考例句：

• The barb of his wit made us wince.他那锋芒毕露的机智使我们退避三舍。
• His smile soon modified to a wince.他的微笑很快就成了脸部肌肉的抽搐。

7 tallies   

n.账( tally的名词复数 )；符合；（计数的）签；标签v.计算，清点( tally的第三人称单数 )；加标签（或标记）于；（使）符合；（使）吻合

参考例句：

• Cash on hand tallies with the figure in the accounts. 现款跟账上的数目没有出入。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He tallies his own marks. 他把自己的得分记了下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 taboo   

n.禁忌，禁止接近，禁止使用；adj.禁忌的；v.禁忌，禁制，禁止

参考例句：

• The rude words are taboo in ordinary conversation.这些粗野的字眼在日常谈话中是禁忌的。
• Is there a taboo against sex before marriage in your society?在你们的社会里，婚前的性行为犯禁吗？

9 accomplished   

adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的

参考例句：

• Thanks to your help,we accomplished the task ahead of schedule.亏得你们帮忙,我们才提前完成了任务。
• Removal of excess heat is accomplished by means of a radiator.通过散热器完成多余热量的排出。

10 distraction   

n.精神涣散，精神不集中，消遣，娱乐

参考例句：

• Total concentration is required with no distractions.要全神贯注，不能有丝毫分神。
• Their national distraction is going to the disco.他们的全民消遣就是去蹦迪。

11 intelligible   

adj.可理解的，明白易懂的，清楚的

参考例句：

• This report would be intelligible only to an expert in computing.只有计算机运算专家才能看懂这份报告。
• His argument was barely intelligible.他的论点不易理解。

12 tune   

n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整

参考例句：

• He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子，并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
• The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。

13 tuned   

adj.调谐的，已调谐的v.调音( tune的过去式和过去分词 )；调整；（给收音机、电视等）调谐；使协调

参考例句：

• The resort is tuned in to the tastes of young and old alike. 这个度假胜地适合各种口味，老少皆宜。
• The instruments should be tuned up before each performance. 每次演出开始前都应将乐器调好音。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 rue   

n.懊悔，芸香，后悔；v.后悔，悲伤，懊悔

参考例句：

• You'll rue having failed in the examination.你会悔恨考试失败。
• You're going to rue this the longest day that you live.你要终身悔恨不尽呢。

15 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。

16 chronic   

adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的

参考例句：

• Famine differs from chronic malnutrition.饥荒不同于慢性营养不良。
• Chronic poisoning may lead to death from inanition.慢性中毒也可能由虚弱导致死亡。

17 contagion   

n.(通过接触的疾病)传染；蔓延

参考例句：

• A contagion of fear swept through the crowd.一种恐惧感在人群中迅速蔓延开。
• The product contagion effect has numerous implications for marketing managers and retailers.产品传染效应对市场营销管理者和零售商都有很多的启示。

18 hacking   

n.非法访问计算机系统和数据库的活动

参考例句：

• The patient with emphysema is hacking all day. 这个肺气肿病人整天不断地干咳。
• We undertook the task of hacking our way through the jungle. 我们负责在丛林中开路。

19 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

20 rescinded   

v.废除，取消( rescind的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Rescinded civil acts shall be null and void from the very beginning. 被撤销的民事行为从行为开始起无效。 来自互联网
• They accepted his advice and rescinded the original plan. 他们听从了他的劝告，撤销了原计划。 来自互联网

21 cubicles   

n.小卧室，斗室( cubicle的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Security guards, operating inside bullet-proof glass cubicles, and speaking through microphones, scrutinized every arrival and departure. 警卫们在装有防弹玻璃的小室里值勤，通过麦克风细致盘问每一个进出的人。 来自辞典例句
• I guess they thought me content to stay in cubicles. 我猜他们认为我愿意呆在小房间里。 来自互联网

22 eavesdropping   

n. 偷听

参考例句：

• We caught him eavesdropping outside the window. 我们撞见他正在窗外偷听。
• Suddenly the kids,who had been eavesdropping,flew into the room. 突然间，一直在偷听的孩子们飞进屋来。