纽约时报 打工人看了这则广告作何感受?(1)

A protest song about degrading work becomes a rousing call to do even more work after that.

一首关于有辱人格的工作的抗议歌曲成为了一个振奋人心的号召，要求在那之后做更多的工作。

By Brooke Jarvis

文/布鲁克·贾维斯

We open to shades of gray and beige and what must be the world's dullest office.

我们面对着灰色和米色的阴影，还有世界上最单调的办公室。

In case you didn't notice the overwhelming tedium¹, though, there's help: One actor's heavy eyelids² are dragging his whole body downward, and another, slumped³ onto one elbow, seems to be collapsing⁴ so thoroughly⁵ into his desk that he might merge⁶ with it.

为了防止你没有注意到那种令人难以忍受的乏味，下面的情景提供了帮助：一个演员沉重的眼皮把他的整个身体往下拉，而另一个演员则枕着胳膊肘，似乎完全瘫倒在他的桌子上，他可能会和桌子合二为一。

By the time we see papers thudding into the inbox of a young woman - the camera loses focus as she contemplates⁷ the files, as if it shares her despair - we've gotten the message: Work is where joy goes to die.

我们看到一位年轻女性的收件篮里送来文件——当她凝视着文件时，相机失去了焦点，好像它分享了她的绝望——我们得到了这样一个信息：工作就是快乐消失的地方。

Then a flicker⁸ of hope crosses the woman's face.

然后，女人脸上闪过一丝希望。

She has looked up at the clock, which is moments away from striking 5.

她抬头看了看钟，马上就要到5点了。

She opens her laptop, where we see our first glimpse of real color, in the website for a dance-fitness business she's starting.

她打开了她的笔记本电脑，在那里我们第一次看到了真正的色彩——在她创办的舞蹈健身项目的网站上。

After one last edit, she hits publish, then closes the laptop to an office transformed.

在最后一次编辑之后，她点击“发布”，然后关闭笔记本电脑，画面里的办公室已经发生了变化。

Her gray sweater is now a red tank top, and she dances past her officemates, all now in bright outfits⁹, converting their cubicles¹⁰ into creative small businesses: an art studio, a bakery, a woodworking shop, a landscaping business that seems to specialize in topiary sculptures, something involving scuba¹¹.

她的灰色毛衣现在变成了一件红色的背心，她从她的同事身边跳着经过，他们现在都穿着鲜艳的衣服，把他们的小隔间变成了富有创意的小公司：一个艺术工作室、一个面包店、一个木工店、一个看起来专门做雕塑的园林绿化企业，以及一些涉及到潜水的东西。

Their life force is restored, because their jobs and their dreams are now one.

他们的生命力得到了恢复，因为他们的工作和梦想现在合二为一了。

The message is familiar, and classically American: bootstraps and businesses, Horatio Alger for the Instagram generation.

我们对这条信息很熟悉，而且它是典型的美国风格：最小财力创建企业，Instagram一代的霍雷肖·阿尔杰。

If this ad - aired by Squarespace, a service for building and hosting websites, during this year's Super Bowl - had only had a different soundtrack, it might well have been forgotten by Monday.

如果这则由Squarespace（一家为网站创建和托管服务的公司）在今年的超级碗期间播出的广告有着不同的配乐，它很可能在周一就被人们遗忘了。

1 tedium   

n.单调；烦闷

参考例句：

• We played games to relieve the tedium of the journey.我们玩游戏，来解除旅行的沉闷。
• In myself I could observe the following sources of tedium. 从我自己身上，我所观察到的烦闷的根源有下列一些。

2 eyelids   

n.眼睑( eyelid的名词复数 )；眼睛也不眨一下；不露声色；面不改色

参考例句：

• She was so tired, her eyelids were beginning to droop. 她太疲倦了，眼睑开始往下垂。
• Her eyelids drooped as if she were on the verge of sleep. 她眼睑低垂好像快要睡着的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 slumped   

大幅度下降，暴跌( slump的过去式和过去分词 )； 沉重或突然地落下[倒下]

参考例句：

• Sales have slumped this year. 今年销售量锐减。
• The driver was slumped exhausted over the wheel. 司机伏在方向盘上，疲惫得睡着了。

4 collapsing   

压扁[平]，毁坏，断裂

参考例句：

• Rescuers used props to stop the roof of the tunnel collapsing. 救援人员用支柱防止隧道顶塌陷。
• The rocks were folded by collapsing into the center of the trough. 岩石由于坍陷进入凹槽的中心而发生褶皱。

5 thoroughly   

adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地

参考例句：

• The soil must be thoroughly turned over before planting.一定要先把土地深翻一遍再下种。
• The soldiers have been thoroughly instructed in the care of their weapons.士兵们都系统地接受过保护武器的训练。

6 merge   

v.(使)结合，(使)合并，(使)合为一体

参考例句：

• I can merge my two small businesses into a large one.我可以将我的两家小商店合并为一家大商行。
• The directors have decided to merge the two small firms together.董事们已决定把这两家小商号归并起来。

7 contemplates   

深思，细想，仔细考虑( contemplate的第三人称单数 )； 注视，凝视； 考虑接受（发生某事的可能性）； 深思熟虑，沉思，苦思冥想

参考例句：

• She contemplates leaving for the sake of the kids. 她考虑为了孩子而离开。
• Beauty in things exists in the mind which contemplates them. 事物的美存在于细心观察它的人的头脑中。

8 flicker   

vi./n.闪烁，摇曳，闪现

参考例句：

• There was a flicker of lights coming from the abandoned house.这所废弃的房屋中有灯光闪烁。
• At first,the flame may be a small flicker,barely shining.开始时，光辉可能是微弱地忽隐忽现，几乎并不灿烂。

9 outfits   

n.全套装备( outfit的名词复数 )；一套服装；集体；组织v.装备，配置设备，供给服装( outfit的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• He jobbed out the contract to a number of small outfits. 他把承包工程分包给许多小单位。 来自辞典例句
• Some cyclists carry repair outfits because they may have a puncture. 有些骑自行车的人带修理工具，因为他们车胎可能小孔。 来自辞典例句

10 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

11 scuba   

n.水中呼吸器

参考例句：

• I first got hooked on scuba diving when I was twelve.12岁时我开始迷上了带水中呼吸器潜水。
• While on honeymoon in Bali,she learned to scuba dive.她在巴厘岛度蜜月时学会了带水肺潜水。