商务礼节美语第124期:了解工作时的禁忌

　　Knowing Your Boundaries at Work
了解工作时的禁忌
陈豪在北京的ABC美国公司工作。他在走廊上遇到同事Amy。
(Office ambience)
C: 早上好，Amy. 我刚听到一条办公室的小道消息。
A: 小道消息？
C: 是关于销售部那个金发美女Sally的。
A: I know a Sally Smith in Marketing¹. I don't know anything about her except that she appears to be quite talented.
C: 我从来没有跟她共事过，听说挺能干的，不过这件事跟工作无关。
A: Then why are you talking about her?
C: 我听说她结婚刚刚几个月，就在闹离婚了。
A: I'm sorry, Chen Hao. What does this have to do with work?
C: 当然跟工作无关了，说说罢了。
A: This is gossip². How did you come to know this?
C: 会计部的Tim跟Sally是朋友，他告诉了Melissa, Melissa又告诉了我。
A: So, is everyone talking about this now?
C: 大家都在传。Amy，你干嘛那么不高兴，是因为Sally要离婚，替她觉得惋惜吗？
A: No. Well, yes, I am sorry to hear that kind of news, but that is not what is bothering me. Let's talk about this over lunch.
C: 好，那我们中午在餐厅见。
陈豪和Amy一起吃中饭。
C: Amy, 你早上干嘛那么生气，是我说错话了吗？
A: You got into a conversation that you shouldn't have at work.
C: 你什么意思，我怎么听不懂啊？
A: We need to have boundaries in the office.
C: Boundaries，界限？
A: Yes. Boundaries or limits on what we talk about in the workplace.
C: 你的意思是说Sally的私事不应该拿到办公室里来说？
A: Talking about Sally's private life has nothing to do with our work. Whoever started this kind of gossip overstepped the bounds of office friendship.
C: 我不是告诉你了吗，是Tim最早开始传的？
A: If that is the case, then Sally should have been more careful about choosing her office friends and about what she confided⁴ in them.
C: 难道Sally也有错吗？
A: We need to be careful about what we confide³ to our colleagues. Unless you can trust someone completely and unless you want your private life to become public, be careful what you say to whom.
C: 我以为同事间应该经常交流，才能有利于搞好关系啊！
A: That's true. It's called "small talk." You talk about the weather, what movie you saw last night, your favorite restaurant, where you are going on vacation, but not the personal details of your life.
C: 可以谈天气、谈电影、谈出去渡假，就是不能谈私生活。
A: Be careful about what you tell your colleagues. Those who talk to you about others will also talk to others about you.

1 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

2 gossip   

n.流言蜚语，爱说长道短的人；vi.传播流言

参考例句：

• She broadcast the gossip all over the town.她将这个流言传遍全镇。
• They spread a lot of tacky gossip about his love life.关于他的爱情生活，他们散播了许多不堪的闲言闲语。

3 confide   

v.向某人吐露秘密

参考例句：

• I would never readily confide in anybody.我从不轻易向人吐露秘密。
• He is going to confide the secrets of his heart to us.他将向我们吐露他心里的秘密。

4 confided   

v.吐露（秘密，心事等）( confide的过去式和过去分词 )；（向某人）吐露（隐私、秘密等）

参考例句：

• She confided all her secrets to her best friend. 她向她最要好的朋友倾吐了自己所有的秘密。
• He confided to me that he had spent five years in prison. 他私下向我透露，他蹲过五年监狱。 来自《简明英汉词典》