【一起听英语】恼人的办公室习惯

同是一个屋檐下，办公室的同事有哪些坏的习惯是你受不了的呢？

Rob: Hello, I’m Rob and this is 6 Minute English. I’m joined this week by Jennifer.

Hello Jennifer.

Jennifer: Hello Rob.

Rob: Now Jennifer, we’re here in our brand new building, New Broadcasting House.

It’s quite impressive isn’t it?

Jennifer: Oh yes, it’s fantastic, really modern and very spacious¹ too.

Rob: Yes, but come on, there must be something about the place that you find

annoying?

Jennifer: Yes. Like every office, I think, there are lots of unwashed coffee cups left on

desks and rubbish lying around. I really hate that.

Rob: Ah you see, not everything is perfect. Someone else’s office habits can be a real

irritation² – or sometimes we say it’s something that gets under our skin. Well,

you are not alone – a new survey has revealed the most annoying habits, and I’ll

be sharing them with you soon and explaining some related words and phrases.

But first, I have a question for you.

Jennifer: That is annoying – I always have to answer one of your questions!

Rob: You love it really! Now, do you know what the annoying habit of onychophagia is

commonly known as? That’s onychophagia.

a) Picking your nose

b) Biting your nails

c) Talking very loudly

Jennifer: Those are all very bad habits but I’m going to go for a) picking your nose.

6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2013

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Rob: Well, I’ll let you know the answer at the end of the programme. Now let’s get

back to those annoying habits that some people have in the workplace – or the

office. The Institute of Management recently questioned 2,000 managers to find

out their pet hates of office workers. Pet hates are the small annoying habits

that really irritate someone.

Jennifer: So, this survey asked the managers what annoyed them about their staff?

Rob: No, it was about what managers believed annoyed their workers about each

other. Here is what one office worker thinks:

Office worker 1:

Tapping of feet, noise, tapping of desk, just anything like that. I like quiet so I sometimes work

with headphones in.

Jennifer: [Tapping on desk] Hmm, tapping on your desk like this can be so annoying. In

fact, any kind of tapping, because it is so distracting – in other words it breaks

my concentration.

Rob: Well, that man decided³ to wear headphones to block out the sound. But for the

person doing the tapping, how can they kick the habit – or stop doing it?

Having a bad habit could be the sign of concentration or nerves or even

boredom⁴. So we should have some sympathy!

Jennifer: I do, but one thing I don’t have sympathy for is this habit being described by

another office worker. See if you can hear what it is?

Office worker 2:

Total jargon⁵, yeah, yeah, it’s the whole language, invented to, sort of, put you off your game

in a way. It’s completely exclusive and I don’t even think half the management know what

they are talking about!

Rob: Yes, talking in jargon – these are words and phrases used by managers that

don’t really have any meaning outside the workplace. It’s sometimes called

‘management speak’. And it’s this issue that is near the top of the list of the

most annoying office habits. Jen, does your boss use any jargon?

Jennifer: I couldn’t possibly say, he might be listening – but there are phrases that get

used generally. Have you heard of ‘thinking outside the box’ to mean to think

imaginatively with new ideas instead of traditional ones?

6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2013

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Rob: Yes and what about ‘going forward’ to mean in the future; and ‘to touch base’

meaning to discuss progress. I think workers get irritated by this jargon because

it’s not how someone would normally speak.

Jennifer: OK Rob, what’s top of the list for annoying habits?

Rob: Well, the biggest bugbear – another way of saying irritation – is arriving late for

meetings. That is annoying when you have made an effort to be punctual – on

time.

Jennifer: I think some people are late because they’re having a water-cooler moment –

you know, standing⁶ by the water-cooler discussing something trivial about what

was on TV last night. That’s so annoying. You’d never catch me doing that!

Rob: Of course not, Jen. But if every office worker has a bugbear about their

colleagues, who can sort out this tense office atmosphere and make everyone

more tolerant – or willing to accept their habits?

Jennifer: Charles Elvin is the Chief Executive of The Institute of Leadership and

Management. Let’s find out who he thinks is responsible for this:

Charles Elvin, Chief Executive of the Institute of Leadership and Management:

Managers are part of the workforce⁷ too and their obligation is to try and address some of these

issues. And to make sure they have those challenges that they’ve got, the things that annoy

people, are addressed, that they’re resolved, that people can air their grievances⁸ properly. So

it’s very important for managers to understand what people don't like, but also managers don’t

like a lot of this stuff as well.

Rob: Charles Elvin thinks that managers have a responsibility – or an obligation – to

address the problems. And he says people should be able to air their

grievances, that means people can speak out about what annoys them.

Jennifer: Well, I can tell what annoys me most about you…

Rob: …sorry Jen, we're out of time. Let me just tell you the answer to today’s

question. Earlier I asked if you knew what the annoying habit of onychophagia is

commonly known as?

a) Picking your nose

b) Biting your nails

c) Talking very loudly

6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2013

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Jennifer: I said a) picking your nose

Rob: That is disgusting, but you are wrong. Onychophagia is the medical term for

biting your nails. OK, well, finally before we go, Jennifer could you remind us of

some of the words we have heard today.

Jennifer: Yes. We heard:

gets under our skin

pet hates

distracting

kick the habit

jargon

bugbear

punctual

a water-cooler moment

tolerant

to air your grievances

Rob: Thanks Jennifer. Well, that’s all we have time for today. Please join us again

soon for 6 Minute English from bbclearningenglish.com

Both: Bye.

1 spacious   

adj.广阔的，宽敞的

参考例句：

• Our yard is spacious enough for a swimming pool.我们的院子很宽敞，足够建一座游泳池。
• The room is bright and spacious.这房间很豁亮。

2 irritation   

n.激怒，恼怒，生气

参考例句：

• He could not hide his irritation that he had not been invited.他无法掩饰因未被邀请而生的气恼。
• Barbicane said nothing,but his silence covered serious irritation.巴比康什么也不说，但是他的沉默里潜伏着阴郁的怒火。

3 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

4 boredom   

n.厌烦，厌倦，乏味，无聊

参考例句：

• Unemployment can drive you mad with boredom.失业会让你无聊得发疯。
• A walkman can relieve the boredom of running.跑步时带着随身听就不那么乏味了。

5 jargon   

n.术语，行话

参考例句：

• They will not hear critics with their horrible jargon.他们不愿意听到评论家们那些可怕的行话。
• It is important not to be overawed by the mathematical jargon.要紧的是不要被数学的术语所吓倒.

6 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

7 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。

8 grievances   

n.委屈( grievance的名词复数 )；苦衷；不满；牢骚

参考例句：

• The trade union leader spoke about the grievances of the workers. 工会领袖述说工人们的苦情。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• He gave air to his grievances. 他申诉了他的冤情。 来自《简明英汉词典》