英语小达人 205 The Laws of Work

 　　The Laws of Work

　　 工作法则

　　After any salary raise, you will have less money at the end of the month than you did before.

　　涨工资以后，到月底你兜里剩下的钱会比以前还少。

　　Don't be irreplaceable. If you can't be replaced, you can't be promoted.

　　不要让自己成为不可或缺的人。因为如果那样的话，你就不会得到提升了。

　　Eat one live toad¹ the first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.

　　每天早上一上班就去拍马屁，包你一整天过得顺顺当当。

　　If at first you don't succeed, try again. Then quit. No use being a fool about it.

　　如果一开始不能成功，再试一次，然后就放弃，没必要一直为此犯傻。

　　If you can't get your work done in the first 24 hours, work nights.

　　如果不能在第一天把工作做好，就每晚加班吧。

　　It doesn't matter what you do; it only matters what you say you've done and what you're going to do.

　　你做什么并不重要，重要的是你说你做过什么以及要做什么。

　　The more crap you put up with, the more crap you are going to get.

　　你忍的越多就会有更多要忍的。

　　There will always be beer cans rolling on the floor of your car when the boss asks for a ride home from the office.

　　老板下班要搭你的车回家时，要保证你的车厢地板上有啤酒罐滚动。

　　When the bosses talk about improving productivity, they are never talking about themselves.

　　老板们在谈到提高生产效率时，总是不包括他们自己的。

　　You can go anywhere you want if you look serious and carry a clipboard.

　　当你表情肃穆而且手里拿着写字夹板的时候，你就可以去想去的任何地方。

　　Keep your boss's boss off your boss's back.

　　帮你的老板躲开他的老板的监督。

　　Everything can be filed under "miscellaneous."

　　所有东西都可以归入“杂项”类。

　　Never delay the ending of a meeting or the beginning of a dinner hour.

　　会议的结束时间和鸡尾酒会的开始时间都是不能延迟的。

　　To err² is human; to forgive is not our policy.

　　犯错人皆难免，宽恕不是我们的政策。

　　Anyone can do any amount of work provided it isn't the work he/she is supposed to be doing.

　　每个人都能做一定量的工作，只要这工作不是他/她该做的那份。

　　Important letters that contain no errors will develop errors in the mail.

　　没有错误的重要信件在邮寄过程中会产生错误。

　　If you are good, you will be assigned all the work. If you are really good, you will get out of it.

　　如果你的表现够好，所有的工作都会指派给你；如果你够精明，你就能逃避掉。

　　People who go to conferences are the ones who shouldn't.

　　去参加会议的人往往都是不该去的人。

　　If it wasn't for the last minute, nothing would get done.

　　不到最后一分钟，什么事也做不好。

　　At work, the authority of a person is inversely³ proportional to the number of pens that person is carrying.

　　在工作中，一个人的权威性是和他拿的笔的数量成反比的。

　　When you don't know what to do, walk fast and look worried.

　　你不知道该做什么时，就加快步伐并做出忧心忡忡的样子好了。

　　Following the rules will not get the job done.

　　遵守规则并不能把工作做好。

　　Getting the job done is no excuse for not following the rules.

　　把工作做好不能成为不遵守规则的借口。

　　No matter how much you do, you never do enough.

　　不管做了多少，你做的总是不够的。

　　The last person that quit or was fired will be held responsible for everything that goes wrong.

　　最后一个辞职或被解雇的人要为所有的错误负责。

　　The first 90% of a project takes 10% of the time, the last 10% takes the other 90% of the time.

　　一项工作的前90%用掉10%的工时，做后10%的工作则要花去剩下的90%的工时。

　　重点讲解：

　　1. eat sb.'s toads⁴

　　拍某人马屁；

　　eg. Eat one live toad the first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.

　　每天早上一上班就去拍马屁，包你一整天过得顺顺当当。

　　2. put up with

　　忍受；容忍；

　　eg. They had put up with behaviour from their son which they would not have tolerated from anyone else.

　　他们容忍了儿子的行为，如果换作别人他们可做不到。

　　eg. It isn't easy to put up with people who are impolite.

　　没有礼貌的人是令人难以容忍的。

　　3. be supposed to do sth.

　　应该、被期望、理应做某事；用来表示根据规定或传统习惯人们不得不做的事。

　　eg. Public spending is supposed to fall, not rise, in the next few years.

　　在接下来的几年里，政府开支应该会下降，而不是上升。

　　eg. The first debate was supposed to have been held on Tuesday.

　　第一场辩论本该在星期二就举行了。

　　4. get out of

　　摆脱；逃避；

　　eg. They couldn't, even if they would, get out of trouble by themselves.

　　即使他们想摆脱，也无法独立摆脱困难。

　　eg. It's amazing what people will do to get out of paying taxes.

　　人们为逃税而做出的种种事情令人吃惊。

　　5. be inversely proportional to

　　与……成反比；

　　eg. The legibility of a copy is inversely proportional to its importance .

　　文件的可读性和它的重要性是成反比的。

　　eg. The pressure of a gas is inversely proportional to its volume, if its temperature is kept constant.

　　如果温度保持不变，则气体压力和其体积成反比。

　　6. be held responsible for

　　追究责任；应负……责任；

　　eg. Failing this, they will be held responsible for all the consequences arising therefrom.

　　要是做不到这一点，他们必须对由此产生的后果负责。

　　eg. Moreover, the organizer is not held responsible for compensating⁵ any damage incurred⁶ by this change.

　　另外，主办方对因此变更造成的任何损失不承担补偿责任。

1 toad   

n.蟾蜍，癞蛤蟆

参考例句：

• Both the toad and frog are amphibian.蟾蜍和青蛙都是两栖动物。
• Many kinds of toad hibernate in winter.许多种蟾蜍在冬天都会冬眠。

2 err   

vi.犯错误，出差错

参考例句：

• He did not err by a hair's breadth in his calculation.他的计算结果一丝不差。
• The arrows err not from their aim.箭无虚发。

3 inversely   

adj.相反的

参考例句：

• Pressure varies directly with temperature and inversely with volume. 压力随温度成正比例变化，与容积成反比例变化。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The amount of force needed is inversely proportional to the rigidity of the material. 需要的力度与材料的硬度成反比。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 toads   

n.蟾蜍，癞蛤蟆( toad的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• All toads blink when they swallow. 所有的癞蛤蟆吞食东西时都会眨眼皮。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Toads have shorter legs and are generally more clumsy than frogs. 蟾蜍比青蛙脚短，一般说来没有青蛙灵活。 来自辞典例句

5 compensating   

补偿，补助，修正

参考例句：

• I am able to set up compensating networks of nerve connections. 我能建立起补偿性的神经联系网。
• It is desirable that compensating cables be run in earthed conduit. 补偿导线最好在地下管道中穿过。

6 incurred   

[医]招致的，遭受的； incur的过去式

参考例句：

• She had incurred the wrath of her father by marrying without his consent 她未经父亲同意就结婚，使父亲震怒。
• We will reimburse any expenses incurred. 我们将付还所有相关费用。