【英语时差8,16】制造麻烦的无礼同事

Dear Annie:

I work for a wonderful company as an "administrative¹ assistant extraordinaire." I love what I do and do it well, and I adore the owners.

A major headache for me is "Maxine," the woman who covers for me when I'm away from my desk, running errands, etc. When I return to my desk, clients and employees often comment that Maxine comes across as uncaring, unhelpful, rude and just plain miserable².

Management and the owners of the company are aware of her shortcomings but say backing me up is not Maxine's main job and, therefore, not a critical issue. My company plans to hire a receptionist in the future, but at this time, it's just not possible.

I find it hard to believe that Maxine is unaware³ that she lacks people skills. She is an organized, presentable woman. I want to bring up the issue with her, but she makes me so uneasy that I don't know how to do it. Can you help? － Terribly Frustrated⁴

Dear Frustrated:

Maxine is being insolent⁵ because she resents covering for you and behaves accordingly. However, your supervisors⁶ have made it clear that they value Maxine and have no intention of doing anything about her rudeness. Tolerate as much as you can, and if anyone complains about her, tell them they should take it up with management.

1 administrative   

adj.行政的，管理的

参考例句：

• The administrative burden must be lifted from local government.必须解除地方政府的行政负担。
• He regarded all these administrative details as beneath his notice.他认为行政管理上的这些琐事都不值一顾。

2 miserable   

adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的

参考例句：

• It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。
• Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。

3 unaware   

a.不知道的，未意识到的

参考例句：

• They were unaware that war was near. 他们不知道战争即将爆发。
• I was unaware of the man's presence. 我没有察觉到那人在场。

4 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 insolent   

adj.傲慢的，无理的

参考例句：

• His insolent manner really got my blood up.他那傲慢的态度把我的肺都气炸了。
• It was insolent of them to demand special treatment.他们要求给予特殊待遇，脸皮真厚。

6 supervisors   

n.监督者，管理者( supervisor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I think the best technical people make the best supervisors. 我认为最好的技术人员可以成为最好的管理人员。 来自辞典例句
• Even the foremen or first-level supervisors have a staffing responsibility. 甚至领班或第一线的监督人员也有任用的责任。 来自辞典例句