每日英語 #156: Banning Office Gossip 禁止辦公室八卦

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Banning Office Gossip 禁止辦公室八卦

Office gossip is often a problem for companies. “Gossip” is casual talk about other people and things that may or may not be true. Gossip can reduce “productivity” (how much work people do), and it is often bad for “morale” (people’s confidence and enthusiasm). Anyone who has worked in an office knows how much time can be spent passing information or “speculating” (guessing without any facts) about other employees, and the effects of such talk on those co-workers.

辦公室八卦經常是公司的問題。“八卦”是隨意談論其他人和事情，而這些事情可能是真的，也可能不是。八卦會降低“生產力”（人們完成的工作量），並且對“士氣”（人們的信心和熱情）通常不利。任何在辦公室工作過的人都知道，傳遞信息或“猜測”（沒有事實基礎地猜測）其他員工的時間有多少，這種談話對同事的影響是什麼。

Because of these “negative” (bad; not good) effects, some companies are banning gossip. “To ban” is to not allow something, usually by creating a rule or law. For example, in one Chicago company, the employees agreed that when an employee says something about someone else “behind their back” (without them knowing), that employee has to repeat the gossip to that person’s face.

由於這些“負面”（不好的）影響，一些公司正在禁止八卦。“禁止”是指不允許某事，通常是通過制定規則或法律來實現。例如，在芝加哥的一家公司，員工們同意，如果一個員工在他人“背後”（在對方不知道的情況下）說了些什麼，那麼這個員工必須當面對那個人重複這些八卦。

The result was that one employee who was seen by other employees as being “unproductive” (not doing much work) got a chance to explain that she “negotiated” (reached an agreement for) fewer work hours because she was still going to school.

結果是，有一位被其他員工認為“效率低下”（工作不多）的員工有機會解釋，她“協商”（達成協議）了較少的工作時間，因為她還在上學。

Another “rumor” (story that is often untrue) was that one employee was dating another employee. This wasn’t true, and in fact, that employee had recently become “engaged” (promised to marry) someone else not working in the office.

另一個“謠言”（通常不真實的故事）是，一名員工正在與另一名員工約會。這並不是真的，事實上，這位員工最近已經與一位不在辦公室工作的對象“訂婚”（承諾結婚）。

The owner of the company said that since he “instituted” (started) this policy, business had improved “significantly” (a lot; greatly). He said that his employees were less “distracted” (thinking of other things) and could “communicate” (exchange information, news, and ideas) better with each other.

該公司的老闆說，自從他“制定”（開始）這項政策以來，業務有了“顯著”（大大地）改善。他說，他的員工“分心”（思考其他事情）的情況減少了，並且彼此之間的“交流”（交換信息、新聞和想法）更順暢。

重要單字

• 1. gossip /ˈɡɒsɪp/ 八卦
• 2. productivity /ˌprɒdʌkˈtɪvɪti/ 生產力
• 3. morale /məˈrɑːl/ 士氣
• 4. speculating /ˈspɛkjʊˌleɪtɪŋ/ 猜測
• 5. negative /ˈnɛɡətɪv/ 負面的
• 6. ban /bæn/ 禁止
• 7. behind their back /bɪˈhaɪnd ðeər bæk/ 在背後
• 8. unproductive /ˌʌnprəˈdʌktɪv/ 效率低下的
• 9. negotiated /nɪˈɡəʊʃieɪtɪd/ 協商
• 10. rumor /ˈruːmər/ 謠言
• 11. engaged /ɪnˈɡeɪdʒd/ 訂婚
• 12. instituted /ˈɪnstɪtjuːtɪd/ 制定
• 13. significantly /sɪɡˈnɪfɪkəntli/ 顯著地
• 14. distracted /dɪˈstræktɪd/ 分心的
• 15. communicate /kəˈmjuːnɪkeɪt/ 交流