Common Talk Weeklyshuang yu zhou kan
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Culture Clash

Are they crazy?
By David Dong
Picture by Zhu Lijun

It is well known that people from different countries have various cultures. This culture discrepancy can easily make people confused or even misunderstood. This is partly because the culture milieu（环境） plays a significant role in cultivating one’s character and ways of thinking and acting.

Fortunately, I haven’t encountered an embarrassing culture clash. But one of my friends, Wang Hui, who is older than me and graduated from the same university as me just two years ago and is now working in a German company, Linde, has experienced such a culture clash.

As we all know, the Germans are considered very careful workers. They seem to do their jobs with great responsibility and careful regulation. A German cashier will check bills several times before your salary is paid. As my friend is a purchaser, he needs to go around buying materials. He must pay for his trip fee first then go back to the cashier to be reimbursed. Many Chinese people might wonder how that could be a problem as he will get the money back as soon as he approaches the cashier. Yes, it would be like that if he worked for a Chinese company or another nation’s company.

However, a German company is different, the cashier will first hand the bill to his direct boss, and then the boss will post it to the headquarters in Germany. Half a month later, my friend is likely to get the money.
Why is it like this? Are they being too careful or do they make fun of themselves? We might never understand it. This is what we call culture clash.

Cool English

朝九晚五

过了大半年的朝九晚五的生活，这次我们的主题是跟办公室内的话题有关, 不过也不全然限定于只能在办公室里用, 在日常生活中也是常常可以派得上用场的。

1. In the middle of something﹖
在忙吗?
“Are you busy?”这个句子, 很多人从初中起就学会了。现在教你点新招吧。For example, 办公室里想找人八卦, 又怕人家正在忙, 这时你就可以问他, “In the middle of something?”

2. What are you up to﹖
你正在做什么?
承上例, 假设你在办公室里想找人八卦, 问同事, “In the middle of something?” 他回答, “Kind of.” (算是吧。) 这时你就可以打破沙锅问到底, "What are you up to?" (那你在忙什么啊?)跟另一句问候语"What's up?"意思很接近。

3. Shelly just called in sick.
Shelly 刚打电话来请病假。
Call in sick 是一个在办公室内常会用到的习语, 指的是有人打电话来说他生病了不能上班。当然啦, 这种事想也知道一定有相当的可能性是因为偷懒不想上班, 不然就是员工找借口集体罢工, 例如 "Some workers called in sick to have a strike." (有些工人打着请病假的旗号集体罢工。)

4. I just heard that seven people are going to be laid off next month.
我刚听说公司下个月要裁七位员工。
其中最常见的不外是 layoff 这个字 (就是我们所说的下岗啦)。例如, “Cisco issues a profit warning, plans layoffs.”(每当思科出现利润危机, 他们便计划裁员。)

5. He suggested we should go to eat after my graveyard shift.
他建议我们大夜班之后一起去吃东西。
轮班这个词的英文是 shift, 例如三班制就叫 three shifts. 例如, "We have to work in three shifts to keep the company running." (我们必须轮三班制来保持工厂的运转。)

6. I am only a regular 9－to－5er.
我只是一个平凡的朝九晚五上班族。

7. I refuse to work overtime during the weekends.
我拒绝在周末时加班.
英文里加班叫 work overtime. 例如别人约你今晚去吃饭, 你说, "Sorry, I have to work overtime." 就是告诉他, 很抱歉, 我今晚要加班。不过有趣的是, 除了“加班”可以用 overtime之外,加班费也可以是 overtime. 例如你可以大声地告诉老板, "You have to pay me overtime!" (你必须要付我加班费。)不过现在就业紧张, 我看还是小声讲就好了。

对Suky来说，“I like to work on holidays because I am on time and a half.”(我喜欢在假日时工作, 因为这时的工资算一倍半。)


Hotword

Stonewall

美国总统大选进行得如火如荼，上周日，民主党总统候选人约翰·克里谴责布什总统有意妨碍对911恐怖袭击事件和有关伊拉克拥有大规模杀伤性武器的情报来源进行调查。外电中的报道是这样的：John Kerry accused President Bush of "stonewalling" separate inquiries into the events leading up to the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorists attacks, as well as into the intelligence that suggested Saddam Hussein was hiding weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
stonewall这个词，从字面上看，很难猜出它的准确含义，stonewall是个动词，意思是“拖延、阻碍（议事）；设置障碍”。例如：He was stonewalling and everybody knew it.（他是在用拖延的办法阻碍议事，这大家都看得出来。）


Bookshelf

新书上架
By 王鸽鹏
《世界十最》

浩瀚的宇宙永远充斥着诸多令我们神往和迷惑的神秘地带，就像一个个无法解答的谜，驱使我们不断地去探索、寻找、追踪。其实，你不用到深山峻岭去跋涉，更不用到悬崖峭壁去挖掘。
只消手中轻握这本《世界十最》，你就可以轻松浏览五项世界十最：十大自然景观、人造奇迹、宝藏、饭店和间谍。等你窥见地球上最伟大的夜间光线表演——极光时，你才发现何为真正的“神奇”；等你走完中华民族沉睡的巨龙——万里长城后，你才懂得何为真正的“宏伟”；等你探到沉没在海底的阿脱卡船上的金银珠宝时，你才知道何为真正的“辉煌”；等你住过南非的马拉马拉饭店后，你才顿悟何为真正的“自然”；等你读到潘科夫斯基被子弹穿透后脑时，你才明白何为真正的“间谍”。市内新华书店为你提供所有情报。