枯竭的白領

Priyanka： Good morning， Wesley！

Wesley： Oh， hey， Priyanka. You’re a bit later than usual this morning.

Priyanka： It couldn’t be helped. I pulled an all-nighter last night to bang through the Anderson case. But now that it’s done， my desk is finally clear for the first time in months！

Wesley： ①Uh， Priya， I wouldn’t break out the 1）champagne just yet.

Priyanka： What are you talking about， Wes？

Wesley： Someone left a present for you this morning. Go look on your desk.

Priyanka： You’ve gotta be kidding me！ There must be three…four new case files here！

Wesley： ②It seems that cases are breeding like flies these days. Priyanka： How can this be？ ③Just when I saw a light at the end of the tunnel…

Wesley： I hear you. But our industry is like a 2）hamster wheel. No matter how many files you knock out， there will always be more waiting for you.

Priyanka： I felt such a sense of 3）accomplishment when I finally finished the Anderson file last night. ④Now I feel like it was just a drop in the bucket.

Wesley： Don’t let it get to you， Priya. Actually， this is a good sign. All these new clients mean that the economy is on the up， and our company is on the rise.

Priyanka： That’s great， Wes， but all this success comes at what cost？ ⑤We’re being worn ragged just to keep the wheels moving around here. How does all this success benefit us？

Wesley： That’s a good point. But realistically， the industry is just that competitive these days. If we want to have a good job in a good firm， then we have to put up with these kinds of workloads.

Priyanka： Yeah， I know all too well that

there are crowds of interns and recent

grads just waiting to take our places.

Wesley： ⑥For us， it’s sink or swim.

Priyanka： It wasn’t always this way.

Just a couple of generations ago，

nobody was pulling 14-hour days just

to keep up.

Wesley： That’s true， but the economy is developing quickly these days. ⑦I hope that things will level out sometime in the future， and we’ll be able to have a good economy without having so much overtime.

Priyanka： I’m sure it will， but it’s already too late for Johnson.

Wesley： Why？ What happened to Johnson？

Priyanka： Didn’t you hear？ He had a breakdown last Friday and ended up in the hospital. The psychologist said it was“job burnout.” He was under so much stress that he finally just cracked.

Wesley： Poor guy. I guess middle managers like Johnson really get the short end of the stick.

Priyanka： Not only did he have to put up with his bosses， he also had to 4）coax his 5）subordinates to get the job done. That can’t be easy.

Wesley： No， indeed. And he has a wife and kid， too， so quitting wasn’t an option for him if he wanted to support his family.

Priyanka： Say， I have an idea. Let’s send him a card or a fruit basket to let him know we care.

普麗揚卡：早上好，韋斯利！

韋斯利：噢，嘿，普麗揚卡。你今早比平時晚了點。

普麗揚卡：沒辦法。我昨晚開了一整晚夜車來趕安德森的案子。現在已經完成了，我的桌子在數月以來第一次那么干凈！

韋斯利：呃，普麗亞。我現在還不能為你慶祝。

普麗揚卡：你在說什么，韋斯？

韋斯利：今早有人在你臺上留了禮物。去看看你的桌子。

普麗揚卡：你肯定在跟我開玩笑！那里肯定有三……四份新的案子！韋斯利：看起來這些天案子是層出不窮。

普麗揚卡：怎么能這樣呢？就在我剛剛看到希望的時候……

韋斯利：我懂。但是我們這行就像倉鼠輪子。無論你解決了多少案子，總是有更多的案子在等著你。

普麗揚卡：昨晚當我終于完成安德森的案子后，有一種滿足感。現在我覺得那只是滄海一粟。

韋斯利：別讓它難倒你了，普麗亞。事實上，這是一個好的兆頭。這些新的客戶意味著經濟在發展，我們公司也在發展。

普麗揚卡：這很好，韋斯，但是這些成功是以什么作為代價呢？我們為了讓這個行業運轉，已經精疲力盡了。這些成功給我們帶來了什么好處？

韋斯利：說得好。但是現實點，這個行業最近的競爭很大。如果我們想在一家好的公司有一份好工作，那么我們就不得不忍受這些工作壓力。

普麗揚卡：嗯，我清楚地知道，現在有一大堆的實習生和剛畢業的人等著取代我們的位置。

韋斯利：對于我們來說，沒有選擇的余地。

普麗揚卡：這行不總是這樣。幾十年前，沒人會用14個小時來趕工作進度。

韋斯利：對，但是最近經濟發展迅速。我希望將來經濟發展可以更穩定，我們可以不用頻繁加班。

普麗揚卡：我想會的，但是對約翰遜來說已經太晚了。

韋斯利：為什么？約翰遜怎么了？

普麗揚卡：你沒聽說嗎？他上周五身體崩潰了，被送去了醫院。心理學家說這是“工作枯竭癥”。他有太多的壓力，最終崩潰了。

韋斯利：可憐的人。我認為想像約翰遜這樣的中層經理真的很吃虧。

普麗揚卡：他不僅要忍受上司的刁難，還要哄好下屬去把工作完成，真的不容易。

韋斯利：嗯，不容易。他還有妻兒，所以如果他想養家糊口，辭職絕對不是一個好的選擇。

普麗揚卡：嗯，我有個想法。我們給他送一張卡片或者果籃，讓他知道我們關心他。

Wesley： That’s a great idea！ That kind of support will probably take a lot of the stress away.

Priyanka： Right！ I’ll order one this afternoon， right after I finish 6）skimming these files， and going to that budget meeting， and calling that other client， and writing my performance report， and…

Wesley： You know what， Priya？ Maybe I should order the fruit basket…

韋斯利：這是個好主意！這種支持也許會減輕他不少的壓力。

普麗揚卡：對！我今天下午就訂一個果籃，等我看完這些資料，開完預算的會議，打完電話給另一個客戶，完成我的業績報告，還有……

韋斯利：你知道嗎，普麗亞？也許我應該去訂那個果籃……CS

Smart Sentences

① Uh， Priya， I wouldn’t break out the champagne just yet.呃，普麗亞。我現在還不能為你慶祝。

break out the champagne： celebrate（慶祝）。例如：

After winning the contract from Google， it’s high time to break out the champagne.

贏得了谷歌的合同，是時候慶祝一下了。

② It seems that cases are breeding like flies these days. 看起來這些天案子是層出不窮。

breeding like flies： sth. emerges very fast and in large numbers（層出不窮）。例如：

In the past few years， online stores have been breeding like flies.

近幾年，網上店鋪源源不斷地冒出來。

③ Just when I saw a light at the end of the tunnel… 就在我剛剛看到希望的時候……

see a light at the end of the tunnel： sth. makes you believe that a difficult or unpleasant situation will end（看到成功的希望，看到希望之光）。例如：

With one more exam to go， they can now see a light at the end of the tunnel.只剩下一項測試了，他們現在終于勝利在望了。

④ Now I feel like it was just a drop in the bucket. 現在我覺得那只是滄海一粟。

a drop in the bucket： a very small or unimportant amount（滄海一粟）。例如：

What we did as beach cleaning volunteers was just a drop in the bucket compared to what needs to be done.

在需要做的工作面前，我們所做的志愿海灘清潔工作只不過是滄海一粟。

⑤ We’re being worn ragged just to keep the wheels moving around here. 我們為了讓這個行業運轉，已經精疲力盡了。

worn ragged： sb. is very exhausted（精疲力盡）。例如：

All the staff were worn ragged this busy shopping season.

所有員工在這個繁忙的采購季節都累壞

了。

⑥ For us， it’s sink or swim. 對于我們來說，沒有選擇的余地。

sink or swim： succeed or fail without alternative through sb.’s own efforts（或成或敗，毫無選擇）。例如：

The company gives no training to the newcomers and they are simply left to sink or swim.

這家公司不對新人進行任何培訓，讓他們自生自滅。

⑦ I hope that things will level out sometime in the future， and we’ll be able to have a good economy without having so much overtime. 我希望將來經濟發展可以更穩定，我們可以不用加那么多班。

level out： sth. assumes a more steady

course or path（某事更平衡、穩定）。

例如：

We hope the economy will level out this

year and it will be easier for us to find jobs.我們希望今年的經濟能趨于平穩，這樣我們可以更容易找到工作。