1、大家学习网bbs.TopSLesson One The Company in Which I work In the company in which I work , each of us is afraid of at least one person . The lower your position is , the more people you are afraid of . And all the people are afraid of the twelve men at the top who helped found and build the company and no
2、w own and direct it . All these twelve men are elderly now and drained by time and success of energy and ambition . Many have spent their whole lives here .They seem friendly ,slow , and content when I come upon them in the halls and always courteous and mute when they ride with others in the public
3、 elevators . They no longer work hard .They hold meetings , make promotions, and allow their names to be used on announcements that are prepared and issued by somebody else . Nobody is sure anymore who really runs the company ( not even the people who are credited with running it ) , but the company
4、 does run . In the normal course of a business day I am afraid of Jack Green because my department is part of his department and Jack Green is my boss ; Green is afraid of me because most of the work in my department is done for the Sales Department , which is more important than his department , an
5、d I am much closer to Andy Kagle and the other people in the Sales Department than he is . Green distrusts me fitfully .He makes it clear to me every now and then that he wishes to see everything coming out of my department before it is shown to other departments .I know he does not really mean this
6、 : he is too busy with his own work to pay that much attention to all of mine , and I will bypass him on most of our assignments rather than take up his time and delay their delivery to people who have an immediate need for them . Most of the work we do in my department is , in the long run, trivial
7、 . But Green always grows alarmed when someone from another department praises something that has come from my department . He turns scarlet with rage and embarrassment is he has not seen or heard of it . In my department , there are six people who are afraid of me , and one small secretary who is a
8、fraid of all of us . I have one other person working for me who is not afraid of me who is not afraid of anyone , not even me , and I would fire him quickly , but Im afraid of him The people in the company who are most afraid of most people are the salesmen . They live and work under pressure that i
9、s extraordinary . When things are bad , they are worse for the salesmen ;when things are good , they are not much better . They are always on trial , always on the verge of failure , collectively and individually . They strain, even the most secure and self assured of them , to look good on paper ;
10、and there is much paper for them to look good on . Each week , for example , a record of the sales results of the preceding week for each sales office and for the Sales Department as a whole for each division of the company is kept and compared to the sales results for the corresponding week of the
11、year before . The figures are photocopied and distributed throughout the company to all the people and departments whose work is related to selling . The result of the photocopying and distributing is that there is almost continuous public scrutiny and discussion throughout the company of how well o
12、r poorly the salesmen in each sales office of each division of the company are doing at any given time . When salesmen are doing well , there is pressure upon them to begin doing better , for fear they may start doing worse . When they are doing poorly , they are doing terribly . When a salesman lan
13、ds a large order or brings in an important new account , his elation is brief , for there is danger he might lose that large order or important new account to a salesman from a competing company the next time around . It might even be canceled before it is filled , in which case no one is certain if
14、 anything was gained or lost . So there is crisis and alarm even in their triumphs . Nevertheless , the salesmen love their work and would not choose any other kind . They are vigorous , fun-loving bunch when they are not suffering abdominal cramps or brooding miserably about the future ; on the oth
15、er hand , they often turn cranky without warning and complain a lot . Each of them can name at least one superior in the company who he feels has a grudge against him and is determined to wreck his career . The salesmen work hard and earn big salaries , with large personal expense accounts that they
16、 squander generously on other people in and out of the company , including me . 大家学习网bbs.TopSThey own good houses in good communities and play good games of golf on good private golf courses . The company encourages this . The company , in fact , will pay for their country club membership and all ch
17、arges they incur there , and rewards salesmen who make a good impression on the golf course . Unmarried men are not wanted in the Sales Department , not even widowers , for the company has learned from experience that it is difficult and dangerous for unmarried salesmen to mix socially with prominen
18、t executives and their wives or participate with them in responsible civic affairs . If a salesmans wife dies and he is not ready to remarry , he is usually moved into an administrative position after several months of mourning . Bachelors are never hired for the sales force , and salesmen who get d
19、ivorced , or whose wives die , know they had better remarry or begin looking ahead toward a different job . Strangely enough , the salesmen react very well to the constant pressure and rigid supervision to which they are subjected . They are stimulated and motivated by discipline and direction. They
20、 thrive on explicit guidance toward clear objectives . For the most part , they are cheerful , confident, and gregarious when they are not irritable , anxious , and depressed . There must be something in the makeup of a man that enables him not only to be a salesman , but to want to be one . The sal
21、esmen are proud of their position and of the status and importance they enjoy within the company , for the function of my department , and of most other departments , is to help the salesmen sell . The company exists to sell . Thats the reason we were hired , and the reason we are paid .The people i
22、n the company who are least afraid are the few in our small Market Research Department , who believe in nothing and are concerned with collecting , organizing , interpreting , and reorganizing statistical information about the public , the market , the country , and the world . For one thing , their
23、 salaries are small , and they know they will not have much trouble finding jobs paying just as little in other companies if they lose their jobs here . Their budget , too , is small , for they are no longer permitted to undertake large projects . Most of the information we use now is obtained free
24、from trade associations and some governmental organizations , and there is no way of knowing anymore whether the information on which we base our own information for distribution is true or false . But that doesnt seem to matter ; all that does matter is that the information come from a reputable so
25、urce . People in the Market Research Department are never held to blame for conditions they discover outside the company that place us at a competitive disadvantage . They are not expected to change reality , but merely to find it if they can and suggest ingenious ways of disguising it . To a great
26、extent , that is the nature of my own work , and all of us under Green work closely with the Sales Department and the Public Relations Department in converting whole truths into half truths and half truths into whole ones . I am very good at these techniques of deception, although I am not always ab
27、le anymore to deceive myself . In fact , I am continuously astonished by people in the company who fall victim to their own propaganda . There are so many now who actually believe that what we do is really important . This happens not only to salesmen , but to the shrewd , capable executives in top
28、management . It happens to people on my own level and lower . It happens to just about everybody in the company who graduated from a good business school with honors . Every time we launch a new advertising campaign , for example , people inside the company are the first ones to be taken in by it .
29、Every time we introduce a new product , or an old product with a different cover , color , and name that we present as new , people inside the company are the first to rush to buy it -even when its no good . Its a wise person , I guess , who knows hes dumb , and an honest person who knows hes a liar
30、 . And its a dumb person whos convinced he is wise . We wise grownups here at the company go sliding in and out all day long , scaring each other at our desks and trying to evade the people who frighten us . We come to work , have lunch , and go home . We goose-step in and goose-step out , change ou
31、r partners and wander all about , and go back home till we all drop dead . Really , I ask myself every now and then , depending on how well or poorly things are going at the office or at home with my wife , or with my retarded son , or with my other son , or my daughter , or the colored maid , or th
32、e nurse for my retarded son , is this all 大家学习网bbs.TopSthere is for me to do ?Is this really the most I can get from the few years left in this one life of mine ?And the answer I get , of course , is always -Yes !I am bored with my work very often now . Everything routine that comes in I pass along
33、to somebody else . This makes my boredom worse . It s a real problem to decide whether its more boring to do something boring than to pass along everything boring that comes in to somebody else and then have nothing to do at all . Actually , I enjoy my work when the assignments are large and urgent
34、and somewhat frightening and will come to the attention of many people . I get scared , and am unable to sleep at night , but I usually perform at my best under this stimulating kind of pressure and enjoy my job the most . I handle all of these important projects myself , and I rejoice with tremendo
35、us pride and vanity in the compliments I receive when I do them well . But between such peaks of challenge and elation there is monotony and despair . ( And I find , too, that once I ve succeeded in impressing somebody , I m not much excited about impressing that same person again ; there is a large
36、 , emotional letdown after I survive each crisis , a kind of empty , tragic disappointment , and last years threat , opportunity , and inspiration are often this years inescapable tedium . I frequently feel I m being taken advantage of merely because I m asked to do the work I m paid to do . )On day
37、s when I m especially melancholy , I began constructing tables of organization.classifying people in the company on the basis of envy , hope , fear , ambition , frustration, rivalry , hatred , or disappointment . I call these charts my Happiness Charts . These exercises in malice never fail to boost
38、 my spirits -but only for a while . I rank pretty high when the company is analyzed this way , because I m not envious or disappointed , and I have no expectations . At the very top , of course , are those people , mostly young and without dependents , to whom the company is not yet an institution o
39、f any sacred merit but still only a place to work , and who regard their present association with it as something temporary . I put these people at the top because if you asked any one of them if he would choose to spend the rest of his life working for the company , he would give you a resounding N
40、o ! , regardless of what inducements were offered . I was that high once . if you asked me that same question today, I would also give you a resounding No ! and add:“ I think Id rather die now . “But I am making no plans to leave . I have the feeling now that there is no place left for me to go . 繁荣
41、昌盛 thriving and prosperous爱不释手 fondle admiringly爱财如命 skin a flea for its hide安居乐业 live and work in peace and contentment白手起家 build up from nothing百里挑一 one in hundred百折不挠 be indomitable包罗万象 all-embracing all-inclusive半途而废 give up halfway/ leave sth. unfinished包罗万象 all-embracing /all-inclusive饱经风霜 wea
42、ther-beaten卑躬屈膝 bow and scrape/ cringe悲欢离合 vicissitudes of life背道而驰 run counter to/ run in the opposite direction本末倒置 put the cart before the horse大家学习网bbs.TopS笨鸟先飞 the slow need to start early必由之路 the only way变本加厉 be further intensified闭关自守 close the country to international intercourse变化无常 chop an
43、d change fantasticality别开生面 having sth. New别有用心 have ulterior motives彬彬有礼 refined and courteous/ urbane兵不厌诈 in war nothing is too deceitful博古通今 erudite and informed不败之地 invincible position不耻下问 feel not ashamed to learn from ones subordinates不可救药 be incorrigible不劳而获 reap where one has not sown不屈不挠 fo
44、rtitude/ indefatigability/ perseverance/ tenacity不速之客 crasher/ uninvited guest不同凡响 outstanding大惊小怪的 fussy 不言而喻 speak for itself/ tell its own story/tale/ went without saying不以为然 not approve/ object to大快人心 affording general satisfaction不义之财 filthy lucre /filthy pelf/ the mammon of unrighteousness不亦乐乎
45、 extremely不远千里 go to the trouble of travelling a long distance不约而同 happen to coincide不择手段 by any kind of means/ by hook or by crook by fair means or foul摆架子，故作姿态 play hard to get 不知所措 be at a loss /be all adrift/ lose ones head/ out of ones wits才疏学浅 have little talent and learning惨绝人寰 extremely crue
46、l沧海桑田 time brings a great change to the worlds沧海一粟/九牛一毛 a drop in the bucket草木皆兵 a state of extreme nervousness层出不穷 emerge in endlessly层峦迭嶂 peaks over peaks察言观色 carefully watch what sb. is doing and saying 姹紫嫣红 very beautiful flowers畅行无阻 checkless车水马龙 heavy traffic沉默寡言 taciturnity称心如意 well-content 成
47、群结队 gang horde趁热打铁 strike while iron is hot Hold a wolf the iron is hot诚惶诚恐 with reverence and awe大家学习网bbs.TopS诚心诚意 sincere desire承上启下 a connecting link between the preceding and the following吃里扒外 live on sb. while helping others secretly痴心妄想、胡思乱想 wishful thinking持之以恒 preserve叱咤风云 ride the whirlwind
48、愁眉苦脸 pull a long face snoot愁眉苦脸的，愁眉苦脸地 woebegone 、morosely臭名远扬，臭名昭著 flagrancy， notorious出乎意料 unexpected出口成章 have an outstanding eloquence出谋划策 give counsel suggest出类拔萃，鹤立鸡群 fill the bill supereminence出奇制胜 defeat sb. by a surprise action出生入死 go through fire and water触类旁通 comprehend by analogy垂头丧气，无精打采
49、 down in the mouth lose ones spirits with the tail between the legs垂头丧气的 blue about the gills crestfallen downhearted绰绰有余 more than sufficient此起彼伏 as one falls,another rises从容不迫 go easy take ones time 从容不迫地 by easy stages从容不迫的 leisured unhurried粗枝大叶 careless slapdash sloppy粗枝大叶的 broad-brush措手不及 unaware unprepared错综复杂、扑朔迷离 anfractuosity 打草惊蛇 act rashly and alert the enemy错综复杂的 anfractuous daedal reticula sinuous大材小用 waste ones talent on a petty job大公无私 selfless大海捞针 look for a needle in a bottle of hay大惑不解 be ext
