公眾號：simon英語? ? （想學好英語就別總用中文翻譯）

（各種視音頻、課件，國外高端網(wǎng)站VIP賬號帶著大家真正的學好英語，提高能力）

六分鐘英語《6 Minutes English》，BBB出品，發(fā)音純正清晰（和雅思考試一樣）質(zhì)量絕對是世界級的老大。此材料適合單詞量4000以上的中高級別英語愛好者，詞匯量不夠的建議先背單詞，詞匯量上去了學習效率會更高。

Simon 會結(jié)合自身的知識和經(jīng)驗給大家整理一下筆記，供小伙伴們參考學習。既然是中高級水平，咱們就不做中文翻譯了，英文解釋為主，特別難的詞會用中文輔助解釋一下。記住一條，最高級的學習方法就是做好筆記，別用中文翻譯，建議大家買一本牛津的高階英語詞典《Oxford advanced learners Dictionary》，純英文版的，目前最新的是第十版，第九也有賣，都差不多，有一本就行，就是別用中英雙語的，因為中文會讓你‘短路’的，就不會去按照英文的思維去記憶了。有電腦的可以去公眾號回復”CAMDIC“下載《Cambridge Advanced Learners Dictionary》電子版，電腦筆記本W(wǎng)INDOWS都可以裝，很好用，還有音標和發(fā)音。

顏色標記說明：

????????綠色表示大學四六級以下，必須記住的，最好能會使用、解釋或造句。
? ? ? ? 紅色代表雅思及以下水平，想考雅思托福，紅色綠色詞匯一個都不能放過，都是常用詞。
? ? ? ? 紫色代表不是我們每天都能見到的詞，既然出來了說明用得上，最好能知道意思，不要求會使用，不會也不會有太大的影響，但是最好能記到筆記上。
????????橘黃色：Simon對一些認為比較重要的詞匯、短語、習語進行的標注，如果不會趕快記住，要求知道含義，知道如何使用，并熟練掌握。

? ? ? ??

Introduction

Most modern offices include large spaces without internal walls dividing them up. The idea is to create a sense of togetherness, but many employees prefer having their own space.?Neil and Sam talk about the ways workers find to personalise their workplace and teach you vocabulary along the way.

This week's question

According to a 2021 survey by the Metro newspaper, what did British workers vote the worst thing about working in an office?

a)????printers not working

b)????people speaking too loudly?

c)????co-workers leaving empty milk cartons in the fridge

Listen to the programme to find out the answer.?

Vocabulary

hot-desking
system where office workers do not have their own personal desk but use any available desk on a day-by-day basis?

nine-to-five
work which begins at 9am and ends at 5pm - the normal Monday to Friday office working hours

montage
a piece of work made up by putting together several different items, often in interesting combinations?

sense of familiarity
feeling of knowing something or someone so well that you feel close, comfortable, and relaxed around them

worn out
so old or damaged from continual use that it cannot be used any more?

hard graft
(slang) hard work?

Transcript

Sam

Hello.?I’m Sam.

Neil
And I’m Neil. Have you seen my pen, Sam? It’s not on my desk.

Sam
No, I haven’t touched your pen, Neil.

Neil
... and someone’s taken my coffee mug too! Agh, ever since we started?hot-desking, people in this office think they can do whatever they like!

Sam
Neil doesn’t like the new rule about office?hot-desking, the system where workers don’t have their own personal desk, but use any available desk, on a temporary basis. Maybe he should look for another job and quit the?nine-to-five?– a phrase describing jobs which start at 9am and end at 5pm, the normal hours that people in offices work from Monday to Friday.?

Neil
Hmm, maybe I should quit. I loved working from home during the pandemic – no early mornings, no crowded trains… and no-one using my pens!

Sam
As the Covid pandemic slows down, more and more people are returning to work in the office. In this programme, we take a look at life in the modern office. And of course, we’ll learn some useful vocabulary as well.?

Neil
But first I have a question for you, Sam. As you know, I’m not an office lover. Besides disappearing pens, workers have plenty of other complaints about office life, from co-workers who never do the washing up, to fighting over spaces in the car park. But according to a 2021 survey by the Metro newspaper, what did British workers vote the worst thing about working in an office? Was it ...
a)????printers not working?
b)????people speaking too loudly? or
c)????co-workers leaving empty milk cartons in the fridge?

Sam
Hmm, I see stealing pens isn’t on the list, so I’ll say a) printers not working. That really makes me mad!

Neil
OK, Sam. I’ll reveal the correct answer later in the programme. Nowadays most modern offices are open-plan, large spaces without internal walls dividing them up. The idea is to create a sense of togetherness, but many employees prefer having their own space, and use all types of objects to mark out their own personal territory. These could be anything from family photos and holiday souvenirs, to home-made cakes and biscuits placed at the end of a desk to allow people grab a biscuit and start a conversation.

Sam
Researcher, Harriet Shortt, travelled around Britain interviewing office workers about the types of objects they use to decorate and mark out their workspace. Here she is telling BBC Radio 4 programme, Thinking Allowed, about one young woman who stuck photos and postcards onto strips of cardboard:

Harriet Shortt
She had created this sort of?montage?on this strip of paper and would roll it up daily – she had a little plant as well – and she would take it to whatever desk she was working at and would pin it up to a set of low-level desk divider… and so there’s that sense of, however temporarily they might be in a particular space in the office, they still … there’s still evidence in this research that people want to feel comfort, and settled and have some?sense of familiarity.

Neil
The woman Harriet interviewed used photos and postcards to create a?montage?– a piece of work made by putting together several different items, often in interesting combinations. Her photo montage reminded her of the people and places she loved outside of work.

Sam
For Harriet this shows that people want workspaces to have a?sense of familiarity?– the feeling of knowing something so well that you feel comfortable and relaxed.

Neil
Harriet also interviewed hairdressers working in beauty salons about the marks and stains found in their workplace. Here she tells BBC Radio 4’s, Thinking Allowed, about a strangely shaped mark on the floor of one hair salon:

Harriet Shortt
A sort of half-moon scuff mark that goes right round the back of the chair – so literally, she’s?worn out?the floor. It’s exactly where a hairdresser would tread for many, many hours of the day. And she took the photograph, and she showed it to me, and she said, ‘This is me. You want to know about identity. It represents?hard graft’.?

Sam
Harriet interviewed a hairdresser whose salon floor had been?worn out?– damaged by continual use, after being walked on again and again as the woman cut people’s hair. For her, the worn-out floor symbolised?hard graft, or hard work.

Neil
Whatever your job, we all spend most of each day at work, so it’s important to have a workplace that’s safe, comfortable and familiar… where people don’t steal your pen!

Sam
Oh, Neil – you sound like the office workers in that newspaper survey.

Neil
Yes, let’s return to my question which was: according to a 2021 Metro newspaper survey, what is British workers’ number one complaint about working in an office.

Sam
I guessed it was the printers not working. Was I right?

Neil
You were wrong, I’m afraid! In fact, the top complaint was people speaking too loudly – another of my pet hates!

Sam

OK, let’s recap the vocabulary from this programme on the office?nine-to-five?– work which happens during normal Monday to Friday office hours.

Neil
Hot-desking?is where office workers do not have their own permanent desk but use a different desk each day.

Sam
A?montage?is made by putting together different items in interesting combinations.

Neil
A?sense of familiarity?is a feeling of knowing something so well that you feel comfortable and relaxed around it.

Sam
When something is?worn out?from overuse, it’s so old or damaged.

Neil
And finally,?hard graft?is a slang phrase meaning hard work.

Sam
Once more our six minutes are up! We hope you’ll join us again soon for more trending topics and useful vocabulary here at 6 Minute English. But that’s goodbye for now!

Neil
Goodbye!

==================================================================

trending topics:?越來越多的被大家討論、查看的 topics

vocabulary:?all the words known and used by a particular person

permanent: ?lasting for a long time or forever.? ?OPP?temporary;

I’m afraid:?禮貌地引出不太好的事情（別人不想聽到的）或者不太能立刻接受的事情

reveal:?to make known or show something that is surprising or that was previously secret