ESL Podcast 176 - Time Off from Work

My buddy¹ from college, Jack², was getting married and our friend Rob was planning a bachelor party for him in Vegas. It was going to be the last weekend of the month and I wanted to go. The trouble was, I was scheduled to work that weekend. I needed to get the time off from work or I was going to miss out on all the fun.

I have some vacation leave, but company policy requires that my boss sign off on any leave we take. I’ve heard of companies doing that for longer periods of leave —like maternity³ leave or a leave of absence—but our company does that even for vacation leave. I thought about just calling in sick that weekend—I do have a lot of accumulated sick leave—but I didn’t think my boss would appreciate me leaving him hanging.

In the end, I just asked him straight out and, to my surprise, he said, “okay.” Now, I just need to get ready for a wild weekend with the guys. I can’t wait!


Script by Dr. Lucy Tse

1 buddy   

n.（美口）密友，伙伴

参考例句：

• Calm down,buddy.What's the trouble?压压气，老兄。有什么麻烦吗？
• Get out of my way,buddy!别挡道了，你这家伙！

2 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

3 maternity   

n.母性，母道，妇产科病房；adj.孕妇的，母性的

参考例句：

• Women workers are entitled to maternity leave with full pay.女工产假期间工资照发。
• Trainee nurses have to work for some weeks in maternity.受训的护士必须在产科病房工作数周。