礼节美语 Business Etiquette 107

公司高管Peter, Jason和Helen开会讨论员工保健项目。大家都赞成把地下室改成健身中心，为员工健身提供方面。可问题在于，怎样才能要求员工去健身呢？ Helen就提出了这个问题。

H: The gym is a good step. But Peter is asking how to mandate¹ fitness.

J: I'd say there is really only one way to mandate anything: we'll have to set reasonable goals for people and then penalize² them financially if they don't make it.

P: I'm afraid Jason is 100% correct. I think the only way to really see changes is to hit people where it hurts: in their wallets.

如何才能要求员工去健身？how to mandate fitness. mandate, 有命令的意思。 Jason建议，唯一强迫员工去健身的办法就是预设合理目标，如果不能达标， if they don't make it，就采取罚款的方式。 Peter认为，Jason is 100% correct. Jason百分之百正确。要想见成果，就一定要hit people where it hurts，击中要害，对员工来说，他们的要害就是their wallets他们的钱包。

H: Ok...how about this for a plan: if you are a smoker³ or seriously overweight you have two options. One: quit smoking and/or lose weight and you keep your corporately⁴ funded health plan. Or two: Ignore our health warnings and you have to pay the 25% difference out of your pocket.

Helen建议，可以给吸烟或肥胖的员工两种选择two options。 一种是： quit smoking and /or lose weight戒烟，减肥，这样就可以继续享受公司出钱购买的医疗保健计划。

第二种是： ignore your health warnings，不顾健康方面的警告，也就是说不戒烟，不减肥，那你的医疗保健费用就要有四分之一得自己掏腰包，out of your pocket。

J: You know...that sounds reasonable.

P: I'm inclined to agree. We're not being unreasonable⁵ and we are trying to do our part.

H: But people will have to meet us half way.

P: Thank you Helen and Jason. I appreciate your ideas.

开会的三位主管都觉得这种办法合情合理，reasonable, 作为公司，应该给员工提供一些健身保健方面的便利条件，但是与此同时，people will have to meet us half way. Meet somebody half way意思是做出必要的妥协和让步，在这里，是指员工也应该积极响应公司提出的健身号召。

 

1 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

2 penalize   

vt.对…处以刑罚，宣告…有罪；处罚

参考例句：

• It would be unfair to penalize those without a job.失业人员待遇低下是不公平的。
• The association decided not to penalize you for the race.赛马协会决定对你不予处罚。

3 smoker   

n.吸烟者，吸烟车厢，吸烟室

参考例句：

• His wife dislikes him to be a smoker.他妻子不喜欢他当烟民。
• He is a moderate smoker.他是一个有节制的烟民。

4 corporately   

adv.团结地，共同地

参考例句：

5 unreasonable   

adj.不讲道理的，不合情理的，过度的

参考例句：

• I know that they made the most unreasonable demands on you.我知道他们对你提出了最不合理的要求。
• They spend an unreasonable amount of money on clothes.他们花在衣服上的钱太多了。