英语沙龙：鲜花效应

The flower effect

Miss Nancy had just got a secretary's job in a big company to work in the sales department．Monday was the first day she went to work，so she was very excited．She got up very early and arrived at the office a t twenty to eight．

She pushed the door open and found nobody there．“I am the first to arrive．”She thought and came to the desk which was to be hers．

She was surprised to find a large bunch¹ of flowers on it．They were fresh．She picked up the flowers from the desk and smelled them．“Oh，how lovely．”Miss Nancy cried joyfully²．She then looked round for a vase³ to put them in．“Somebody has sent me flowers the very first day．”she thought happily．“But who could it be？”She began to wonder．

Just then，the manager came in．He greeted Miss Nancy good morning and caught the sight of the flowers on her desk．

“Like the flowers，Miss Nancy？”he asked．

“Yes，I like them very much．”She answered and looked into his face，expecting to find some clues⁴．But the manager walked away to his own desk and began his work．

The day passed very quickly and Miss Nancy did everything with great interest and enthusiasm⁵．During the lunch time，the manager sat with her at the same table，talking and joking freely⁶ while eating．

The colleagues⁷ were very friendly．Almost every one gave the new secretary a kind smile when they passed by．Nothing unusual，and nothing happened for the rest of the day．

For the following days of the week，the first thing Miss Nancy did was to change water for the flowers．And then she buried herself in her work．

Then came another Monday．That morning she arrived at the office at the usual time．When she came near her desk she was overjoyed to see a new bunch of flowers there．She quickly put them in the vase，replacing the old ones．

The same thing happened again the next Monday．Miss Nancy felt it strange and this time she began to think of ways to find out the sender.

Tuesday afternoon，she was sent to hand in a plan to the general manager's office．She had to stay for a while at his secretary's desk waiting for his directives．She happened to see on the desk a big note book marked “Minutes of managers' meetings”，and glanced at the half－opened pages．Suddenly her eyes fell on these words：“In order to keep the secretaries in high spirits，the company has decided⁸ that every Monday morning a bunch of fresh flowers should be sent to each secretary's desk．”

She looked up and saw right before her on the very desk，standing a vase of flowers just like hers．“Why didn't I notice it just now？”She was amazed⁹．

Later，she was told that their general manager was a business management psychologist¹⁰．

鲜花效应

南希小姐刚刚在一家大公司找到了一份秘书的工作，她将在销售部门上班。星期一是她上班的第一天，因此心情非常激动。她早早起床，8点差20分钟就到了办公室。

她推开门，发现里面没人。“我是第一个到办公室的。”她边想着边来到那张属于她的办公桌前。她惊异地发现桌上有一大束花。那是些鲜花。

“啊，真漂亮。”南希小姐欢叫着，拿起桌上的花就闻。她四处看看想找一个瓶子插花。“第一天上班就有人给我送花，真是太好了。”她愉快地想道。“可是，是谁送的呢？”她开始琢磨起来。

正在这时，经理进来了。他向南希小姐道了声早上好，一眼就看见了她桌上的花。

“喜欢这些花是吗，南希小姐？”他问。

“是的，非常喜欢。”她一边回答一边察言观色，指望能发现点什么。可是经理已经走到自己的办公桌旁，开始工作了。

这天过得很快，南希小姐做每一件事都兴致勃勃，充满热情。午餐时，经理和她同坐一张餐桌，边吃边随便谈笑着。

同事们非常友好，几乎每一个从她身边走过的人都要向这位新秘书投以和蔼的微笑。一切正常，一整天也没出现什么情况。

在这个星期的后几天里，南希小姐每天要做的第一件事就是给花换水，然后埋头自己的工作。

又是一个星期一来到了。那天早上她同往常一样来到办公室。当她走近办公桌时，看到桌上放了一束新的鲜花，真让她喜出望外。她很快就把这束新花换下了旧的插进了瓶里。

在接下来的星期一又出现了同样的情况。南希小姐觉得很奇怪，这一次她想调查一下这个送花人是谁。

星期二下午，她被派往总经理办公室去送交一份计划。为了等总经理的批文，她得在总经理秘书的办公桌旁呆上一会儿。她碰巧看到桌上放了一本写着“经理会议记录”这几个字的大笔记本，于是就瞥了一眼半开着的会议记录内容。突然，她的眼睛落在了这几行字上：“为了使秘书们保持高昂的情绪，本公司决定，每星期一早上都要有一束鲜花送到每一个秘书的办公桌上。”

她抬起头来，看见就在眼前的那张办公桌上，摆着一瓶和她的一模一样的鲜花。“我刚才为什么没注意到呢？”她有点迷惑。

后来有人告诉她，他们的总经理是个企业管理心理学家。

1 bunch   

n.串，束；群，帮

参考例句：

• A bunch of girls was[were] sitting on the grass.一群女孩坐在草地上。
• I received a bunch of flowers yesterday.昨天我收到了一束鲜花。

2 joyfully   

adv. 喜悦地, 高兴地

参考例句：

• She tripped along joyfully as if treading on air. 她高兴地走着，脚底下轻飘飘的。
• During these first weeks she slaved joyfully. 在最初的几周里，她干得很高兴。

3 vase   

n.花瓶，瓶

参考例句：

• She knocked the vase off by accident.她不小心把花瓶打掉了。
• I saw the vase in the window of a shop.我在一家商店的橱窗里看见了这个花瓶。

4 clues   

n.线索( clue的名词复数 )；提示；（帮助警方破案的）线索；（纵横填字谜、游戏或问题的）提示词语

参考例句：

• The police think the videotape may hold some vital clues to the identity of the killer. 警方认为那盘录像带可能录有能确认凶手身份的一些重要线索。
• contextual clues to the meaning 上下文提供的理解其含义的线索

5 enthusiasm   

n.热情，激情；巨大兴趣；热衷的事物

参考例句：

• We set about our task at once with great enthusiasm.我们立刻兴致勃勃地干起来。
• A team which is full of enthusiasm is more likely to win.情绪高涨的球队更可能获胜。

6 freely   

adv.自由地，随便地，无拘无束地

参考例句：

• She was unable to keep back her tears,and wept freely.她抑制不住泪水，痛痛快快地哭了起来。
• A liquid flows freely and has no fixed shape.液体能自由流动，无固定形态。

7 colleagues   

n.同事，同僚( colleague的名词复数 )；同人

参考例句：

• He wanted to confer with his colleagues before reaching a decision. 他想与他的同事先商议一下再作出决定。
• She is held in high esteem by her colleagues. 她深受同事的敬重。

8 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

9 amazed   

adj.吃惊的，惊奇的v.使大为吃惊，使惊奇( amaze的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Just the size of the place amazed her. 仅仅地方之大就使她十分惊奇。
• I was amazed at her knowledge of French literature. 她的法国文学知识之丰富使我大为惊奇。

10 psychologist   

n.心理学家；心理学研究者

参考例句：

• Dr.Sinclair is a child psychologist.辛克莱博士是一位儿童心理学专家。
• Psychologist is expert who studies at psychology.心理学家是研究心理学的专家。