Using English at Work：06 Arriving at Work(6)

Where I work, the employees (or the people who work at the company) are supposed to show their badges² at all times.

The phrase "at all times" means always or all the time.

For example, parents want to know where their children are at all times.

At my office, people are supposed to wear their badges at all times so that the security³ guards know that we belong there.

A "security guard" is a person who decides who can and cannot enter a building for safety reasons.

Security guards are popular at many U.S. companies, to protect the employees.

They usually wear uniforms, they look a little like police officers but they are not; they are private guards.

Sometimes in American businesses security guards will have guns.

I said that one day last week I forgot my badge¹ at home, meaning that I forgot to bring it to work.

That day, I had to get a visitor's pass.

A "visitor's pass" is a piece of paper that lets a visitor enter a building where he or she does not work, usually because he or she has a meeting there.

A pass is similar to a permit; it allows you to do something, to enter somewhere.

To get a visitor's pass, you usually walk into the building and tell the security guard that you have a meeting with someone.

The security guard calls that person to confirm that you do, in fact, have a meeting, and then gives you a visitor's pass, which might be a sticker that you put on your clothes or a badge to wear on your shirt.

When I had to get a visitor's pass, my coworker made fun of me all day.

"To make fun of someone" means to laugh at someone or to make other people laugh at someone in a way that isn't very nice.

If I use the wrong word in Spanish, French, or Italian and someone laughs at me and begins to copy my mistake, he is making fun of me.

It's not a very nice thing to do.

1 badge   

n.徽章，证章，标记，标识，象征

参考例句：

• Every student should carry a school badge.每个学生都应该佩带校徽。
• The olive leaf is a badge of peace.橄榄叶是和平的象征。

2 badges   

n.徽章( badge的名词复数 )；象征；证章；[美国俚语]警察

参考例句：

• Mayors wear chains round their necks as badges of office. 市长们戴着象征职位的项链。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The badges come in twenty different colors and shapes. 这种徽章有20种不同的颜色和形状。 来自辞典例句

3 security   

n.安全，安全感；防护措施；保证(金)，抵押(品)；债券，证券

参考例句：

• A security guard brought him down with a flying tackle.一名保安人员飞身把他抱倒。
• There was tight security at the airport when the President's plane landed.总统的专机降落时，机场的保安措施很严密。