在英国，“朝九晚五的工作”这个说法指的是遵循正常办公时间的工作，其中数字“9”和“5”分别代表英国公司最普遍的上下班时间。但如今，很多企业通过将办公时间变得灵活化来让员工感到更轻松、自由。一家美国公司要求其全体员工必须从早上九点零六分开始准时上班，这是为什么呢？本集《随身英语》探讨这家企业实行的独特规定。
课文内容
Vocabulary: timekeeping 词汇: 守时
What time do you start work? Do you prefer a
leisurely
start to the day, or are you an
early bird
who likes to get going
at the
crack of dawn
?
At one computer programming company in the US you have no such choice. Work begins at the same oddly specific time every day: 9.06am.
In contrast to a more conventional 9am
kick-off
, employees in Pivotal Software’s 20 offices around the globe have to be at work and ready to go precisely six minutes later.
At that time a cowbell is rung and employees gather for a brief stand-up meeting. After that it’s
nose to the grindstone
, with no other meetings or distractions throughout the working day. They
steam on through
until 6pm
sharp
, at which point everybody
downs tools
.
So what’s the reason behind this
quirky
timekeeping? Company CEO Rob Mee explains it’s about making his team of computer programmers as efficient as possible.
“I realised that programmers, if
left to their own devices
, may
roll in
at 10am,” he says.
“We thought that if we made it 9am, developers
psyching themselves up
for the day would think, ‘well if it is 9am I’ll be late.’”
He needed a little more
leeway
, but a starting time of 9.05am
on the nose
felt too rigidly precise – whereas 9.06am seemed “fun”.
Mr Mee was also thinking of their stomachs. Lazier programmers who
turned up
around 10am would also often have missed breakfast. This meant they would be hungry by 11am and take an early lunch, leaving them with an
interminably
long working afternoon ahead. So he decided to provide breakfast as an extra incentive to get in to the office on time.
The company’s approach to
punctuality
may seem
nerdy
, but Pivotal Software is in fact a highly successful company, valued at 20bn RMB. And Pivotal is not alone: Silicon Valley has long been associated with an alternative working culture. Google has ‘
nap
pods’ and meditation classes, while Netflix offers a year’s paid
parental leave
.
词汇表
leisurely 悠闲放松的
early bird 早到的人，早起的人
at the crack of dawn 破晓之时，一大早
kick-off （活动）开始
nose to the grindstone 长时间用功干活
steam (on) through 不间断、精神集中地工作
sharp 准时地
down tools 停止工作
quirky 独特的，奇特的
leave to one’s own devices 任某人做自认为正确的事，听任自由
roll in 慢悠悠地来
psych yourself up 做好心理准备
leeway 富余的时间
on the nose （时间）分秒不差
turn up 到来，出现
interminably 没完没了地，冗长地
punctuality 守时
nerdy 呆板的
nap （白天的）小睡
parental leave 亲子假
测验与练习
1. 阅读课文并回答问题。
1. Why does Pivotal Software begin at 9.06am sharp?
2. What happens at 9.06am?
3. Why is Rob Mee concerned about employees missing breakfast?
4.Which word means 'normal', 'usual'?
5. True or false: American tech companies often have unusual benefits for employees.
2. 请你在不参考课文的情况下完成下列练习。选择一个意思合适的单词填入句子的空格处。
