Unit 1
somewhereEach day, many people are looking for trends in workplace clothing, so that they can “fit in” with the fashionable or well-dressed crowd. They believe that dressing in the latest fashion trends may give them the reputation of being fashionable and trendy. While it is more than possible to do this, you need to display caution.
许多人每天都在捕捉职场时装的潮流，以便能与那些衣着时尚得体的人们步调一致。他们认为按最新潮流穿衣打扮能为自己赢得时尚和时髦的好名声。尽管这样做合情合理，你还是要小心谨慎。
What many people do not realize is that there are a number of pros and cons of relying on workplace fashion trends. One of those pros was mentioned above. When you wear a fashionable outfit to work, there is a good chance that you will receive a lot of compliments on your outfit. This is a nice feeling and it is one that makes many feel proud.
许多人并没有意识到，追随职场时装潮流有利也有弊。好处之一，正如上面所提到的，穿一套时髦的衣服去上班，很可能会得到一堆夸奖。这种感觉很不错，也让人引以为豪。
But the truth is that there are many more cons of relying on workplace fashion trends than there are pros. For instance, workplace fashion trends do not always distinguish between jobs and careers. If you work at a trendy coffee shop or retail store, chances are that the dress code would be casual clothing. However, if you work at a law office or an insurance company, you may be required to dress more professionally. Unfortunately, many workplace fashion trends are designed for the working population in general, not specific careers. This is where you can run into trouble if you are not careful.
然而事实上这种追随弊大于利。例如，职场时装潮流往往不区分工作和职业。在一家新潮的咖啡馆或零售店工作，着装要求很可能是休闲服。而在一家法律或保险公司上班，着装则需要更职业化。不幸的是，很多职场新潮时装是为工作中的一般大众而设计，而非为特定职业设计。因此一不小心就可能出问题。
Before relying on workplace fashion trends, you will want to take a good, close look at the trend in question. For instance, does the trend require the wearing of a skirt or a dress, no matter what the length? If so, it is important that you look at what you do for a living. If you
are in a professional office setting, a dress may be perfect for you. On the other hand though, if you work in a retail store as a manager, a dress or skirt may actually get in the way and hamper your efforts to work and be productive.
在追随这种时装潮流之前，要好好地仔细审视一下所谓的潮流。比如，潮流是不是时兴半身裙或连衣裙，而不论其长短呢？如果确实如此，那么最重要的是要考虑自己的工作性质。如果是办公室的职业白领，连衣裙就非常适合。但如果是在零售店当经理，连衣裙或半身裙则可能会妨碍工作，影响工作效率。
By wearing trendy workplace fashion pieces, many people are given compliments, but not always. The last thing that you want to do is get a bad name for yourself instead of compliments. That is why it is also advised that you take what others may think of you into consideration. You need to make sure that the impression that you would be making is a good one.
很多人会因为穿了时髦的职场时装而备受称赞，但事情并非总是如此。最不希望的是不但没有受到夸奖，还落下坏名声。正是因为这个原因，你必须考虑别人对你的看法，你必须确保
给别人留下的是个好印象。
The decision as to whether or not you want to incorporate the latest workplace fashion trends into your wardrobe is yours to make, but please take the above-mentioned points into consideration before doing so.
到底要不要将职场最时髦的潮流带入衣柜，这个决定得自己做，但在做出决定前请考虑考虑上面提到的问题。
Unit2
The meeting spills over into its second hour. We are discussing a productivity initiative. At this moment, our most talkative member chimes in with the idea that we need some kind of system to reward employees. This is the same solution he offers for every problem at every meeting. Then, another member cuts in with a long story—just to make the point that we are not the proper entity to recommend the kinds of changes we are proposing. I, meanwhile, contribute nothing useful. Finally, the woman who set the meeting calls it quits
and tells us we’ll continue next week. We drift back to our offices, wondering how to make up for the wasted time. This meeting occurred many years ago, but similar ones happen at companies everywhere every day.
会议已经拖拖拉拉开了一个多小时，我们正在讨论如何提高生产效率的提案。这时，最能言善道的同事插话说需要某种制度来激励员工。每次会上，不管讨论什么问题，他都会提出同一个方案。紧接着，另一位同事长篇累牍地说明我们都不是提出这些建议的合适人选。我也没说啥有用的。最后，召集会议的女同事宣布散会，并告知下周继续开会。我们游荡回各自的办公室，盘算着怎样才能把浪费的时间补回来。这是多年前的一次会议，但类似的情景仍然随时随地在不同公司上演。
Part of the problem at such meetings is that the leader has not set clear objectives or an agenda, and didn’t assign pre-meeting preparation tasks. Instead, the leader seems to hope that magic will occur, producing solutions to the problems. Of course, that doesn’t happen.
这种会议的问题部分在于会议召集人没有明确的目标或议程，也没有布置好会前的准备工作，
而是寄希望于奇迹发生，带来解决问题的方法。当然，奇迹从未发生。
The main reason we don’t make meetings more productive is that we don’t value our time properly. The people who call meetings and those who attend them are not thinking about time as their most valuable resource. But time is the most perishable good in the world. You can’t earn an extra hour to use on a busy day. Nonetheless, we usually have a vague feeling that there is plenty of time—somewhere in the future—so we waste it now and carelessly steal time from our families, friends or ourselves.