读外刊学英语｜疫情影响下的职场（拥抱冒险经济的“职场人”）

“读外刊学英语”，了解社会热点，备考国际学校有备无患，本期主题“疫情影响下的职场”。

今年的这场疫情，对我们的生活产生了深刻的影响，比如说为了应对疫情对经济的影响，不少人成了拥抱冒险经济的“千禧职场人”。今天我们要解读的便是和“打工人”有关的一篇新闻。

最近新冠疫情大有再次席卷全球的态势，这一波Delta来势凶猛。疫情影响着人们生活的方方面面，尤其是疫情影响下的职场，也充满诸多变化。在美国，据美国劳工统计局数据显示，去年美国失业者中，千禧一代（Millennials）面临的失业期最长。尽管各行各业逐渐复苏，但美国劳工市场出现了一个有趣的现象，即超过一半的美国人打算换工作。疫情影响下的美国就业形势真的如此惨淡吗？那些被疫情搁置的工作计划能否如期恢复？美国千禧一代又将如何挺过职场低谷期？读完今日份外刊，相信你会找到答案。

Something strange is happening to the exhausted, type-A millennial workers of America. After a year spent hunched over their MacBooks, enduring back-to-back Zooms in between sourdough loaves and Peloton rides, they are flipping the carefully arranged chessboards of their lives and deciding to risk it all.

疲惫不堪的美国千禧时代A型性格的职场人士身上正在发生奇怪的事情。过去整整一年的时间里，他们弯腰（hunched）摆弄着苹果笔记本，忍受一个接一个的Zoom会议，抽空吃酸面团面包，踩动感单车。现在，他们掀翻精心安排的人生棋盘，决定赌上一切去冒险（deciding to risk it all）。

1.exhausted [ɡzstd]

· adj. 筋疲力尽的

At the end of the interview, I was dazed and exhausted.

采访结束时，我感到头昏眼花、精疲力竭。

2.endure [ndr]

· v. 忍耐；承受

The company endured heavy financial losses.

公司承受了沉重的财务损失。

3.flip [flp]

· v.（使）翻转；快速翻阅

He was flipping through a magazine in the living room.

他在起居室里快速翻阅一本杂志。

4.arrange [rend]

· v. 安排；整理

When she has a little spare time, she enjoys arranging dried flowers.

她有一点闲暇时间就喜欢插干花。

5.risk [rsk]

· n. 风险；冒险

There is a small risk of brain damage from the procedure.

· v. 冒…的危险

She risked her own life to help a disabled woman.

她冒着失去自己生命的危险帮助了一位残疾妇女。

Some are abandoning cushy and stable jobs to start a new business, turn a side hustle into a full-time gig or finally work on that screenplay. Others are scoffing at their bosses’ return-to-office mandates and threatening to quit unless they’re allowed to work wherever and whenever they want.

有些人放弃了舒适稳定的工作（cushy and stable jobs），开始了新的事业，把副业（side hustle）变成全职工作，或者终于开始创作剧本（screenplay）。还有人对老板重返办公室的要求（return-to-office mandates）嗤之以鼻（scoff），以辞职要挟老板允许他们在自己选择的时间和地点工作。

1.abandon [bndn]

· v. 遗弃；放弃；终止

He claimed that his parents had abandoned him.

他声称他的父母抛弃了他。

· n. 放任

2.stable [stebl]

· adj. 稳定的；稳重的

The price of oil should remain stable for the rest of 1992.

石油价格在1992年余下时间里应该保持稳定。

· n. 马厩；养马场

3.scoff [skɑf]

· v. 嘲弄；狼吞虎咽

He scoffed at our attempts.

他对我们的尝试嗤之以鼻。

· n. 嘲笑；笑柄

4.mandate [mndet]

· n. 授权；命令

The presidential mandate is limited to two terms of four years each.

总统的任期不得超过两届，每届四年。

· v. 授权

The assembly was mandated to draft a constitution.

大会被授权起草一份章程。

5.threaten [θretn]

· v. 威胁；恐吓

The attacker threatened them with a gun.

袭击者用枪威胁他们。

6.quit [kwt]

· v. 离开；辞职；放弃

The actor quit the show last year because of bad health.

这位演员去年因身体欠佳而退出了表演。

Olivia Messer, a former reporter for The Daily Beast, also quit in February, after realizing that a year of covering the pandemic had left her exhausted and traumatized. “I was so drained and depleted that I didn’t feel like I knew how to do my job anymore,” she said. So Ms. Messer, 29, announced her departure and moved from Brooklyn to Sarasota, Fla., near her parents. Since then, she has been doing freelance writing as well as pursuing hobbies like painting and kayaking. She acknowledged that not all people could uproot themselves so easily. But she said the change had been restorative. “I have this renewed creative sense about what my life could look like, and how fulfilling it can be,” she said.

前Daily Beast记者奥利维亚·梅塞尔也在今年2月辞职，因为她意识到，长达一年的疫情报道让她身心俱疲（exhausted and traumatized）。“我精疲力竭（drained and depleted），感觉自己都不知道该怎么做这份工作了。”她说。于是，29岁的梅塞尔宣布离开，从布鲁克林搬到了佛罗里达州的萨拉索塔，离她父母不远。从那以后，她一直从事自由写作，并追求绘画和皮划艇等爱好（pursuing hobbies like painting and kayaking）。她承认，不是所有的人都能如此轻易地将自己从头到尾彻底改变（uproot themselves）。但她说，这种变化是一种恢复。“我对自己的生活可能是什么样子，以及它能有多么充实，有了新的创造性认识（renewed creative sense）。”她说。

1.pandemic [pndemk]

· n. 流行病；瘟疫

People feared a new cholera pandemic.

人们担心一种新的霍乱流行病。

2. announce [nans]

· v. 宣布；通知

They haven"t formally announced their engagement yet.

他们还没有正式宣布订婚。

3. freelance [frilns]

· n. 自由职业者

· adj. 自由投稿的

Michael is a freelance journalist.

迈克尔是一个自由新闻工作者。

4. acknowledge [knɑld]

· v. 承认；答谢

You have to acknowledge that we live in a racist society.

你不得不承认我们生活在一个有种族歧视的社会。

A recent Microsoft survey found that more than 40 percent of workers globally were considering leaving their jobs this year. Blind, an anonymous social network that is popular with tech workers, recently found that 49 percent of its users planned to get a new job this year. “We’ve all had a year to evaluate if the life we’re living is the one we want to be living,” said Christina Wallace, a senior lecturer at Harvard Business School.

微软最近的一项调查发现，全球超过40%的员工正在考虑于今年辞职。在科技工作者（tech workers）中很受欢迎的匿名社交网站（an anonymous social network）————Blind最近发现，有49%的用户打算在今年找份新工作。“我们都有了一年的时间，来评估我们现在的生活究竟是不是我们想要的生活，”哈佛商学院(Harvard Business School)高级讲师克里斯蒂娜·华莱士说道。

1.senior [sinir]

· adj. 高级的；年长的

· n. 上司；年长者

She felt unappreciated both by her colleagues and her seniors.

她觉得她的同事和上司都不赏识她。

2.lecturer [lektrr]

· n. 讲师；演讲者

She"s a superb lecturer.

她是一个出色的演讲者。

3.evaluate [vljuet]

· v. 评价；估价

The market situation is difficult to evaluate.

市场形势难以评估。

Not every burned-out worker will quit, of course. For some, an extended vacation or a more flexible workweek might quell their wanderlust. And some workers might find that returning to an office helps restore balance in their lives. But for many of those who can afford it, adventure is in the air.

当然，并不是每个经历职业倦怠的工作者（burned-out worker）都会辞职。对于某些人来说，延长假期（an extended vacation）或更灵活的工作周（more flexible workweek）可能会减轻他们的远行想法（quell their wanderlust）。一些员工可能会觉得回到办公室可以帮助他们恢复生活的平衡（helps restore balance in their lives）。但是对于许多负担得起的人来说，冒险无处不在（adventure is in the air）。

1.extended [kstendd]

· adj. 延伸的；扩大的；长期的

Any child who receives dedicated teaching over an extended period is likely to improve.

任何接受了很长时期悉心教导的儿童都可能会进步。

2.flexible [fleksbl]

· adj. 灵活的；柔韧的

Our plans need to be flexible enough to cater for the needs of everyone.

我们的计划必须能够变通，以满足每个人的需要。

3.quell [kwel]

· v. 平息；镇压；减轻

The government is trying to quell fears of a looming oil crisis.

政府正努力减轻日益临近的石油危机而带来的恐惧。

4.restore [rstr]

· v. 恢复；修复；归还

The police are trying to restore public order.

警察正在努力恢复公共秩序。

5.adventure [dventr]

· n. 冒险；投机

Mike tells me about his adventure in the mountains.

麦克跟我说着他在山中的冒险经历。

· v. 冒险

疫情改变了人们生活中的优先事项，使整个社会重新思考我们的生活方式。“你只能活一次”，家庭、兴趣和工作孰轻孰重？国内外的职场人面对两条分叉路：或是恢复工作规划，重振旗鼓；或是探索新领域，挑战未知。在机遇和挑战并存的职场浪潮中，人们都期待自己找准职业发展和个人成长的平衡点，再次扬帆起航。