Joshua Ogden-Davis/肝脑涂地

Cindy： Hey， Herb， have you heard the 1）scoop on Marten？

Herbert： Hey， Cindy. No， I havent heard a thing. Whats up？

Cindy： Its just a rumor， ①but the word around the water cooler is that hes on the way out soon.

Herbert： What， hes getting fired？ Why？ He always makes great presentations. Sometimes he even cleans the office on his own.

Cindy： Yeah， ②but he made some less-than-flattering comments about the boss on his Weibo. Some of the other guys in the office “shared” it， and it got back around to the boss. Shes not happy about it at all.

Herbert： Did that really happen？ Its hard to imagine Marten would be so careless.

Cindy： But Marten never even added his boss Weibo. Maybe he thought the boss would never find out.

Herbert： Doesnt matter. The Internet is like an open room： anything you say can be heard by anyone.

Cindy： Doesnt that make you a little uncomfortable？ Like， you could lose your job for something you wrote on your own Weibo.

Herbert： Not at all. If I walked around the office saying bad things about the boss then I might get fired， right？ The Internet is no different. I even added the boss Weibo myself， and Im careful about what I write. These days， you have to be professional at all times.

Cindy： I guess so. But isnt it kind of silly？ After all， its just words on the Internet.

Herbert： What if a client saw them？ We could lose business over it. It could also hurt the other employees attitudes at work.

Cindy： ③So， what， were just supposed to keep our mouths shut about everything？ We can never criticize the boss？

Herbert： Theres a time and a place for those things. If youve got a 2）legitimate problem， then talk to the boss directly. If that doesnt work， you can talk to Human Resources.

Cindy： And what if that doesnt work？

Herbert： Then you find another way to fix the problem， or you leave， or you just ignore it. But posting silly insults on the web is childish， and doesnt achieve anything.

Cindy： I never really thought about it， but youre right. We think about online profiles as being personal， but we still have to be professional about what we post.

Herbert： ④On the Internet， nothing is behind closed doors. Cindy： No， indeed. Hmm， now I really want to go check on my profiles and see if theres anything I need to clean up.

Herbert： Wouldnt be a bad idea. And you can always limit what other people can see， so that only your close friends can see your pictures and things.

Cindy： Ill definitely do that. Well， Im off！ Have a good one！ Herbert： Same to you！

辛迪：嘿，赫伯特，你听说关于马腾的传闻了吗？

赫伯特：嘿，辛迪。没有，我没听到任何消息。发生什么事了？

辛迪：只是个谣传而已，不过有传闻说他很快就离开公司了。

赫伯特：什么，他被炒鱿鱼了吗？为什么？他的演示会一直做得很出色。有时候他还亲自打扫办公室。

辛迪：是啊，但他在自己的微博里写了一些让老板不高兴的言论。办公室里有些同事转发了该微博，然后传到了老板那里，她对此很不高兴。

赫伯特：真有这样的事吗？很难想象马腾会那么不小心。

辛迪：但是马腾从没加过他老板的微博，可能他认为老板永远不会发现的。赫伯特：不加也没关系的，网络就如一个开放的房间：你所说的一切都能被任何人听到。

辛迪：那样不会让你感到有点不舒服吗？比如，你因为在自己的微博上写了些言论而丢了工作。

赫伯特：完全不会，如果我在办公室里到处讲老板的坏话，我就会被解雇，对不对？网络也一样，我自己还加了老板的微博，我对自己所写的东西都很谨慎。如今，你必须任何时候都很专业。辛迪：我想是的。但你不觉得很荒唐吗？毕竟，那只是网络上的一些言论。赫伯特：如果被客户看到了怎么办？我们会因此丢了业务，也会打击到其他员工的工作态度。

辛迪：那么，怎么办，我们就得对任何事情都三缄其口吗？我们永远都不能批评老板吗？

赫伯特：那些事情要在适当的时机和适当的地点做，如果你有合理的问题，可以直接找老板谈。如果问题解决不了，你可以找人力资源部。

辛迪：那如果还是解决不了呢？

赫伯特：那你就找另外的途径解决问题，或者辞职，或者不再理会。在网上发表愚蠢的侮辱性言论是很幼稚的，并不能得到任何好处。

辛迪：我从来没真正想过这些，不过你是对的。虽然我们认为在线发表的言论代表着你个人，但我们仍要很专业地对待自己发表的东西。

赫伯特：在网络上，没有东西是秘密的。

辛迪：确实没有。嗯，现在我真的要去检查一下我的文件，看看有没有需要清除的东西。

赫伯特：这个主意不错。你还可以设限，只有知己好友才能看到你发布的图片和消息，其他人就看不到了。

辛迪：我一定要那样做。那我要走了！祝你愉快！

赫伯特：你也是！

Smart Sentences

① But the word around the water cooler is that hes on the way out soon. 不过有传闻说他很快就离开公司了。

the word around the water cooler： gossip， unofficial news（小道消息，传闻）。例如：

We heard that our two departments will be merged， but that is just the word around the water cooler.

听说我们这两个部门要合并了，不过这也只是传闻。

on the way out： sth. is likely to disappear or to be replaced soon（即将消失）。例如：

Some experts have predicted that the fax machine was on the way out.

有专家预测说，传真机很快就会消失了。

② But he made some less-than-flattering comments about the boss on his Weibo. 但他在自己的微博里写了一些让老板不高兴的言论。

less-than-sth.： not at all sth.（与事物的某种特点没有关系）。例如：

He had a less-than-favorable view of the matter.

他对那件事的看法是负面的。

③ So， what， were just supposed to keep our mouths shut about everything？ 那么，怎么办，我们就得对任何事情都三缄其口吗？

keep ones mouth shut： keep quiet about sb. or sth. （保持缄默，守口如瓶）。例如：

Do you think I should keep my mouth shut about Jim wanting to resign？

吉姆要辞职一事，你觉得我应该保持沉默吗？

④ On the Internet， nothing is behind closed doors. 在网络上，没有东西是秘密的。

behind closed doors： in secret； do sth. in private（秘密地，背地里）。例如：

The year-end bonus was decided behind closed doors.

年终奖都是秘密决定的。