By Joshua Ogden-Davis/肝脑涂地

说到“开会”，我想大家一定对这个词不陌生。班会、晨会、例会、庆功会……从小到大，我们经历过无数个大大小小的会议。在职场中，“开会”更是我们的家常便饭。然而，有些会议可能并不是那么有趣或者有意义。每天上班已经很累，还要应付似乎总也开不完的各种会议，这让很多白领们吃不消，走神、不在状态是常有的事，甚至还会有人昏睡过去，让旁人大跌眼镜。

Emmanuel： Hey， Charlotte， what did you think of my presentation this morning？

Charlotte： Oh， hey， Manny. I…uh…could you…could you remind me what your presentation was about？

Emmanuel： I presented on the companys financial prospects over the next 1）quarter.

Charlotte： Oh， right， of course. Well， yeah， I thought it was…a solid presentation. Lots of pictures and graphs， things grab peoples attention.

Emmanuel： Thanks！ I do try to make the presentations pretty fun. What else？ What about content？

Charlotte： Well， the content was…interesting， of course…very informative.

Emmanuel： Uh huh…anything more specific？

Charlotte： Um， well…not really. ①To be honest， I kind of tuned out for most of the presentation…

伊曼纽尔：嘿，夏洛特，你觉得我今天早上的演示怎么样？

夏洛特：噢，嘿，伊曼纽尔。我……呃……你能……你能提醒我一下你的演示内容吗？

伊曼纽尔：我演示的是公司下一季度的财政预算。

夏洛特：噢，对，当然。嗯，对，我认为这……这是一个不错的演示。很多图表，很吸引人。

伊曼纽尔：谢谢！我确实努力地让演示变得有趣。还有吗？内容方面呢？

夏洛特：嗯，内容的话……当然有趣……非常详尽。

伊曼纽尔：嗯嗯……能更具体点吗？

夏洛特：呃，好吧……不能。老实说，我对演示的大部分内容都没怎么注意……

Emmanuel： What？ I thought you just said it grabbed your attention！

Charlotte： ②Oh， yeah， it was a really 2）flashy PPT， but I zoned out anyway. Dont take it personally， it happens to me all the time！

Emmanuel： To tell you the truth， it happens to me sometimes， too.

Charlotte： Im glad Im not the only one！ Why does that always happen？ Every time I go to a meeting， I just cant stay awake for the life of me.

Emmanuel： I dont know， either. ③I can be feeling fine before the meeting， but as soon as someone gets up to give a presentation， its like， boom！ Lights out！

Charlotte： I never knew I had a 3）kindred spirit. ④I always thought I was an isolated case.

Emmanuel： Me， too. I wonder how many other people feel this way？

Charlotte： God only knows. Anyway， the question to ask is： how are we gonna beat this thing？

Emmanuel： Ive tried everything. ⑤Coffee doesnt do the trick. Ive even tried doing jumping jacks before the meeting to 4）rev up my system！

Charlotte： Tell me about it！ ⑥Im almost at my wits end. I even signed up for a meditation class， just to practice sitting down and staring into space without zoning out！ Emmanuel： ⑦Wow， youve really taken this to the extreme！ How did the meditation thing work out？

Charlotte： Not so well. I can meditate during meetings， but then I really cant focus on what the presenter is talking about. Emmanuel： So are we hopeless？

Charlotte： ⑧Well， I dont want to throw in the towel just yet. What else can we try？

Emmanuel： Ive racked my brain again and again and come up with nothing.

Charlotte： Well， I guess theres only one solution.

Emmanuel： What do you mean？

Charlotte： The answer is so obvious. ⑨Its staring us in the face！ Cant you see it？

Emmanuel： Im afraid I cant. Youre going to have to help me out with this one.

Charlotte： ⑩It seems like well just have to bite the bullet and just get interested in the presentation！

Emmanuel： Oh， brother. Im not sure I can manage that…

伊曼纽尔：什么？我想你刚刚才说它能吸引你！

夏洛特：噢，对，这是个非常出色的演示，但是我走神了。我不是针对你，我总是会这样！

伊曼纽尔：老实说，我有时也会这样。夏洛特：很高兴我不是唯一的一个！为什么这种情况总是会发生？每次我去开会，总是不能保持清醒。

伊曼纽尔：我也不知道为什么。开会前我还好好的，但是当有人站起来做演示的时候，那就像，砰！我马上就倒下去睡了！

夏洛特：我从来不知道别人也有类似的感觉。我一直认为我是个特例。