Emily问同事Lisa要不要一起吃饭。

Emily: Hey Lisa…want to grab lunch with me?

Lisa: Sure, Emily. We haven’t done that in a while.

E: Yeah…actually, we haven’t hung out at all recently. You seem sort of under the weather. Is there something going on?

L: Well, keep this under your hat, but I think I’m going to quit after New Year.

Emily问Lisa要不要一起吃饭,她在这里用的动词是 grab, g-r-a-b, grab, grab lunch 是一种口语里常用的说法,意思是随便买点午饭吃,也可以说 to grab something to eat. 听上去,Lisa跟Emily很久没一起吃饭聊天了,we haven’t hung out at all recently. to hang out 意思是跟朋友待在一起,Emily还说Lisa看上去sort of under the weather似乎有点不舒服,问她怎么回事。Lisa告诉Emily, 自己新年过后可能要辞职,但要Emily暂时保密,keep this under your hat. To keep something under one’s hat 意思是保守秘密,不要告诉别人。Emily听到这个消息感到很突然。

E: Quit this company? Oh…wow.

L: I know I should be pretty happy here, but I’m not finding the kind of job satisfaction I need. I’m a good graphic designer…

E: One of the best in the company.

L: That’s kind of you to say. But…the stuff we do here hasn’t really challenged me very much at all.

E: Oh, I get it. Simply put: you’re bored, huh?

L: That’s one way of putting it. For me, a job needs to stimulate my brain, otherwise it becomes a daily drudgery.

Lisa是公司里最好的图像设计师之一, 目前这份工作对她没有挑战性,simply put 简单地说,她觉得现在的工作很无聊。put, p-u-t, put 在这里意思是说出来,表达出来,上面两人的对话里还有 that’s one way of putting it. 也是同样用法,意思是“可以这么说”。Lisa说,她需要一份能让她兴奋起来的工作,否则的话,工作就变成了a daily drudgery, drudgery is spelled d-r-u-d-g-e-r-y, drudgery, drudgery 意思是无聊乏味的工作。

L: Another thing is that I don’t feel there is a decent chance of promotion. I’ve been here for three years and I’m doing the exact same thing at the exact same salary.

E: That’s true…salaries have been frozen for a while and I hear next year it’s the same story.

L: I’m finding that I spend a lot of time at work just sitting at my cubicle daydreaming or wasting time. I can’s sleep on Sunday nights because I know I have to go back to work the next day.

E: Wow…it sounds like you’re suffering from serious job dissatisfaction. I guess you really do need a change.

Lisa还说,想辞职的另外一个原因是觉得没有升职的机会,There isn’t a decent chance of promotion. Emily 表示赞成,因为工资已经有一段时间没涨了,而且她听说,next year it’s the same story. 明年也是一样。Lisa说,有时候上班就是在自己的小隔间 cubicle 里发愣,浪费时间,星期天晚上一想到第二天早上还要去上班,就睡不着觉。看来,Lisa真是得换份工作了。