VOA流行美語 Unit 198:eager beaver和grunt work

Larry在跟李華講他辦公室裏新來的實習生。今天李華會學到兩個常用語：eager beaver和grunt work。

LL: A new intern started working in my office today. He sure is an eager beaver, Li Hua!

LH: Beaver不是海狸嗎？動物怎麼能到辦公室實習呢？

LL: No, the new intern isn't an actual beaver! But he works hard and is always busy like a beaver building a dam. And he is always eager to do work, so we say he is an "eager beaver.”

LH: 對了，我想起來了。Beaver不僅指海狸，有時也指工作勤勞的人。Eager就是很熱情的意思，所以"eager beaver”指的是做事特別努力，特別積極的人。 Larry， 我看你也是個"eager beaver”，早出晚歸的。

LL: I am not quite the eager beaver that the new intern is - I've been in the office a while. People are generally eager beavers when they are new to a job and want to impress their bosses.

LH: 沒錯，一般新到一個地方工作的人會特別熱情積極，因爲他們要讓老闆有個好印象。我剛開始教中文的時候， 也特別賣力，每天都花很多時間備課。

LL: And would you say you still are an eager beaver when it comes to teaching Chinese?

LH: 現在呢，不像剛開始那麼賣勁了。像你一樣， 我也不是以前的eager beaver了。

LL: That's OK, Li Hua. While being an eager beaver can be a good thing, someone can also take it too far.

LH: 勤奮當然是好事呀！居然還會有的人勤奮過頭？這是什麼意思？

LL: Well, the intern in my office is such an eager beaver he wants to do everything! He ends up making my work more complicated.

LH: 這個實習生什麼都要做，這不是很好嗎， 怎麼會給你添麻煩呢？

LL: Yeah, that's right. He always wants to help, but sometimes I work better on my own.

LH: 你要是有的時候喜歡自己做，不要別人插手的話，你不能對他說你不需要幫忙嘛！對了，Larry，也許你可以 想辦法讓他作一些你不喜歡作的事呀。

LL: What a good idea!

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LL: Thanks to your advice, Li Hua, I've now got the new intern doing some of my grunt work.

LH: 什麼是grunt work? Grunt不是指豬發出呼嚕呼嚕的聲音嗎？

LL: Yes, pigs grunt. And people make grunting sounds, too, when they are working really hard at something like digging ditches.

LH: 這我知道。人在做挖溝之類的工作時也會發出表示疲勞的聲音。Larry, 那grunt work 是不是就是指繁重的體力勞動？

LL: Not necessarily. Grunt work is basically routine, menial work. There are always some repetitive, boring tasks people working in offices do.

LH: 我明白了，grunt work就是簡單的，枯燥乏味的工作。

LL: Yeah, and grunt work generally doesn't require a lot of knowledge or experience. That is why I am having the intern do my grunt work.

LH: 做簡單的工作當然不需要豐富的知識，也不需要很多經驗。Larry，說了半天，你究竟讓這位實習生做什麼呢?

LL: I am having him reorganize the office files, make new labels for the file folders, filling out forms and typing up letters.

LH: 你還真讓他幹不少活耶！整理辦公室的文件，並把它們存檔， 還要爲文件夾貼新的標籤、填表格、打信件。這些事的確是既費事又枯燥的。這位實習生該不會在意吧？

LL: No, I am sure he won't mind doing the grunt work.

LH: 你怎麼肯定他不在意呀？

LL: He is such an eager beaver, Li Hua, that he will be delighted to do whatever grunt work I give him!

今天李華學到了兩個常用語。一個是"eager beaver", 意思是做事特別積極，努力的人。李華學到的另一個常用語是，grunt work意思是簡單枯燥的工作。