英语阅读教材：生活中的轻重缓急
Friday afternoon,a stack of paper six inches thick sat on my desk.I laid a ruler on the top of the sheet,using it to keep my place.I was a senior financial analyst at the biggest bank in Minneapolis,and my division was responsible for a billion dollars.Every number had to add up.But that's not what worried me.My mind kept wandering to a bigger problem:what my manager would say when I told him I was expecting my first child.
周五下午，一叠6寸厚的文件在我办公桌上放着。我在最上边放了一根尺子，以表明工作进度。我在明尼阿波斯市最大的银行工作，是一个高级金融分析师。我的部门负责10亿美元的业务，每一笔款项都必须计算进去。但是，这并不令我担忧。我心中不停地想着另一个更大的问题：当我告诉经理说我已怀上第一个孩子时，他会说什么？
My due date meant I'd miss next year's entire budget season.Dan,my hard-driving boss,would never understand.He was so work-obsessed he practically ate three meals a day at his desk.Today he looked utterly exhausted,rushing to pack his briefcase full of work to take home.Does he have any time for his family!I wondered.Will I!
我的预产期意味着，我将不能参加明年的整个预算工作。我的老板丹是永远不会理解的，他对下属特别苛严，简直是把人当驴使。他是一个工作狂，一天三顿几乎都是在办公桌上吃的。今天他看上去极度疲劳。他匆匆忙忙地往他的公文箱里塞满文件，准备带回家去干。我纳闷：他还有时间顾及家庭吗？我会有时间料理我的家事吗？
I thought of talking to Mike,my team leader.Mike went home at 5 o'clock almost every night.He had two boys and a wife who went to school in the evenings.“I've got to be on time for the second shift at home”he joked.His cubicle was plastered with pictures of his children on the jungle gym he had built for them and T-ball team he coached and the family dressed up for church on Easter.
我想和迈克谈一谈，他是我的组长。迈克几乎每天下午5点就下班回家。他有两个男孩，太太要上夜校。“我得赶紧回家，以便能按时在家上下一个班。”他开玩笑说。他的隔间里贴着三张照片，一张是他的孩子们在他亲手为他们做的攀援游戏架上玩耍，一张是他担任教练的足球阻截手训练队的照片，还有一张是复活节全家穿着盛装准备去教堂前的合影。
Even before I knew I was pregnant,he had said to me,“You can get your work done and leave on time.Just figure out what's important to you.Everything else follows from there.”But Dan was my real boss.You kept his hours.I couldn't postpone our talk much longer-I had to start wearing maternity dresses.Pushing aside the stack of paper,I got up.Just then,Dan's assistant dropped a memo off at my desk.We were supposed to run a new set of numbers on our report.“Have them sent to me by Monday”Dan wrote.
甚至在我知道有了身孕之前，他曾对我说过：“你可以把工作做完按时回家。弄清楚什么对你来说是重要的，其他的事可随其后。”可是，丹才是我的老板，你得遵从他的时间按排。我不能再推迟和丹之间的谈话了--我马上要穿孕妇服。我把那叠文件往旁边推了推，站起身来。就在此时，丹的助手在我桌子上放了一份备忘录。我们被要求在报告中将一组新的数字包括进去。“下周一交给我。”他写道。
I glanced at the clock.The mainframe computer was already shut down for the weekend.Making the changes by Monday meant doing them by hand on Saturday.I heard the angry voices of my teammates in Mike's office,so headed over.“It'll take at least eight hours to plug in those numbers,and the figures might not even be right”I said.Another analyst said“Dan did this just to make us work a Saturday…”“We don't need to”Mike said,smiling as he leaned back in his chair.“I'll run a program first thing Monday when the computer comes back up.And I'll explain things to Dan on Tuesday.The extra day means there won't be any mistakes.”
我看了一分钟。主机计算机已经关闭，因为是周末。周一前改好报告意味着要在周六用手工来做。此时，我听到迈克办公室中传出气愤的大声说话的声音，就走了过去。“要加进这些数字至少要用8小时，而且数字还不一定准确。”我说。另一位分析师说：“丹让我们干这个就是不让我们周六休息……”“我们不需要这样做，”迈克背靠椅子笑着说，“下周一，电脑一启动，我首先运行一个程序。周二我会对丹解释。多加一天可以保证不出任何差错。”
I had a terrible weekend.Mike probably played ball with his boys,but I barely slept.After this,how would Dan view my mater nity leave!
我过了一个糟糕的周末。迈克或许跟他的孩子们打球去了，可我却无法入睡。在此违抗上司命令事件之后，丹会如何看待我的产假呢？
Monday,Mike finished running the program before I came in.I checked the information for my division,skipping lunch to go over it all.I kept envisioning Dan exploding in anger the next morning.Tuesday,I arrived before the rest of the team.I poured a cup of coffee and sat in my cubicle.Dan stalked in.“Get in my office”he said without looking at me.“Now”I sat down across from him,sitting on my shaking hands.His eyes narrowed.“I wanted those reports yesterday so I could get my notes ready.If that meant working on a Saturday,that is normal at your level of responsibility.Instead,you deliberately disobeyed me.”
周一，迈克在我上班之前就运行了那个程序。我核校我的部门的有关数据，连中午饭都没有顾得上吃，一直坚持到干完。我一直想像着第二天早上丹盛怒的模样。周二，我比其他同事来得都早。我倒了一杯咖啡，在我的隔间坐下。丹高视阔步地走了过来。“到我办公室来一趟，”他正眼都不瞧我一眼，“马上过来！”我坐在他对面，颤料的手压在大腿下面。他眯起眼睛说：“我昨天需要那些报告，以使用来写我的发言提纲。如果那意味着你周六要干活的话，这是你责任分内的事，是正常的。相反，你却故意违抗。”
I struggled to hold back my tears.That was when Mike breezed in with the new report.“Here we go,Dan”he said plopping it on his desk.“Guaranteed accurate down to the decimal.To me that was worth taking an extra day.”Dan flipped through the pages.“Why didn't you work on Saturday to finish this!”“It seemed like a huge waste when we could just use the computer and get is right”Mike said“so we waited until Monday.I had to follow my own judgment.”Dan stared at the top page for a long while,then nodded.At that moment the tension went out of the room like air going out of a balloon.We spent the rest of the morning helping Dan prepare for the meeting.He even cracked a smile.
我极力克制着自己的泪水。正在这时，迈克飘然而进，手里拿着新的报告。“丹，给，”他啪的一声把报告放在桌子上。“保证准确无误，分毫不差。在我看来，一天的耽误是值得的。”丹快速地翻看报告。“为什么你们不在周六完成？”“那会是对人力的巨大浪费，因为这活儿我们可以用电脑来做，而且准确性高，”迈克说，“这样，我们就推到了周一做。我得遵循我自己的判断。”丹花了很长时间看第一面，然后点了点头。在那一刻，紧张的气氛顿时烟消云散，就像气球泄气那样。我们用了整个上午帮着丹为会议做准备，他甚至咧嘴笑了。
That afternoon he called us into his office and said“The executive committee felt our presentation was the most thorough.”We all congratulated each other as if there had never been a ter,finally on my way to talk to Dan about my pregnancy,I stopped by Mike's cubicle.There he was,working as had as ever,surrounded by the photos of his boys,his T-ball team,his family on Easter Sunday.They weren't a distraction.They were his inspiration.That's why he didn't make time wasting decisions or worry about his status and office politics.He had his priorities right:faith,family,then work.And because of that he was good at all three.
那天下午，丹把我们叫到办公室，对我们说：“董事会认为我们的陈述最为全面缜密。”我们互相祝贺，就好像根本没有发生过不愉快的事情。过后，当我最终要去找丹谈我身孕之事时，我顺便去了下迈克的隔间。他在那儿，和以往一样努力地工作着，周围贴着孩子们。阻截手训练队和复活节全家福的照片，这些不是分心的东西，而是他力量的源泉。正因为如此，他从不做浪费时间的决策，从来不把自己的地位或办公室政治放在心上。他对轻重缓急心中自有原则：信仰口家庭，然后才是工作。正因为如此，他在三方面都很成功。
“Thanks,Mike,for everything you did.”“It was just a report”he said.“No,it was more than that”I said.I'd gotten my priorities straight.Now I was ready to tell my boss the good news.
“迈克，谢谢你为我做的一切。”“不就是一份报告嘛。”他说。“不，不仅是报告。”我说。此时，我也有了自己的轻重缓急的原则。我这就去告诉老板我的那个好消息。