Plotting Course‏

Mike Talbot has been working at Hurley Technologies for a year. He started as a technical writer, helping draft instruction manuals for Hurley products. Recently, however, Mike’s boss left the company. Mike was promoted to fill her position— Supervisor, Support Publications. Mike now finds himself responsible for a
team of writers and artists with a very demanding production schedule.
麥克‧泰柏已經在賀立科技公司服
務一年了，他剛開始是負責專門技術的
寫作工作，幫忙起草賀立公司的產品使
用手冊。然而，麥克的主管最近離職
了，麥克被晉升上來填補她的職位，成
了出版部門的主管。麥克現在發現自己
要負責管理一組寫作人員和美工人員，
而且完稿日程非常緊迫。

Mike is a good writer, but this doesn’t automatically make him a good supervisor. He has a lot to learn about organizing people and projects. As a result, Mike’s first week in the new position has been very frustrating. On Friday evening he discusses the
situation with his wife, Edith.
麥克擅長寫
作，可是這並不表示他就是一位優秀的
主管，他需要學習很多有關組織人員與
計劃的事。結果，麥克就任新職的第一
個星期使他大受挫折。星期五晚上他和
太太愛蒂絲討論了這個狀況。

Edith: You look a little upset, Mike. Is everything OK?
Mike: Not really, Edith. This week has been really rough.
Edith: How so?
Mike: Well, I’ve been running in six different directions, but I’m not
getting anywhere. The minute I sit down to work on something, the phone rings and someone
asks me to do something else. I feel like a rabbit, hopping from project to project all day.
Edith: Why don’t you talk to your manager about it? He should be able to help.
Mike: He’s been away on business all week. I’ll try to see him first thing Monday.
愛蒂絲：你看起來有點煩燥，麥克，一
切都還好嗎？
麥　克：不怎麼好，愛蒂絲，這個星期
真的很難捱。
愛蒂絲：為什麼會這樣呢？
麥　克：嗯，我老是天南地北瞎忙一
陣，可是卻一事無成。我一坐
下來做點什麼事，電話就響
了，就有人要我做別的事。我
覺得自己好像一隻兔子，整天
在不同的計劃之間跳來跳去。
愛蒂絲：你為什麼不跟你的經理談一談
呢？他應該可以幫助你的。
麥　克：他整個星期都出差去了，我星
期一第一件事會試著去找他談

Mr. Currey: How’s it going, Mike?
Mike: Not very well. The first week has been a disaster.
Mr. Currey: What’s the problem?
Mike: It basically boils down to organization—there doesn’t seem to be much.
I know that my team has a lot of work to do. But I don’t know what needs to
be done first, or what steps to take to do it.
Mr. Currey: That's my fault, Mike. I should have clued you in about these things before
you took over as supervisor. And my being away during your first week sure didn’t help.
科里先生：麥克，你做得怎樣？
麥　　克：不太好，第一個星期實在很
糟。
科里先生：是什麼問題呢？
麥　　克：基本上就是組織的問題，好
像沒什麼條理。我知道我這
一組有很多工作要做，可是
我不知道那些事應該先做，
或者應該採取什麼步驟來進
行。
科里先生：這是我的錯，麥克。我應該
在你接手當主管之前教你這
些事的，而且你就任新職的
第一個星期我都不在，當然
更幫不上忙了。

Mr. Currey: First, you need to plot out goals and objectives for your team. Then for yourself. Finally, you should meet with each of your team members and help them to plan their own.
Mike: Right. Uh, what’s the difference between goals and objectives?
Mr. Currey: Goals are the broad results that you want to achieve, the “destination”of your work.
科里先生：首先，你需要為你的小組定
出長程目標和短程目標，然
後再定你自己的。最後，你
應該和你的每一個組員面
談，幫助他們做自己的計
劃。
麥　　克：是的，嗯，目標和步驟目標
有什麼不同呢？
科里先生：長程目標是你想要完成的主
要結果，是你的工作想要達
到的目的。

Mr. Currey: Objectives are the smaller steps that take you toward your goals, a “road map" to guide you to your destination. Without a destination and a map to reach it, you won’t get too far.
Mike: As I’m discovering.
Mike and Mr. Currey spent the next hour discussing “the big picture.” They
first made a list of all the goals Mike’s team needed to achieve. Then they
discussed the time frame for each project.
麥克：那短程目標呢？
科里先生：短程目標是比較小的步驟，
用來帶領你達到長程目標，
就像一張道路地圖，指引你
到達目的地。如果沒有目的
地和一張指引你到達的地
圖，你是走不了多遠的。
麥克：就跟我現在所發現的情況一
樣。
接下來的一個小時，麥克和科里先
生一起討論重點事項。他們先列出麥克
的小組需要達成的所有目標，然後討論
每一項計劃所需的時間。

Mr. Currey: Objectives are the smaller steps that take you toward your goals, a “road map”to guide you to your destination. Without a destination and a map to reach it, you won’t get too far.
Mike: As I’m discovering.
Mike and Mr. Currey spent the next hour discussing “the big picture.” They
first made a list of all the goals Mike’s team needed to achieve. Then they
discussed the time frame for each project.
麥克：那短程目標呢？
科里先生：短程目標是比較小的步驟，
用來帶領你達到長程目標，
就像一張道路地圖，指引你
到達目的地。如果沒有目的
地和一張指引你到達的地
圖，你是走不了多遠的。
麥克：就跟我現在所發現的情況一
樣。
接下來的一個小時，麥克和科里先
生一起討論重點事項。他們先列出麥克
的小組需要達成的所有目標，然後討論
每一項計劃所需的時間。

Mike: This is beginning to look good. We’ve got a list of goals set out in order of
priority and a schedule of completion dates. I finally know where I’m going!
Mr. Currey: Yes. But do you know how to get there?
Mike: Hmm. Not yet. I still need to set objectives—the smaller steps necessary to
achieve the goals.
Mr. Currey: Right. You can work with your team members on those.
Mike: OK.
麥克：現在開始有點像樣了。我們已經有一份定好優先次序的
目標表，以及完成日期的時
間表。我終於知道自己的工
作目標是什麼了。
科里先生：很好，可是你知道如何達到
目標嗎？
麥克：嗯，還不知道。我仍然需要
定短程目標，就是達到目標
所需要的小步驟。
科里先生：沒錯，你可以和你的組員一
起討論這些步驟。
麥克：好的。

 

 

@word bank
plot (v)
劃分；詳細計劃
technical (adj)
技術上的；有關專門技術的
demanding (adj)
苛求的；要求過分的

objective (n)
明確的目標
broad (adj)
主要的；大略的

achieve (v)
完成；達成

完成；達成

 

@the day's phrase

The "land of a thousand lakes"
「千湖之地」

You should just let it fly. Greg didn't mean to insult you.
你就不要在意吧。葛瑞格不是有意要羞辱你的。

Now you can run on your bike!
邊騎自行車邊跑步如今可以在腳踏車上跑步了！

Jeff is always on the run from the police. If he wouldn't do bad things he wouldn't have to hide.
傑夫一直在躲警察。如果他不做壞事的話，他也不用躲。

Objects in the British Museum tell the story of human history
大英博物館的文物訴說人類歷史的故事

Mrs. Smith is on the warpath. We broke her window and she started yelling at us.
史密斯太太正大發雷霆。我們打破了她家的窗子，她就開始對我們吼叫。

You look like you've been thinking a lot. A penny for your thoughts.
看起來你好像已經深思了好一陣子了。你在想什麼呀？

I wish you wouldn't play up your small injuries. You act like you are going to die.
我希望你不要大肆張揚你的小傷。你表現得好像快死了似的。

Changing jobs may be easier than you think
換工作也許比想像中更容易

When Dad told us that we didn't have much money, none of us were surprised.
We had been feeling the pinch for months.
當爸爸告訴我們說我們沒有很多錢時，我們沒有一個人感到意外。我們已經好幾個月感到手頭很緊了。

Learn to tell the difference between truth and lies on the Internet
學習分辨網路消息的真真假假

When Dad told us that we didn't have much money, none of us were surprised.
We had been feeling the pinch for months.
當爸爸告訴我們說我們沒有很多錢時，我們沒有一個人感到意外。我們已經好幾個月感到手頭很緊了。

Meet the youngest climber to stand at the top of the world!
來認識這位站上世界頂峰最年輕的登山者！

"Two's company, three's a crowd," Joe muttered as he left Zachary and his girlfriend.
「二人有伴，三人嫌太擠，」喬嘀咕著離開撒迦利和他的女友。