公司老板Joe找员工Sam和Lucinda谈话。

Joe Tan: Hi Sam, please take a seat. Good morning, Lucinda. Please sit down. How are you both this morning?

(Together) Sam and Lucinda: Good, thanks.

Joe: I asked you both to come in this morning because there's been rumors floating around that you two are involved in a personal relationship. Now I know these kinds of things can be sensitive, but I do feel we have to discuss it.

Joe开门见山，说找他们两人谈话，是因为公司里有传言，there has been rumors floating around...说Sam和Lucinda在谈恋爱。

Lucinda: Yes, the rumors are true. Sam and I are in love!

Sam: It's true, I feel the same way about Lucinda!

Joe: Well, let me be the first to congratulate you! Falling in love is great and I'm very happy for both of you.

S: But?

J: Well, our company does have some guidelines for internal relationships.

Lucinda和Sam两人都承认，they are in love. 他们确实在恋爱。Joe首先向他们表示祝贺。但随即承认，公司在员工谈恋爱方面有guideline指导原则什么guideline呢？

L: The company frowns on co-workers dating each other, right?

J: Let's just say such relationships are not actively encouraged.

S: But why? We are in love!

J: Well, there are many reasons, but one of the main downsides to interoffice relationships is that they can be a big distraction from work. Other employees can sometimes see such relationships as unfair. The end result can be jealousy, hurt feelings and a loss of productivity for the company.

Joe解释说，公司之所以不鼓励公司员工之间的恋爱关系，最主要的原因是干扰工作。其他员工会觉得不公平，最后造成a loss of productivity for the company. 公司生产力的下降。

L: But in today's modern working world, I feel like there is very little opportunity to meet people. Bars are smoky and loud. Internet dating can be very scary...it seems like I spend most of my time working at the office, so isn't it natural to find a co-worker as a partner?

S: I have to agree. Lucinda and I work on the same projects so we have a lot in common. I even think our productivity has increased as a result of our relationship.

Lucinda说，她觉得，酒吧烟雾弥漫、人声鼎沸，网上交友又不安全，既然一天到晚待在公司，在办公室找对象不是很自然吗。Sam说，他们两人是同一个项目组的，we have a lot in common. 说到这儿，老板Joe是不是理屈词穷了呢？我们下次继续听。