“I thought that the punishment was excessive, didn’t you?” Shirley asked. Shirley was a supervisor and she thought she was exempt from the rule against using paid time to execute personal errands.
“我认为对我的处罚太过分了。不是吗?”雪莉问道。 雪莉是个监督员，她认为自己可以免于遵守公司的规定。然而，公司认为她没有资格享受豁免权而不遵守公司规定。公司反对利用上班时间去做私事。
“Maybe,” replied Kitty. “However, you did take an unauthorized excursion during work time.” Kitty was a supervisor too. Unlike Shirley, she exerted her best efforts to be an exemplary employee. She did not believe that Shirley had a good excuse for violating the rules.
“也许吧，”基蒂回答，“但你的确是未经批准，在工作期间外出游览了。”基蒂也是一名监督员。但跟雪莉不同，基蒂尽最大努力成为一名模范的雇员。她认为雪莉没有正当理由违反公司规定。
“All I did was to take a short walk to get rid of this excess fat,” Shirley exclaimed. “It seems like you can’t even exhale in this office without asking for permission.”
“我只不过是出去散会儿步，减少多余的脂肪。”雪莉大声喊道，“好像不经允许办公室里连大气都不敢出一口了。”
“I thought you went to the store to exchange a shirt,” Kitty said.
“我想你是去商店换衬衣去了。”基蒂说。
“I did,” Shirley said. “But it’s my privilege as an executive to take short breaks for personal matters. I see the managers taking personal breaks to smoke a cigarette. Why should I be excluded from the group? I put into my job the same a mount of exertion as they do. At the end of the day, I am just as exhausted. Taking personal breaks shouldn’t be an exclusive privilege for managers.”
“是的，”雪莉说，“作为行政人员，我有权利用短短的休息时间做点私事。我看见经理们利用个人休息时间再抽烟。为什么我被排除再他们之外呢?对工作我庆祝了和他们一样的努力。一天下来，我同样也精疲力竭。利用个人休息时间不应是经理们独有的特权。”
“It’s true, the managers don’t exemplify good behavior for supervisors,” Kitty said. “They’re more concerned with out execution of their orders. Frankly, I think we’ll just have to accept the fact of our exclusion from executive privilege.”
“的确，经理们没有以良好的行为规范为监督人员树立榜样。”基蒂说，“他们更多关心的是我们对他们的命令的执行情况。坦率地讲，我想我们不得不接受这个事实——我们被排除在行政特权之外。”
“All this talk is exhausting me,” said Shirley. “I think I need another break.”
“说了这么多快把我累死了。”雪莉说，“我想我又该休息一下了。”
Kitty shook her head in wonderment. “Haven’t you been listening to anything I’ve said?”
基蒂惊讶地摇摇头说：“难道你根本没在听我说的话吗?”
Words:
excess adj. 过度的，额外的;n. 过程，超过
excessive adj. 过度的，过分的，过多的
exchange n./vt. 兑换，交换
exclaim vt. 呼喊;惊叫
exclude vt. 把…排除在外;排斥
exclusion n. 排除，逐出
exclusive adj. 独占的;排外的，唯一的
excursion n. 远足，游览
excuse vt. 原谅;n. 借口，理由
execute vt. 完成，实施，执行
execution n. 实施，执行
executive adj. 行政的;n. 执行者;经理主管人员
exemplary adj. 模范的，典范的，可效仿的
exemplify vt. 例证，例示
exempt vi. 免除，豁免
exemption n. 解除，免除
exert vt. 运用，行驶，施加
exertion n. 尽力，努力
exhale vt. 呼出，呼气
exhaust vt. 用尽，耗尽;n. 排气，排气装置
exhausted adj. 精疲力竭的
