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陳豪在北京的ABC美國公司工作。他中午去吃飯，正好遇到美國同事Amy。

(Office ambience)

C：Amy, 你去吃飯嗎？

A：As a matter of fact, I am.

C：我準備到樓下的商店去隨便買個漢堡。一起去吧？

A：OK. I am looking for a quick bite myself. I would be delighted to join you.

C：我剛好有個問題要請教你。

A：What is it?

C：現在很多人都在格間里工作，我還記得你告訴過我，工作時應該盡量設法不要影響到別人。

A：Right. We have discussed keeping your voice down in your cubicle, not using a speaker phone or holding a meeting in your cube.

C：對，除了聲音不要太大以外，還有不要吃味道特別重的食物。不過Amy，我最近還注意到了另外一個問題。

A：I'm interested to hear what it is.

C：主要是個人對工作格間的裝飾。I call it "cubicle decor."

A：Here we are at the sandwich shop. Let's get seated and then continue our conversation.

******

陳豪和Amy坐下吃飯。

A：You were talking about cubicle décor. What do you mean?

C：有人的格間很整齊，沒有任何私人物品，但有的人卻好像是把家都搬來了。

A：Can you be more specific?

C：他們的工作間里到處是家人的照片、小裝飾品、孩子的手工作品、出去玩買的紀念品，還有各種獎狀。

A：That bothers you?

C：我確實覺得有點兒過份。

A：Well, I agree with you. People need to add a personal touch to their office or cubicle without overdoing it.

C：我覺得應該定個規(guī)矩，一律不許用私人物品來裝飾辦公室？

A：I disagree. Putting personal touches around your desk reveals a dimension of your personality to your co-workers and associates. It's as important as small talk in the office.

C：這么說也有道理，其實我就挺喜歡看同事們桌子上的照片的。但是你不覺得應該適當控制一下嗎？

A：People need to understand the limits of how much memorabilia to display as well as what is appropriate.

C：那你覺得什么樣的限制比較合理呢？

A：Keep the number of family photos to one or two, no more than 5x7 inches each. Display a favorite art piece, knick-knack or a plague that expresses a personal philosophy, but not a collection.

C：你的意思是可以放一、兩張5x7的照片，外加一件小裝飾品。還有些同事喜歡在辦公室里養(yǎng)花，你覺得合適嗎？

A：It's OK to add a live plant or two. The bottom line is to make your work area represent you without diminishing your professionalism.