P 159 (topic 14)

As adults, we will spend most of our waking lives in the workplace. This means that our life satisfaction will
be heavily impacted by the quality of our interactions with co-workers. My work experiences with
both outstanding and aggravating co-workers have helped me determine the three traits that I most value
in a co-worker: reliability, a positive attitude, and an ability to handle disagreements.
To me, the most important characteristic that a good co-worker has is reliability. Good co-workers will
complete assigned tasks on time and deliver good quality output. When I was an intern at a hoverboard
manufacturing company, I had the opportunity to be on two different work teams. Each member of the
first team was very diligent and did their fair share in developing an excellent market analysis report that
we had to submit to senior management. It was a great experience. On the second team, there were two
people who procrastinated in submitting their portions of the logistics report, and when they finally did,
their analyses did not consider key variables that senior management explicitly asked for us to include. It
was a very frustrating experience for the other team members and I because we had to stay up very late
and redo those portions.
Another characteristic I really appreciate in a co-worker is a positive attitude. Though I was not as
experienced as the members of the first team were, they complimented me on my hard work, and despite
the challenges we faced tracking down necessary data, they were always optimistic that we would
generate a good report. This encouraging work atmosphere really motivated me to do my best and made
my experience at work very enjoyable. On the second team, however, one member regularly complained
during team meetings that the final report would be shoddy. This made for a depressing and stressful work
environment. Consequently, I really wanted to be back on the first team again.
Finally, I put a high value on the ability to handle disagreements effectively. People in any organization will
have diverse life experiences, different personalities, and various perspectives. Being able to collaborate
with a co-worker who can tactfully facilitate discussions to resolve conflicts that inevitably stem from these
differences can help everyone have a more pleasant work experience and be more productive.
In sum, if I could design my ideal co-worker, the person would be reliable, positive, and able to manage
conflicts. Together such a co-worker and I could deliver great results to our company and feel happy during
the process.
1. resolve: 解決；解除；消除 (resolve conflict between ___ and ____)
2. stem from sth: 源自；由…造成 ____ stems from ____.
3. Procrastinate: 拖延，耽擱 variable: 變數 senior management: 高級管理部門 hoverboard: （電影
或小說中虛構的）飛翔器，懸浮滑板)
4. explicitly: 清楚明白地；明確地；不含糊地___ was explicitly instructed to (do sth). ___ explicitly
denied that _____. ___ is explicitly forbidden to (do sth). The report/assignment states explicitly
that ____. ___ explicitly told me to (do sth). The law explicitly states that ____.
5. portion: 一部分；一份 shoddy: 粗製濫造的，劣質的
6. tactful: 圓滑的，乖巧的，機敏的 I found a tactful way to (do sth). (Doing sth) wasn't very tactful.
That was a tactful thing to say. (Sby) gave (sby) a tactful explanation.
7. tactfully: 得體地; 圓通地； 机敏地 inevitably: 不可避免的；必然（發生）的 aggravating: 加重
的；增劇的；惡化的；【口】激怒的；可惱的 trait: 特徵，特點，特性
P 140 (track 82)
Credit: 學分 stream: 在線收聽（或收看）macroeconomics: the study of financial systems at
a national level 總體經濟學，宏觀經濟學 microeconomics: the study of the economic problems
 of businesses and people and the way particular parts of an economy behave 微觀經濟學 inflation: 通
貨膨脹
The man is not in favor of the universities practice of moving their classes online/switch many of their
classes to an online format. He doesn’t agree with the letter writer and says that students who are serious
about their studies won’t like to learn in this way. He believes allowing so many students to sit in their
dorms and listen the professor give lectures/deliver lectures is a bad idea for two reasons. A) Firstly, he
thinks that learning is more than just taking notes in front of a computer screen, it is also important for
student to have face-to-face contact with their professor and interact with other students in a physical
classroom because it is more motivating for students/it motivates students to learn more. B) Another point
he made is that certain classes certain classes, such as languages are especially unsuited for online lectures
and should be taught in a real classroom. He cites language classes as one example and states that
university language courses shouldn’t be taught online because it is hard for people to learn how to speak a
language without interacting and communicating with others face-to-face. (He can learn economics from
his textbook, but he wonders how students can learn to actually speak Spanish if they are not able to
practice talking in a classroom.)

P 142 (track 84)

Insufficient 不夠的，不足的；不充分的 Honors degree 榮譽學位
Qualified 有資格的；合格的，勝任的 Tough 困難的；棘手的
Instructor 教練/大學講師 Elective 選修課
Notify （正式）通知，告知 Sarcastically: 諷刺地，挖苦地
Registrar Office 注冊辦公室；注冊組；注冊主任辦公室 Scramble to (do sth): 爭搶
Space permitting: if there is enough space Irritate 激怒，使惱火
catalog（商品）目錄冊
The university has released an announcement regarding the cancellation policy for fall classes. The woman
expresses dissatisfaction with the university’s announcement regarding the cancellation plan for fall classes.
She is displeased with the plan, especially because her Honors Seminar in World History was one of the
classes that suddenly got canceled. She believes that the school isn’t good at handling cancellations and
shouldn’t cancel classes after the schedule is already in place/several days before the classes are to begin.
This makes it hard for students to find a suitable replacement/That will result in students having to quickly
find a course that will fit into their schedule. She also is unhappy with the fact that the university advertises
many kinds of elective courses in their course catalog, but then doesn’t feel committed to actually
holding/offering the classes. In her opinion, this is “false advertising” and is not fair for the students at the
university. She is scared/worried about having to take any class that she takes no interest in just because it
fits into her schedule.