Sharon： Hi， Tim. Can I ask you a bit of a personal question？

Tim： Sure. Fire away.

Sharon： How much do you make？

Tim： Oh， I didn’t know that’s where you were going with this.

Sharon： ①Yeah， I know that it’s taboo to ask such a thing， but it’s really been weighing on me lately.

Tim： My salary has been causing you sleepless nights？

Sharon： Not yours…mine！

Tim： Alright. But even if I wanted to tell you， I don’t think it’s a good idea. I feel like it’d only 1）exacerbate the problem.

Sharon： But if I don’t know what other people are making in the office， especially my 2）peers， how can I know if I’m being properly 3）compensated for all my hard work？

Tim： Truth is， I read this study by expert Dick Dauphinais of Strategic Compensation Partners that said sharing salary details with colleagues can have negative 4）repercussions， like destroying the delicate office eco-system and putting my own job at risk.

Sharon： I think you’re exaggerating a bit there.

Tim： Am I？ What if the higher-ups find out I’m sharing my 5）confidential contract information with people around the office， and some of those people have the same job title as me but a different salary？ Maybe I was simply a better negotiator in my interview than they were， or maybe they happen to be related to one of the bosses. I don’t want to stir up any trouble Sharon. You understand right？

Sharon： I guess. But this kind of confidentiality is the exact reason why women still don’t get paid as much as men， even for doing the same exact job and even if the woman is more qualified.

Tim： The two may be related， but I have a feeling that divide would still exist， whether peoples’ salaries remain a secret or not.

Sharon： Well， I， for one， was glad when all that information about movie actors’ salaries got hacked and leaked to the media.

Tim： That’s terrible. How could you say that？ It was clearly a 6）violation of their privacy.

Sharon： But I think it’s important that the world sees how overpaid these public 7）pretenders are. Doctors and teachers should be the ones earning six， seven， eight figures， not dumb movie stars…

Tim： ②You just sound bitter to me. Maybe you need some time off…

Sharon： Don’t talk down to me. Just because you make more than me， that doesn’t give you the right to dole out advice like you’re Dear Abby.

Tim： Maybe I make more， maybe I don’t. So what？ If you spent more time focused on your own work， then maybe you wouldn’t be so distracted by what other people are doing and earning.

Sharon： Whatever. You’ll never understand. You were probably raised with a silver spoon in your mouth， while I’ve had to fight my way up the corporate ladder.

Tim： Oy…I told you…This is how salary 8）disputes start…

莎倫：嗨，蒂姆。我能問(wèn)你一點(diǎn)私人問(wèn)題嗎？

蒂姆：好。你說(shuō)吧。

莎倫：你工資多少？

蒂姆：噢，我不知道這是你要問(wèn)的。

莎倫：嗯，我知道問(wèn)這種事是禁忌，但是這個(gè)問(wèn)題最近確實(shí)讓我煩惱。

蒂姆：我的工資讓你失眠了？

莎倫：不是你的……是我的！

蒂姆：好吧。但即使我愿意告訴你，我也不認(rèn)為這是個(gè)好主意。我覺(jué)得這只會(huì)使問(wèn)題惡化。

莎倫：但是如果我不知道辦公室其他人賺多少，特別是跟我同級(jí)別的人，我怎么知道我的辛勤工作得到的報(bào)酬是合理的呢？

蒂姆：事實(shí)是，我看了戰(zhàn)略薪酬伙伴公司的專家迪克·多芬尼斯的研究，里面說(shuō)與同事分享薪酬會(huì)有負(fù)面的影響，像是破壞辦公室微妙的友好氛圍以及會(huì)讓我的工作難保。

莎倫：我覺(jué)得你說(shuō)得有點(diǎn)夸張了。

蒂姆：我有嗎？如果上頭發(fā)現(xiàn)我跟辦公室里的人分享需要保密的合同信息，但是有一些跟我同級(jí)別的人工資卻跟我不同，那會(huì)怎樣呢？也許我只是比他們?cè)诿嬖囍懈鼤?huì)談判，或者他們恰巧與其中的一位老板有關(guān)系。我不想挑起任何事端，莎倫。你懂的對(duì)嗎？

莎倫：我想我懂。但是這種保密的行為就是導(dǎo)致女性仍然不能獲得跟男性一樣多薪酬的原因所在，盡管他們做的工作相同，盡管女性更能勝任工作。

蒂姆：這兩者也許有聯(lián)系，但是我感覺(jué)不管人們的薪酬是否保密，待遇的不同仍然會(huì)存在。

莎倫：好吧，舉個(gè)例子說(shuō)，我很高興那些電影明星的薪酬信息被黑客盜走并且泄露給媒體。

蒂姆：這很糟糕。你怎么能這樣說(shuō)？這很明顯是侵犯了他們的隱私。

莎倫：但是我認(rèn)為讓大家看看這些公眾的偽君子是怎樣獲得不相符的收入是很重要的。醫(yī)生和老師們才應(yīng)該是那些賺六、七、八位數(shù)的人，而不是那些愚蠢的電影明星……

蒂姆：你聽(tīng)起來(lái)很不開(kāi)心。也許你需要休息一段時(shí)間……

莎倫：別以居高臨下的語(yǔ)氣跟我說(shuō)話，你賺得比我多，可你并沒(méi)有權(quán)利像《知心大姐》（美國(guó)的一檔情感咨詢談話欄目）一樣給我施舍建議。

蒂姆：也許我賺得更多，也許不是。那又怎樣？如果你在工作上投入更多的時(shí)間，那么也許你就不會(huì)受到其他人做什么賺多少的影響。

莎倫：隨你怎么說(shuō)吧，你永遠(yuǎn)不會(huì)明白的。你也許是含著金鑰匙出生的，而我只能在職場(chǎng)中努力拼搏。

蒂姆：哎唷……我告訴過(guò)你，有關(guān)薪酬的爭(zhēng)論就是這樣開(kāi)始的……

Smart Sentences

① Yeah， I know that it’s taboo to ask such a thing， but it’s really been weighing on me lately. 嗯，我知道問(wèn)這種事是禁忌，但是這個(gè)問(wèn)題最近確實(shí)讓我煩惱。

weigh on sb.： burden or worry sb.（讓某人煩惱）。例如：

My roommate’s alcohol problem began to weigh on me last month.

室友的酗酒問(wèn)題在上個(gè)月開(kāi)始讓我煩惱了。

② You just sound bitter to me. 你聽(tīng)起來(lái)很不開(kāi)心。

sound bitter： give the impression of being angry（讓人感到說(shuō)話者不高興）。例如：

—Why does Dad sound so bitter？

為什么老爸這么不開(kāi)心？

—Because his supervisor took the credit for Dad’s work.

因?yàn)樗纳纤緭屃怂墓凇?/p>