陈豪在北京的ABC美国公司工作，下班后跟美国同事Amy一起往外走。

(Office ambience)

CH：Hi Amy. 碰上你太好了!

A: I haven’t seen you all day. Is there somethingon your mind?

CH: 你还记得不久前，我们那儿来了个坐轮椅的新同事吗?

A: Yes, and we talked about your beinguncomfortable around her because you weren’tsure what to do.

CH: 现在好多了，我们已经成了好朋友。要是我什么地方做得不得体，她会直截了当地告诉我。

A: What do you mean?

CH: 比如说那天，我们一起聊天，她就很客气地告诉我，不应该把她的轮椅当家具，倚在上面。

A: It soun ds as if you are handling this issue well.

CH: 可是，有时候遇到其它handicapped的人，我还是有点儿不知所措。

A: First of all, you shouldn’t refer to those people as handicapped. That is something of anold-fashioned term that is demeaning to many.

CH: 不说handicapped残疾人，那要怎么说呢?

A: Refer to these employees as having a disability. It shows more respect.

CH: 这么说是不是太笼统了?别人会问，是什么样的残疾。比如说，我们办公室的Mary就是个聋子。

A: If someone asks you what kind of disability, your response is not "She’s deaf." Insteadyou say, "She has a hearing impairment or a hearing problem.

CH: 听力有障碍?那不就是聋子嘛!这不是一回事吗?

A: I’ll explain it tomorrow. I have to meet some friends for dinner now.

C: 那好，明天见。

******

第二天在办公室。

CH: Hi Amy, 昨天你说，不应该说Mary聋子，应该说Mary听力有缺陷。这是为什么?

A: Because then you are describing her by her disability. If she had a disease, you wouldn’tidentify her by that. For example, if she had measles, you wouldn’t say, "She’s measles."

CH: 这倒也是。那除了耳朵聋要说听力有缺陷，其它身体残碍是不是也不能直说呢?

A: Nowadays, you wouldn’t say that a person is blind today. You would use the termvisually impaired to describe the person.

CH: 不说盲人，要说视力有缺陷。要是瘸子呢?

A: Just say that he has a disability.

CH: 看来，在这方面，我还真得注意，否则一不小心就会冒犯别人。Amy, 你能再重复一下吗?

A: Sure. We say visually-impaired, not blind. It’s hearing-impaired, and not deaf. Useperson with a disability rather than crippled, and person who uses a wheelchair, rather thanwheelchair bound.

A: He might go out of his way to avoid any hint of giving you special treatment and treatyou more rigidly than the others.

C: 你的意思是，他为了避嫌，可能对我的要求会格外严格?

A: He might pass you over for assignments that you might otherwise have gotten.

CH: 这听起来可不太妙。那下班以后呢?我们以前总是一起去打乒乓球，或是一起去喝酒。

A: I know that and I have heard you share some funny stories about each other. You’ll haveto be more careful about the tales you tell about your adventures.

CH: 不能再跟同事讲Brad的故事?为什么?

A: Others might misunderstand and think that you are trying to impress them with thefact that you and the boss are best friends.

CH: 要把工作和私人关系分开，还真不简单。你觉得我有必要换到别的部门去吗?

A: That’s a possibility if things don’t work out. If you can’t accept Brad as your boss or hecan’t make the leap to being your supervisor, a change might be the only solution.

CH: 我想我们两人一定能做到公私分开。