第四单元 Work in Corporate AmericaWord文件下载.docx

第四单元 Work in Corporate AmericaWord文件下载.docx

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”hisfathercouldanswerintermsthatachildcouldcometogripswith,suchas“Ifixsteamengines”or“Imakehorsecollars”.

4Well,afewfathersstillfixsteamenginesandbuildtables,butmostdonot.Nowadays,mostfatherssitinglassbuildingsdoingthingsthatareabsolutelyincomprehensibletochildren.Theanswerstheygivewhenasked,“Whatkindofworkdoyoudo,Daddy?

”arelikelytobeutterlymystifyingtoachild.

5“Isellspace.”“Idomarketresearch.”“Iamadataprocessor.”“Iaminpublicrelations.”“Iamasystemsanalyst.”Suchexplanationsmustseemnonsensetoachild.Howcanhepossiblyenvisionanyoneanalyzingasystemorresearchingamarket?

6Evengrownmenwhodomarketresearchhavetroublevisualizingwhatapublicrelationsmandoeswithhisday,anditisasafebetthattheaveragesystemsanalystisasbaffledaboutwhataspacesalesmandoesattheshopastheaveragespacesalesmanisaboutthetoolsneededtoanalyzeasystem.

7Inthecommoneverydayjob,nothingismadeanymore.Thingsarenowmadebymachines.Verylittleisrepaired.Themachinesthatmakethingsmaketheminsuchafashionthattheywillquicklyfallapartinsuchawaythatrepairswillbeprohibitivelyexpensive.Thusthebuyerisencouragedtothrowthethingawayandbuyanewone.Ineffect,themachinesaremakingjunk.

8Thehandfulofpeopleremotelyassociatedwiththesemachinescan,ofcourse,telltheirinquisitivechildren“Daddymakesjunk”.Mostoftheworkforce,however,istooremotefromjunkproductiontosenseanycontributiontotheindustry.Whatdothesepeopledo?

9Considerthetypical12-storyglassbuildinginthetypicalAmericancity.Nothingisbeingmadeinthisbuildingandnothingisbeingrepaired,includingthebuildingitself.Constructedasapieceofjunk,thebuildingwillbediscardedwhenitwearsout,andanotherpieceofjunkwillbesetinitsplace.

10Still,thebuildingisfilledwithpeoplewhothinkofthemselvesasworking.Atanygivenmomentduringthedayperhapsone-thirdofthemwillbetalkingintotelephones.Mostoftheseconversationswillbeaboutpaper,forpaperiswhatoccupiesnearlyeveryoneinthisbuilding.

11Somejobsinthebuildingrequirementofillpaperwithwords.Therearepersonswhotypeneatlyonpaperandpersonswhoreadpaperandjotnotesinthemargins.Somepersonsmakecopiesofpaperandotherpersonsdeliverpaper.Therearepersonswhofilepaperandpersonswhounfilepaper.

12Somepersonsmailpaper.Somepersonstelephoneotherpersonsandaskthatpaperbesenttothem.Otherstelephonetoascertainthewhereaboutsofpaper.Somepersonsconferaboutpaper.Inthegrandestoffices,menapproveofsomepaperanddisapproveofotherpaper.

13Theelevatorsarefilledthroughoutthedaywithyoungmencarryingpaperfromfloortofloorandwithvitalmencarryingpapertobediscussedwithothervitalmen.

14Whatisachildtomakeofallthis?

Hisfathermaybesoeminentthatheluncheswithothermenaboutpaper.Supposehebringshissontoworktogivetheboysomeideaofwhatworkisallabout.Whatdoestheboyseehappening?

15Hisfathercallsforpaper.Hereadspaper.Perhapshescowlsatpaper.Perhapshemakesanangryredmarkonpaper.Hetelephonesanothermanandsaystheyhadbetterlunchoverpaper.

16Atlunchtheytalkaboutpaper.Backattheoffice,thefatherordersthepaperretypedandreproducedinquintuplicate,andthensenttoanothermanforcomparisonwithpaperthatwasreproducedintriplicatelastyear.

17Imaginehispoorsonafterwardsmullingoverthemysteriesofworkwithafriend,whoaskshim,“What’syourfatherdo?

”Whatcantheboyreply?

“Itbeatsme,”perhaps,ifheisnotveryobservant.Orifheis,“Somethingthathastodowithmakingjunk,Ithink.Sameaseverybodyelse.”■

第四单元Furtherreading

1WheneverIreadmymother’slettersIammovedbythewell-formedcalligraphythatconfidentlytraversesherpages.IrememberoneletterinwhichMumdescribesthebirthofmyniece,Donna:

“Ihaveasweetlittleface,blueeyeslikePapaandlongfingerslikeNana.”ItwastypicalofMumtosharepreciousdetailsofhernewgrandchildwithus,nowlivingthousandsofmilesawayonanothercontinent.

2Thelossofhandwritinginourhigh-techworldsaddensme.Peopleofallagesopenlyconfesstotheirrapidlydeterioratinghandwritingaskeyboardsreplacepenandpaper.Increasingly,schoolchildrentackleassignmentsoncomputerandstruggletowrite,havingtypicallyhadlittlepractice.Iamofthegenerationthatlearnttowritewithadippeninkindergartenandafountainpeninhighschool;

bythetimeIreacheduniversity,likeeveryoneelse,Iusedafunctionalballpoint.HandwritinghasunderpinnedeveryaspectofmylifesinceIwasfirsttaughttoshapelettersonthelinedpagesofmyexercisebooks.

3Istillhavemytraveldiarydatingbackto1970,whichaccompaniedmeonmyfirstEuropeanadventureattheageof19.Inbetweenoldbusandtheatretickets,IwrotedescriptionsofmyfirstexperiencesofLondon,Paris,VeniceandRome.Iloveporingovertheseprecioustravelmemories,writteninanassortmentofpensandcoloursinmystraight-up-and-downhandwriting.

4Fromtheageof12,Ikeptahandwrittenjournal,

recordingmythoughtsandfeelingsregardingboththe

significantandmundaneaspectsofmylife.ThroughthisdiaryritualIconnectedwithmyself,exploredexperiencesandfoundawaytointerpretandmakesenseofmyrelationships.AlthoughIrarelyrereadmywrittenmaterial,thetangibleprocessofwritinghasremainedwithmeasameansofprocessingmyfeelingsandfilteringmyexperiences.

5Yettoday,handwrittenlettersareasrareasared

panda,andweareallpoorerforthisdearth.Ithinkbacknostalgicallytotheseductionofaloveletterandthequalityofemotionthatwasconveyedinthewrittenwords.

6Itreasurethecardsmyhusbandhaspennedtomeovertheyearsinhisstrong,determinedhand.“Iloveyouafter15years,truly,madlyandmoretodaythanwhenwefirstmet.”Hereistangiblewrittenevidenceofhisaffections!

7Fewofuswritelettersanylonger,eventothosetowhomweareclose.Wecommunicatedifferentlywhenweemailortext,bothmethodscharacterizedbyspeedandinformality.Themeditativeconsideration,whichaccompaniedahandwrittenletter,isalmostentirelyabsent.Wemaybecommunicatingmorefrequentlyandwithmorepeople,butthedepthandqualityofourcommunicationhasdiminished

8Asawriterandartist,Iamheavilydependentonmynotebooksforrecordingideas;

jottingdownmydreamsandplans;

notingruminativelythepassingoftime;

aswellaskeepingstockbymakinglists.Theimmediacy,accessibilityandsimplicityofpenandpaperareindispensable.Havinghandwrittentenmanuscripts,laterpublishedasbooks,I’vebecomeaddictedtotheflowofthoughtsthatcomeswiththephysicalityofhandwriting.IttookmeyearsbeforeIcouldtypeasfluentlyasIcouldwrite.

9Alas,moderntechnologytendstotheephemeral.Fewofuskeepoldemailsorevenprintthemout,soasenseofhistoryandmemoryislost.Archivistsreportthatmoreinformationhasbeenlostinthepastdecadethaninthepreceding150years.Itistooeasytopressthedeletebutton.

10StevenMiller,archivistatSydney’sArtGalleryofNewSouthWales,saysmostartistsstillkeephandwrittenjournalswithsketches,notesandideas,butinmanyotherareasofrecords,materialisnowdigital.

11“ItsnotuncommonforITtobeconcernedthatwetakeuptoomuchspaceandrequestthatwedeletematerial.Yetsavingmaterialinadigitalformatonlyisextremelyunstable;

wedon’tknowhowitwillsurvivethefuture.”

12AnotherplacewhereIhavemanyhandwrittengemsismyrecipefolder,whereIhavecompiledfavouritefamilydishesovertheyears.Ilovemymother’shandwritteninstructions,underlininganimportantingredient.WheneverImaketheserecipes,theyevokewarm,fuzzyfeelingsandnostalgicthoughts.

13Inthisdigitalworldoftext,emailandinstantmessaging,theperceivedvalueofwritingisnolongerobviousandthecaseforretainingthepracticeofwritingneedstobemade.Shouldwesavethehumblepenandpaperwhenlaptopsandmobilesarefunctional,ubiquitousandunstoppable?

Shouldchildrencontinuetobetaughttowritewithapenandpaper?

14Withitsdemise,anexceptionalmodeofself-expressionisbeinglost.Iinvitereaderstoengagewithhandwritingandbecomeawareofthisspecialskillthathasnurturedcivilizationforcenturies.

15Oneofmymostpreciouslettersisfrommyfriend,Amanda,whodiedin2008attheageof49fromovariancancer.Onmy50thbirthdayshewrotemeastorydescribingourten-yearfriendship.“Peoplesayyoucan’tchooseyourfamily,butifIhadfilledoutarequestformfortheperfectsister-soulmate-friendIcouldn’thavebeenmoreblessedthanIaminhavingyouinmylife.”■