陳豪在北京的ABC美國公司工作，他在走廊上遇到了剛吃完中飯回來的美國同事Amy。
(Office ambience)
C：Amy, 吃過飯了嗎？
A：I did. A group from the office went out together. We missed you.
C：我今天特別忙，所以從家里帶了便當。
A：You have a worried look. Is anything wrong?
C：你可真是好眼力。我們部門昨天來了位新同事，是坐輪椅的殘疾人。今天中午大家都出去吃飯了，辦公室只有我們兩個人。
A：That was a good opportunity for you to make her feel welcome. Was there a problem?
C：跟她在一起，我覺得很不自在，不知道怎樣做才得體。
A：What happened?
C：因為只有我們兩人，所以我上來先自我介紹。
A：That's exactly right. Why was that a problem?
C：我記得你說過，自我介紹的時候應該主動跟別人握手。
A：That's correct.
C：但是我不知道她能不能握手，所以就沒有把手伸過去。
A：What happened?
C：結果她也介紹了自己，然后主動跟我握了手。
A：You handled that exactly right. If she had not been able to shake hands, she would not have offered hers.
C：那以后遇到殘疾人，是不是都要等他們先伸手呢？
A：Yes. You never want to make assumptions about what someone in a wheelchair can or cannot do.
******
當天下午下班前，陳豪來到Amy的辦公室。
C：Amy, 你現在有時間嗎？
A：Come on in. Tell me what else happened with your wheel-chair bound co-worker.
C：她在我后面熱飯。微波爐的位置挺高的，我不知道她需不需要幫忙。
A：What did you do?
C：后來看她要把飯盒放進微波爐里確實很吃力，所以我就說，“May I help you?”需要幫忙嗎？
A：Your instincts were on target. You were right to ask her before you took action.
C：可是當時我就傻傻地站在那兒，挺別扭的。
A：What happened next?
C：她表示了感謝，然后讓我幫她把飯盒放到了微波爐里。
A：By asking her if you could help, you gave her the option to accept or reject your offer. Persons with disabilities are accustomed to doing things for themselves.
C：我也是這么想，殘疾人其實都是很獨立的，而且能到咱們公司來工作，一定很有能力。
A：People with disabilities appreciate offers of help, but don't like others to make assumptions about what they can or can't do.
C：下次再遇到殘疾人，我該怎么做呢？
A：It is quite simple, when you introduced yourself, you let her instigate the handshake. When it appeared that she might have difficulty with something, you asked her if you could help. |
大學英語---