部門經理Fay找手下Steve來，討論他的年度中期工作表現。

Fay: Hi there, Steve... grab a seat.

Steve: Hi, Fay. How are you this morning?

F: Very well, thanks. Great weather we've been having.

S: I know! Makes me want to sneak away from work and go hiking!

F: Yeah... hiking would be great right about now! Ok... let's get down to the task at hand... your bi-annual performance evaluation.

Steve的上司Fay讓他隨便坐，grab a seat，是非常口語的說法，意思就是請坐。寒暄過后，談正事吧。

S: So how did I do?

F: Well, in many areas you get high marks. You have a lot of creative thoughts and your enthusiasm regarding work projects is very much appreciated.

S: That's good to hear. I enjoy being creative and I'm glad to see you appreciate that. Now what's the bad news?

F: (Chuckle) Well, we all have areas in which we could do better.

S: And what are my areas?

Fay首先表揚Steve，說他很多方面都做得很好，get high marks, 得高分，尤其是他點子多 ，工作熱情高。Steve問，So what's the bad news? 壞消息呢？意思是缺點呢？Fay婉轉地說，we all have areas in which we could do better，大家都有可以改進的地方。

F: For starters, there is an issue of punctuality. You've been clocking in roughly 20 to 30 minutes late almost every day.

S: But I moved last month and the office is almost 40 miles away from my home now! Sometimes the traffic is really terrible.

F: Yeah, I know. I also live out in the suburbs. Sometimes I'm stuck in traffic for 45 minutes! But, as you know, the company requires all employees to be at work by nine A.M. sharp.

首先是準點上班的問題，the issue of punctuality. Steve幾乎每天遲到二、三十分鐘，to clock in，指進辦公室的時間，to clock out，則是指離開辦公室的時間。Steve解釋說，這是因為他最近搬家，路上堵車。Fay表示理解，說自己有時也會stuck in traffic for 45 minutes，有時路上會堵45分鐘，可是公司要求員工九點準時到辦公室。

S: Yeah... I know... but it's really been tough for me lately! Can you possibly make an exception?

F: If it were up to me, I'd love for everyone to come in at noon. But I can't make exceptions; otherwise everyone else will be unhappy. We're a team and we all have to follow the rules.

S: All right. I guess I'm just going to have to wake up an hour earlier.

F: Sounds like a good plan.

Steve問Fay能不能make an exception，破例，讓他稍微晚點到。Fay說，如果依她，if it were up to me，大家中午到都行，但是公司的規定，每個人都要遵守。除了上班遲到，Steve還有哪些缺點，我們下次繼續聽。