在陳豪工作的ABC美國公司，大多數人都在各自的小隔間里工作。可是今天陳豪沒法集中精神工作。為什么呢？你聽了他對美籍華人Mary的對話就知道了。

C：Good morning, Mary, do you have a minute to talk?

M：Yes, what is it?

C: 我們都坐在各自的小隔間里工作...英文叫什么來啦？

M: 你是說我們工作的地方，就象我這里有三快矮墻把我和別人隔開。這不就是 cubicles嗎？CUBICLES.

C：That's it, cubicles. 在cubicles里工作平時一點問題都沒有，可有時...

M：What happened?

C：剛搬到我隔壁來坐的那位同事今天一早來就打電話，說話聲音還特別大，I can't work anymore!

M：我知道，在隔間的情況下，說話都得小聲。Whether you are on the phone or have someone in you cubicle, speak softly.

C：隔間沒有門，但這并不等于誰都可以隨時闖進來呀！

M：No, no one should think they can barge in whenever they want. 每個人都應該象你剛才那樣，先問我有沒有時間后才進來。I wish everyone was as courteous as you.

C：Thank you，Mary。我知道要是有人打斷我的工作，我應該對他們說明，但是我又不想讓人認為我很不友好。

M：不會的。要是正在你忙的時候有同事來找你，你可以說你現在正忙，和他約好一個時間再談。

C：That's a good idea. Thank you, Mary. 我得回去工作了。

M：Hi，陳豪。好幾天沒見你啦。還有人來打攪你嗎？

C：我按照你說的去做，一切都很好。可是還有……

M：還有什么呀？

C：有時候有人來找我，我正在打電話，可來人居然站在旁邊不走。That's annoying and distracting to me。

M：對這樣的人，我有個辦法，就是只當沒看見他；背對著他。 That usually does the trick and they leave。

C：好，我下回試試。喲，Mary，那是什么聲音呀？好象誰在啃黃瓜，或胡蘿卜！

M：I think my neighbor is munching on potato chips。陳豪，let's go lunch!

C：在cubicles里工作看來真是要十分小心。

M：Right. Working in cubicles can be challenging. Just because an office doesn't have a door does not mean you can barge in anytime you please. You need to ask permission before entering someone's cubicle. If a colleague is on the phone, you should come back later. It is a simple matter of respecting the privacy of others.