DEADLY SINS OF BUSINESS MEETINGS
http://www.learnerhall.org/2012/11/deadly-sins-of-business-meetings.html
冗長失焦的例行會議除浪費時間外，總讓人坐立難安或瞌睡連連。你的開會經驗如何？有遇上這三大會議禁忌嗎？同場加映《如何做個簡潔且吸引人的會議簡報》。
《 如何做好簡報 》
Meetings are the most universal — and universally despised — part of business life. Bad meetings, in particular, do more than ruin an otherwise pleasant day. The following are three deadly sins to watch for in business meetings.
■ Meetings that are ritualistic instead of necessary
For many businesses, routine meetings that lack focus and clear agendas often end up wasting time and boring people. Attendees eventually flip an “off” switch in their brains. Therefore, do not hold a meeting unless you have a defined agenda and concrete next steps. Also, try scheduling the meetings in the afternoon when escaping the cubic can be a welcome relief.
■ Meetings that are too rigid and a one-way conversation
People often tune out monotone lecturers and become restless, watching the clock and hoping to kick off their weekend. In the age of YouTube, there’s simply no reason to not inject a bit of humor in a meeting to gain attention, generate enthusiasm and engage the attendees. If you show PowerPoint slides, remember that the general rule of thumb is no more than one slide a minute, one idea per slide and as few words as possible.
■ Meetings that harp on setbacks
If a boss spends 95 percent of each meeting yelling at workers and demanding them to explain why their performances aren’t up to par, he is likely to hurt morale and stress his employees out rather than inspire them. Why not use the past as a platform for understanding and planning future strategies? The collective brain power should be wisely used to avoid repeating the same mistakes.
Q : With which statement may the author disagree?
A. Without clear goals and structured agendas, meetings become useless rituals.
B. Having one person lecture does little to stimulate discussion and fresh ideas.
C. Employees are more creative and productive in the afternoon hours.
D. Breaking up a meeting with music, a video or great stories energizes the session.
建議做完聽力和閱讀後, 打開播放器, 跟著一起朗讀文章, 熟悉發音和語調。
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| universal (adj) 一般的；普遍的 despise (v) 鄙視；看不起 in particular：尤其 ruin (v) 破壞 otherwise (adv) 除此以外；不然 pleasant (adj) 愉快的 deadly (adj) 致命的 sin (n) 罪；過錯 watch for N：小心注意 ritualistic (adj) 儀式的；慣例的 instead of N：而不是… necessary (n) 必需品 (adj) 必要的 routine (adj) 日常例行的 (n) 例行公事 lack (v) 缺乏 focus (n) 重點 agenda (n) 議程 end up Ving ：結果變成… attendee (n) 與會者 eventually (adj) 最終 flip (v) 輕拍 switch (n) 開關 defined (adj) 清晰的 = clear (adj) concrete (adj) 具體明確的 schedule (v) 安排 |
escape (v) 逃離 relief (n) 減輕；輕鬆 rigid (adj) 嚴格的；死板的 tune out：恍神 monotone (adj) 單調的 lecturer (n) 演講者 restless (adj) 坐立難安的 kick off N：開始 inject (v) 注入 humor (n) 幽默 generate (v) 產生 enthusiasm (n) 熱情 engage (v) 吸引；參加 rule of thumb：經驗法則 harp (v) 嘮叨 setback (n) 失敗 up to par：達到平常的高水準 morale (n) 士氣 stress N out：使…壓力過大 inspire (v) 啟發 strategy (n) 策略 collective (adj) 集體的 stimulate (v) 刺激 productive (adj) 多產的；有成效的 |
Meetings are the most universal — and universally despised — part of business life. Bad meetings, in particular, do more than ruin an otherwise __ 01__ day. The following are three deadly sins to __ 02__ for in business meetings.
■ Meetings that are ritualistic instead of necessary
For many businesses, routine meetings that lack focus and clear agendas often end up wasting time and boring people. Attendees eventually flip an “off” switch in their brains. Therefore, do not hold a meeting __ 03 __ you have a defined agenda and concrete next steps. Also, try scheduling the meetings in the afternoon when escaping the cubic can be a welcome __ 04 __ .
■ Meetings that are too rigid and a one-way conversation
People often tune out monotone lecturers and become __ 05__ , watching the clock and hoping to kick off their weekend. In the age of YouTube, there’s simply no reason to not inject a bit of __ 06 __ in a meeting to gain attention, generate enthusiasm and engage the attendees. If you show PowerPoint slides, remember that the general rule of thumb is no more than one slide a minute, one idea per slide and as few words as possible.
■ Meetings that harp on setbacks
If a boss spends 95 percent of each meeting __ 07 __ at workers and demanding them to explain why their performances aren’t up to par, he is likely to hurt __ 08__ and stress his employees out rather than inspire them. Why not use the past as a platform for understanding and planning future strategies? The collective brain power should be wisely used to avoid repeating the same mistakes.
■ Meetings that are ritualistic instead of necessary
For many businesses, routine meetings that lack focus and clear agendas often end up wasting time and boring people. Attendees eventually flip an “off” switch in their brains. Therefore, do not hold a meeting __ 03 __ you have a defined agenda and concrete next steps. Also, try scheduling the meetings in the afternoon when escaping the cubic can be a welcome __ 04 __ .
■ Meetings that are too rigid and a one-way conversation
People often tune out monotone lecturers and become __ 05__ , watching the clock and hoping to kick off their weekend. In the age of YouTube, there’s simply no reason to not inject a bit of __ 06 __ in a meeting to gain attention, generate enthusiasm and engage the attendees. If you show PowerPoint slides, remember that the general rule of thumb is no more than one slide a minute, one idea per slide and as few words as possible.
■ Meetings that harp on setbacks
If a boss spends 95 percent of each meeting __ 07 __ at workers and demanding them to explain why their performances aren’t up to par, he is likely to hurt __ 08__ and stress his employees out rather than inspire them. Why not use the past as a platform for understanding and planning future strategies? The collective brain power should be wisely used to avoid repeating the same mistakes.
| A. relief | B. pleasant | C. humor | D. unless | |
| E. watch | F. yelling | G. restless | H. morale |
| 聽力請先下載擴充軟體：安裝方式說明 |
■ Meetings that are ritualistic instead of necessary
For many businesses, routine meetings that lack focus and clear agendas often end up wasting time and boring people. Attendees eventually flip an “off” switch in their brains. Therefore, do not hold a meeting unless you have a defined agenda and concrete next steps. Also, try scheduling the meetings in the afternoon when escaping the cubic can be a welcome relief.
■ Meetings that are too rigid and a one-way conversation
People often tune out monotone lecturers and become restless, watching the clock and hoping to kick off their weekend. In the age of YouTube, there’s simply no reason to not inject a bit of humor in a meeting to gain attention, generate enthusiasm and engage the attendees. If you show PowerPoint slides, remember that the general rule of thumb is no more than one slide a minute, one idea per slide and as few words as possible.
■ Meetings that harp on setbacks
If a boss spends 95 percent of each meeting yelling at workers and demanding them to explain why their performances aren’t up to par, he is likely to hurt morale and stress his employees out rather than inspire them. Why not use the past as a platform for understanding and planning future strategies? The collective brain power should be wisely used to avoid repeating the same mistakes.
Q : With which statement may the author disagree?
A. Without clear goals and structured agendas, meetings become useless rituals.
B. Having one person lecture does little to stimulate discussion and fresh ideas.
C. Employees are more creative and productive in the afternoon hours.
D. Breaking up a meeting with music, a video or great stories energizes the session.
建議做完聽力和閱讀後, 打開播放器, 跟著一起朗讀文章, 熟悉發音和語調。
文意選填解答：
閱讀解答：C
| 1. B | 2. E | 3. D | 4. A | |
| 5. G | 6. C | 7. F | 8. H |
| 1. | 第 1 格在名詞 day 之前，應為形容詞。從文意可知，糟糕的會議毀了「愉快的」(pleasant) 一天。 |
| 2. | 第 2 格考點為「不定詞」to 動詞原形。 從文意可知應「注意」致命的失誤。片語「注意」：watch for N。 |
| 3. | 句型結構分析如下：
do not hold a meeting 03 you have a defined agenda … [祈使句] [連接詞] [主詞] [動詞] 連接兩個句子需用「連接詞」。從文意看來，「除非」有明確議題，否則不應召開會議。unless 的詳細用法請見 大學堂文法講座 9 。 |
| 4. | 從冠詞 a 可知第 4 格為單數名詞。「逃離辦公隔間」( escaping the cubic) 傳達出「鬆了一口氣」(relief)，獲得解脫的感覺。 |
| 5. | 連綴動詞 become 後方需搭配「形容詞」。從第6格後方，聽眾們頻頻看時鐘可知他們已變得「坐立難安」(restless)。 |
| 6. | 介係詞 of 後方應搭配「名詞」。「幽默」(humor) 才能吸引注意力 (gain attention)，讓與會者投入 (engage the attendees)。 |
| 7. | 本題考點為 spend + Ving。 |
| 8. | 從第 8 格前方，老闆「大吼大叫」(yelling) 及要求員工解釋為何表現不佳可推知：這種模式只會傷員工「士氣」(morale)。 |
閱讀解答：C
會議是最普遍的，也大家最討厭的上班生活的一部分。特別是糟糕的會議常毁了原本愉快的一天。以下是商務會議常犯的三個致命過失。
■ 不必要的例行性會議
對許多企業而言，缺乏重点和明確議程的例行會議除了費時，也常讓人覺得百無聊賴。與會者最终快速地關掉大腦的開關。因此，除非有明確議程和具體步驟，否則不要召開會議。同時，試著將開會時間安排在下午，那時離開個人工作隔間對大家而言可能是種適時的調劑。
■ 單向談話的死板會議
無趣的演說者常讓大家恍神且變得焦躁不安，不時看著時鐘，巴不得趕快展開周末假期。處在YouTube時代的我們，根本没有理由不在會議進行中注入一些幽默的元素，引起與會者的注意，引發他們的熱情，進而讓他們全心投入。若使用投影片，切記，一般規則如下：一張投影片不超過一分鐘。每張投影片只陳述一個概念。投影片上的字能少就少。
■ 一直叨唸著員工過失的會議
若每次開會老板總花百分之95的時間對員工大吼大叫，要求他們解釋為什麼他們的表現不如預期，那麼他不但無法為員工帶來啟發，反而可能因此傷了員工士氣，讓他們壓力過大。為何不將先前的失敗當成前車之鑑，利用它們來熟悉和規劃未來公司策略呢？集體的腦力激盪和智慧應聰明地運用在避免重蹈覆轍上。
問題：作者可能不會同意下列哪個說法？
A. 少了明確目標和井井有條的議程，會議將變成無用的儀式。
B. 一人演講很難引發討論，催生新點子。
C. 員工們在下午時段較有創造力和生產力。
D. 用音樂、影片或很棒的故事為開會暖場可活絡會議氣氛。
■ 不必要的例行性會議
對許多企業而言，缺乏重点和明確議程的例行會議除了費時，也常讓人覺得百無聊賴。與會者最终快速地關掉大腦的開關。因此，除非有明確議程和具體步驟，否則不要召開會議。同時，試著將開會時間安排在下午，那時離開個人工作隔間對大家而言可能是種適時的調劑。
■ 單向談話的死板會議
無趣的演說者常讓大家恍神且變得焦躁不安，不時看著時鐘，巴不得趕快展開周末假期。處在YouTube時代的我們，根本没有理由不在會議進行中注入一些幽默的元素，引起與會者的注意，引發他們的熱情，進而讓他們全心投入。若使用投影片，切記，一般規則如下：一張投影片不超過一分鐘。每張投影片只陳述一個概念。投影片上的字能少就少。
■ 一直叨唸著員工過失的會議
若每次開會老板總花百分之95的時間對員工大吼大叫，要求他們解釋為什麼他們的表現不如預期，那麼他不但無法為員工帶來啟發，反而可能因此傷了員工士氣，讓他們壓力過大。為何不將先前的失敗當成前車之鑑，利用它們來熟悉和規劃未來公司策略呢？集體的腦力激盪和智慧應聰明地運用在避免重蹈覆轍上。
問題：作者可能不會同意下列哪個說法？
A. 少了明確目標和井井有條的議程，會議將變成無用的儀式。
B. 一人演講很難引發討論，催生新點子。
C. 員工們在下午時段較有創造力和生產力。
D. 用音樂、影片或很棒的故事為開會暖場可活絡會議氣氛。
