【一起听英语】装病

你是否会为了逃避上班而装病，这在英语里有专门的一个词组来形容这种现象.....

6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2011

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Dan: Hello, I'm Dan…

Alice: And I'm Alice.

Dan: And this is 6 Minute English! And today we're talking about sickies. To

pull a sickie means to pretend that you're ill so that you don't have to

go to work. Britain apparently 2 has the highest number of false sick days

in Europe – according to new research one in three of us has admitted

to pulling a sickie at some point, so there are a lot of us pretending that

we're ill. Are you one of them Alice? Have you ever been tempted 3 to

pull a sickie?

Alice: Of course not. How you could you even hint 4 that I might.

Dan: Well, Alice, you are such an honest person. Hm, but we have this

week's question for you. As I say British workers pull more sickies than

any other country in Europe. But which European country, Alice, pulls

the fewest sickies? Is it:

a) Latvia

b) Austria

c) Denmark

Alice: I would guess, Denmark. But only because I think they might have the

largest number of holidays so that they would not need to pull sickies 

6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2011

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Dan: Aha, logic 5! OK.

Alice: I don't really know.

Dan: Well, we will see if you are right at the end of the programme.

Now, according the consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, people

not showing up to work costs the British economy around £32 billion a

year. So there's a serious impact 6 from people skipping work.

Alice: Skipping work. To skip something here means to not do it. So if you

skip class, for example, it means you don't go to class; and if people

are skipping work it means that they're not going to work.

Dan: Another word for skipping work is skiving.

Alice: Skiving – This is a British English term for avoiding work. And a person

who does a lot of skiving is a skiver.

Dan: So let's listen now to some people in Britain talking about whether they

think it's acceptable 7 to skip work. What do these people think about

skiving?

I think it's acceptable, but not too often. What can I say? It happens to everybody, you

know, big night. I just think it's part of everyday life.

If it's for another job interview and you're unhappy where you are, go for it! But I think

taking one is OK, but if they do it again and again and again, then I think they need to

readdress that.

Dan: So the man there said he thought it was acceptable to skip work, but

not too often – it's a part of everyday life. 

6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2011

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Alice: And the woman said that if people are skiving again and again and

again, then they should readdress that. They should examine it or

discuss it again. But she also said if you're unhappy where you are, you

should go for it! Go for it! means 'do it!', so she's encouraging people

to take time off work if they're unhappy where they are.

Dan: Being unhappy at work is one of the main reasons people pull sickies

and pretend they are ill. They might be feeling bored or depressed 8 at

work, or they're applying for another job, or taking a holiday, or they're

hungover.

Alice: Mmm, I'm sure there are quite a few people who were suddenly 'ill'

during the World Cup too.

Dan: Yeah I'm sure there were! PricewaterhouseCoopers says that the best

way to avoid people skiving off work is to try to engage them in their

job, so that they want to come to work. Companies should try to build

loyalty 9 from their workers by treating them well. Some companies even

offer 'duvet days'. Have you heard of these Alice?

Alice: I have; actually, I had a job once that had duvet days built in. A duvet

is the soft covering on a bed that you can sleep under, it keeps you

warm and cosy 10. So I guess 'duvet days' are days when you can stay

under your duvet; when you can stay in bed. 

6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2011

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Dan: Yes. A duvet day is a day when you can tell your office that you're not

coming into work, but you don't need to pretend that you're ill. As long

as you tell them, they're happy for you to take a day off. Let's listen to

one British worker talking about how his company started using duvet

days. How many duvet days are people at his company allowed each

year?

What we employed was a duvet day. So instead of someone saying 'I'm sick and I'm lying,'

we allowed people to have four duvet days a year where they could quite happily call in

with 24 hours' notice and say 'do you know what, Monday morning, or Friday morning,

I'm going to be late and come in at lunchtime.

Dan: So his company allows people to take four 'duvet days' each year, if

they don't feel like coming into work, but they don't have to lie and

pretend that they're ill.

Alice: Very clever. I like the idea of a duvet day.

Dan: I really like the idea of a duvet day! OK Alice, we're back to today's

question. I asked you at the beginning of the programme which

European country pulls the fewest sickies?

Alice: And I said Denmark.

Dan: Yes, your logic was correct, Alice. Denmark takes the fewest sickies or

pulls the fewest sickies each year. So they're either the most honest

workers in Europe, or they are the best ones at lying to people who are

giving surveys. I'm not really sure.

So, finally Alice, could you please remind us of some of the vocabulary

we've heard in today's programme? 

6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2011

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Alice: Sure, we had:

To pull a sickie

To skip work

To skive

Skiver

Readdress

Go for it!

Duvet

Duvet day

Dan: Thanks Alice. That's it for today, but what are the most imaginative 11

excuses for sickies you've ever heard? Let us know in English on the

BBC Learning 1 English Facebook page or by email a

See you next time!

Both: Bye!