Unit 4
Comprehension
1. He expected the meeting to be nothing unusual. It was going to be like all the meetings he had had before, boring and stupid. But in fact, the real purpose of the meeting was to announce that he, together with 75 of his co-workers, was laid off. 2. According to the bosses, Dell was laying off its workers because the economy was bad, and the company couldn’t afford to keep them any more. There were no individual explanations to the fired workers maybe because it was hard for the company to provide a clear reason to each of them.
3. The figures tell us that an economic recession was on the way.
4. Because Dell is a very successful company. It has always been trying to do its best to succeed. If such a company can’t avoid cutting jobs, it will show that the economic situation is already really bad.
5. The sentence means that “Dell is not old fashioned or unstable as a company”.
6. Because the outstanding workers were also laid off and the company didn’t’ provide any individual explanation to the fired workers.
7. Michael Dell said that the company was cutting jobs owning to its “overhiring”. The company had hired more workers than it needed.
8. The sentence implies that the senior recruiter, Sullivan’s being fired was also hard news for her boss. Her boss felt sympathetic about her, but could do nothing to help.
9. Because Sullivan worked in the Recruiting Department, which does not generate revenue for the company. According to Paragraph 10, departments like administration and marketing, etc. also face more pressure to be downsized because they do not generate revenue either.
10. Because he could tell from his many years of working in Dell that the company was having a difficult financial situation. To some degree, he could even predict such a job cut.
11. In the past, Dell would only lay off the 10% to 30% temporary workers and the contract workers. Or at most, it would lay off an additional 10% of full-time workers whose work had not been evaluated very positively. But this time, Dell also laid off many workers who had worked outstandingly in the company. 12. Because by the agreement, they could get more money as compensation, but they would no longer have the right to discuss their package or sue Dell. It was bought by the company with the agreement.
13. It implies that Dell had chosen workers to fire randomly this time. No one could predict who would be the victim and who would be the lucky guy.
14. Because some plants would stop working effectively owing to the lack of tech help, which would cause great economic loss to the company as a result.
15. Normally, he did not feel very worried about losing his job because he could easily find a new job in another company owing to his highly marketable skills and the low unemployment rate in Austin area. But this time, the fired Dell workers were all worried because other companies were also downsizing.
16. Michael Dell felt under pressure. But his company is still regarded as a good employer, a solid corporate citizen and a millionaire maker.
Reading Strategies: Outlining
Para. 1-3: Introduction: Dell, like many other famous IT companies, is downsizing. Many workers were laid off. The downsizing shows that an economic recession was on the way. Para. 4-12 Main Idea: The fired workers’ response to the job cuts and Dell’s
argumentation for the cuts.
The fired workers response: The cuts were unnecessary and poorly handled. Dell’s argumentation: 1) The cuts were necessary because the company had over-hired. 2) The cuts were not poorly handled because the company had done the thing as humanely as possible. All the fired workers got considerable amount of compensation. Kathleen Sullivan’s blames about the company: The company had poorly
predicted its work-force needs, which caused the overhiring.
Gary Davidson’s response to his job loss: He wasn’t shocked. He knew it would happen sooner or later because the company was not running in a right way. Para. 13-16 Main Idea: Workers’ objection to the way they were laid off. 1) Before D-day, the company denied planned job cuts;
On D-day, the company laid them off after signing “the bribe”. 2) The way the company chose whom to fire was not reasonable. 3) The company was targeting the older, more highly paid workers. Para. 17-18 Main Idea: Bad effects of downsizing on the company. 1) The company would lose profits owing to a lack of tech help. 2) Large scale headcount reductions may not be cost-effective.
Para.19-21 Main Idea: Effects of downsizing on the fired workers and Dell’s
reputation.
1) The fired workers were in a very difficult situation. 2) Dell Company is still regarded as a good employer, a solid corporate citizen and a millionaire maker though it is under pressure.
Language Study
A. 1. corporate 2. recruit 3. show up 4. escorted 5. bonuses 6. terminate 7. chaotic 8. recession 9. marketable 10. hand over 11. redundant 12. at hand
B. Confusing Words
I. 1. bonus 2. salary 3. income 4. income 5. pay 6. salary II. 1. productivity; production 2. products 3. produce 4. products III. 1. declined 2. reduce 3. decreased 4. descending
C Cloze
1) available 2) posted 3) promote 4) move 5) policy 6) required 7) switch 8) approval 9) option 10) handle 11) start 12) run 13) qualified 14) make 15) assistance.
Translation A.
许多被解雇的员工及他们的支持者们都抨击说裁员没有必要，且处理不当， 因为这同迈克尔.戴尔所创建的公司相悖。戴尔的企业文化具有强烈的精英管理的色彩，企业期望员工做能使公司成功的任何事情。其回报是：丰厚的一揽子股权利益。这使很多三十几岁的技术工人变成了百万富翁，或者用奥斯汀人的叫法，叫戴尔富翁。
戴尔则说，公司在裁员上做得并不轻松。他告诉《时代周刊》说，“作为公司领导，裁员是最难、最令人痛苦的决定之一。” 他坦白说，裁员就是承认由于过度招聘员工，“我们出问题了。” 如果说教训，他说，那就是“当事情升温到一定程度时，我们应该打住。”
公司坚持说他们已努力尽可能地对裁员工作做得富有人情味。戴尔对被解雇的员工提前发放了年度奖金，还发放给了他们两个月的工资补偿和两个月的保险。同时，戴尔还为他们支付就业咨询方面的费用。 B.
1. The famous corporate companies are all downsizing, which signals that a new round of economic recession is at hand.
2. In theory, the fired Dell workers should land on their feet because they have highly marketable skills, and should not worry about finding a new job.
3. He is always speaking badly of that university owing to his refusal by it last year. In other words, he is just expressing sour grapes.
4. Although he has left the company for many years, he still stays in touch with the boss there.
5. The news of Jack and Susan’s marriage breakup came as a complete shock to us. They had appeared to be the happiest couple before the public.
6. Some people say one of the ways to avoid being laid off is to avoid positions in such departments as human resources, accounting, and administration, etc. These departments do not generate revenue, and are unrelated to product development.
7. The school requires that those who are about to graduate should hand in their library cards and student’s identity cards before they leave the school.
8. After becoming famous, the writer has been busy with all kinds of social activities,
and his writing career has been put on hold.
9. Owing to the pressure from studying as a part-time student, he finally decided to ask his boss to cut back on his workload.
10. You must be fully prepared for the job interview, otherwise you will screw the whole thing up owing to your nervousness.
Reading Practice A.
1. C 2. B 3. A 4. C 5. A
B.
1. C 2. D 3. A 4. B 5. D
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