听遍美国社会新闻--下岗工人回报社区

Laid off Workers Giving Back to Community

Five months ago, Patrick Lehner was in the Silicon Valley fast lane, managing contracts for high-tech equipment(1) maker Cisco Systems.

Patrick Lehner : “I’ve spent most of the time working on my own career.”

Today, he’d updating(2) inventory(3) data programs at Second Harvest, a food bank serving needy families in Silicon Valley (California).

Lehner: “This is an opportunity to really do something that helps feed people in the community(4) that are in real need of food.”

Lehner is one of about 80 former Cisco workers who lost their jobs but found new challenges(5)when the company offered them a novel(6) kind of exit package.

They’re called “Cisco Community Fellows”. When the company eliminated(7) 6,000 jobs last April, in lieu of severance(8)it offered employees one-third regular salary, plus benefits and any stock options(9) for one year if they would volunteer(10) their services to a community non-profit organization.

For Cisco, it was an upside(11) despite the high-tech downturn(12) , which forced it to lay off 15% of its workforce.

Michael: “This is a good way for us to really become more intimately(13) involved(14) in the community and utilize(15) the talents of the people that were being affected by this.”

Tam Do was a network(16) administrator(17) at Cisco who took a position managing computers at Inn Vision, which provides services to the homeless.

Tam Do: “I like to do, you know, something what I like. I wanted to do something different.”

Tommy (an Inn Vision client): “He’s a real big help, a real big help. I mean, before I came here I didn’t have a resume(18). And he set me up with the resume system.”

Even though it’s a financial(19)strain(20)getting by on one-third the salary, Do, who came to the U.S. with nothing as a Vietnamese refugee, says he won’t mind spending a year working here.

Tam Do: “I think this is a good time for me to pay back to the community.”

A payback prompted(21) by a cutback(22) that’s making the community a richer place.


听音瓶颈词汇

1. equipment []n.设备
2. update[]v.更新
3. inventory[]adj.存货；入库
4. community []n.社区
5. challenge[]n.挑战
6. novel [l]adj.新奇的；新颖的
7. eliminate []v.消除；淘汰
8. severance[]n.切断；隔离
9. option []n.选择；选择权
10. volunteer []v.自愿；自愿提供
11. upside []n.上升；上方
12. downturn []n.下降；衰退
13. intimately []adv.亲密地；亲切地
14. involve[]v.卷入；牵涉
15. utilize []v.利用
16. network[]n.网络
17 administrator []n.管理员；行政人员
18. resume[]n.简历
19. financial []adj.财政的；金融的
20. strain []n.拉紧；紧缩
21. prompt []v.促动；激起
22. cutback[]n.削减；减少

听音高级短语

fast lane 快速成功之路;平步青云之道
food bank 救济食品发放中心
in need of 需要
exit package 离职补贴；离职优惠条件
in lieu of 代替
lay off 裁员；解雇
pay back 回报；偿还

听音超级句型

This is an opportunity to…
这是一个…的机会。

…would volunteer their services to…
…将自愿为…提供服务。