Mr.
White: So, tell me: what makes you think we should give you
a raise?
White先生: 告诉我，你为什么认为我们应该给你加薪？
Miss Small: I’ve
got several good reasons. I’ve been here several years, my work
has proven to be good, and I’ve noticed that people in comparable
jobs get paid more than I do.
Small小姐: 我有几点很好的理由：我在这儿工作很多年了，我的工作业绩很好，而且我发现做类似工作的同事薪水比我高。
Mr. White: Salaries
are confidential; how do you know how much money these “other
people” make?
White先生: 薪金是保密的，你怎么知道别的人赚多少钱？
Miss Small: Well,
I’ve noticed all the new cars around here, for one thing.
Small小姐: 起码我注意到最近这里有很多新车。
Mr. White: Those
are company cars provided to the sales staff for their business
trips. Also, some employees receive sales commissions. So good
salesmen will naturally earn more.
White先生: 这是公司为销售人员配备的用于公务的车。而且某些员工能得到销售提成，好的销售人员自然应该得到更多报酬。
Miss Small: That’s
understandable. Well, rather than comparing my salary with someone
else’s, perhaps we could talk about my job performance. Surely
you’ve noticed the extra hours I’ve put in recently? If I were
being paid an hourly wage, with the standard time-and-a-half
for overtime, I’d be earning much more.
Small小姐: 可以理解。不谈工资差异的话，也许我们该谈谈我的工作表现。最近您一定注意到我常常加班，如果按加班算，我就能得到相当于工资1.5倍的加班费，我会挣的多得多。
Mr. White: I see
your point. However, it might be hard to get a raise approved.
Profits were down last quarter, and the whole company is tightening
its belt, so anything that affects the annual budget is hard
to get approved. But I’ll tell you what I’ll do. I’ll give you
a one-time bonus for your recent hard work. And I’ll try to
arrange some sort of compensation for any future overtime.
White先生: 我明白你的意思。但是涨工资的确很难。上个季度公司利润下降了，整个公司都在紧缩开支。任何影响年度预算的事情都不会被考虑的。但我要做的是给你一次性的奖金，奖励你最近的辛勤工作。对于以后的加班，我将尽量给予补偿。
Miss Small: That
would be very good of you, Mr. White.
Small小姐: 您真好，White先生。
comparable
jobs 类似工作 confidential
保密的 sales commissions
销售提成 job performance
工作表现
hourly wage 计时工资 time-and-a-half
百分之一百五十 overtime 加班 tighten its belt
（本义是扣紧安全带）这里指公司紧缩开支。 a one-time bonus
一次性的奖金 compensation
补偿
