课文内容

词汇： Work (informal) 职场用语（非正式）

Have you ever been in a lift with the big cheese in your company? It happened to me a couple of times. And did I take advantage of the situation to deliver my elevator pitch? Not a chance. He was surrounded by people buttering him up all the way to the top floor!

Lifts have an interesting history. Today, the more important you are, the higher you live or work. Penthouses have fantastic views for boardrooms and living rooms. But it hasn't always been that way. Before the days of lifts, richer people would often prefer to live on the ground floor. Poorer people lived on the upper floors – and they had to use the stairs.

In any case, whatever your pay grade, the confined space of a lift makes for an awkward encounter. It's hard not to notice the uneasiness of a group of strangers in a confined space who have no time to develop any kind of bond. But if marketing people have their way, that's all going to change.

Jason Whale, sales manager at Elevators Ltd, says: "It's a very anxious experience the time you spend in a lift. If you have things around you, you take away that awkwardness. We all look at our phones sometimes or look down at the floor. Well, surely it's better to look at advertisements on the walls..."

He sees a lot of potential in this box in which we spend a few minutes every day. Whale explains: "As technology becomes slimmer and cheaper, there are so many different ways to enhance a lift with light boxes, with moving images, with television screens! It becomes quite exciting for us, and hopefully a little bit more interesting for the people who use lifts."

Who knows what the lifts of the future will look like? Perhaps they will become the places where everybody wants to be. Time for a business meeting? Ready to party? Come on everybody, let's get into the lift!

词汇表

the big cheese 大人物，大老板
an elevator pitch 电梯游说
to butter someone up 阿谀奉承，巴结
a penthouse 顶层豪华公寓
a boardroom 董事会会议室
a pay grade 工资等级
awkward 尴尬的
uneasiness 不自在
a bond 情感纽带、关系
marketing 市场营销，销售
to have one's way 得逞
a sales manager 营销主任
awkwardness （名词）尴尬
an advertisement 广告
to see potential 发现潜力
to enhance 提高，增加（价值，吸引力）

测验与练习

1. 阅读课文并回答问题。

1. What did the author plan to do on seeing the boss in the lift?

2. True or false? The great view from the top floor has always motivated rich people to live there.

3. Why do people feel awkward in lifts?

4. What does Jason Whale want to put into lifts to make the journey more interesting?

5. Which adverb in the article means 'worrying'?

2. 请你在不参考课文的情况下完成下列练习。选择一个意思合适的单词填入句子的空格处。

1. My sister lives in a very small flat. It has one __________ and a kitchen.
boardroom      lift      bedroom      penthouse

2. It's no surprise Joan got the promotion - she was always __________ the boss.
potential      buttering up      having my way      awkward

3. I am very __________! My ex-boyfriend might be at the party, and I don't want to see him.
anxious      awkward      buttered up      exciting

4. I feel uncomfortable in __________ spaces. Please, open the door and let me out.
awkward      confined      difficult      high

5. I love this picture. I think I will put it __________ that wall.
in      at      over      on

答案

1. 阅读课文并回答问题。

1. What did the author plan to do on seeing the boss in the lift?
Deliver an elevator pitch of ideas.

2. True or false? The great view from the top floor has always motivated rich people to live there.  
False. In the past, rich people often lived on the ground floor. Poorer people lived on the higher floors before the invention of the lift and they had to use the stairs.

3. Why do people feel awkward in lifts?
Because they are confined spaces where strangers spend a few minutes without much to talk about. 

4. What does Jason Whale want to put in lifts to make the journey more interesting?
Advertisements on the walls, light boxes, moving images, television screens.

5. Which adverb in the article means 'worrying'?
Anxious.

2. 请你在不参考课文的情况下完成下列练习。选择一个意思合适的单词填入句子的空格处。

1. My sister lives in a very small flat. It has one bedroom and a kitchen.

2. It's no surprise Joan got the promotion - she was always buttering up the boss.

3. I am very anxious! My ex-boyfriend might be at the party, and I don't want to see him.

4. I feel uncomfortable in confined spaces. Please, open the door and let me out.

5. I love this picture. I think I will put it on that wall.