South Korean tech workers are having a lousy time at work
韩国科技行业员工的工作水深火热
South Korea's work culture is notoriously punishing. Office-goers have scant control over their time and little chance to escape from bad management. They have long complained of "gapjil," the authoritarian attitude of senior managers who abuse their power to shout at underlings, insist on unpaid all-nighters and weekend work, assign personal errands, and force juniors to go out drinking for hours upon hours.***
韩国的职场文化是出了名的严酷。上班族几乎不能掌控自己的时间，也几乎无法逃离糟糕的管理制度。长期以来，他们一直在抱怨“职场霸凌”（gapjil），即高管们专制的态度——他们滥用权力，对下属大喊大叫，强制无薪通宵工作和周末加班，指派员工为他们做私人差事，以及强迫下级出去喝酒，一喝就是几个小时。
Relatively newer firms such as Naver model themselves on their forerunners in America's Silicon Valley. They promise a meritocratic idyll where workers refer to each other by their made-up English names instead of their job titles, are valued as individuals and are judged on the basis of their ideas rather than the hours spent at a desk.***
像 Naver 这样相对比较新的公司效仿美国硅谷的前辈，它们承诺一种任人唯贤的田园式工作模式——员工们用自己起的英文名，而不是工作头衔，来称呼彼此，每个个体都受到重视，对员工的评价也是基于他们的想法，而非他们坐在办公桌前的时间。
Yet a string of incidents in recent months suggests that South Korean workplaces—and bosses—are proving hard to change. In May, an employee at Naver committed suicide after being bullied at work, causing outrage in the press.
然而，最近几个月发生的一系列事件证明，韩国职场——还有老板——很难改变。五月，Naver 的一名员工受到职场霸凌后自杀，引起了媒体的愤慨。
Some observers attribute the misery to growing pains at companies that are making the transition from startups to big corporations. One worker told a local news outlet that Korean tech firms seemed to be incorporating the worst aspects of Korean corporate hierarchies coupled with the American obsession with performance ratings.
一些观察人士将如此惨状归因于那些正从初创企业转型为大企业的公司的成长之痛。一名员工告诉当地的新闻机构，韩国的科技公司似乎融合了韩国企业等级制度中最糟糕的方面以及美国人对绩效评级的执念。
The companies seem keen to be seen to tackle the problem. It may be that they are serious. Until it is clear that they are, disappointed tech workers will have little choice but to stick to the time-honoured method of dealing with "gapjil": grin and bear it.
这些公司似乎很想表现出正在解决问题的样子。也许它们是认真的。但在能明确它们真的在改变之前，失望的科技行业员工别无选择，只能继续用一直以来对付职场霸凌的老办法: 逆来顺受。
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主编：尹岚
品控：Raven、Felicity
审核：桃子
重点词汇
lousy
/ˈlaʊ.zi/
adj. 糟糕的，差劲的
近义词：bad，poor
搭配短语：lousy food
搭配短语：a lousy driver
例句：The pay is lousy.
notoriously
/noʊˈtɔːr.i.əs.li/
adv. 臭名昭著地
相关词汇：notorious（adj. 臭名昭著的）
词根词缀：not-（表示 know “知道，注意”）
派生词：notable
派生词：notice
例句：Driving coaches are notorious for their violent outbursts.
词根词缀：-ly（副词后缀）
scant
/skænt/
adj. 缺乏的，不足的
英文释义：very little and not enough
例句：Food was in scant supply.
例句：She paid scant attention to the kid.
authoritarian
/əˌθɔːr.əˈter.i.ən/
adj. 专制的，独裁的
相关词汇：authority（n. 权力，权威）
词性拓展：authoritarian（n. 独裁者）
underling
/ˈʌn.dɚ.lɪŋ/
n. 下属，部下
词根词缀：-ling（表示“小的，年幼的；不重要的”）
派生词：duckling，princeling
词根词缀：-ling（表示“具有某种特性的人或物”）
派生词：weakling
all-nighter
/ˌɑːlˈnaɪ.t̬ɚ/
n. 通宵
搭配短语：pull an all-nighter
例句：He pulled an all-nighter to study for the exam.
errand
/ˈer.ənd/
n. 差事，跑腿
英文释义：a short trip that you make in order to do a job for someone
搭配短语：run errands for sb.
例句：She was always running errands for her grandmother.
model oneself on
以……为榜样
相关词汇：model（n. 值得效仿的人（事物））
搭配短语：role model
词性拓展：model（v. 仿效，模仿）
例句：Lots of young singers model themselves on Jay Chou.
forerunner
/ˈfɔːrˌrʌn.ɚ/
n. 先驱，前身
词根词缀：fore-（表示“前面的”）
相关词汇：runner（n. 跑步的人）
例句：This simple machine was the forerunner of today's computers.
meritocratic
/ˌmer.ɪ.t̬əˈkræt̬.ɪk/
adj. 精英管理的，贤能统治的
相关词汇：meritocracy（n. 精英管理，贤能统治）
文化补充：meritocracy 是由英国社会学家 Michael Young 创造出来的词，他在自己的著作 "The Rise of the Meritocracy" 的标题中首次使用了 meritocracy 一词。
相关词汇：merit（n. 优点，优秀品质）
词根词缀：-cracy（表示“政体，统治”）
派生词：democracy
idyll
/ˈaɪ.dl/
n.（尤指理想中的）平静快乐的生活；田园诗，田园散文
拓展读音：/ˈɪd.əl/
相关词汇：idol（n. 偶像）
refer to
把……称作……；指的是……；提及
例句：The word "finch" refers to a kind of bird.（指的是……）
例句：No one referred to the incident.（提及）
搭配短语：refer to… by / as…
例句：People often refer to New York as the Big Apple.
bully
/ˈbʊl.i/
v. 欺凌，威逼
搭配短语：bully sb. into doing sth.
例句：The boss bullied the employees into working on Saturdays.
词性拓展：bully（n. 恃强凌弱的人，恶霸）
outrage
/ˈaʊt.reɪdʒ/
n. 震怒，愤慨
英文释义：a feeling of great anger and shock
例句：The case generated public outrage.
attribute
/əˈtri-ˌbjuːt/
v. 把……归因于
词性拓展：attribute（n. 品质，特征）
近义词：quality，feature
搭配短语：attribute A to B
例句：He attributed his success to his efforts.
incorporate
/ɪnˈkɔːr.pɚ.eɪt/
v. 并入，包含
相关词汇：corporation（n. 公司）
词根词缀：corpor（表示 body “整体，团队”）
派生词：corporate（adj. 公司的，团体的）
词根词缀：in-（表示 into “进入，融入”）
搭配短语：a diet that incorporates many fruits and vegetables
hierarchy
/ˈhaɪ.rɑːr.ki/
n. 等级制度；层次，层级
搭配短语：social hierarchy
搭配短语：Maslow's hierarchy of needs（马斯洛需求层次理论）
be coupled with
……加上……
搭配短语：A be coupled with B（A 加上 B）
近义短语：be combined with，be together with
例句：Lack of rain coupled with high temperatures caused the crops to fail.
stick to
坚持，遵守
搭配短语：stick to your decision
搭配短语：stick to the rules
time-honoured
/ˈtaɪmˌɑː.nɚd/
adj. 经久不衰的
相关词汇：time（n. 时间）
相关词汇：honour（v. 尊敬）
grin and bear it
默默承受，逆来顺受
相关词汇：grin（v. 咧嘴笑）
相关词汇：bear（v. 忍耐，忍受）
