经济学人双语精读TE-2023-05-26期考研英语杂志|巴托比专栏：多米尼克·拉布（Dominic Raab）是职场恶霸还是受害者?
Bartleby：Dominic Raab, bully or victim?
If enough people think you are a bad boss, then you are a bad boss
【1】A FASCINATING CASE study on the exercise of power within an organisation has just reached a conclusion in Britain. Dominic Raab resignedas the country’s deputy prime minister and justice secretary on April 21st, after an independent investigation into whether he is a workplace bullyfound that he had crossed a line. The civil servants who lodged complaints against him will feel justified. His supporters, and the man himself, contend that his departure sets an unhealthily low bar for being found guilty of bullying.
【2】Adam Tolley, the barrister who conducted the probe, found that Mr Raab had displayed “unreasonably and persistently aggressive conduct” while he held the job of foreign secretary. Mr Tolley also concluded that Mr Raab’s style at the justice ministry was sometimes “intimidating” and “insulting”. Mr Raab may not have intended to upset but that is not enough to get him off the hook: the British government’s own website says that bullying is “behaviour that makes someone feel intimidated or offended”.
【3】The context of the Raab affair is unusual. Media interest is high, and the relationship between civil servants and British government ministers is a very particular one. But the question of what distinguishes someone who merely sets high standards, which is Mr Raab’s version of events, from someone who is a bully is of interest in workplaces everywhere. In a survey published in 2021 around 30% of American workers, for example, said they had direct experience of abusive conduct at work; in two-thirds of cases, the bully was someone above them in the food chain.
【4】It is hard to read the report and not feel an unexpected twinge of sympathy for Mr Raab. Unfashionable though it is to admit it, fear is a part of organisational life. Hierarchies hand managers the power and remit to weed out poor performers. Driven, demanding types are often the people who make it up the ladder.
【5】Mr Raab is definitely that. Mr Tolley describes an exacting boss: hard-working, impatient and direct. He interrupts when he is not getting a straight answer. He does not want to spend time rehearsing arguments that have already been aired. If he thinks work falls short of the required standard, he says so.
【6】Mr Raab shares many of the attributes of a desk light: he is bright, glares a lot and is not known for empathy. But he appears to be motivatedprincipally by achieving better outcomes. The investigation found no evidence that Mr Raab shouted or swore at people, or that he targetedindividual civil servants. Mr Tolley was unpersuaded by allegations from officials that he made threatening physical gestures, whether banging the table loudly or putting his hand out towards someone’s face to stop them talking. The “hand out” gesture was not as emphatic as alleged, writes the lawyer; the banging was unlikely “to cause alarm”. If Mr Raab is a bully, he is not nearly as aggressive as some media reporting had implied.
【7】Yet that twinge of sympathy passes, as twinges are wont to do. The number and consistency of complaints about Mr Raab is itself evidence that something was genuinely amiss. The civil servants who spoke out about him had worked for other ministers before; they were not greenhorns. Mr Tolley is persuaded that the complainants acted in good faith, despite protests from Mr Raab that he is the victim of “activist civil servants”.
【8】Mr Tolley’s most acute observation is to recognise that working life is not a series of discrete incidents, each bearing no relation to the other. Some of the complaints people had about Mr Raab might seem innocuous in isolation. A propensity to bang the table or interrupt people is discourteous but plenty of bosses do the same. Cutting people off in meetings would have mattered less if he was not also the sort of person to describe work he received as “utterly useless” and “woeful”. bullying can be a one-off, but more often it is incremental: stresses accumulate, anxiety builds, atmospheres form.
【9】And even if you think Mr Raab has been unfairly labelled as a bully, it is hard to overlook another problem—his effectiveness as a manager. If enough people think you are a bad boss, you are a bad boss. If employees try to avoid you, the pool of talent available to you shrinks. Mr Tolley himself, who has done a scrupulously fair job, clearly found the deputy prime minister trying. He describes Mr Raab’s approach to the investigation as “somewhat absolutist”. That sounds suspiciously like British-lawyer-speak for “he is a complete nightmare”.
①短语：1.原文：A FASCINATING CASE study on the exercise of power within an organisation has just reached a conclusion in Britain.
词典：reached a conclusion 得出结论；达成一个结论
例句：Only after much discussion can we reach a conclusion about it.
只有在详细讨论之后，我们才能就此事作出结论。
2.原文：Dominic Raab resigned as the country’s deputy prime minister and justice secretary on April 21st, after an independent investigation into whether he is a workplace bully found that he had crossed a line.
词典：crossed a line 过分；越界；越线
例句：Sometimes you don"t know you"ve crossed a line until you"re already on the other side. Of course, by then it"s too late.
有时候直到已经到达了另一边，你才知道自己过了界。当然，那时为时已晚。
3.原文：Mr Raab may not have intended to upset but that is not enough to get him off the hook: the British government’s own website says that bullying is “behaviour that makes someone feel intimidated or offended”.
词典：intended to 打算做……；想要……
例句：Some of her art is intended to shock the viewer.
她的一些艺术旨在震动观赏者。
4.原文：The context of the Raab affair is unusual. Media interest is high, and the relationship between civil servants and British government ministers is a very particular one.
词典：civil servants 公务员
例句：You might expect politicians to smooth things out when civil servants are being dilatory.
当公务员办事拖拉时，你可能期望政治家们能够把事情顺利解决。
5.原文：Hierarchies hand managers the power and remit to weed out poor performers.
词典：weed out 清除；淘汰；除去
例句：He is eager to weed out the many applicants he believes may be frauds.
他急于剔除那些他认为可能是行骗的申请人。
6.原文：He does not want to spend time rehearsing arguments that have already been aired.
词典：spend time doing something 花费时间做某事
例句：Without distractions, he can spend time doing big-picture thinking, instead of being pulled into details.
没有这些干扰他能进行宏观的思考而不是陷入细节的羁绊中。
7.原文：Mr Tolley is persuaded that the complainants acted in good faith, despite protests from Mr Raab that he is the victim of “activist civil servants”.
词典：in good faith 真诚地；善意地；诚心诚意地
例句：We printed the report in good faith but have now learnt that it was incorrect.
我们好意印发了这份报告，但现在才知道它并不正确。
8.原文：Cutting people off in meetings would have mattered less if he was not also the sort of person to describe work he received as “utterly useless” and “woeful”.
词典：Cut off 切断；中断；使死亡；剥夺继承权
例句：I was cut off in midstream.
我说到半截被打断了。
9.原文：Mr Raab may not have intended to upset but that is not enough to get him off the hook: the British government’s own website says that bullying is “behaviour that makes someone feel intimidated or offended”.
词典：get sb off the hook 解围、解脱；（使某人）脱离困境
例句：I don"t think you"ll get off the hook unless you correct the mistake yourself.
除非你自己纠正错误，否则我认为你无法摆脱目前的困境。
②长难句
1. 原文：His supporters, and the man himself, contend that his departure sets an unhealthily low bar for being found guilty of bullying.
2. 分析：该句主句的结构为主（His supporters, and the man）谓（contend）宾语从句（that his departure sets an unhealthily low bar for being found guilty of bullying.）；that引导宾语从句，宾语从句的结构是主（his departure）谓（sets）宾（an unhealthily low bar）。
3.译文：而他的支持者和他本人都认为，他的离职为职场霸凌罪成立设定了一个不合理的低门槛。
1. 原文：Mr Tolley also concluded that Mr Raab’s style at the justice ministry was sometimes “intimidating” and “insulting”.
2. 分析：主句的结构为主语（Mr Tolley）谓（concluded）宾语从句（that Mr Raab’s style at the justice ministry was sometimes “intimidating” and “insulting”.）that引导宾语从句，从句的结构是主（Mr Raab’s style）系（was）表（“intimidating” and “insulting”）。
3. 译文：托利先生还总结道，拉布先生在司法部的风格有时候是“恐吓”和“侮辱”式的。
③写作技巧：1. Mr Raab shares many of the attributes of a desk light: he is bright, glares a lot and is not known for empathy.
译文：拉布和台灯有许多共同点：他明亮夺目，经常目光炯炯，而且不善于换位思考。
技巧：此句采用了类比（analogy）的修辞手法。类比的作用是借助类似的事物的特征刻画突出本体事物特征，更浅显形象地加深本体事物理解，或加强作者的某种感情，烘托气氛，引起读者的联想。类比的逻辑推理能引起读者丰富的想象和强烈共鸣。
例句：Writing a book of poetry is like dropping a rose petal down the Grand Canyon and waiting for the echo.
译文：写一本有关诗歌的书如同将一片玫瑰花瓣扔进大峡谷等待它的回音。
④背景知识：
1.Dominic Raab：多米尼克·拉布。多米尼克·伦尼·拉布（Dominic Rennie Raab，1974年2月25日-），牛津大学本科，剑桥大学硕士，英国保守党党员，英国下议院议员，前任英国大法官和司法大臣。2000年，进入英国外交部。2006年，进入国会工作，成为影子内政大臣戴维·戴维斯的幕僚长。2018年11月15日，多米尼克·拉布辞去英国脱欧事务大臣。
⑤段落大意：
【1】多米尼克·拉布因涉及霸凌辞职，引起争议。
【2】托利调查发现拉布的确在职场中存在不当行为。
【3】因公务员与英国政府大臣之间的关系非常特殊，所以媒体对此事很感兴趣。
【4】职场等级本就意味着权力和职责不平等。
【5】拉布在工作中要求苛刻。
【6】拉布表现出的行为比较冒犯，但其动机似乎正当。
【7】大量且一致的对拉布的投诉说明问题的确存在
【8】托利认为，拉布的霸凌行为是渐进累积的结果。
【9】如果有足够多的人认为你是一个坏老板，那么你就是。
PS:各位研友下载请文末点击阅读原文.
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