百度副总裁璩静已离职

近日，百度公关副总裁璩静在抖音上发布多条视频，“我为什么要考虑员工的家庭，我又不是她的婆婆”、“公司和员工只是雇佣关系”……等言论引发热议。

5月9日凌晨，璩静在朋友圈发文道歉。随后，媒体报道称，璩静已离职。

🤔️小作业：

1. What cultural expectation within Chinese IT companies does the article discuss?

A) The adoption of flexible working hours.

B) The expectation for employees to work overtime frequently.

C) The emphasis on employee welfare and health.

D) The promotion of gender equality in the workplace.

A) To resign from her position at Baidu.

B) To advocate for shorter working hours in the tech industry.

C) To learn from her mistakes and apologized for the inappropriate content.

D) To increase salaries for all employees to compensate for overtime.

无注释原文：

Chinese PR boss says sorry after glorifying work-till-you-drop culture

From: The Guardian

The head of public relations at China's biggest search engine, Baidu, has apologised after creating her own PR crisis with a series of videos glorifying the country's work-till-you-drop culture.

Qu Jing, who is also vice-president at the company, said she would not take responsibility for her staff's wellbeing “as I'm not your mother” in the videos posted over the May bank holiday on Douyin, the most popular short-video app in China. In another she said: “If you work in public relations, don't expect weekends off.”

Qu also demanded that employees keep their phones on 24 hours a day and be “always ready to respond”, adding: “I only care about results.”

In an earlier video, Qu claimed to be so caught up in her work that she did not know what year her son was in at school. She later threatened employees who dared to question her management style, saying: “I can make it impossible for you to find a job in this industry with just a short essay.”

The videos sparked a backlash on social media and have since been taken down. On Wednesday, Qu reflected that the posts drew “very pertinent” criticism and promised to learn from her mistakes. “I sincerely apologise for the many inappropriate and uncomfortable points in the video,” she said.

She added that Baidu had not approved the posts before she sent them and admitted the videos had caused “misunderstandings of the company's values and corporate culture”, even though she originally intended them to “do a good job”. On Tuesday, Baidu's stock price fell 2.17% in Hong Kong, and were still trading 2.2% lower on Thursday.

Qu's comments shed light on China's notorious 996 working hour system, in which tech employees work from 9am until 9pm, six days a week. Jack Ma, a co-founder of the e-commerce group Alibaba, drew ire in 2019 for calling this culture a “blessing”.

Chinese IT companies have long had a reputation for expecting employees to work overtime, including reimbursing taxis for those who stay late. But a younger generation of Chinese tech workers are no longer willing to embrace such extreme conditions, which have been likened to modern slavery.

Qu's work missives were trending on the social media platform Weibo. “Employees will never feel at home at a company that doesn't have even a little bit of use,” one user wrote in a discussion that by Thursday had drawn 150m views.

“As the company's vice-president, [Qu] should have known that her comments and attitude would disgust her subordinates, yet she went ahead to make them public. This speaks of how out of touch she is,” wrote another user.

Another reflected on the paradox of a PR executive causing a PR crisis for her own company: “Talk about a lack of professionalism.”

Baidu did not respond to a request for comment.

- ◆ -

注：完整题目见本文开头；中文文本为机器翻译并非一一对应，仅供参考

含注释全文：

Chinese PR boss says sorry after glorifying work-till-you-drop culture

From: The Guardian

The head of public relations at China's biggest search engine, Baidu, has apologised after creating her own PR crisis with a series of videos glorifying the country's work-till-you-drop culture.

中国最大搜索引擎百度公司公关部门负责人发布一系列美化国内“996”加班文化的视频引发自身公关危机后，向公众道歉。

public relations /ˌpʌb.lɪk rɪˈleɪ.ʃənz/ 表示“公共关系；公关活动”，英文解释为“the activity of keeping good relationships between an organization and the general public”举个🌰：Environmentalists attacked the company's ad as a public-relations gimmick. 环保人士指责该公司的广告分明是一项公关伎俩。

search engine /ˈsɜːtʃ ˌen.dʒɪn/ 表示“搜索引擎”，英文解释为“a computer program that finds information on the internet by looking for words that you have typed in”

glorify /ˈɡlɔː.rɪ.faɪ/ 表示“吹捧；吹嘘；美化”，英文解释为“to make sth seem better or more important than it really is”举个🌰：He denies that the movie glorifies violence. 他否认这部影片美化暴力。

📺美剧《超感猎杀》（Sense8）中的台词提到：Movies like what? - Movies that glorify violence. 哪类电影? - 那种美化宣扬暴力的电影。

work till/until you drop 表示“努力工作直到精疲力尽”，英文解释为“to work until you are so tired that you cannot work any more”

Qu Jing, who is also vice-president at the company, said she would not take responsibility for her staff's wellbeing “as I'm not your mother” in the videos posted over the May bank holiday on Douyin, the most popular short-video app in China. In another she said: “If you work in public relations, don't expect weekends off.”

五一假期期间，百度公司副总裁璩静在中国最受欢迎的短视频应用抖音上发布视频称，她不会为员工的福祉负责，“我不是你妈”。她在另一条视频中表示：“干公关你就别想休周末。”

bank holiday /ˌbæŋk ˈhɒl.ə.deɪ/ 表示“银行假日，公休日（银行和大多数公司均不营业）”，英文解释为“an official holiday when banks and most businesses are closed for a day”

📍银行假日是英国的法定公众假日，于1871年被承认。英国这个国家和欧洲的其他国家相比，是公众假日比较少的国家。这个公众假日就是那些除了周末外其他的假日，比如圣诞节。通常，公共假日也被称为“银行假日”，因为银行在假日中会关闭，暂停所有交易。（百度百科）

Qu also demanded that employees keep their phones on 24 hours a day and be “always ready to respond”, adding: “I only care about results.”

璩静还要求员工手机24小时开机，并“随传随到”，她补充道：“我只关心结果。”

In an earlier video, Qu claimed to be so caught up in her work that she did not know what year her son was in at school. She later threatened employees who dared to question her management style, saying: “I can make it impossible for you to find a job in this industry with just a short essay.”

在之前一段视频中，璩静声称自己太专注于工作，以至于不知道儿子在学校读几年级。后来，她威胁那些敢于质疑她管理风格的员工说：“我可以让你在这个行业里找不到工作，我只要发一篇小作文”。

be/get caught up in sth表示“（常指不情愿地）被卷入，陷入”，英文解释为“to become involved in something, often without wanting to”举个🌰：They were having an argument and somehow I got caught up in it. 他们在争论，不知怎地把我给卷了进去。

The videos sparked a backlash on social media and have since been taken down. On Wednesday, Qu reflected that the posts drew “very pertinent” criticism and promised to learn from her mistakes. “I sincerely apologise for the many inappropriate and uncomfortable points in the video,” she said.

这些视频在社交媒体上引发了强烈反响，现已被删除。周三，璩静表示，很多批评“非常中肯”，将深刻反思、从错误中吸取教训。“视频中很多不妥不适之处，在此诚恳道歉，”她说。

spark /spɑːk/ 作名词，1）表示“火花，火星；电火花”，英文解释为“a very small piece of fire that flies out from something that is burning, or one that is made by rubbing two hard things together, or a flash of light made by electricity”

2）表示“愤怒/灵感/生命的火花（等等）”，英文解释为“a feeling or quality that causes excitement”举个🌰：They kept running into each other and eventually realized there was a spark between them. 他们不断遇到对方，终于意识到他们之间有火花。

spark作动词，表示“引发”，英文解释为“If one thing sparks another, the first thing causes the second thing to start happening.”举个🌰：My teacher organized a unit on computer science that really sparked my interest. 我的老师编排了一个关于计算机科学的单元，它真正激发了我的兴趣。

此前，《后浪》和「青年」文中标题中就用到：Bilibili's May 4th Youth Day video sparks discussion on social media 引发热议。

📍“spark”表示一瞬间的光亮或能量的释放，引申为激发某种感情或兴趣。同根词：sparkle（闪耀），常用短语：spark a debate（引发辩论）

类似的还有：

📍stir表示“激发，激起（强烈的感情）；引起（强烈的反应）”，英文解释为“to make someone have a strong feeling or reaction”举个🌰：The poem succeeds in stirring the imagination. 这首诗能够激发起想象力。

📍provoke也表示“激起，引起”，英文解释为“to cause a reaction or feeling, especially a sudden one”，如：provoke debate/discussion 激起辩论/讨论。

📍spur 鼓动；激励；鞭策；刺激；鼓舞”，英文解释为“If one thing spurs you to do another, it encourages you to do it.”举个🌰：It's the money that spurs these fishermen to risk a long ocean journey in their flimsy boats. 是金钱驱使这些渔民驾驶单薄的小船冒险出海远航。

🎬电影《龙之心3：巫师的诅咒》（Dragonheart 3: The Sorcerer's Curse）中的台词提到：To spur the clans to war. 激励部族发起战争。

📍trigger表示“发动；引起；触发”，英文解释为“to make sth happen suddenly”举个🌰：Nuts can trigger off a violent allergic reaction. 坚果可以引起严重的过敏反应。

backlash /ˈbæk.læʃ/ 表示“强烈抵制，集体反对”，英文解释为“a strong negative reaction by a large number of people, for example to sth that has recently changed in society”如：the backlash against xx 对xx的强烈反对。

📺美剧《无耻之徒》（Shameless）第一季中的台词提到：There will be a backlash if people don't stop 字幕组翻译为：如果人们不停止...的话，迟早会出大事。

reflect /rɪˈflekt/ 1）表示“显示；反映；表达”，英文解释为“to show, express, or be a sign of something”举个🌰：The statistics reflect a change in people's spending habits. 这些统计数据显示出人们的消费习惯发生了变化。

2）表示“深思，考虑，认真思考（尤指可能性或意见）”，英文解释为“to think carefully, especially about possibilities and opinions”举个🌰：The manager demanded time to reflect (on what to do). 经理要求给他一些时间好好想一想（怎么办）。

3）表示“反射（光、热、声等）；反映，映出（影像）”，英文解释为“If a surface reflects light, heat, sound, or an image, it sends the light, etc. back and does not absorb it.”举个🌰：He saw himself reflected in the water/mirror/shop window. 他在水中/镜子里/商店橱窗玻璃上看到了自己的影像。

pertinent /ˈpɜː.tɪ.nənt/ 表示“有关的，直接相关的；恰当的，相宜的”，英文解释为“relating directly to the subject being considered；appropriate to a particular situation”如：a pertinent question/remark 切中要害的问题/评论。

She added that Baidu had not approved the posts before she sent them and admitted the videos had caused “misunderstandings of the company's values and corporate culture”, even though she originally intended them to “do a good job”. On Tuesday, Baidu's stock price fell 2.17% in Hong Kong, and were still trading 2.2% lower on Thursday.

她补充说，在她发布视频之前，没有事先征求公司意见，并承认这些视频使外部“对公司价值观和企业文化产生误解”，尽管她的初心是想“把工作做好”。周二，百度公司在香港的股价下跌2.17%，周四仍下跌2.2%。

stock /stɒk/ 1）表示“（商店的）库存，存货”，英文解释为“the total amount of goods or the amount of a particular type of goods available in a shop”

2）表示“股份；股票”，英文解释为“part of the ownership of a company that can be bought by members of the public”举个🌰：Stock prices fell yesterday in heavy trading. 股价昨日放量下跌。

类似的：

📍share作名词，表示“股份，股票”，英文解释为“any of the units of equal value into which a company is divided and sold to raise money. People who own shares receive part of the company's profits.”

Qu's comments shed light on China's notorious 996 working hour system, in which tech employees work from 9am until 9pm, six days a week. Jack Ma, a co-founder of the e-commerce group Alibaba, drew ire in 2019 for calling this culture a “blessing”.

璩静的言论揭示了中国臭名昭著的996工作制，即科技行业员工从早上9点工作到晚上9点，每周工作6天。电子商务集团阿里巴巴的联合创始人马云曾在2019年将这种文化称为“福气”而引起公愤。

cast/shed/throw light on sth 表示“使（问题等）较容易理解；为…提供解释；使…较容易理解；阐明；使…清楚地显出”，英文解释为“to make a problem, etc. easier to understand”举个🌰：As an economist, he was able to shed some light on the problem. 作为经济学家，他能解释这个问题。

notorious /nəʊˈtɔː.ri.əs/ 表示“臭名昭著的，声名狼藉的”，英文解释为“famous for something bad”如：one of Mexico's most notorious criminals 墨西哥最臭名昭著的罪犯之一。

ire /aɪə/ 表示“愤怒”，不可数名词，英文解释为“Ire is anger.”举个🌰：Their ire was directed mainly at the company. 他们的愤怒主要针对该公司。

blessing /ˈbles.ɪŋ/ 作名词，1）表示“祈神赐福；祝福”，英文解释为“a request by a priest for God to take care of a particular person or a group of people, or God's act of doing this”，如：to pray for God's blessing 祈求上帝降福。

2）表示“好事；有益之事；幸事”，英文解释为“something that is good or helpful”举个🌰：It's a blessing that nobody was in the house at the time. 幸好当时屋子里没人。

3）sb. blessing表示“同意；支持；许可，赞同”，英文解释为“If something is done with someone's blessing, it is done with their approval and support”举个🌰：He went with his parents' blessing. 他是得到父母的同意去的。

补充两个表达：

📍mixed blessing表示“喜忧参半，福祸兼有的事物，利弊并存的事物”，英文解释为“something that has advantages and disadvantages”举个🌰：Getting into the team is a mixed blessing - I'll have to spend a lot of time training. 加入这支队伍有好处也有坏处——我得花许多时间训练。

📍a blessing in disguise表示“祸中之福，因祸得福”，英文解释为“something that seems bad or unlucky at first, but results in something good happening later”举个🌰：Losing that job was a blessing in disguise really. 失去那份工作真是因祸得福。

Chinese IT companies have long had a reputation for expecting employees to work overtime, including reimbursing taxis for those who stay late. But a younger generation of Chinese tech workers are no longer willing to embrace such extreme conditions, which have been likened to modern slavery.

长期以来，中国IT公司一直以要求员工加班而闻名，包括为加班的员工报销出租车费用。但年轻一代的中国科技行业从业者不再愿意接受这种被比作现代奴隶的极端条件。

reimburse /ˌriː.ɪmˈbɜːs/ 表示“偿还；付还；补偿”，英文解释为“to pay back money to someone who has spent it for you or lost it because of you”举个🌰：The airline reimbursed me for the amount they had overcharged me. 航空公司把多收的钱退还给我了。

slavery /ˈsleɪ.vər.i/ 表示“奴隶制，蓄奴；奴隶身份”，英文解释为“the activity of having slaves or the condition of being a slave”举个🌰：Slavery still exists in many parts of the world. 在世界上许多地方奴隶制依然存在。

Qu's work missives were trending on the social media platform Weibo. “Employees will never feel at home at a company that doesn't have even a little bit of use,” one user wrote in a discussion that by Thursday had drawn 150m views.

璩静的职场言论成为了社交媒体平台微博上的热门搜索话题。一位用户写道：“在一个连一点点人性化都做不到的公司，员工永远不会有归属感。”截至周四，该话题的浏览量已达1.5亿。

missive /ˈmɪsɪv/ 表示“书信；函件”，英文解释为“A missive is a letter or other message that someone sends.”如：the customary missive from your dear mother 你亲爱的母亲如常寄来的一封家书。

trend /trend/ 作动词，表示“（某一时刻在社交媒体或网站上）被提及最多的词语（主题或名字）”，英文解释为“to be one of the words, subjects, or names that is being mentioned most often on a social media website or a news website at a particular time”举个🌰：Within minutes of the incident her name was trending on Weibo. 事件发生几分钟后她的名字就在微博上传开了。

trend本身也可以直接作名词，原意有“趋势；趋向；倾向；动态；动向；热点”，英文解释为“a general direction in which a situation is changing or developing”。

📍trending hashtags或者说a trending topic，可以指微博上的“#热门话题#”；类似的，Youtube首页上的Trending对应的中文就处理为“时下流行”。

“As the company's vice-president, [Qu] should have known that her comments and attitude would disgust her subordinates, yet she went ahead to make them public. This speaks of how out of touch she is,” wrote another user.

“作为公司副总裁，[璩静]应该知道她的言论和态度会让下属反感，但她还是将其公之于众。这说明她有多么脱离群众，”另一位用户写道。

disgust /dɪsˈɡʌst/ 表示“使厌恶，使憎恶，使反感”，英文解释为“to make you feel extreme dislike or disapproval”如：Doesn't all this violence on TV disgust you? 电视中的暴力场面不让你反感吗?

subordinate /səˈbɔː.dɪ.nət/ 表示“下属，下级”，英文解释为“a person who has a less important position than you in an organization”举个🌰：He left the routine checks to one of his subordinates. 他把例行检查交给了一个下属负责。

Another reflected on the paradox of a PR executive causing a PR crisis for her own company: “Talk about a lack of professionalism.”

另一位用户则提到身为公关主管给自己公司带来公关危机的悖论：“真是缺乏专业性”。

paradox /ˈpærəˌdɒks/ 表示“自相矛盾的情况；似非而是的说法，悖论”，英文解释为“a situation or statement that seems impossible or is difficult to understand because it contains two opposite facts or characteristics”举个🌰：It's a curious paradox that drinking a lot of water can often make you feel thirsty. 大量喝水经常会让人感觉口渴，这是看似矛盾而正确的奇怪说法。

表示“（用于加强语气）说到…可真不得了”，英文解释为“used to emphasize that something is very noticeable in the stated way”举个🌰：I read the whole book, but talk about boring! 我看完了整本书，可真是无聊透顶！

📍Talk about ...常用来强调某个情况的显著或突出特征，尤其是当这个特征令人印象深刻或意外时。这个表达方式用于口语中，可以添加戏剧性或加强叙述的情感色彩。

Baidu did not respond to a request for comment.

百度尚未回应置评请求。

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