Recording Three
录音三
Shortly after he took over the Reader's Digest Association in 1984,
1984年乔治·格鲁恩接管读者文摘集团后不久,
George Grune unlocked the company's boardroom and announced that the room was now open to the employees.
打开了公司董事会会议室的门,向全体员工开放了董事会房间。
It was a symbolic act, indicating that under Grune's leadership, Reader's Digest was going to be different.
这是一个标志性的举动,表明在格鲁恩的领导下,《读者文摘》将会有所不同。
True to his word, Grune has shaken up the culture here.
正如格鲁恩自己所说的那样,他颠覆了该公司原有的企业文化。
To get an idea of the culture we're talking about, consider the boardroom Grune opened up.
要了解文化,不妨想想格鲁恩会议室开放的情况。
It has artworks that any museum in the world would want to collect, paintings by many world-famous artists like Monet and Picasso.
这里有世界上任何一家博物馆都想收藏的艺术品,比如世界著名艺术家莫奈和毕加索的许多作品。
Its headquarters houses some 3,000 works of art.
总部大约有3000件艺术品。
The main building is topped with a Georgian Tower with four sculptures of the mythical winged horse, the magazine's corporate logo.
主建筑顶部是乔治塔,上面有四尊神话中的飞马雕塑——该企业集团的标识。
It sits on 127 acres of well-trimmed lawns.
该建筑坐落在127英亩修剪整齐的草坪上。
The editor's office used to be occupied by founder Dewitt Wallace,
编辑办公室曾经被创始人德惠特·华莱士占用,
who, along with his wife, Lila Acheson Wallace, launched Reader's Digest in 1922 with condensed articles from other publications.
1922年,德惠特·华莱士和妻子莱拉·艾奇逊·华莱士创办了《读者文摘》,收录了其他出版物的精华文章。
It has become the world's most widely read magazine, selling 28 million copies each month in 17 languages and 41 different editions.
《读者文摘》已成为世界上最受欢迎的杂志,每月出售2800万份,包含17种语言和41个不同版本。
The Wallaces, both children of church ministers, had a clearly defined formula for their "little magazine" as Reader's Digest was originally subtitled.
华莱士二人都出生于牧师家庭,最初杂志叫“little magazine”,“读者文摘”是副标题,他们对文章有一个明确的要求——
Articles were to be short, readable and uplifting. Subjects were picked to inspire or entertain.
简短易读,但要有激励人心或是让人愉悦的效果,
The Wallaces didn't accept advertising in the US edition until 1955 and even then they didn't allow any ads for cigarettes, liquor or drugs.
直到1955年,华莱士夫妇才接受了美国版的广告,而且他们不允许任何香烟、烈酒或毒品的广告。
The Wallaces also had a clear sense of the kind of workplace they wanted.
华莱士夫妇知道他们想要什么
It started as a mom-and-pop operation, and the childless Wallaces always considered employees to be part of their family.
这家杂志最初采用家庭经营的运作方式,华莱士夫妇没有子女,他们把员工当成家庭成员来对待。
Employees still tell stories of how the Wallaces would take care of their employees who had met with misfortunes and they showered their employees with unusual benefits,
员工们还讲述华莱士夫妇如何照顾不幸员工的故事,他们还向员工提供了非同一般的福利,
like a turkey at Thanksgiving and Fridays off in May. This cozy workplace no longer exists here.
就像感恩节的火鸡,5月的周五休息。这些舒适的工作场所已经不复存在了。
The Wallaces both died in their nineties in the early 1980s.
二十世纪八十年代,夫妇二人去世。
George Grune, a former ad salesman who joined Reader's Digest in 1960 has his eye focused on the bottom line.
乔治·格鲁恩接手公司,他曾是一名广告推销员,1960年加入《读者文摘》。
In a few short years, he turned the magazine on his head.
在短短的几年里,杂志改头换面。
He laid off several hundred workers.
他解雇了几百名员工。
Especially hard hit were the blue- and pink-collar departments, such as subscription fulfillment.
首当其冲的是蓝领和粉领部门,比如订阅部门。
Questions 22 to 25 are based on the recording you have just heard.
根据你刚才听到的录音回答22-25题。
22. What did George Grune do in 1984?
问题22:乔治·格鲁恩在1984年做了什么?
23. How did the Wallaces define the formula for Reader's Digest?
问题23:夫妇是如何定位《读者文摘》的?
24. What do we learn about the founder of Reader's Digest Dewitt Wallace?
问题24:关于《读者文摘》的创始人德惠特·华莱士,我们了解到了什么?
25. What change took place in Reader's Digest after the Wallaces' death?
问题25:华莱士死后,读者文摘发生了什么变化?