Steve: Mike, do you need anything from the basement?

    Mike. I have been with this company for almost seven months and I still have no clue what is in the basement.

    Steve. Some people say that the most important division is down there.

    Mike. What's that? Sales, marketing, accounting or human resources?

    Steve. None of those! Why not come downstairs with me and meet all of the guys and gals from the mailroom?

    Mike. The mailroom! What do they do there?

    Steve: They take care of sending all of our mail and making sure that incoming letters find the right people.

    Mike: Why would I want to go there?

    Steve: Many great careers have started in the mail-rooms of world famous companies!

    史蒂夫：迈克，你需要从地下室拿点什么东西吗？
    迈克：我到这家公司已经快七个月了，可我还不知道地下室有什么东西。
    史蒂夫：有些人说最重要的部门设在下面。
    迈克：那是什么？销售部、市场营销部、财务部还是人事部？
    史蒂夫：都不是！为什么不跟我到楼下看看，和邮件中心的伙计们认识认识？
    迈克：邮件中心！他们在那里做什么？
    史蒂夫：他们负责把我们的邮件发出去，并确保寄来的邮件准确无误地送到收件人手里。
    迈克：我为什么要去那里？
    史蒂夫：很多很棒的职业始于世界著名公司的邮件中心！

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    NEW WORDS（生词）   

    1) Basement: the bottom floor of a building
    地下室：建筑物的底层
    The basement of our building is said to be haunted but it's just a ghost story.
    有人说我们这栋楼的地下室闹鬼，这只不过是鬼话。

    2) No clue: no idea, something that you don't know
    不知道：没有头绪，你不知道的事情
    At school, my economics teacher said that I had no clue about managing money - and he was right!
    上学的时候我的经济学老师说我不会理财―他说对了！

    3) Mailroom: place that incoming and outgoing mail is sorted for delivery
    邮件中心：分拣来往邮件以便递送的地方
    My first job was working in a mailroom sorting mail.
    我的第一份工作是在邮件中心里分拣邮件。

    4) Career: a job with progressive achievements for which you have training
    职业、事业：与你所受的教育相关、有发展的工作
    These days, choosing a career is almost a full-time job itself.
    现在，选择一种职业本身几乎是一项全职的工作。

    LESSON：课文

    The flow of information within an organization is absolutely vital to the success of any company. Without a smooth flow of ideas and information, a company can miss opportunities for profit.

    对任何一家公司来说，机构内部信息的流入绝对是成功的关键。如果没有平稳流入的思想和信息，公司就可能坐失良机。

    Before the invent of fax machines and email, mail was the only way to send information. To manage the inflow of large amounts of mail, companies established separate divisions just to sort incoming and outgoing mail.

    在传真机和电子邮件发明以前，邮寄是发送信息的唯一途径。为了管理大量邮件的内流，公司建立独立的部门专门负责分拣往来邮件。

    Mail-room staff would sort and record every piece of mail coming or leaving. They would take the outgoing mail to the post office for mailing and distribute incoming mail to the right person.

    邮件中心（收发室）的员工要分拣和记录每一封来往的邮件。他们将往外发的邮件送到邮局，并将寄来的邮件准确无误地分发到收件人的手中。

    Because mailroom staff saw every piece of mail and other important information they often knew what was happening better than anyone else. This gave them a small amount of power that could be used to work their way out of the mailroom into a better job.

    由于邮件中心（收发室）的员工可以看到每一封邮件和其他重要的信息，他们通常比其他人更了解行情。这就给了他们一点权力，他们可以利用它去做比收发员更好的工作。

    Famous business managers who have started in the mailroom and slowly become business leaders include Victor Kiam of Remington (the razor company) and Jac Nasser the Chief Executive Officer of Ford Motor Company.

    从收发员做起，慢慢成为商业巨头的著名商业管理人有雷明顿公司（那家剃刀公司，编者注：另有一家著名的武器公司也命名为雷明顿公司）的维克多·凯恩和福特汽车公司的首席执行官杰克·纳赛尔。

    The invention of email, fax machines and even the telephone have all accelerated the death of mail rooms within companies. Today, most mail-related jobs are done by secretaries and mail rooms have completely closed.

    电子邮件、传真机乃至电话的发明共同加速了公司内部邮件中心（收发室）的死亡。今天，大多数与邮件相关的工作由秘书来完成，邮件中心（收发室）已经完全消失了。

    Dialogue（对话）

    Beth: I wonder what it was like to work all day in the basement of a huge building sorting mail.

    Sally: Oh I don't think the mailroom staff stayed in the basement all day.

    Beth: When would they leave the basement?

    Sally: To take all of the mail to the various floors of the building and the right offices on each floor.

    Beth: Hmmm - so they spent a lot of time in the elevators?

    Sally: I suppose so, but they do get to see and hear all of the office rumors and gossip.

    Beth: And that way they get to all of the company secrets?

    Sally: Now you're thinking! How else do you think they work their way from the bottom to the top?

    Beth: Hard work - like the rest of us!

    贝丝：我在想在一幢大楼的地下室里整天分拣邮件是什么样子。
    莎莉：噢，我不认为那些收发元整天呆在地下室。
    贝丝：他们什么时候离开地下室？
    莎莉：把邮件分发到不同的楼层和各层的收件人办公室里的时候。
    贝丝：嗯―这么说他们有很多时间是在电梯里度过的？
    莎莉：我想是吧，但是他们确实看到和听到所有办公室的流言蜚语。
    贝丝：这样他们就知道了所有公司的秘密？
    莎莉：现在你说对了！要不然你认为他们是怎样从下往上爬的？
    贝丝：艰苦的工作―和我们其他人一样。