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And now, Words and Their Stories, from VOA Learning English.
欢迎收听VOA慢速英语《词汇掌故》节目。
At the start of a new year, many people make a resolution--something to improve on or work on in the new year.
新年伊始，很多人会做新年计划——在新的一年里要改进的地方或努力的事情。
Some common resolutions are to lose weight or make more money.
一些常见的新年计划是减肥或赚更多的钱。
Another common resolution for many people is to clean their homes from top to bottom.
对许多人来说，另一个常见的新年计划是把自己家从上到下彻底打扫一遍。
This usually involves not only cleaning, but organizing as well.
这通常不仅包括清洁，还包括整理。
The start of a new year is a great time to remove the things you no longer need from your home.
新年伊始是把你不再需要的东西从家里搬出去的大好时机。
So, today we talk about the expression: to clean house.
所以，今天我们来谈谈这个短语：to clean house。
If you clean house you make a place neat and orderly by removing extra stuff.
如果你打扫房子，你可以通过清除多余的东西来使房间变得整洁有序。
You get rid of dirt and anything not needed or wanted.
你要去除污垢和任何不需要或不想要的东西。
You straighten up, tidy up, and declutter.
你整理，收拾，清理。
That is how we "clean house" in a physical environment.
这就是我们在客观环境中“打扫房子”的方式。
But we also use this term another way.
但我们也以另一种方式使用这个词语。
When we get rid of bad things we don't want, like bad behavior, we can use the term "clean house."
当我们摆脱我们不想要的坏事时，比如不良行为，我们可以用“clean house”这个短语。
For example, in politics a scandal often causes people to clean house.
例如，在政治上，丑闻往往会使人们进行清理。
And officials within a corrupt government may need to clean house.
腐败政府内部的官员可能需要清理。
In fact, it is amazing how quickly government officials want to clean house when a scandal hits the news.
事实上，当丑闻曝光后，政府官员想要进行清理的速度之快令人惊讶。
In a business, you can clean house on inefficient practices--ways of doing business that cost too much money.
在企业中，你可以清理效率低下的做法——那些耗费太多钱的经营方式。
In an organization, you can clean house on policies that just don't work.
在组织中，你可以清理那些不起作用的政策。
Leaders of a company can clean house by firing employees who do poor work.
公司的领导可以通过解雇工作做得不好的员工来清理公司。
Now, we heard a term earlier in this program that we can also use in this way: To straighten up.
我们在之前的节目中听过一个短语“To straighten up”，我们也可用其表达同样的意思。
However, we usually use "straighten up" when talking about an individual.
然而，当我们讨论人时，我们通常用“straighten up”。
If you tell someone to straighten up, you are telling them to stop some sort of bad behavior.
如果你告诉某人要straighten up，你就是在告诉他们停止某种不良行为。
You can also tell them to clean up their act.
你也可以告诉他们要clean up their act。
This also means they have been doing something bad and you warn them to change it.
clean up their act的意思是他们一直在做坏事，你警告他们改邪归正。
So, let's say a friend of yours is slacking off at work -- coming in late, leaving early, and not really doing anything.
那么，假设你的一个朋友在工作中偷懒——迟到、早退，什么也不做。
You could tell him to straighten up or clean up his act or he will get fired!
你可以告诉他改邪归正，否则他会被解雇的！
If students do poorly at school, parents could tell their children to "straighten up" or "clean up" their act.
如果学生在学校表现不好，家长可以告诉他们的孩子改邪归正。
Now, let's hear two friends use the term "clean house."
现在，让我们来听两个朋友是如何使用“clean house”这个短语的。
How's your friend Meredith doing?
你的朋友梅雷迪思怎么样了？
I haven't seen her around for a long time.
我很久没见到她了。
She's been better.
她已经好多了。
She had been slacking off at work for months.
几个月来，她一直在工作中偷懒。
Her boss warned her to straighten up and clean up her act.
她的老板警告她要改邪归正。
But she didn't. So, he fired her.
但她没有。所以，他解雇了她。
You know. It's funny you mention this.
你知道。真是有意思，你提起这个。
A friend of mine got fired recently, too.
我的一个朋友最近也被解雇了。
His company needed to clean house on jobs that cost money, but didn't do much. And he got the axe.
他的公司需要清理那些需要花钱但任务量并不多的岗位。他被解雇了。
Oh, what was his job?
哦，他是做什么的？
He was Chief Efficiency Officer.
他是首席效率官。
And after an audit, he found that he was getting paid too much to do his job.
在一次审计之后，他发现他的岗位工资太高了。
So, he had to fire himself.
所以，他不得不解雇自己。
Awkward.
尴尬。
Do you have a new year's resolution? And is it to clean house?
你们有新年计划吗？是打扫房间吗？
And that's the end of this week's Words and Their Stories. Until next time … I'm Anna Matteo.
以上就是本期《词汇掌故》节目的全部内容。下次见……我是安娜·马特奥！
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
