Don't burn any bridges 給自己留條后路

Lisa告訴同事Emily新年過后準備辭職，因為她覺得眼下的工作很無聊，沒有升職的機會，她還說：

Lisa: The other problem is that I think the company is really set in its ways.

Emily: What do you mean?

L: In other words, I think management is resistant to change. I've given great proposals to my section chief and I've even sent emails with ideas on how to streamline operations to the big boss, but the reaction is always the same.

E: What do they say when you offer suggestions?

L: Usually something like: "We'll take a look and get back to you." But that's the last I'll ever hear from them.

Lisa還覺得公司運作墨守成規，set in one's ways是指生活方式或做事方法一成不變，類似的說法還有stuck in a rut，rut是指車轱轆留下的印兒，to stuck in a rut陷在車轱轆印里，也是墨守成規、一成不變的意思。Lisa說自己向部門經理和公司老板提出過很多好建議，但都沒有得到重視。得到的回答一般都是：We'll take a look and get back to you（我們看一下再答復你），然后就再也沒有任何消息了。

E: So, do you have any job prospects lined up?

L: I've been sending out resumes and I've gotten a couple of bites.

E: I see...so you've pretty much made up your mind to quit then?

L: I think so. I'll miss seeing you everyday.

E: I'll miss you, too. Can I make a suggestion?

L: Sure!

E: Don't burn any bridges when you make your move.

L: What do you mean?

Emily問她工作找得怎么樣了，Do you have any job prospects lined up? Lisa說自己發了一些簡歷，已經有一些公司對她表示有興趣了，I've gotten a couple of bite. bite在這里是上鉤的意思，意思是她的簡歷已經引起了一些公司的興趣。看起來Lisa去意已定，Emily好心地建議Lisa： Don't burn any bridges. 辭職的時候不要把事做絕，最后給自己留條后路。Emily進一步解釋說：

E: I mean, don't tell the boss you hate your job or him. Simply inform them that you plan to resign from your position and do your best to train your replacement. That way, this company can remain a back-up option for you.

L: You make a good point. I'll try to be as professional about this as possible. Thanks Emily! Talking to you makes me feel much better.

E: Sure! Now let's eat!

Emily勸Lisa不要burn any bridges（斷了自己的后路），不用告訴老板對公司有多不滿意，而且還要do your best to train your replacement（盡力把交接工作做好），這里所說的replacement指的是接替Lisa工作的那個人。Emily說，這樣的話，現在的公司還能是Lisa的候補選項back-up option. Lisa覺得Emily這番話很有道理，并保證自己在處理這件事的時候，I'll try to be as professional as possible. 這里的professional是專業的意思，as professional as possible意思是盡可能按照職場的慣例去做。

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（來源：VOA英語教學 編輯：丹妮）