冷空气和说大话的微妙关系

The first working week of the new decade has been characterised by a curious mix of cold and hot air. The cold air has been blowing out of the Arctic and Siberia; the hot air has been blowing out of the mouths of senior businessmen. The first has turned out to be surprisingly warming. The second, utterly chilling.
冷热气流的奇异交织成为新十年第一个工作周的特征。冷空气从北极和西伯利亚吹来；热空气出自企业高层之口。结果是，前者温暖得出乎意料，后者则让人不寒而栗。
　　
The snow and ice that have hit Europe and the US are popularly believed to be a bad thing for the economy. Workers can't get to work or have to stay at home to look after children because lily-livered head teachers have decided icy playgrounds are dangerous. Those few who turn up to work spend hours idly gazing out of the window at the snow wondering how they are going to get home.
人们普遍认为，袭击欧洲和美国的冰雪天气对经济不利。工人们没法去上班，或者必须呆在家里照看小孩——因为胆小怕事的校长认定，结冰的操场太危险了。少数几个到单位上班的员工则会花上好几个小时，懒散地盯着窗外的雪，想着该怎么回家。
　　
In fact, there is no evidence that cold weather costs the economy anything at all. A report last week from the Centre for Economics and Business Research says the effect is negligible: any lost productivity quickly gets made up, especially in an economy that is not running at full capacity.
事实上，没有证据表明，寒冷天气会对经济造成任何损失。经济和商业研究中心上周发布的报告称，影响可以忽略不计：生产力蒙受的任何损失都会很快得到弥补，尤其是在一个并非满负荷运转的经济体中。
　　
However, I think the true picture is still better than this: a cold snap may actually increase output as it improves workers' morale in four different ways.
但我认为真实的情况比这更好：寒流可能其实还会提高产出，因为它可以通过以下四种途径鼓舞员工士气。
　　
For a start, the simple fact of having successfully arrived at work makes you feel a hero. Before you even take off your coat (and hat, gloves, scarf, galoshes, etc), you have already scored a victory over the weather and this early-morning success puts you in a winning frame of mind. Second, the weather allows you to bond with colleagues by giving you a shared interest. Now that The X Factor is finished in the UK, no one watches the same things on telly and so topics of conversation are hard to find. Last week, the first 10 minutes of the day was happily spent discussing the relative rigours of dealing with ice in Muswell Hill versus Colliers Wood – a comparative show of valour that achieves the bonding effect of an outward bound training course but with none of the expense or palaver.
首先，仅仅是成功到达单位这一点，就会让你感觉自己像个英雄。甚至在你脱去外套（还有帽子、手套、围巾和橡胶套鞋等）之前，你就已经在与天气的较量中赢得了胜利，而这项一大早取得的成就，将使你进入赢者的精神状态。其次，天气可以帮你与同事建立感情，因为它给了你们一个共同感兴趣的话题。现在《The X Factor》已在英国谢幕，大家看的电视节目都不一样了，因此很难找到谈话话题。新十年的第一个工作周，人们在上班的头十分钟快乐地讨论着马斯威尔?希尔区和Colliers Wood区的地面结冰哪个更难对付。这项比谁表现得更英勇的活动，既达到了建立感情的效果，又省去了拓展训练课程的开支和废话。
　　
The third reason for the productivity boost is that cold weather makes the office a good place to be. When you have been out in the cold it is great to get into the warm, especially when the heating bills are being paid by someone else.
提振生产力的第三个原因是，寒冷的天气令人们乐意呆在办公室里。在寒冷的室外呆过后，进入温暖的室内是件很棒的事情，尤其是在取暖费由别人埋单的情况下。
　　
And finally the experience of being cold gets the blood moving and makes you feel like being active. Cold countries have higher productivity than warmer ones, and this may be part of the reason.
最后，寒冷的感觉会加快血液循环，让你感到充满活力。寒冷的国家之所以比较温暖的国家拥有更高的生产力，部分原因或许就在于此。
　　
Having successfully got into the office last week, and bragged about the ice on my front steps (considerable), it was time to get down to some work and think seriously about what the new year will hold for businesses.
那周，在成功进入办公室，并就家门前台阶（数目不少）上的结冰吹嘘了一通后，我感到是时候着手做些工作，就新一年将为企业带来什么认真思考一番了。