學英文/平成再見!日本天皇step down 意思不是走下來!

日本明仁天皇將在4月底正式退位(abdicate),而日本政府也在4月1日公布了新年號「令和」,正式告別平成時代。皇室的退位和一般職場上的卸任、辭職有什麼差別呢?讓我們從天皇的退位事件,來學習多益人事情境單字吧!

Official U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Achilles Tsantarliotis

To step down 卸任、辭職

According to the survey of the Kyodo news agency, after Akihito suggested he wanted to step down, more than 85% of the people agreed that the abdication should be legalized.
(根據日本共同社民調指出,在明仁天皇提出想卸任的意願後,85%民眾支持讓退位合法化。)

step down字面的意思是走下去,也有下台、辭職之意,與多益常考單字resign為同義字,然而step down通常指的是較高階的職位如總理、主席或主管等職務的卸任,不是一般職位的辭職。

Natalie has stepped down as chairperson.
(娜塔莉辭去主席的職務。)

除了使用在不同的職位,step down還能用來描述退休或因某些原因被迫卸任的情形,而resign則僅有辭職之意。

●退休:
Mr. Malone stepped down as President after 18 years running the nation’s biggest chain of auto dealerships.
(馬龍先生在經營全國最大連鎖汽車經銷商18年後,以總裁的職位退休了。)

●被迫卸任:
The CEO of PG&E Corp. stepped down due to potential liability caused by California wildfires.
(太平洋瓦斯公司執行長因承擔加州野火的責任引咎辭職。)

若僅是一般職位的離職,則是用resign來描述。
Some people resign right after receiving their year-end bonus.
(有人在領完年終後就馬上離職。)

而另一個表示退位的單字abdicate用法則較為狹隘,僅能用於國王退位的情況,不能用於一般商業職場情境。同樣地,由於天皇是一個極為特殊的職位,因此也不能使用一般職位卸任的resign來描述。

Emeritus 榮譽退休的

Out of respect for Emperor Akihito’s accumulated achievements, he will be called “His Majesty the Emperor Emeritus” after his abdication on April 30.
(為表示對明仁天皇成就的敬重,在他四月三十日卸任後將會得到太上天皇的尊稱。)

Emeritus是形容詞,通常用來描述擁有至高成就、值得敬重且即將退休的高級職務或專業人員,例如商界中的董事長、高層主管,學術界的教授或專業研究人員等職務。

Although Professor Emeritus is retired, they may still have some teaching schedules and are still eligible for using school facilities and benefits.
(雖然榮譽教授已退休,他們仍可能還有教學時數且能使用校園資源與福利。)

Emeritus雖為形容詞,通常接在名詞前面,但由於它是特殊稱謂,因此常看見將其置於名詞後的用法,以榮譽退休的科學家來說,可稱為emeritus scientist或scientist emeritus。

而另一個與emeritus意思相近的多益字honorary,雖然同樣有榮譽的意思,但差別在emeritus僅限使用於即將退休或已退休的職位,而honorary則是不限定是否已退休,除職位外也可以形容榮譽學位。

A lot of well-known public figures have received honorary degrees at commencement ceremonies.
(許多知名的公眾人物都在大學畢業典禮時取得榮譽學位。)

Reconciliation和諧、和解

Emperor Akihito has devoted himself to promoting reconciliation with former victims of Japanese wartime aggression and drawing the imperial family closer to the people.
(明仁天皇致力於促進日本與當時戰爭受害者間的和諧,並設法拉近皇室與民眾的距離。)

reconciliation在此為和諧之意,與harmony意思相同,可用於描述工作與生活間的和諧、協調性。

Work-family reconciliation plays a major role in the well-being of employees, having impacts on the individual, social, and organizational level.
(工作與家庭和諧對員工的身心健康扮演著極為關鍵的角色,對個人、社交與企業組織等層面皆有影響。)

名詞reconciliation源自於動詞reconcile(調解、調停),因此除了和諧之外,也可用於表示原本有衝突或對立的兩方達成「和解」的狀態。

The meeting successfully achieved reconciliation between the two departments.
(這場會議成功讓兩個部門達成和解。)

reconciliation通常後面會用with或between這兩個介係詞做連接:
●「與某人和解」the reconciliation with someone
●「A與B間的和諧」the reconciliation between A and B

To succeed繼承、接任

After 30 years on the Chrysanthemum Throne, Emperor Akihiro will be succeeded by his eldest son, the 59-year-old Crown Prince Naruhito on May 1.
(在三十年的菊花王朝任期後,明仁天皇的王位將在五月一日由現年59歲的長子德仁天皇繼承。)

動詞succeed在多益測驗中有兩個常考的字義,第一個字義是「繼承、接任」為及物動詞,因此在描述接任某人的職位時,不須加任何的介係詞做連接。

She will succeed Mr. Smith as Editor-in-chief.
(她將接任史密斯先生總編輯的職務。)

當succeed為第二個字義「成功、辦妥某事」時,便成為不及物動詞,必須接上介係詞in來連接後面成功辦妥的事情,其形容詞為successful。

The project manager has succeeded in getting enough funding from the government.
(專案經理成功向政府取得足夠資金。)

看完了以上的介紹,是否對這些單字及用法有較深的理解呢?就讓我們用下面的模擬試題測驗自己的多益實力吧!

多益模擬試題:

1. The senior manager acted as a mediator and tried to bring about ………. between the two parties.
(A) domination
(B) immersion
(C) reconciliation
(D) termination

2. TBC Corporate named one of their top sales managers to ………. as chief executive officer after a turbulent period.
(A) succeed
(B) succeeding
(C) succeeded
(D) succession

解析:

1. 正解為(C)。題意為「資深經理扮演著調停者的角色設法促成雙方的和解。」選項(A) domination「主導」、(B) immersion「沉浸」、(D) termination「終止」,因此僅(C) reconciliation「和解」,符合文意為正確答案。

2. 正解為(A)。題意為「在一段動盪時期後,TBC集團任命其中一位頂尖的業務經理來接任執行長的職位。」name someone to do something為「任命人來做某件事」,後面必須接to加原型動詞,因此答案為(A) succeed。

文/羅伊伶

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