On a Short Leash: He Had Firm Control Over His Workers
留校申请书I'm Susan Clark with the Special English program, WORDS AND THEIR STORIES.
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Susan Cleveland is the young president of a candy company in the city of Chicago. Her father began the company in the nineteen sixties. He died three years ago. Now, the company belongs to Susan.
Many of her father's employees were concerned when Susan took control. Susan's father had worked many years for other candy companies before starting this one. He had known a great deal about business.
Susan, however, did not have any jobs before becoming head of the company. She just finished college.
The employees became even more concerned during Susan's first months on the job. Mr.
Cleveland had been a strong leader. But Susan permitted many employees to make their own decisions.
One employee said: "Old Mister Cleveland always told us what to do. He kept people on a short leash. But the company did well."
What does a short leash mean?
A leash is a kind of rope. We u a leash to walk our pet dogs. The leash keeps the dog from running away or getting into trouble.
中国古代书籍Keeping a person on a short leash means keeping him or her under clo control. The person cannot make many decisions for himlf or herlf.
Word expert James Rogers found a similiar saying ud more than four hundred years ago. In fifteen sixty, writer Thomas Becon said in a religious book: "For God hath them in leash. Yea, they are his slaves."
Miz Cleveland does not keep her workers on a short leash. Instead, she urges them to create better ways to do business.
For example, her cretary propod an idea. She said the company should give a prize to the best student in the high school near its factory. The winner could u the prize money to study at a university.
Miz Cleveland approved of the idea. After the prize was announced, people who lived in the area of the factory began to buy more of the company's candy. Local newspapers wrote about the competition. Business improved.
Miz Cleveland made her cretary the company's first director of public relations. The former cretary was very plead. She said: "My old job had become Mickey Mou. Now I have a much more creative one."
Mickey Mou, of cour, is Walt Disney's famous animal drawn for movies, television and comic picture books. But what does a mou have to do with a job?
足球颠球教案
In modern speech, anything that is Mickey Mou is unimportant. Many word experts say the new meaning came from the United States Navy. The Navy had a special school for new sailors who did not co-operate. It was called M-I-C, short for Military Indoctrination Center. Sailors began to say that rules which did not em important were MIC. Over time, MIC became Mickey Mou -- something that lacks meaning.
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This WORDS AND THEIR STORIES was written by Jeri Watson. I'm Susan Clark.
家乡文化调查报告---
Editor's Note: The story of Susan Cleveland and her company is fictional.
Susan Cleveland是芝加哥一家糖果公司年轻的总裁。她的父亲于上世纪60年代开办了这家公司，三年前去世了。现在，该公司归Susan所有。
Susan开始接管公司的时候，她父亲的许多雇员都非常担忧。Susan的父亲在开办这家公司之前曾经在其他糖果公司工作过许多年，非常了解这个行业。
然而，Susan在成为这家公司的总裁之前没有任何工作，她刚刚大学毕业。
在Susan第一个月的工作期间，员工们更加担心。Cleveland曾经是一个非常强有力的领导。但是经典朗诵Susan允许许多员工自己做决定。
一名员工说：“Cleveland先生总是告诉我们应该怎样做。他总是紧紧地控制着我们(on a short leash)。但是公司运转的很好。”
那么，a short leash是什么意思呢？
leash是一种绳子。我们用leash（皮带）来遛狗。皮带可以防止狗跑丢或者惹麻烦。
Keeping a person on a short leash的意思是说将某人牢牢地控制住。这个人不能自己做任何决定。
词语专家James Rogers发现，四百多年前有一个意思相似的词。在第三单元作文1560年，Thomas Becon在一本宗教书中写道：“上帝用绳子束缚着他们。似的，他们是上帝的奴隶。牵羊担酒”
Cleveland则不控制她的员工。相反，她敦促和鼓励员工们创造做生意更好的方法。
例如，她的秘书提议了一个想法。她说，公司应该给予工厂附近的高中里最好的学生以奖励。获胜者可以用这些奖金来支付大学费用。
Cleveland小姐赞同这个想法。在宣布了这项奖励之后，住在工厂附近的人更多地购买该公司的糖果。当地报纸对此进行了报道，生意越来越好。
社区服务中心Cleveland委任她的秘书为该公司第一任公共关系主任。这位前秘书非常高兴。她说：“我以前的工作已经变成了Mickey Mou（已经不重要了）。现在的工作更加富有创造性。”
Mickey Mou是迪斯尼电影，电视和漫画中的米老鼠。但是米老鼠和工作有什么关系呢？
在现代语言中，任何被称为Mickey Mou的事物都是不重要的。许多词汇专家称这个新的含义来自美国海军。海军对于那些不合作的税收设立了一个特殊学校，叫做M-I-C，是Military Indoctrination Center（军事教导中心）的简称。水手们称那些看上去不怎么重要的条例为MIC。久而久之，MIC演化成Mickey Mou——并没有什么特殊含义。
