天氣酷熱 德主管勸員工別上班

As Germany wilts in sweltering temperatures, a manager in a Berlin government office told his 260 sweating workers to go home, a newspaper reported Friday, undermining Germans' reputation for efficiency.

According to the BZ local tabloid, the boss of the Berlin office for tax evasion investigations sent an email to his employees saying: "Everyone should decide for themselves if they feel up to working in these temperatures."

"This decision should be taken before you pass out ... taking time off work today could in many cases be a wise decision which would have my full understanding," wrote Erik Schliephake in the email printed by BZ.

"With greetings bathed in sweat," the boss signed off the note.

The BZ carried the story on its front page with the headline: "Whoever sweats gets to go home."

Berliners have been baking in a seemingly relentless heatwave in recent weeks, with the mercury frequently soaring into the high 30s Celsius (high 90s Fahrenheit) and July on course to be the hottest on record.

這段時間德國的天氣酷熱難耐，據當地一家報紙上週五報道，首都柏林某政府部門的領導讓屬下的260名員工都放假回家涼快去，這可與德國人講究效率的名聲背道而馳。

據柏林當地小報BZ報道，柏林逃稅調查局的主管給該部門的所有職員發了一封郵件，稱：“大家自行決定自己能否在這樣的高溫下繼續工作。”

這位主管名叫埃裏克•施裏費克，BZ報刊登了他的電子郵件。他在郵件中寫道：“別等到自己熱暈了再去請假……今天請假無論從哪方面說都是一個明智的決定，我完全理解。”

這位主管在信件結尾的簽名處寫道：“附上我浸滿汗水的問候。”

BZ報在頭版刊登了這則消息，標題是《熱了就回家》。

最近幾周柏林持續30多度（華氏90度）高溫，今年的七月份可能要成爲史上最熱的七月。

Vocabulary:

wilt: to become weak or tired（變得委靡不振；發蔫；變得又累又乏）

sweltering: 悶熱的

tabloid: a newspaper with small pages (usually half the size of those in larger papers)oids usually have short articles and a lot of pictures and stories about famous people, and are thought of as less serious than other newspapers. （小報，通俗小報，版面通常比大報小一半，文章短，圖片多，經常報道名人佚事）

feel up to: 覺得有精力（做某事）；感到有能力（處理某事）

pass out: to lose consciousness（昏迷；失去知覺）

sign off: to end a letter（結束寫信）