In this conversation, some members of an office clique¹ are standing² around the water cooler. They are mostly gossiping about employees who don’t belong to the clique.

 
　　Julie: Did you see Nadia this morning? I really don’t like

　　 the dress she’s wearing.

　　Sally: I know what you mean. Her clothes are never in fashion, anyway.

　　Michael: Hey, I heard through the grapevine that Todd will

　　 probably get the new job in Marketing³.

　　Sally: I’m not surprised. He’s such a brown-noser.

　　Bill: Yeah, the only reason he’s moved up so fast is by sucking up all the time.

　　Mira: I heard that there was a little back-biting involved, too!

　　Michael: Did you hear the latest rumor⁴? Mario and Vanessa have the hots for each other. Someone saw them together a few days ago.

　　Mira: No kidding! And he’s still going out with Florence.

　　Julie: Shh ... keep it down. Chuck’s coming. He can be a real rumor-mongerer.

　　. . . . .

　　Chuck: Hi, everyone. What’s up?

　　在下面的对话里，办公室的一个小集团里的几个成员站在水冷却器旁。他们可能是在谈论那些不属于他们集团的其他同事。

　　Julie: 你今天早上看见Nadia了吗？我一点都不喜欢她穿的衣服。

　　Sally: 我明白你的意思。她的衣服从来都很土。

　　Michael: 嘿，我听（传闻）说Todd很有可能调到市场部工作。

　　Sally: 我一点都不觉得惊讶，他可是个马屁精。

　　Bill: 就是，他之所以升职那么快，惟一的原因就是他每时每刻都在拍马屁。

　　Mira: 我听说还和他诽谤别人有关。

　　Michael:你听到最新的谣传了吗？Mario 和 Vanessa好上了。有人前些天看见他们在一起。

　　Mira: 别开玩笑了。他现在还在和Florence 约会呢。

　　Julie: 嘘，小点声。Chuck来了。他是十足的传谣者。. . . . .

　　Chuck: 大家好，谈什么呢？