英语博客：ESL Podcast 752 – Working With Unreliable People

　　Paul: What time is it?
Jackie: It’s 2:30. The Cleveland office report should have been emailed to us by the end of the workday yesterday. What are we supposed to do now?
Paul: If we don’t get their report, we’ll have to hold up the production of the annual report and if that happens, somebody’s head is going to roll. This really leaves us in a lurch¹. Who’s responsible for the report in Cleveland?
Jackie: Noel Simmons.
Paul: Oh, no. I know Noel. I used to work with him in the Columbus office. He was always dropping the ball on his responsibilities and I was always having to cover for him.
Jackie: You must have had the patience of a saint²! If he’s such a flake³, why is he still working for this company?
Paul: Beats me, but I know we’re in for a long wait if he’s in charge. We have to do something. Get on the phone and see if you can light a fire under him. Unless we keep on him, we’ll never see that report.
Jackie: Okay, I’ll call the Cleveland office right now.
Paul: And Jackie?
Jackie: Yes?
Paul: If he gives you a line or some kind of excuse, let me talk to him.
Jackie: What’ll you do?
Paul: I’ll take him on a trip down memory lane. When I used to work with him, I wasn’t always so patient – or polite.
Script by Dr. Lucy Tse

1 lurch   

n.突然向前或旁边倒；v.蹒跚而行

参考例句：

• It has been suggested that the ground movements were a form of lurch movements.地震的地面运动曾被认为是一种突然倾斜的运动形式。
• He walked with a lurch.他步履蹒跚。

2 saint   

n.圣徒；基督教徒；vt.成为圣徒，把...视为圣徒

参考例句：

• He was made a saint.他被封为圣人。
• The saint had a lowly heart.圣人有谦诚之心。

3 flake   

v.使成薄片；雪片般落下；n.薄片

参考例句：

• Drain the salmon,discard the skin,crush the bones and flake the salmon with a fork.将鲑鱼沥干，去表皮，粉碎鱼骨并用餐叉子将鱼肉切成小薄片状。
• The paint's beginning to flake.油漆开始剥落了。