英语博客：ESL Podcast 796 – Setting Up Conference Calls and Videoconferences

 　　Ewan: Who’s running the videoconference next week?

 

　　Petra: I am. Desmond put me in charge of it last week.

 

　　Ewan: Oh, somebody’s moving up in the world. It’s nice that he’s giving you more responsibility.

 

　　Petra: Yeah, but I’m not sure I’m ready.

 

　　Ewan: I’ve set up conference calls and videoconferences before. Maybe you can tell me what you’ve already done and I can see if you’ve missed anything.

 

　　Petra: That would be great. Okay, I’ve scheduled the meeting for 3:00...

 

　　Ewan: Stop right there. If the videoconference is at 3:00 here, it’s already 6:00 on the East Coast. That’s too late to start the meeting, don’t you think?

 

　　Petra: Oh, I didn’t factor in time zones! But I still have time to reschedule, I think, so it’s not a total catastrophe¹.

 

　　Ewan: Good. Be sure to initiate² the call or the connection at least 10 minutes before the time of the meeting, and make sure you know how to reconnect someone if they get disconnected during the meeting.

 

　　Petra: I still need to figure that out.

 

　　Ewan: Are you facilitating the meeting, too?

 

　　Petra: I don’t know. I guess so.

 

　　Ewan: In that case, make sure you identify each person by greeting them by name.

 

　　Petra: I was hoping to lurk³ in the background in case something went wrong. I’d be ready to troubleshoot.

 

　　Ewan: If Desmond put you in charge of setting up the meeting, he’ll want you to take a more active part.

 

　　[Petra breathing heavily]

 

　　Ewan: What are you doing?

 

　　Petra: Hyperventilating. I don’t think I’m ready for this.

 

　　Script by Dr. Lucy Tse

1 catastrophe   

n.大灾难，大祸

参考例句：

• I owe it to you that I survived the catastrophe.亏得你我才大难不死。
• This is a catastrophe beyond human control.这是一场人类无法控制的灾难。

2 initiate   

vt.开始，创始，发动；启蒙，使入门；引入

参考例句：

• A language teacher should initiate pupils into the elements of grammar.语言老师应该把基本语法教给学生。
• They wanted to initiate a discussion on economics.他们想启动一次经济学讨论。

3 lurk   

n.潜伏，潜行；v.潜藏，潜伏，埋伏

参考例句：

• Dangers lurk in the path of wilderness.在这条荒野的小路上隐伏着危险。
• He thought he saw someone lurking above the chamber during the address.他觉得自己看见有人在演讲时潜藏在会议厅顶上。