【英语趣味课堂】好公司-Good Company

Spencer: So Curtis, what companies do you really admire?

 

Curtis: One company that I really admire is one that is from near where I grew up, COSCO. Many people know them for their brand, Kirkland Signature. They’re from Kirkland, Washington close to Seattle and one of the reasons I really like them is because they treat their employees really well. And there are many companies that don’t compensate¹ their employees very well, they don’t take care of them but there’s research and data now that shows that COSCO has been getting benefits for taking care of their employees. They have better productivity² and they have a better bottom line at the end of things. They invest³ in their employees and their employees are able to invest their work back into the company.

 

Spencer: Ah, are there any other companies that you agree have the same amount of investment⁴ in their employees?

 

Curtis: I think Starbucks is actually also from the same region⁵, it’s from Seattle and it's also very well known for taking care of its employees well, giving good benefits, paying them pretty well, giving them the option to put some of their earnings⁶ into stock⁷ immediately at a discount so that they can get into sharing part of the company as well.

 

Spencer: I like Starbucks as well. I like how they're constantly trying to come out with new types of drinks, with new types of themes to fit the season, for example, the other day they had some sort of like orange summery drink and I thought that was cool, how they are constantly working to make themselves better, more interesting and to offer more to their customers.

 

Curtis: Right. I think it’s also a very comfortable brand for customers because in Seattle, many Seattleites don’t really drink Starbucks unless they’re in a hurry. They’ll go to smaller coffee shops but if they travel around the world anywhere else they always know a drink that they can get at Starbucks. So it's a sort of safe and homey company that you can ... you know you can get a drink that you like anywhere that you go.

 

Spencer: Not just that but I like how it’s internationally recognizable, like everybody knows Starbucks and you can say, “Hey, meet me at the Starbucks” and no one’s going to say, “Oh, Starbucks, what’s that?”

 

Curtis: Right, right.

 

Spencer: So people come from all over and then can come together and meet each other for a coffee. It’s cool.

 

Curtis: Right. I think part of Starbucks' goal was to create a good atmosphere too so that it wasn’t just coffee that you were buying but you are buying the brand, the atmosphere,that people go there to study and have a comfortable environment with good music, a warm place that surrounds them.

 

Spencer: One company that I love a lot at home is another company that sells coffee called Port City Dover and they have branded themselves as being especially fairganic, so like they treat not only their employees well but they also try to get beans that have been sold at a good price for the farmers. So people will get a sense of, like doing good for like the world when they like buy a cup of coffee.

 

Curtis: And are they spreading out or are they just in your home town?

 

Spencer: Oh no, they’ve gone nationwide around the United States but I don’t think yet they’ve made the leap to going international.

 

Curtis: Oh, okay, okay.

 

重点词汇：

 

Learn Vocabulary from the lesson

treat ... well

 

They treat their employees well.

 

When you treat someone well, you take care of them and do nice things for them. Notice the following:

 

He didn't treat her well, so she broke up with him.

My company treats its employees well.

bottom line

 

 

They have a better bottom line at the end of things.

 

The bottom line is the final result of a company's profits or losses. It refers to the bottom line of a finanical statement. Notice the following:

 

All companies are concerned with their bottom line.

According to the bottom line, they are losing money.

come out with

 

They're constantly trying to come out with new types of drinks.

 

When you 'come out with' something, you introduce it to the public. Notice the following:

 

Burger King came out with a new sandwich.

Apple comes out with a new phone every two years.

-ites

 

 

Many Seattleites don’t really drink Starbucks.

 

The suffix⁸ 'ites' means people from that place. Notice the following:

 

Tokyoites are not as friendly as people from Osaka.

I know many Vancouverites.

recognizable

 

It’s internationally recognizable, like everybody knows Starbucks.

 

When you add 'able' to a verb, it becomes an adjective⁹, so if something is recognizable, you can recognize it. Notice the following:

 

He was not recognizable after he shaved his beard.

That's understandable. I understand what you mean.

 

1 compensate   

vt.补偿，赔偿；酬报 vi.弥补；补偿；抵消

参考例句：

• She used her good looks to compensate her lack of intelligence. 她利用她漂亮的外表来弥补智力的不足。
• Nothing can compensate for the loss of one's health. 一个人失去了键康是不可弥补的。

2 productivity   

n.生产力，生产率，多产

参考例句：

• Farmers are introducing in novations which increase the productivity.农民们正引进提高生产力的新方法。
• The workers try to put up productivity.工人设法提高生产率。

3 invest   

v.投资；投入(时间等)；授予，赋予

参考例句：

• I have decided to invest in a new car.我已经决定买一辆新汽车。
• The best time to invest is now.现在是投资的最佳时机。

4 investment   

n.投资，投资额；(时间、精力等的)投入

参考例句：

• It took two years before I recouped my investment.我用了两年时间才收回投资。
• The success of the project pivots on investment from abroad.这个工程的成功主要依靠外来投资。

5 region   

n.地区，地带，区域；范围，幅度

参考例句：

• The students went to study the geology of that region.学生们去研究那个地区的地质情况。
• It is unusual to see snow in this region.这个地区难得见到雪。

6 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

7 stock   

n.存货，储备；树干；血统；股份；家畜；adj.存货的；平凡的，惯用的；股票的；畜牧的；vt.进货，采购；储存；供给；vi.出新芽；进货

参考例句：

• The shop takes stock every week on Friday mornings.这家商店每星期五早晨盘点存货。
• Experts have forecast an upturn in the stock market.专家已预测股票市场价格有上升趋势。

8 suffix   

n.后缀；vt.添后缀

参考例句：

• We add the suffix "ly" to make the adjective "quick" into the adverb " quickly ".我们在形容词“ quick”后加“ly” 构成副词“quickly”。
• It described the meaning of suffix array and also how to built it.它描述的含义，后缀数组以及如何建立它。

9 adjective   

n.形容词；adj.形容词的，用作形容词的

参考例句：

• Don't apply that adjective to me.不要用那个字眼来形容我。
• The adjective loose has several senses. 形容词loose有几个义项。