礼节美语 Business Etiquette 070

陈豪在北京的ABC美国公司工作。他开完会，跟美国同事Amy一起往外走。

(Office ambience)

A：You seemed uncomfortable at our meeting. Was something wrong, Chen Hao?

C：我是有点不自在。你是怎么看出来的？

A：I can recognize the signs when you are troubled. Why were you ill at ease¹?

C：这次开会人太多了，很多都是其他部门的，他们根本不理我，让我觉得自己是局外人，真后悔，还不如不来呢！

A：It didn't have to be that way.

C：不用这样？你能不能说得具体点？

A：There are plenty of things you can do in those situations to be noticed.

C：怎样才能让别人注意到我呢？难道要故意把咖啡撒在身上吗？

A：Not exactly. I am talking about positive ways to make an impression. If you want to get ahead in the company, people need to recognize you and know who you are.

C：我本来是要自我介绍的，可我到的时候，别人已经都在聊天了。

A：I saw you come in and you were one of the last to arrive.

C：这有什么关系吗？我又没迟到。

A：If you are one of the first to arrive, you are in position to greet other people as they come in. You can introduce yourself before they get into conversations with others.

C：不管怎么说，跟素不相识的人聊天我还是觉得很别扭，不知道说什么好。

A：I have a couple of suggestions. Let's talk about them after work. I need to get to my desk.

******

下班后。

C：Amy, 你快告诉我，下次开这种会，我该怎么做。

A：It's not as difficult as you think, especially if you find out ahead of time who is going to be there.

C：可我怎么才能知道谁来开会呢？

A：A couple of ways. If the notice is sent by e-mail, the names of everyone who received the communication are usually listed.

C：如果从电子邮件里看不出来呢？

A：Then you pick up the phone and call the person who sent out the notice and ask who will be there.

C：既然不认识人家，知道会议名单又有什么用呢？

A：Once you have the names you can inquire² about who they are and gather information about them. When you meet them, you'll know enough to engage³ them in conversation.

C：好是好，提前了解一下与会者的情况，就可以找到合适的话题了。可要这么做，没有几天的时间绝对不够。

A：In that case, you do what successful people do to be impressive⁴ - you look at the list of who will be at the meeting, find out something about them and then focus⁵ on at least three people you'd like to meet.

C：这还比较可行。我可以挑出三个最想结识的人，开会之前着重了解一下他们的情况。

 

1 ease   

n. 安乐,安逸,悠闲; v. 使...安乐,使...安心,减轻,放松

参考例句：

• His mind was at ease and he felt confident in the future. 他心情舒畅,对前途很有信心。
• You should ease up on the child and stop scolding her. 你应该对那个孩子宽松些,不要再骂她了。

2 inquire   

v.(of, about)询问，打听；调查，查问

参考例句：

• You can inquire of your new neighbors where the post office is.你可以问问你的新邻居邮局在哪儿。
• He went to the hospital to inquire about her.他到医院去打听她的情况。

3 engage   

vt.使从事于，使忙着；使订婚；雇用，聘；接合，啮合；vi. 从事于，参加

参考例句：

• I have no time to engage in the debate.我没时间参加辩论。
• It is difficult to engage teachers of quality.很难招聘到优秀教师。

4 impressive   

adj.给人深刻印象的，感人的

参考例句：

• This cinema is so impressive that we can't help crying.这影片如此感人以至我们禁不住流下泪来。
• The suit made him look especially impressive.他穿上这套衣服真精神。

5 focus   

n.焦点，焦距；vi.聚焦，注视；vt.使聚焦，调焦，集中

参考例句：

• She was the focus of everyone's attention.她是大家注意的焦点。
• The noise made it hard for me to focus on work.噪音让我无法集中注意力工作。