Business News 1 – Communication at Work

The first of our regular business English news podcasts for English learners looks at how people communicate at work and the different factors¹ that can affect how communication takes place. The news story is followed by a discussion² of the key English vocabulary and an explanation of the meaning of the words in the context³ of this article.

We suggest that you first listen to the reading and make a note of any words you are not familiar with. Then read a copy of the article and see if you can guess the meaning of the words by looking at how it is used. Finally, listen to the explanation and discussion of the vocabulary and see if you guessed correctly. You can get a transcript of the story in the Archives ‘Transcripts’ section

1 factors   

因素( factor的名词复数 )； 因子； （增或减的）数量； 系数

参考例句：

• Several factors have been adduced to explain the fall in the birth rate. 有几个因素已被援引来说明出生率降低的原因。
• a confluence of social factors 多种社会因素的汇集

2 discussion   

n.讨论，谈论；论述

参考例句：

• It is certain he will come to the discussion.他肯定会来参加讨论。
• After months of discussion,a peace agreement is gradually taking shape.经过几个月的商讨，和平协议渐渐有了眉目。

3 context   

n.背景，环境，上下文，语境

参考例句：

• You can always tell the meaning of a word from its context.你常可以从上下文中猜出词义来。
• This sentence does not seem to connect with the context.这个句子似乎与上下文脱节。