商务英语口语--习俗偏差

 　　公关部主任Janet Liu召集下属开会，询问中东代表团的活动安排。上次说到，不同宗教有不同的饮食习惯：穆斯林吃Halal, 犹太人吃 Kosher。让我们听听Janet还有什么建议。

　　Janet Liu: And you might also want to reconsider the trip to the Karaoke bar. Muslims are forbidden to drink alcohol, although Jewish people can.

　　P: Wow, thanks for the info. We almost committed quite the social faux pas!

　　Janet提醒Silvia和Pete，穆斯林不喝酒，所以去酒吧唱卡拉OK恐怕有问题。Pete说自己差点儿犯了social faux pas社交错误。

　　J: I did the same thing early in my career when I took a group of Indian businesspeople to a Chinese restaurant. It turned out half of them were vegetarian¹ Hindus.

　　S: I'll fire off an email to both groups today to inquire about their dietary preferences.

　　P: And I'll try to find a nice piano lounge where they can either drink alcohol or other beverages².

　　Janet承认，自己刚出道的时候也犯过错误，把印度人带到中国餐馆去吃饭，结果发现其中一半人是印度教徒，吃素。Silvia说，她会发电子邮件，fire off an email 给客人，询问他们有什么特殊的饮食要求。Pete说，会重新找个既能喝酒，也有其他饮料的地方。

　　J: For future reference, you should always consider the culture of your visitors and try to adapt as much as possible to them. These people are our honored guests and it would have been terrible to offend them.

　　S: Absolutely, boss.

　　P: Yes, good points.

　　S: But what if we can't find a restaurant with Halal or Kosher food?

　　J: Check with them first, but one way to make sure everything is OK is to go to a vegetarian restaurant. Can't go too wrong with vegetables.

　　Janet建议说，实在不行，就找一家素食馆，肯定不会错。

　　P: I was just thinking: maybe I should check if the hotels allow smoking in the rooms or not. I'll send an email to ask if any of the group are smokers³.

　　J: Good thinking. OK, I got to run. Keep me posted on the restaurant issue.

　　S: We were thinking of a pen set made of jade⁴ with a gold trim. The set is embossed with the name of the seminar and each participant's name.

　　P: Absolutely.

　　S: Wow, Pete. We really dodged⁵ a bullet there!

　　P: Well, as the old saying goes, "You live and you learn."

　　Pete忽然想到，客人里可能有人抽烟，所以要问问旅店是否允许吸烟。Janet临走时说I got to run. 我得赶紧走了。她还说，Keep me posted.有消息随时告诉我。

　　Janet走后，Silvia说，We really dodged a bullet. 躲过了一个枪子儿，意思是真悬，差点出错!Pete的回答是 "You live and you learn." 活到老学到老。

1 vegetarian   

n.素食者；adj.素食的

参考例句：

• She got used gradually to the vegetarian diet.她逐渐习惯吃素食。
• I didn't realize you were a vegetarian.我不知道你是个素食者。

2 beverages   

n.饮料( beverage的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• laws governing the sale of alcoholic beverages 控制酒类销售的法规
• regulations governing the sale of alcoholic beverages 含酒精饮料的销售管理条例

3 smokers   

吸烟者( smoker的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Many smokers who are chemically addicted to nicotine cannot cut down easily. 许多有尼古丁瘾的抽烟人不容易把烟戒掉。
• Chain smokers don't care about the dangers of smoking. 烟鬼似乎不在乎吸烟带来的种种危害。

4 jade   

n.玉石；碧玉；翡翠

参考例句：

• The statue was carved out of jade.这座塑像是玉雕的。
• He presented us with a couple of jade lions.他送给我们一对玉狮子。

5 dodged   

v.闪躲( dodge的过去式和过去分词 )；回避

参考例句：

• He dodged cleverly when she threw her sabot at him. 她用木底鞋砸向他时，他机敏地闪开了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He dodged the book that I threw at him. 他躲开了我扔向他的书。 来自《简明英汉词典》