公司开会，经理Nick宣布，他们要在法兰克福的纺织品交易会上设展台。大家头脑激荡，看需要做哪些准备。Mark说，
M: The booth staff shouldn't give away too much info about our manufacturing process. Basically the only things they should make public are our company profile and our product line.
E: But...let's not forget to do a little spying of our own! We won't do anything illegal of course, but we should walk around and see what new trends are on the market. We want to stay on the cutting edge of our industry.
Mark认为，负责展台的人不能过多泄露公司的生产程序，只能向参观的人介绍our company profile，公司概况和product line，产品系列。Elaine建议，他们也应该设法在博览会上了解一下市场最新动向， the new trends on the market. 因为公司必须力争，stay on the cutting edge of our industry。走在纺织工业的最前沿。 Cutting edge意思是最新的，最先进的。
N: Absolutely! I'm definitely going to be checking out our competitors!
M: We should have a chat with the support staff since they have an important role to play. They'll be setting up the booth each morning and logging the contact info of all the potential customers we meet. I want them to scan every business card into our database so we don't lose any contacts.
N: Great idea, Mark! That should make our follow-up effort much easier.
经理Nick说，他一定会利用这次机会to check out our competitors，看看竞争对手的产品和实力。在这里，to check out something or someone， 意思是检查，查看。Mark说，负责后勤服务的人员也很重要，他们每天要把收集到的名片输入数据库。经理Nick觉得这是个好主意，it should make the follow-up effort much easier，以后跟这些潜在的客户联系可以方便很多。
E: I'm so excited! I think this expo will really boost our sales! Plus, Frankfurt is a really cool city.
M: Yeah, after the show I'll definitely explore Frankfurt. Maybe we can take a day or two off after the expo for some R&R!
N: Sounds like a plan! Ok, folks...let's get busy! We have a lot to do.
会议结束前，大家都很兴奋。Elaine觉得参加这次博览会一定会推动公司销量，而且法兰克福又是一个很好玩的城市。Mark也说，准备交易会结束后，顺便请一、两天假，for some R&R. 这里的R&R代表 rest and relaxation，休息和放松。经理 Nick 最后说，sounds like a plan，意思是听起来不错。 Let's get busy，那就行动起来吧。 |