Jingjing: Hey, Xiao Gao, do you know what's on the agenda for this afternoon's meeting?

　　京晶：嘿，小高，你知道今天下午的会议要讨论什么吗？

　　Xiao Gao: Not entirely, but I know what's up at the top. There's been a lot ofbackroom chatter lately about a possible take-over by one of our competitors.

　　小高：不完全知道，但是我知道最重要的话题是什么。最近有很多谣言说公司可能要被一个竞争对手收购。

　　Jingjing: Oh,right,I've heard some talk about that,I thought it was mostly rumors.

　　京晶：哦，对了，我也听过，我还以为都是谣言呢！

　　Xiao Gao: No, we've been performing very poorly lately and I'm afraid it's time to face the music, unless we see a white knight, there's a good chance that we'll be bought out.

　　小高：不，最近公司确实状况不太好，恐怕我们不得不面对现实了。除非遇到一个大救星，不然很可能我们就会被别的公司收购了。

　　Jingjing: How do our job prospects look? I just signed a new 2-year contract, do you think their buy-out will affect our positions?

　　京晶：那我们的工作怎么办？我刚刚跟公司签了一个两年的工作合同，你觉得收购会影响我们的职位吗？

　　Xiao Gao: That's one thing we're going to discuss today, I know that the boss wants to rally the troops.

　　小高：这就是我们今天要讨论的话题之一，我觉得老板们想把大伙集中起来鼓舞士气。

　　Jingjing: I've got a feeling he's gonna scale back our responsibilities just in case we do lose out.

　　京晶：我感觉他会裁员，以防我们真的被收购。

　　Xiao Gao: Could be, I know the big cheese has been talking about down-sizing, if that's the case, some of us will definitely lose our jobs.

　　小高：很有可能。我知道公司的高层最近在商量缩减规模。如果是真的话，那我们中肯定有一些人就要丢掉工作了。

　　Jingjing: Yeah, I can hear the message loud and clear, shape up or ship out!

　　京晶：是啊，我已经很明确地感觉到了，要么好好表现，要么就得收拾东西走人。

　　习语短语

　　1. on the agenda =要讨论的话题

　　2. at the top =最重要的事

　　3. backroom chatter =背后议论，谣言

　　4. take-over =收购，一个公司吞并另一个公司

　　5. face the music =面对一个不太令人愉快的现实

　　6. white knight =白衣骑士，指大救星

　　7. rally the troops =将员工集结起来为某事鼓舞他们的士气

　　8. scale back =减少（员工或工作职位）

　　9. big cheese =公司里的高层，做重要决定的人

　　10. down-sizing =裁员，缩减规模

　　11. shape up or ship out =提高工作表现，不然就会被开除

　　Dialogue 2：

　　(Jingjing and Xiao Gao are attending a meeting. Xiao Gaois reading the part of the Chairman)（京晶和小高在参加公司会议，小高扮演总裁的角色）

　　Chairman: I'm calling this meeting to session. As you may have heard, we have a wolf at the door and we're here to discuss a possible buy-out by one of our competitors.

　　总裁：我宣布会议正式开始。你们可能已经听说了，公司正处于困境之中，所以我们今天要讨论一下：公司可能会被一个竞争对手收购。

　　Jingjing: Can you tell us our deadline?

　　京晶：您能告诉我们截止日期是什么时候吗？

　　Chairman: We have one month to the day, but pending a bail-out, I think it's anopen and shut case.

　　总裁：从今天算起一个月。不过除非有经济援助，我估计收购已经是一个既定事实了。

　　Jingjing: Are we looking at becoming a subsidiary or is this a whole-sale buy-out?

　　京晶：那我们将会成为一个子公司还是完全被吞并?

　　Chairman: That is up for discussion, however, I'm tabling a motion to allow us to operate under the same brand name.

　　总裁：这还没有决定，不过我已经提出建议，让我们仍然保留原来品牌的名字。

　　Jingjing: I think we are looking at tightening our belt. We've been spending too much lately.

　　京晶：我想我们得节省开支了，最近我们的花销太大了。

　　Chairman: True, we've been in the gutter for sometime now, and this buy-out can help us get back on our feet.

　　总裁：确实，我们的状况已经不好了一段时间了，而这个收购可以帮助我们重新恢复实力。

　　习语短语

　　1. call this meeting to session = 宣布会议正式开始

　　2. wolf at the door = （门外有一只狼）这里指公司正面临着困境和威胁

　　3. deadline = 截至日期

　　4. to the day = 从今天算起

　　5. bail-out = 经济上的援助

　　6. open and shut case = 既定事实，非常明确的事情

　　7. subsidiary = 子公司，受控于总公司

　　8. whole-sale = 完全的

　　9. table a motion = 提出建议

　　10. tightening our belt = 勒紧裤腰，指缩减开支

　　11. in the gutter = 处于不好的状况

　　12. get back on one's feet = 从某事中恢复过来