Meetings

Meetings

David: I think It depends on the type of meeting really.  Sometimes it’s okay to just sit and listen to the boss giving you an update on various

things.  I think there are other times, when the person is having the meeting so that they can get some input¹ and feedback（反馈） from the other team

members.   But whatever  type of meeting it is, it’s obviously always useful to have some key phrases at the ready
-that way, you don’t talk for too long, you don’t struggle to find the word and obviously you can put your point across clearly, without offending

anybody.  
Carmela:And let’s have a listen now for some of those key phrases.   We’re starting with a meeting at the employment agency Office Angels.   Sarah is

having a meeting with her colleague Alex. 
CLIP² Office Angels Sarah: Right then Alex, let’s get down to business. On the agenda³ today for our public
relations meeting are the research project, the launch of the website, the timeline for press releases（新闻稿）, and the executor（遗嘱执行人） of the

year award.   Are you quite happy with those points?Alex: Yeah that’s fine .. if you could go through them in order that’d be great.   END OF CLIP
Carmela: Now, have a listen to the beginning of another meeting. You’ll notice that the language is quite similar.  

CLIP Meeting
Ok everybody thanks for coming.  Let’s keep this meeting fairly brief really just a couple of things on the agenda. First of all as you can see the

news on the book re-launch and secondly⁴ the office move and finally we will have a little bit of time for  any other business.

END OF CLIP
Carmela:That expression -  thanks for coming -  that’s a really nice, friendly start to the meeting.  
David: Yes, I think both of them started very well, actually.  We heard the expression - let’s get down to business,  which is a very clear way for

the chairperson（主持人） to say “OK, stop chatting and start working” .  In the second meeting we heard the phrase “let’s keep the meeting fairly

brief” - in other words “let’s make sure this a nice, efficient, short, meeting.   
Carmela: That would be a relief （减轻，解除）to everyone there I imagine.  
David:I think it probably would be.   And both people in the meeting use the phrase On the agenda - as well, so clearly focussing everyone’s attention

on the list of points which are up for discussion. 
Carmela:Okay, so we’ve dealt with the start of a meeting.  What about when the meeting’s underway（为完成的阶段） and you don’t understand or you

want to check something, so you have to interrupt.  Let’s go back to our two meetings and find out what expressions they use. 

CLIP Meeting - interruption
First of all the book re-launch I just wanted to remind everybody that we will be re-launching the fairy tales range with new modern covers and that

this is going to happen at the beginning of next month.  It is important that we get this right and there has been quite a few…
John: sh… Sean can I just ask you, Sorry to hold the meeting up, Can I ask you about those dates because I thought that this was going to be published

the month after next and I understand that everybody has got their dates but I do feel quite strongly that we’re bringing this out too soon.
Sean: Well, any other thoughts before I comment on that?
Carrie: I don’t think we have got any choice at all about it,  if the radio programmes are going out at the beginning of next month we’ve got to

launch the book at the same time if we’re going to have any sales impact.  

END OF CLIP
CLIP Office Angels - interruption
F1:… the next matter under discussion is the press release time line …I think the next press release to go out is the sound of silence in meetings. 

Can you give me an
Update（更新） on that?F2: Yeah we sent that out the end of last week, and selling it in today, it’s embargoe（封港令，禁运） until tomorrow, we’ve

had a couple of enquiries from the radio…
F1: sorry to interrupt but did you say it had gone out today? F2: Yes. F1: … right…
F2: and ..we’ve had a couple of inquiries⁵ as I said .  So hopefully that’ll take off tomorrow.     

END OF CLIP
Carmela: David, we’ve just had some different ways of interrupting there. Can you pick out the expressions?
David:Yes, I think in the first meeting, the person used the phrase… Actually, could I just ask you …. Sorry to hold the meeting up.
And then, in the second meeting, we heard the expression Sorry to interrupt but …
Now, it’s worth noting here that both people apologise when they interrupted and that of course is the proper thing to do.  It’s not polite to

interrupt without apologizing .  So, you always need to say “sorry to interrupt”,  “sorry to hold the meeting up”.  It’s also interesting that the

chairperson in the first meeting after the interruption said any other thoughts ? Now, I think he does this because - if someone has interrupted, it

could be a signal that there’s some confusion（混乱，混淆） or perhaps there’s some disagreement  - in the rest of the meeting.   And so, it’s a good

idea in those cases to say “any other thoughts” or how does everyone else feel? - just so that these issues can be discussed. 
Carmela:  And while we’re on the subject of disagreement, let’s look at how you could express your feelings, whether they are positive ones or

negative ones, actually in the meeting.    Listen out for the language used in this next example.  
CLIP  Meeting 

Sean:  The office move as you know, the plans have been up by the main exit for a week now. I just wanted to see what kind of feed back you have got.
Tim: Yeah Sean I’m sorry but I really strongly disagree with the new floor plan. I think it is divisive（区分的，分裂的，不合的） to separate the

secretaries and the assistants out from the editors and Managers, I’d be much happier if we could be located in teams. 
Carrie: I think actually Sean is right, I have been chatting to some of the secretaries and they’re quite keen to all be sitting in the same area and

speaking as an editor I think I’d like to be with other editors so that we can bounce（反映） ideas off each other and things so, I think Sean’s floor

plan is right.

END OF CLIP
Carmela: Fairly typical meeting there with people agreeing and disagreeing.   David, can you pick up some of the phrases that they used?
David:First of all we had a disagreement -and it was quite a forceful disagreement actually.  The person used the expression -I really strongly disagree

-. If you wanted to make it a little softer, a little more polite if you lie,  you could say something like - I’m sorry but I don’t agree -that’s a

little less confrontational⁶.（对审，面对面）  
Next, we had another person agreeing - I think she said: “No I think Sean is right … Now if you were being asked whether you agreed or disagreed with

a decision or something like that, you could also just simply say - I quite agree.  That’s a nice short way of expressing it. 
Carmela:And there were one or two extra bits of language that we heard there ….There was one individual who used a phrase
speaking as an editor … Now,  why did she use that phrase …
David:  I think because she wanted to make it clear that her opinion from her perspective（角度） , doing the job of an editor.   Now, you can use this

to indicate any kind of perspective, you can say … speaking as a newcomer … speaking as someone in the online team - speaking as someone with many

years experience , any of these kind of expressions are very valid⁷.  
Carmela:       Speaking as a co-presenter - we’re actually moving on to our final extract⁸.   This time the language used is to actually to bring the

meeting to a close.  Listen out for it - it’s really important how to end that meeting 

CLIP Meeting

Sean: OK. Any other business?
Will: Yes, I would like to say something, an illustrator（插图画家） came in last week and, I think she is
very good and,  it would be wise to put her on our books.
Sean: … uh…
Will: I would like to be able to show her drawings and portfolios（文件夹） in the next couple of days. 
If that’s all right.
All: … that sounds good…
Sean: …yes , of course…..We will look forward to seeing those. Right I think that ‘s
probably about it but anybody got anything else that they desperately⁹ want to raise
before we wrap up?
All: Nope.
Sean OK. We will be having another meeting but there are a couple of conflicts in the
diary so I think the best thing is if I email the date of the next meeting.
END OF CLIP
Carmela:  .. that classic phrase - any other business -that’s always used in the final stages of a meeting.  Now actually on the Agenda you’d see that

written down as just AOB.
David: Yes, that’s right and really AOB is simply an opportunity for people in the meeting to raise any issues or any points which they feel haven’t

been covered in the meeting so far.     After that we heard the chairperson then say
“right, I think that’s probably about it”, it’s time to wrap up” and those are the kinds of expressions that are used very often to signal “this

is the end of the meeting”
Carmela: We’ve had a lot of language today.   First of all David,  could you recap（扼要重述） some of those key phrases that are used when chairing ameeting
David:We had a very good phrase to begin a meeting which was thanks for coming
Then a phrase to signal the start of the meeting: right let’s get started. We also heard about the list of points which the meeting will cover - and we

heard that things were “on the agenda". We had a phrase to invite people to put forward their opinions -How does everyone else feel? And at the end of

the meeting - to ask people if there are any other issues that they would like to discuss before the meeting ends -  we had that phrase : anyotherbusiness?
Carmela: And how about the phrases we heard for actually taking part in a meeting
David: There was that phrase, when you want to interrupt - Sorry can I just interrupt. If you agree - you could say something like -“I quite agree”

and if you don’t agree “I’m afraid I don’t agree

Carmela:Thanks David. And just to say that David Evans will be joining me next time for more Business Language To Go. (本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑)

1 input   

n.输入(物)；投入；vt.把(数据等)输入计算机

参考例句：

• I will forever be grateful for his considerable input.我将永远感激他的大量投入。
• All this information had to be input onto the computer.所有这些信息都必须输入计算机。

2 clip   

n.夹子，别针，弹夹，片断；vt.夹住，修剪

参考例句：

• May I clip out the report on my performance?我能把报道我的文章剪下来吗？
• She fastened the papers together with a paper clip.她用曲别针把文件别在一起。

3 agenda   

n.议事日程，记事册

参考例句：

• We now proceed to the next item on the agenda.我们现在着手讨论下一项议题。
• If there is no objection,the agenda is adopted.如果没有意见，议程就通过了。

4 secondly   

adv.第二，其次

参考例句：

• Secondly,use your own head and present your point of view.第二，动脑筋提出自己的见解。
• Secondly it is necessary to define the applied load.其次，需要确定所作用的载荷。

5 inquiries   

n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending further inquiries. 他获得保释，等候进一步调查。
• I have failed to reach them by postal inquiries. 我未能通过邮政查询与他们取得联系。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 confrontational   

adj.挑衅的；对抗的

参考例句：

• Fans love rappers partly because they strike such a confrontational pose. 乐迷热爱这些饶舌艺人一定程度上是因为他们所采取的那种战斗姿态。 来自互联网
• You prefer a non confrontational approach when it comes to resolving disputes. 面对争端，你不喜欢采用对抗性的手段来解决。 来自互联网

7 valid   

adj.有确实根据的；有效的；正当的，合法的

参考例句：

• His claim to own the house is valid.他主张对此屋的所有权有效。
• Do you have valid reasons for your absence?你的缺席有正当理由吗？

8 extract   

vt.取出，提取，获得，摘录；n.摘录，提出物

参考例句：

• The article was a choice extract from her writings.这篇文章是从她的著作中摘录出来的精粹。
• We can extract oil from olive.我们可以从橄榄中榨油。

9 desperately   

adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地

参考例句：

• He was desperately seeking a way to see her again.他正拼命想办法再见她一面。
• He longed desperately to be back at home.他非常渴望回家。