VOA 商务英语 lesson13

Dialog 1:
F: I hope Ms. Addison can consider the employee attitude in her decision.
M: I am sure she will. She understands that employees have to be happy in their jobs.
F: It they don’t have a good attitude, they won’t work well.
M: They have to have a good attitude during training too.
F: absolutely, especially when they are learning new skills.
M: like learning computer skills.
F: becoming computer literate¹ can be frustrating².
M: talk about having a bad attitude. (句型talk about ….. 表示深有同感)
―My employees have been with me for 25 years.
---Talk about loyalty³.
Q: what should Ms.Addison consider? ---Employee attitude
Dialog 2:
New Words: minimize, initial cost, Bottom-line(实质问题;最终结果)，downtime(停产时间)
F: This was a difficult decision for the board.
M: The bottom-line is always time and money.
F: True. We are concerned with the initial cost.
M: There are costs to both alternatives.
F：Costs in both time and money.
M: and of course, you don’t want any downtime.
F: There will be some lost time, but we have to minimize it.
M: As I said before, it all boils down to time and money。(归结为)
Q：What is the bottom-line? ----Time and money.
Dialog 3:
New words: split(分成),alternate(轮换)
F：To minimize down-time, we are going to do both on-the-job and off-site training.
M: How? By splitting the work force into two groups?
F：Half train off-site but during normal working hours
M: And the other half will train on the factory floor  with new machines.
F: By alternating the groups, we can keep production going.
M: that will minimize downtime, but you still have the oops factors.
F:  But the production will increase as soon as the workers are up to speed. (达到熟练程度，使知晓。)
――Hey, what are you talking about?
-----Let me bring you up to speed.
M: Then you’ll be able to keep up with the detailer’s demand.
F: And keep our workers.
M: Sounds like a win-win situation.
Q: when will workers be trained? ---Both on the job and off-site.
 （9月7日）
Small talk:--回绝提议。
-----Let’s have a break and get some lunch.
----- I’d like to, but I can’t. I am too busy (I’d like to, but not with you).
(I have another appointment)
(I don’t feel well)
--How do you think the meeting went?
--Fantastic.
--Let’s come to another one.

1 literate   

n.学者；adj.精通文学的，受过教育的

参考例句：

• Only a few of the nation's peasants are literate.这个国家的农民中只有少数人能识字。
• A literate person can get knowledge through reading many books.一个受过教育的人可以通过读书而获得知识。

2 frustrating   

adj.产生挫折的，使人沮丧的，令人泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的现在分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's frustrating to have to wait so long. 要等这么长时间，真令人懊恼。
• It was a demeaning and ultimately frustrating experience. 那是一次有失颜面并且令人沮丧至极的经历。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 loyalty   

n.忠诚，忠心

参考例句：

• She told him the truth from a sense of loyalty.她告诉他真相是出于忠诚。
• His loyalty to his friends was never in doubt.他对朋友的一片忠心从来没受到怀疑。