Using English at Work：42 Meeting with the Boss(1)

You're listening to ESLPod.com's "Using English at Work." I'm your host, Dr¹. Jeff McQuillan, from the Center for Educational Development.

In our seventh lesson, we learned² vocabulary that is related³ to scheduling a meeting.

In this eighth lesson, we're going to have a meeting with the boss.

Let's begin by listening to the story read at a slow speed.

Before leaving work for the day, I want to stop by my boss's office to give him an update on my progress.

I know he's expecting the report on Monday and I want to let him know that it will be finished on schedule.

Before I can do that, he calls me into his office and tells me to sit down.

He tells me that the regional manager is impressed with my work and is considering me for a promotion⁴.

He says that this information is hush-hush, but he wants to give me the heads up.

He says that the promotion would give me a new title and a small raise, but the most important thing is that it will put me in line to eventually become a regional manager myself.

He praises me for my hard work and encourages me to keep my head down and to keep plugging⁵ away.

I'm so surprised, I don't know what to say.

I've never thought of myself as a corporate⁶ climber and I didn't think that my work was a standout from my coworkers'.

Of course I thank my boss, shake hands with him, and leave his office.

It's nice to get a pat⁷ on the back from him and I hope that the promotion does come through.

I don't want to jump the gun, though, so I'm not going to think about it too much in case it doesn't happen.

Before leaving work for the day, I want to stop by, or visit quickly, my boss's office to give him an update on my progress.

An "update" is the latest, newest information about something.

When you give someone an update, you're providing information about how your project or something else has changed since the last time you two spoke⁸ about it.

1 Dr   

n.医生，大夫；博士(缩)（= Doctor）

参考例句：

• Dr.Williams instructs us in botany.威廉博士教我们植物学。
• The ward of the hospital is in the charge of Dr.Green.医院的这间病房由格林医生负责。

2 learned   

adj.有学问的，博学的；learn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He went into a rage when he learned about it.他听到这事后勃然大怒。
• In this little village,he passed for a learned man.在这个小村子里，他被视为有学问的人。

3 related   

adj.有关系的，有关联的，叙述的，讲述的

参考例句：

• I am not related to him in any way.我和他无任何关系。
• We spent days going through all related reference material.我们花了好多天功夫查阅所有有关的参考资料。

4 promotion   

n.提升，晋级；促销，宣传

参考例句：

• The teacher conferred with the principal about Dick's promotion.教师与校长商谈了迪克的升级问题。
• The clerk was given a promotion and an increase in salary.那个职员升了级，加了薪。

5 plugging   

n.（用木塞）堵漏v.插上插头( plug的现在分词 )；以（塞子）塞住

参考例句：

• She keeps plugging away at French. 她一直在拼命地学法语。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• An irrigation system is selected that is less prone to plugging. 选择这样一个灌溉系统很少会阻塞。 来自辞典例句

6 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

7 pat   

n.轻拍，拍打声；vt.轻拍，拍打；vi.轻跑，轻击；adv.适时，彻底；adj.油腔滑调的，恰好的，合适的

参考例句：

• Could you hear the pat?你能听到轻轻的拍击声吗？
• He gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. 他轻拍了一下她的肩膀让她放心。

8 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。