纯正地道美语 第115期(外教讲解):The Office-You Mis（在线收听）

A: And so, I just wanted to check in with you and find out where we are with this ject.  As you know, you’ve  missed  a  fairly  significant  deadline  last week, and this   will negativity impact the team’s ability to move forward with the next stages of this   project.

B:I know, I’m really sorry that I missed the deadline.  But really, it wasn’t my fault.   You see, we had all of these unexpected technical problems at the last minute, and that   I couldn’t get into the database and extract the kind of information that I needed for   the data analyis. You know, if the tech guys would have done their job and kept the CRM   stable, then I wouldn’t have missed my deadline.

A:Oh, come on!  An excuse like that is tantamount to lying. You’re essentially blaming   the tech team for your time management issues, rather than accepting responsibility for   the fact that you were procrastinating for the past two weeks.

B:No, I’m not trying to pass the buck here; I know that it was me who is ultimately  responsible for getting this done.  But the thing is, I could have finished on time if  the system hadn’t gone down. And you know, with everything I’ve got going on now, I     can’t afford to waste time dealing with technical problems. I’ve got a lot on my  plate and there are only twenty-four hours in a day...

A: I’m not going to accept this excuse.  You’re using these small technical glitches as  a crutch and trying to rationalize the fact that you’ve missed your deadline. Look, we  have standards and I expect you to live up to those standards.  No more phoney cuses. If you’re in over your head, you tell me. No more missed deadlines. Now, I want that  data on my desk by nine am!