2014年ESL之商务英语 18 Describing Order and Sequence（在线收听）

Describing Order and Sequence

Patrick: Okay, your first task is to put all of these files in order. 

Maya: Wow, there must be hundreds of files in this storeroom. How am I supposed to organize them? 

Patrick: Create a basic filing system. Put things in sequence. If they’re labeled with dates, put them in chronological order. If they’re labeled with names, put them in alphabetical order by last name. 

Maya: Okay, but what about this file? It’s labeled with a four- digit number, but it’s not a date. 

Patrick: Those are case numbers. Put those in ascending or descending numeric order, whichever makes sense. 

Maya: But this file has letters followed by numbers. 

Patrick: Then put those in alphanumeric order, first by letter and then by number. Simple, right? 

Maya: Yeah, but have you ever considered a more random filing system, something that embraces chaos? 

Patrick: No, I haven’t. If I wanted chaos, I’d just go home to my 11 children! 

Script by Dr. Lucy Tse