9、 An Important Meeting
重要會議
A:Hello, Jim. How are you doing?
喂,吉姆,你好嗎?
B:Fine! And yourself?
很好!你呢?
A:Can’t complain. Did you have time to look at my proposal? I think it’s going to be helpful.
沒什么可抱怨的,你抽空看我的建議書了嗎?我想它對公司會大有幫助的。
B:No, not really. Can we go over it now? I have some time.
還沒呢。我們現(xiàn)在可以看一下嗎?我現(xiàn)在有時間。
A:Sure. I’ve been trying to come up with some new production and advertising strategies. First of all, if we want to stay competitive, we need to modernize our factory. New equipment is long overdue. We’re behind the times.
當然可以。我在考慮推出一些新產品和廣告策略。首先我們如果要保持競爭力的話,就需要使我們的工廠現(xiàn)代化。我們早就應該添置新設備了,那些早已過時。
B:How much will that cost? We have to think about our budget you know.
費用是多少?我們必須要考慮財政預算。
A:We have several options ranging from one hundred thousand dollars all the way up to half a million.
我們有幾種選擇,從10萬美元到50萬美元都有。
B:OK. We’ll have to discuss these costs with finance.
我們得跟財務部門討論這些開支。
A:We should also consider human resources. I’ve been talking to personnel as well as our staff at the factories. We need some new people.
我們同時還要考慮人力資源問題。我已經跟人事部與工廠職員談過了。我們需要些新人。
B:What’s the picture?
情況怎么樣?
A:We’ll probably have to hire three or four engineers to help us modernize the factory.
我們可能得雇用三至四個工程師,來幫助我們實現(xiàn)工廠現(xiàn)代化。
B:What about advertising?
廣告的事怎么辦?
A:Marketing has some interesting ideas for television commercials. They really seem powerful.
市場部對電視廣告的點子很有意思。他們好像能起到作用。
B:TV—isn’t that a bit too expensive for us? What’s wrong with advertising in the papers, as usual?
電視對我們來說是不是太貴了一點?像往常一樣在報上打廣告有什么不好呢?
A:Quite frankly, it’s just not enough anymore. We need to be more aggressive in order to keep ahead of our competitors. This is 21st century.
坦白地說吧,這太不夠勁了。我們必須加強攻勢,才能走在競爭對手的前面。這可是21世紀了。
B:Will we be able to afford all this? I’m not so sure.
我們能付得起這么多錢嗎?我不是很有把握。
A:Well, I’ll look into it, but I think higher costs will be justified. These investments will result in higher profits for our company.
嗯,我調查一下吧,但我認為多花一點錢是值得的。這樣的投資將使我們公司獲得更高的利潤。
B:We’ll have to look at these figures more closely. Have finance draw up a budget for these investments.
我們得仔細看看這些數(shù)據(jù)。讓財務部起草一份投資預算。
A:Will do. Thanks for your time.
行。謝謝你抽出時間來跟我討論。
額外成就感
商務英語
equipment 設備
* You need the right equipment for the job.
你需要適當?shù)霓k公設備。
* This airplane is fitted with the most modern equipment available.
這架飛機所裝配的設備是目前最現(xiàn)代化的。
modernize 使現(xiàn)代化;更新
* Our equipment is old; we need to modernize.
我們的設備太陳舊了,需要更新。
* We plan to completely modernize our company before China enters the WTO.
我們準備在中國加入WTO之前使公司全部實現(xiàn)現(xiàn)代化。
competitive 競爭的;有競爭力的
* In order to stay competitive with other companies, we must modernize our production.
為了保持在市場上的競爭力,我們必須要更新產品。
* The import and export business is very competitive.
進出口行業(yè)競爭非常激烈。
budget 預算
* We have enough money for television advertisement in our budget.
我們的預算中有足夠的資金用于做電視廣告。
* We have to budget our time carefully because we only have a few days.
我們只有幾天時間,所以要好好調配時間。
口語要素
★ Can’t complain. 挺好的,沒什么可抱怨的。
★ We’re behind the times. 我們落伍/過時了。
★ What’s the picture? 情況怎么樣?
★ I’m not so sure. 我不是很有把握。
★ I’ll look into it. 我來調查一下。
★ Will do. 行。
★ Thanks for your time. 謝謝你抽出時間來。