2011年ESL之商务英语 19 Buying Office Furniture

19 Buying Office Furniture

GLOSSARY 1

catalogue – a printed book with many pages containing photographs and writtendescriptions of items that are sold by a particular company

* If you order clothes through a catalogue, it’s really important to know the correctsize since you can’t try things on before you buy them.

to furnish – to purchase furniture and place it in a room that previously 2 did nothave any furniture

* Maggie is really excited about furnishing her college dorm room.

desk – a large piece of furniture like a table, but with drawers, used for studyingor working, often with room for a computer

* When Shane is busy, he has papers spread out all over his desk.

file cabinet – a metal or wooden piece of furniture with large drawers thatusually lock, used to organize and store many pieces of paper

* This file cabinet contains files on all our clients, in alphabetical 3 order.

bookcase – a large, tall piece of furniture with many shelves and an open front,used to store books and objects that one wants to display

* Let’s put these heavy encyclopedias 4 on the bottom of the bookcase, and putyour awards and trophies 5 at eye level on these higher shelves.

you name it – a phrase used when one has finished listing several items to showthat many other things could be included in that list

* Uncle Ron has worked as a carpenter, a lawyer, a school bus driver, a bankteller, an accountant – you name it!

office chair – a chair used in front of a desk at work, usually with wheels and aback and arms that can be moved for greater comfort

* With the right office chair, you’re less likely to get an injury from typing all daylong.

casters – small wheels placed underneath 6 heavy pieces of furniture to makethem easier to move

* Louisa wants to buy a piano with casters so that she can move it from room toroom whenever she wants.

adjustable 7 – able to be moved into a different physical position to become morecomfortable for someone to use

* This backpack is adjustable. Just pull here to make the shoulder straps 8 longeror shorter.

keyboard tray – a small, flat piece of wood or metal underneath the top of adesk that holds a keyboard and rolls out when one wants to type, but then can bepushed back under the desk when one does not want to use the keyboard

* Older desks don’t have keyboard trays, but you can buy a separate one andinstall it with just a few screws.

drawer – a box that does not have a lid and slides in and out of another piece offurniture, like a desk or dresser

* Pens and pencils are in the top drawer, blank paper and cards are in thesecond drawer, and computer cables are in the bottom drawer.

lateral 9 files – files and folders 10 that are stored in a wide drawer so that they allface toward the right or left of the piece of furniture, not toward the person whoopens the drawer

* These lateral files are in chronological 11 order, so the oldest files are on your leftand the newest files are on the right.

hutch – a piece of furniture that sits on top of a desk, with several cupboards orshelves that can store books or other papers above a computer

* Jake keeps reference materials like dictionaries and thesauruses in his hutch,where he can reach them easily while writing.

optional – something that can be chosen or used, but does not have to bechosen or used; not mandatory 12 or required

* This travel package describes several optional sightseeing trips that areavailable for an additional fee.

solid – firm and stable; strongly built; made with strong materials

* These bookcases aren’t very solid. The shelves fell down when I startedputting books on them.

sturdy – strong and well-built; not likely to fall down or fall apart

* Before I bought a new chair, I sat in it and made sure it was sturdy.

to be cut out for – to be well qualified 13 or prepared to do something

* Doran’s parents don’t think he’s cut out for the military, since he isn’t very goodat following instructions.

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

1. Which of these things would not be attached to a desk?

a) A catalogue.

b) A keyboard tray.

c) A hutch.

2. What does Kei mean when he says, “I think there’s one person who’s cut outfor this job”?

a) He thinks Natalia knows a lot about buying office furniture.

b) He thinks Natalia is choosing very expensive office furniture.

c) He thinks Natalia should design and build office furniture.

______________

WHAT ELSE DOES IT MEAN?

you name it

The phrase “you name it,” in this podcast, is used when one has finished listingseveral items to show that many other things could be included in that list:

“Jessina loves sweet foods: ice cream, cake, cookies, candies, pies – you nameit!” The phrase “just to name a few” is used in the same way: “His favoritehobbies are biking, hiking, camping, and fishing, just to name a few.” The phrase“to name the day/date” is used to describe choosing a date for some futureevent, especially for a wedding: “Congratulations! Have you two named the dateyet?” Finally, the phrase, “name your price” is used to ask someone how muchhe or she wants to buy or sell something for: “I love this car! Name your price.”

solid

In this podcast, the word “solid” means to be strongly built and made of strongmaterials: “This children’s chair isn’t solid enough for an adult to sit on it.” Theword “solid” also identifies objects that are not liquids or gasses (vapor): “Waterbecomes solid at 32o Fahrenheit 14.” Babies are fed “solid foods” when they’re ableto chew and aren’t limited to only liquids and purees: “Danny’s favorite solidfoods are cheddar cheese, ham, and blueberries.” The word “solid” sometimesmeans reliable or true: “Good journalists don’t print news stories until they’re surethey’re based on solid facts.” Finally, the word “solid” can mean withoutinterruption: “They’ve been working for 36 hours solid with absolutely no sleep.”

CULTURE NOTE

Specialized 15 Office FurnitureA typical office has a desk with a hutch, filing cabinets, and office chairs. Butsome jobs require “specialized” (serving a specific purpose) office furniture thathelps the employees complete their work.

For example, a “receptionist” sits near the main door of an office building andgreets people who walk in, helping 16 them find the information they need or meetwith the people they have come to see. The receptionist normally sits behind a“reception desk,” which has a nice “finish” (the way something appears,especially wood) on the side that faces the entrance with a low section thereceptionist can see over while seated, and a higher section where the peoplewho come into the office can set down their papers and speak with thereceptionist comfortably while standing 17.

The “back office” (a room that is not open to the public, usually filled with officesupplies, photocopy 18 machines, and fax machines) often has “mail slots” or“cubby holes” (many small boxes or shelves, usually with one for each employee,labeled with names) where mail and other items are “distributed” (given tosomeone) so that each employee can “check” (see what is there) his or hercubby hole once a day.

Often people who work in “call centers” (large buildings where many peopleprovide customer service or technical support over the phone) or “dataprocessing centers” (large buildings where many people type information intocomputers) don’t need their own office. Instead, they have a “cubicle,” or a smallarea separated from other workers by “partitions” (short walls that do not reachup to the ceiling), but they can hear the people around them and easily see them,often simply by standing up and looking over those partitions.

______________

Comprehension Questions Correct Answers: 1 – a; 2 – a

COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT 19

Welcome to English as a Second Language Podcast number 720: Buying OfficeFurniture.

This is English as a Second Language Podcast episode 720. I’m your host, Dr.

Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development inbeautiful Los Angeles, California.

Our website is eslpod.com. Go there today and become a member of ESLPodcast and help support this podcast so that we can continue providing yougood English lessons – not great, but pretty good!

On this episode, we’re going to listen to a dialogue between Natalia and Keidiscuss some office vocabulary dealing 20 with office furniture. Let’s get started.

[start of dialogue]

Natalia: Is that the Office Shop catalogue?

Kei: Yeah, I’m in charge of furnishing the new offices on the second floor. Theyneed everything – desks, file cabinets, bookcases – you name it.

Natalia: That sounds like fun. I love shopping for new furniture. Can I help?

Kei: Yes, definitely. I’ve picked out a few things already, but I’m having a hardtime deciding among all of these office chairs.

Natalia: Get this one. They’re on casters and are fully 21 adjustable.

Kei: Okay, what about desks? Everybody has a different idea about officedesks.

Natalia: I like this one. It’s got a keyboard tray, file drawers, and space forlateral files. See?

Kei: All right, I guess that one is as good as any, but what about this one with ahutch?

Natalia: This desk has an optional hutch. If the new employees want a hutch,they can order one later.

Kei: Okay, last but not least, we need bookcases.

Natalia: These are solid wood and look sturdy. What do you think?

Kei: I think there’s one person who’s cut out for this job, and that person is notme!

[end of dialogue]

Our dialogue begins with Natalia saying, “Is that the Office Shop catalogue?”

Office Shop is the name of some store that sells office material, not a real place.

A “catalogue” is a printed book with many pages that usually containsphotographs and descriptions – pictures and text about what a particularcompany sells. So, you might have a clothing catalogue that shows all the latestdresses and shirts, pants, that sort of thing; you could have a office furniturecatalogue that shows things that you can buy for your office. Catalogues arebecoming less common because people now sell on the Internet and you don’tneed to send them a book.

Kei says, “Yeah, I’m in charge of furnishing the new offices on the second floor.”

“To furnish” (furnish) is a verb meaning to buy furniture, things like desks andchairs for a certain place, for a house or, in this case, for an office. The noun“furnishings” (plural) refers to furniture, but the verb “to furnish” means to go andbuy – select and buy furniture for a particular place. Kei says that the secondfloor offices need everything, “desks, file cabinets, bookcases – you name it.” A“desk” is a large piece of furniture, like a table, that you are able to write on or putyour computer on and other objects: paper, pencils, that sort of thing. Desks canbe very small, like a school desk where a student sits, or it can be very large, likewhat the president of the company might have. “File cabinets” (sometimes called“filing cabinets,” they’re the same thing) are large – typically large pieces offurniture that have big drawers in them – boxes, if you will, that pull out and youcan put into them pieces of paper that are put into cardboard files. A “file” is alarge piece of cardboard that is folded in half and you put papers in it, just likeyou would put meat in a sandwich, and then you put these files into a drawer – alarge box – and then that drawer goes into the file cabinet. A “cabinet” is ageneral term for a place to store things – to keep things. So here, we arekeeping the files; it’s a file cabinet. “Bookcases” (one word) are large pieces offurniture that hold books, of course. A bookcase has straight, flat pieces of eithermetal or wood, usually two or three, sometimes more; these are called “shelves.”

Individually, it’s a “shelf” (shelf). And, you put the books on the shelves. Keisays they need “desks, file cabinets, bookcases – you name it.” This is anexpression; when someone says, “you name it,” they mean that they have given you a list of possible things, but there are even more things that they could say.

It’s as if you are starting a list, but then you stop because there are so manythings on the list, you use the things that you say as a sample – as an example.

Natalia says, “That sounds like fun.” I’m not sure if she’s joking or being seriousthere. “I love shopping for new furniture.” So I guess she’s serious, she doesthink this will be fun. “Can I help?” Kei says, “Yes, definitely. I’ve picked out(I’ve selected a few things here) a few things already, but I’m having a hard time(I’m having a difficult time) deciding among all of these office chairs.” A “chair,”

of course, is what you sit on; an “office chair” would be a chair that you wouldtypically find in an office. Often office chairs are adjustable; you can make themtaller or shorter depending on what you want.

Natalia says, “Get this one (meaning buy this one). They’re on casters and arefully adjustable.” “Casters” (casters) are small wheels that you put on the bottomof a chair or any very heavy furniture so that you can move it back and fortheasily. You might have a desk on casters, possible. You probably wouldn’t havea bookcase on casters, but you might have a small filing cabinet on casters soyou could move it back and forth 22 easily. Natalia says that the chairs that heshould buy should be adjustable. “Adjustable” means you can move it in differentpositions, as I was saying earlier, you can make it higher or lower for example.

Kei says, “Okay, what about desks? Everybody has a different idea about officedesks.” Natalia says, “I like this one. It’s got a keyboard tray, file drawers, andspace for lateral files. See?” A “keyboard tray” is a small, flat piece of wood ormetal that goes underneath your desk, and you can pull it out and type on it – putyour keyboard there so you can enter information into your computer. Thereason that some desks have keyboard trays is because the desk is too tall andin order to have a comfortable position for typing you want the keyboard to belower than the top of the desk. A “file drawer” is similar to what we talked aboutwhen we discussed file cabinets. A “file drawer” is a drawer that you put files inthat’s in a desk; a “file cabinet” is separate from the desk. “Lateral files” are akind of file drawer – file system where the files are facing either left or right.

Normally when you have a file cabinet, you pull out the drawer and the files areall facing you. In other words, they are in a direction so you can read themeasily. To have a “lateral file” means that the files are basically at 90 degreesfrom where you are so that they don’t face the same direction as the drawerpulling out, they face in a perpendicular 23 direction – if that makes any sense.

Kei says, “All right, I guess that one is as good as any (meaning that’s goodenough), but what about this one with a hutch?” A “hutch” (hutch) is somethingthat goes on top of your desk; it’s usually something that has some places for storing things. So, it’s like a storage cabinet that goes on the top of a desk,usually at the back of the desk. Sometimes it can be a place to put yourcomputer, sometimes it’s a place for other equipment, it depends on the deskand the hutch.

Natalia says, “This desk has an optional hutch.” Something that is “optional”

means that it doesn’t have to go with the desk; you can choose it or not, it isn’trequired. Natalia says, “If the new employees want a hutch, they can order onelater.” They can get one after they first start using the desk.

Kei says, “Okay, last but not least (meaning this is the last thing we need to do,but it’s not necessarily the least important), we need bookcases.” Natalia says,“These are solid wood and look sturdy.” “Solid” usually means strong or wellbuilt, something that is firm, something that is stable. “Solid” has some othermeanings in English as well; take a look at our Learning Guide for those.

“Sturdy” (sturdy) also means strong, well built, something that won’t fall down orfall apart easily. Natalia says, “What do you think?” Kei says, “I think there’s oneperson who’s cut out for this job, and that person is not me!” “To be cut out for(something)” means to be well qualified to do something or to be well prepared todo something. You might say, “I’m not cut out for doing heavy lifting,” or, “I’m notcut out for painting,” it’s not something I would do a very good job at. That’s whatI tell my wife all the time!

Now let’s listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.

[start of dialogue]

Natalia: Is that the Office Shop catalogue?

Kei: Yeah, I’m in charge of furnishing the new offices on the second floor. Theyneed everything – desks, file cabinets, bookcases – you name it.

Natalia: That sounds like fun. I love shopping for new furniture. Can I help?

Kei: Yes, definitely. I’ve picked out a few things already, but I’m having a hardtime deciding among all of these office chairs.

Natalia: Get this one. They’re on casters and are fully adjustable.

Kei: Okay, what about desks? Everybody has a different idea about officedesks.

Natalia: I like this one. It’s got a keyboard tray, file drawers, and space forlateral files. See?

Kei: All right, I guess that one is as good as any, but what about this one with ahutch?

Natalia: This desk has an optional hutch. If the new employees want a hutch,they can order one later.

Kei: Okay, last but not least, we need bookcases.

Natalia: These are solid wood and look sturdy. What do you think?

Kei: I think there’s one person who’s cut out for this job, and that person is notme!

[end of dialogue]

Our scriptwriter is cut out for writing wonderful scripts; that’s our own Dr. LucyTse.

From Los Angeles, California, I’m Jeff McQuillan. Thank you for listening. Comeback and listen to us again here on ESL Podcast.

English as a Second Language Podcast is written and produced by Dr. Lucy Tse,hosted by Dr. Jeff McQuillan, copyright 2011 by the Center for EducationalDevelopment.