礼节美语 Business Etiquette 102
公司总裁Tim召集部门经理开会，讨论节能措施。
F: I know it might sound like an old-fashioned idea, but what about some kind of a carpooling program?
T: You know, that just might work for a few of our departments. I know a few of the marketing 1 guys live pretty close to each other.
H: Ah! But now we come to a problem. How do we convince people to sign up for a program that will - at least mildly - inconvenience them?
D: I have to confess, if you asked me to volunteer, I'd turn you down.
H: Sure. So would I. So we can't rely on the kindness of people's hearts. We're not bad people, we're just busy people.
Faith提议，可以考虑拼车计划，carpooling program。 Henry指出，拼车会给大家带来不便， inconvenience them, 问题是如何说服大家加入。 Sign up for something，是报名参加的意思。
T: I think I get your point. You're talking about a fundamental motivator. What Henry's saying is that people need an incentive 2.
H: Bingo! For the past few years, several companies have been experimenting with paying employees a tiny fee to carpool, use public transport or cycle. One organization in Florida pays twenty cents a mile.
D: Huh. I'd consider riding my bicycle if I was getting paid. That's like getting paid to work out!
总裁Tim说， I get your point. 我明白你的意思了。 Henry是说要给大家一些好处，incentive 。 Henry说， Bingo! 这在口语里很常用，意思是没错！对了！
H: Yeah! The company has to consider the fee as an investment in carbon reduction and in workers' health. Less driving means less stress.
T: It's a very interesting idea. But I think you're right....without an incentive, it's doomed 3 to failure.
H: It might seem like a lot of hassle and in the end you might only get a few people to change their commuting 4 habits, but just to put it into perspective, here's a fact from planetgreen.com: If every commuter 5 car in the U.S. carried just one more person, the nation would save 8 billion gallons of gas.
T: It really adds up, doesn't it? Thanks for the tips, Henry. I think we got a lot of food for thought today.
公司要把这笔钱看成是减少废气排放，促进员工健康的投资。总裁Tim表示赞同。 Henry说，虽然听上去好象挺麻烦，但如果美国每辆上班用的车里都多坐一个人的话，美国就能节省80亿加仑的汽油， It really adds up.
- They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
- He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。
- Money is still a major incentive in most occupations.在许多职业中，钱仍是主要的鼓励因素。
- He hasn't much incentive to work hard.他没有努力工作的动机。
- The court doomed the accused to a long term of imprisonment. 法庭判处被告长期监禁。
- A country ruled by an iron hand is doomed to suffer. 被铁腕人物统治的国家定会遭受不幸的。
- I used the commuting time to read and answer my mail. 我利用上下班在汽车中的时间来阅读和答复给我的函电。
- Noncommuting objects are as real to the mathematicians as commuting objects. 对于数学家来说，不可交换的对象与可交换的对象是一样真实的。