时间:2018-12-25 作者:英语课 分类:礼节美语


英语课

  项目主管Donny急冲冲地来找老板Simon.

Donny: Simon, there's something we need to talk about.

Simon: Go ahead, shoot.

D: I think maybe we better step into your office. It's a bit of a sensitive issue.

S: Oh, sure. Come on in. What's on your mind?

D: You know that project we have in the south of the country?

S: Do you mean the new processing plant we're building?

D: Yes. I'm afraid we've run into a couple of setbacks.

S: Oh? What's the problem?

Donny有事找Simon, 但是不方便在外面谈,说we better step into your office,最好去你办公室谈。原来是他们在南方兴建的加工厂遇到了麻烦。Donny说,we've run into a couple of setbacks. Run into something, 是遇到的意思,setback 1, 意思是挫折。

D: I just got a call from the on-site manager and he says the local area's building inspector 2 says our building is not up to code.

S: But that's impossible! I personally made sure that we followed all relevant local laws and I even insisted on a better standard than the code requires! How can this be?

D: Well sir, the on-site manager says the real problem is that we need to grease the wheels. In other words, there's nothing wrong with the building, the inspector just wants a kickback 3.

原来,问题出在当地检查施工建筑的官员身上。他为了拿回扣,kickback, 居然说Simon公司的建筑not up to code. 不符合建筑规格。这里的code, c-o-d-e, code 指政府关于建筑标准的法规。按Donny的话说,要想达标也不难,we need to grease the wheels. grease is spelled g-r-e-a-s-e, grease. Grease,是上油的意思,wheels是车轮的意思,给车轮上油,引伸为让事情进行得更顺利。

S: I see. Hmm...this is frustrating 4.

D: On the one hand, the inspector is not asking for very much, a couple of thousand dollars will make this problem go away. But on the other hand, bribery 5 is illegal.

S: Bribery is certainly illegal, but even more important for me personally, it's immoral 6. I've always tried to do the right thing in my business dealings and it's important to me that I run a clean shop.

Donny说,一方面,几千美元就能解决问题,make the problem go away, 让这个问题消失;但另外一方面,行贿是非法的, bribery is illegal. Simon说,行贿不仅非法,更重要的是,他个人认为这样做是不道德的,it's immoral. Simon还说,自己做生意一概奉公守法,努力run a clean shop. 这里的clean指正派的,遵纪守法的,shop 在口语里可以用来泛指生意、公司、店铺等等。Simon最终会让步吗?我们下次继续听。



1 setback
n.退步,挫折,挫败
  • Since that time there has never been any setback in his career.从那时起他在事业上一直没有遇到周折。
  • She views every minor setback as a disaster.她把每个较小的挫折都看成重大灾难。
2 inspector
n.检查员,监察员,视察员
  • The inspector was interested in everything pertaining to the school.视察员对有关学校的一切都感兴趣。
  • The inspector was shining a flashlight onto the tickets.查票员打着手电筒查看车票。
3 kickback
n.酬金;佣金,回扣
  • Mike got a kickback from a merchant.麦克从商人那里得到了回扣。
  • The company had to kickback a lot to the corrupt officer.这家公司必须给腐败的政府官员很大一笔佣金。
4 frustrating
adj.产生挫折的,使人沮丧的,令人泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的现在分词 );挫败;使受挫折;令人沮丧
  • It's frustrating to have to wait so long. 要等这么长时间,真令人懊恼。
  • It was a demeaning and ultimately frustrating experience. 那是一次有失颜面并且令人沮丧至极的经历。 来自《简明英汉词典》
5 bribery
n.贿络行为,行贿,受贿
  • FBI found out that the senator committed bribery.美国联邦调查局查明这个参议员有受贿行为。
  • He was charged with bribery.他被指控受贿。
6 immoral
adj.不道德的,淫荡的,荒淫的,有伤风化的
  • She was questioned about his immoral conduct toward her.她被询问过有关他对她的不道德行为的情况。
  • It is my belief that nuclear weapons are immoral.我相信使核武器是不邪恶的。
学英语单词
.ani
abandoned infant
ageable
aggregate national income
asclepias curassavicas
back-fired
bad policies
BD-CELLULOSE
be a piece of cake
bevis
blow run
booby prize
booty call
Bourbourg
brevipen
captain deck
caput articular
carrier vehicle
ceratobranchial segment
Chanco
chiu tzu y?eh
cocto-immunogen
cold pressed juice
commissive mood
coxarthritis
deucing
digital reflection hologram
digital telemeter receiver
directoral
draw a check
everlastingnesses
exercise price
fall witchgrass
fetch around
field slave
fine spray metal transfer
Firuzeh
flow control bypass valve
indirogar
internal damping losses
klystron oscillator
Knole
leaf of negundo chastetree
leaky Rayleigh wave
left module
liquid level control
liquid liabilities
Longhurst Plateau
Michaelis-Gutmann bodies
multitown
muscular receptor apparatus
N-cholylglycine
nappiness
neocolonialization
oil of winter-green
one person
one-way trade
Osterstedt
over-generalisations
pigment minerals
plain squirrel cage motor
prewired option
primary permeability
principal tangent
propagation of light
prussics
raceway for wiring
radio-transmitting set
rapid depreciation procedures
regular screw thread
root registry
root-hair region
rubberstamp
run-resistant
satellite-tosatellite tracking
saw tooth hob
Shahejie Formation
shahstah
shirron
short title catalog
sleake
Snoqualmie Falls
splenoblast
steriliser
stick something up your ass
sturtevant excavating and bagging machine
teleonymph
tetravalelent
thanedom
Thioton
Threskiornis aethiopica
tracking lidar
transition signal
traversing speed
type checking rule
unbalanced ring
unflamboyant
unreservedly
vertical-disk-type butterfly valve
vinylog effect
violent film
weld rate