礼节美语070讲
陈豪在北京的ABC美国公司工作。他开完会，跟美国同事Amy一起往外走。
(Office ambience)
A：You seemed uncomfortable at our meeting. Was something wrong, Chen Hao?
C：我是有点不自在。你是怎么看出来的？
A：I can recognize the signs when you are troubled. Why were you ill at ease?
C：这次开会人太多了，很多都是其他部门的，他们根本不理我，让我觉得自己是局外人，真后悔，还不如不来呢！
A：It didn`t have to be that way.
C：不用这样？你能不能说得具体点？
A：There are plenty of things you can do in those situations to be noticed.
C：怎样才能让别人注意到我呢？难道要故意把咖啡撒在身上吗？
A：Not exactly. I am talking about positive ways to make an impression. If you want to get ahead in the company, people need to recognize you and know who you are.
C：我本来是要自我介绍的，可我到的时候，别人已经都在聊天了。
A：I saw you come in and you were one of the last to arrive.
C：这有什么关系吗？我又没迟到。
A：If you are one of the first to arrive, you are in position to greet other people as they come in. You can introduce yourself before they get into conversations with others.
C：不管怎么说，跟素不相识的人聊天我还是觉得很别扭，不知道说什么好。
A：I have a couple of suggestions. Let`s talk about them after work. I need to get to my desk.
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下班后。
C：Amy, 你快告诉我，下次开这种会，我该怎么做。
A：It`s not as difficult as you think, especially if you find out ahead of time who is going to be there.
C：可我怎么才能知道谁来开会呢？
A：A couple of ways. If the notice is sent by e-mail, the names of everyone who received the communication are usually listed.
C：如果从电子邮件里看不出来呢？
A：Then you pick up the phone and call the person who sent out the notice and ask who will be there.
C：既然不认识人家，知道会议名单又有什么用呢？
A：Once you have the names you can inquire about who they are and gather information about them. When you meet them, you`ll know enough to engage them in conversation.
C：好是好，提前了解一下与会者的情况，就可以找到合适的话题了。可要这么做，没有几天的时间绝对不够。
A：In that case, you do what successful people do to be impressive - you look at the list of who will be at the meeting, find out something about them and then focus on at least three people you`d like to meet.
C：这还比较可行。我可以挑出三个最想结识的人，开会之前着重了解一下他们的情况。
美国习惯用语第462讲
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今天我们来学几个在总统大选中常会用上的词汇和习惯用语。在大选举行前，几乎隔一天就会公布一次民意调查结果，衡量那些希望得到共和党或民主党总统侯选人提名的人在选民中支持率的高低。
民意测验的结果往往起伏波动很大，一次测验的结果绝对说明不了问题，而在这“备战阶段”最先让人略见选情眉目的是大选年初的冬天在爱奥华州举行的政党基层会议和在新罕普什尔州举行的初选。有一个特别的词表示政党基层会议: caucus。
Caucus是由州内的政党领导人召开的基层会议，讨论竞选策略，并挑选出他们在政党的全国代表大会上所支持的侯选人。Caucus这个词来自阿尔冈昆印第安语原意是“部落里的贤者，” 也就是专门为他人指点迷津的人，相当于现代社会的咨询顾问。当然召开政党基层会议的当地政党领导人确实是基层民众的政治顾问。这可能就是用caucus来指政党基层会议的缘由。而初选的英文是：primaries。大多数州都要到大选年的春天才决定两党的总统侯选人提名。我们分析这两个州现行一步的道理。
例句-1：One reason that the Iowa caucus and New Hampshire primary are held so early is the two states take pride in being first to let voters of both parties express their support for the candidates in some official way.
And maybe it`s also because they enjoy the national attention the early caucus or primary brings them for a few months once every four years.
After all they seldom get any other national notice.
他说：爱奥华州和新罕普什尔州这么早就举行政党基层会议和初选的一个原因是能领先一步让投票人通过正式途径表达对两党侯选人的支持使这两个州引为自豪。
与此同时，他们可能也高兴由于政党基层会议和初选他们每隔四年就有几个月的时间成为全国瞩目的地方。这种全国性的关注对他们说来毕竟是难得的待遇。
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新罕普什尔州和爱奥华州在全国地位类同，所以在意识观念方面也有相似的地方：他们都争着要成为四年一度的大选的揭幕人，于是这两个州的政坛领袖于八十年代中达成协议，既然爱奥华州最先举行政党基层会议，就由新罕普什尔州第一个举行初选。这样两个州就平分秋色了。
于是新罕普什尔州和爱奥华州每到大选年初的冬天就分外热闹：跃跃欲试的两党竞选人蜂拥而至，马不停蹄地奔波于州内大小城镇之间，尽可能多多地跟选民握手，并且四处举行公开辩论，吸引广大新闻媒体的注目和报道，而投票一结束这两个州就又重返往常宁静平缓的步调。
那么究竟the New Hampshire Primaries是否侯选人日后入主白宫的关键呢? 我们再听听唐本森先生的看法吧。
例句-2：New Hampshire calls itself `the maker of presidents` with the claim that winners in the New Hampshire primaries get a head start on the run for the White House. Is this so? To tell the truth, winners in New Hampshire often drop out later and never get nominated by their party`s National Conventions, or if they do, never make it to the White House. But at least the New Hampshire Primaries together with the Iowa Caucuses tell how well candidates are doing with grassroots Americans.
他说：新罕普什尔州自称为“总统的缔造者。” 他们声称在新罕普什尔州初选取胜的人在向白宫进军的道路上会领先一步。果真如此吗? 说实话，这些胜利者日后往往退出竞选，也从来没有在本党全国代表大会上得到总统侯选人提名，即使得到提名也从未入主白宫。然而新罕普什尔州初选和爱奥华州政党基层会议至少说明了侯选人在基层美国人中有多少威信。