礼节美语079讲
陈豪在北京的ABC美国公司工作。美国同事Amy来办公室找他。
(Office ambience)
CH：Hi Amy. How are you?
A: I`m fine. Do you have a moment to talk? There is something I`d like to discuss with you.
CH: 坐下说。
A: This is a bit awkward, but important to talk about.
CH: 是什么要紧事吗？
A: It has come to my attention that you have been discussing salaries with some of your co-workers.
CH: 这个，是啊，谁告诉你的？
A: Marie in Marketing came to me yesterday. She was upset. She said that you asked her how much money she was making after the new raises were given out.
CH: 没错，我是问过她工资涨了以后赚多少钱。我问了不少人呢。这有什么不对吗？
A: There are a number of reasons not to talk about money with co-workers or acquaintances.
CH: 我真的不知道。跟同事为什么不能谈工资的事呢？
A: I realize that you didn`t intend any harm, but discussing salaries with your co-workers can create problems.
CH: 会有什么问题呢？
A: Unfortunately I just remembered a conference call that I have to take in five minutes. Would you like to continue our conversation over lunch?
******
两人中午一起在餐厅吃饭。
CH: Amy, 你上午说最好不要打听别人的工资，这是为什么？
A: It can cause dissension among co-workers.
CH: 引起矛盾？
A: For example, if you and Marie have the same job title and job description and you find out that she is making more money, you might resent that and resent her.
CH: 言之有理。我其实没有别的想法，我就是想知道，等我干到Marie那个资历，能赚多少钱。
A: That is a subject that you should ask your boss or someone in Human Resources.
CH: 其实啊，我问了好几个人，只有一个人告诉我说，他不愿意讨论工资的问题。
A: That is exactly what everyone else should have said.
CH: 不瞒你说，他们还想从我这儿打听别人都赚多少呢？我就把Marie的工资告诉他们了。
A: It`s bad enough that you asked Marie, but you should never have mentioned her salary to anyone else.
CH: 我真的没有恶意。Marie不会告到老板那儿去吧？
A: I think you should apologize to Marie and assure her that you meant no harm. Then go to other people and ask them to keep the information about Marie to themselves.
CH: 好，我马上去向Marie道歉。除了不能谈工资，还有什么不能谈的吗？
A: Stay away from all private matters. Keep professional and personal conversations separate. And never talk about one co-worker with another unless what you are discussing is common knowledge.
CH: 我知道了，以后一定不在办公室里谈私事。
流行美语第312课
李华和Larry星期六早上一起去吃午饭。今天我们要学两个常用语：get a leg up on和crush.
LH: Larry, 一星期没见，你最近是不是特别忙？
LL: Hi Li Hua. It has been a busy week.
LH: 下星期是不是就没事了？你陪我去看Disney On Ice冰上迪斯尼怎么样？
LL: Unfortunately I think next week might be even busier. We are bidding against our top competitor for a huge advertising contract, so everybody is going to have to work especially hard to win it.
LH: 那家公司不是特别厉害吗？不过没关系，我相信，你们公司一定能赢。
LL: Yes, although they have a lot of talent, I think we`ll be able to get a leg up on the competition.
LH: A leg up一条腿在上？这是什么意思？
LL: Haha...A leg up on the competition means that we have an advantage over them.
LH: 噢，a leg up就是具有优势。
LL: Yes exactly. Because we have got a leg up on our competitors, I`m pretty confident that we`ll be able to win the contract.
LH: 这份合同是做什么的？
LL: It`s a contract to advertise soda.
LH: 你为什么觉得自己have a leg up on the competition比对手有优势呢？
LL: Although the other company has worked with them in the past, their last ad campaign was not so successful. We on the other hand have been very successful with similar products, so I think we have got a leg up on them.
LH: 那太好了。
LL: It is VERY good, especially because if we win this contract, we might all be able to get a bonus this year.
LH: 拿到合同就发奖金？那你们还不得使出吃奶的劲儿来。
LL: What`s new with you Li Hua?
LH: 好消息，我们排球队刚刚杀进小组前四名，下一场比赛是这星期五晚上。你一定要来。虽然对手很厉害，可我们还是有优势。We have a leg up on them.
LL: Why do you say that Li Hua?
LH: 虽然他们球员的个人技术都不错，但整体配合不如我们有默契。
LH: That`s great. What time is the game?
LL: 星期五晚上七点一刻。
******
星期五晚上，Larry来看李华比赛。
(Whistle Sound)
LL: Congratulations!
LH: Hooray! We won!
LL: Won? You crushed them!
LH: Eh? crushed them? 那是什么意思？
LL: Crushed them, it means you beat them severely.
LH: 你是说我们狠狠地打败了他们。太夸张了，比分还是挺接近的。
LL: I don`t know, Li Hua, your team was clearly on top. I`d say you crushed them.
LH: 你别忘了，刚开始的时候，她们可是一路领先，I thought they would really crush us.
LL: Well it certainly seems like you were able to come back from behind then for the victory.
LH: 是啊，她们耐力不够，比赛一开始劲头十足，可没多久主力队员就累得不行了。
LL: I guess that is when you were really able to start crushing them.
LH: 是啊，我们今天超水平发挥。
LL: It was a really good game to watch. You were on fire out there.
LH: 我的表现只能说一般，还是大家的功劳。对了，你最近忙吗？
LL: Have I ever! You remember that account I told you about? The ad campaign that we were competing for?
LH: 当然记得，结果怎么样，合同拿到手了吗？
LL: We got the contract! We crushed our competitors and now we`ll be in charge of this huge new account.
LH: 太棒了，I`m glad to hear that you crushed them.
LL: We were able to show our past successes, and our rates were much lower than their old company. We really crushed them.
LH: 这个合同由谁来负责呢？
LL: Well the boss is still trying to decide who to put in charge of the project, but I am hoping it will be me.
LH: 那你是不是会忙上加忙呢？
LL: It will mean a bit more responsibility, but no real change in the hours.
LH: 我们得好好庆祝一下。去吃饭？
LL: Sounds good to me!
今天李华学了两个常用语。一个是get a leg up on, 意思是占据优势。另一个是crush, 意思是彻底打败。