美語訓練班第95課:提高銷售業績
A: 歡迎大家來到這期的美語訓練班! 我是楊琳!
B: 我是Mike! 楊琳，來告訴大家今天都要學什麼!
A: Sure! 今天，我們要一起看看提高銷售業績的好方法，看看父母出錢上大學到底好不好，還要告訴你怎麼說兩害相權取其輕!
B: I know that it's common for Chinese parents to pay for their kids’ education, but in America, a lot of people have to get a student loan to go to college. I guess that’s a major culture difference.
A: 我也覺得是，美國人好像都比較獨立。中國人呢，特別看重教育，所以父母爲了讓子女受到更好的教育都不惜花好多錢。
B: at uate student....
A: I think this is only because I'm smarter than you! (B: Hey!) 好了好了，不開玩笑了，咱們趕快來學習吧! 先來進入第一個單元，Learn a word!
Learn A Word 1688 academic
今天我們要學的詞是academic. Academic is spelled academic, academic. Academic 學術的。Five states in America will add at least 300 hours to the academic calendar in some schools this year. 美國五個州今年會給一些學校的學生增加至少300個小時的教學時間。一項最新研究顯示，College students whose parents pay for their tuition tend to have lower academic performance. 父母出錢付學費的大學生，成績反而比較差。有研究顯示，Annual spending on sports by public universities is about six to twelve times the amount of their academic spending. 公立大學每年用在運動項目上的開銷是其教學經費的六到十二倍。好的，今天我們學習的詞是 academic, academic, academic...
A: Universities spend more on sports than academics? That totally explains how much attention March Madness has received!
B: Exactly! But sports are fun! (Talk about a kind of sports that you do...)
A: 我就不行! 我什麼體育都不愛看，而且老覺得規則複雜，什麼都看不明白啊!
B: That sounds like you!
A: 嘿! 算了，不跟你貧了，咱們回到正題，來聽聽今天的美國習慣用語，leave in the lurch!
Words and Idioms 823 LEAVE IN THE LURCH
美國習慣用語第 823講
我去年在一家電器商店買了一臺攝像機，當時店裏的售貨員告訴我說，如果發生故障，可以隨時把攝像機拿回店裏，五年內免費保修。結果，上星期，攝像機上的錄製鍵壞了，我拿回去修，誰知道，那家店早就倒閉了。今天我們要學的習慣用語能夠恰如其分地描述我當時的心情：
M: Leave in the lurch. Leave is spelled leave, and lurch; lurch. Leaveinthelurch. Leave in the lurch.
Leave in the lurch 這個習慣用語的意思是棄別人於危難之中，置別人於困境而不顧。這回你明白了吧，那家電器行倒閉，讓我沒辦法修理本來可以保修的攝像機。也就是，It's left me in the lurch.
不過，並不是所有人都會置別人的利益於不顧。讓我們聽聽下面這個醫生的故事。
M: "The interview went so well that the hospital administrator offered Dr. Long the job. The trouble is she wanted him to start right away. He explained that his clinic wouldn't be able to find a replacement so quickly. And he couldn't abandon his patients like that. He was too professional to LEAVE them IN THE LURCH."
醫院負責人經過面試，對龍大夫特別滿意，希望他能立即開始工作。但是龍大夫解釋說，他現在的診所無法馬上找到替代他的醫生，他不能就這樣拋棄自己的病人，作爲醫生，他不能置自己的病人於不顧。
這不禁讓我想起了女兒的班主任。雖然她先生調到西部去工作，但是她卻決定要待到學期結束，因爲她覺得中途換老師對學生不好。I appreciate her not LEAVING THEM IN THE LURCH. 她對學生如此負責的態度讓我深受感動。好的，讓我們再來聽聽上面那段話。
M: "The interview went so well that the hospital administrator offered Dr. Long the job. The trouble is she wanted him to start right away. He explained that his clinic wouldn't be able to find a replacement so quickly. And he couldn't abandon his patients like that. He was too professional to LEAVE them IN THE LURCH."
在剛纔的例子裏，我們提到，一位老師爲了學生的利益，寧可暫時和丈夫分開，也不願意在學期結束前辭職。但是有些人，卻能對自己親生骨肉的利益都置若罔聞。讓我們一起聽聽看。
M: "After the divorce, Bill's kids felt LEFT IN THE LURCH. They'd rarely see him as they grew up. Not only was he absent on special occasions like birthdays and graduations, but also during tough times when they really needed a dad. They never got over that sense of abandonment."
離婚後，比爾的孩子感覺好像完全被父親遺棄了。在他們的成長過程中，很少能見到他，不僅孩子過生日或是畢業典禮等重要場合上看不到他的身影，其他孩子們最需要父親的時候他也從來不在他們的身旁。孩子們始終無法原諒他這種不聞不問的態度。
這些孩子的要求其實並不過份，雖然夫妻離異，但孩子是無辜的，不論是父親還是母親，只要依然在世，就應該繼續陪伴孩子的成長。
我的曾祖父很早就去世了，跟當時其他婦女一樣，我的曾祖母並不工作，而且又沒有現在的社會保障，She was LEFT IN THE LURCH。幸運的是，她在工廠裏找到了一份工作，才能勉強養家餬口。好，我們再聽一下上面的例句。
M: "After the divorce, Bill's kids felt LEFT IN THE LURCH. They'd rarely see him as they grew up. Not only was he absent on special occasions like birthdays and graduations, but also during tough times when they really needed a dad. They never got over that sense of abandonment."
早在十六世紀的時候，法國有一個骰子游戲叫 LOURCHE。按照遊戲規則，如果你的分數遠遠落後於其他人，就算是 LOURCHE。後來，這個詞逐漸被用在其他遊戲上，並發展成了今天的習慣用語 leave in the lurch.
好的，這次美國習慣用語就到此結束了。
M: Until next time.
下次節目再見。
M: This has been Words and Idioms.
A: 現在失業率這麼高，政府又越來越窮，A lot of people were left in the lurch. 很多人都陷入困境，艱難度日。
B:Yep! So it's really important to keep up the good work!
A: Definitely! We need to find a way to better promote our show as well.
B: Well, I guess you just have to remind everyone of how handsome I am...
A: OMG... Where does this overabundance of confidence come from?
B: Just kidding. Well, in today's business etiquette, we are going to talk about ways to boost sales for a company. So let's go and take a look!
禮節美語BE233 Boosting Sales I
公司副總裁Lisa找到銷售部經理Frank.
Lisa: Frank, we just got our sales figures in and the numbers are very disappointing. What's going on here?
Frank: I haven't actually seen the new figures. How far have we fallen?
L: We were in sixth place at the beginning of the year and we've now slipped to the eleventh! That's a considerable drop.
F: Wow, that's really bad news. Maybe we should brainstorm some ideas for a radical reinvention of our sales and marketing plan.
L: Yeah, let's do that right now. What do you think the problem is?
公司副總裁Lisa找到銷售部經理Frank, 因爲最新銷售數字很令人失望，年初的時候還排名第六，we've now slipped to the eleventh. 如今已經滑落到了第11位，下跌幅度很大，That's a considerable drop. Frank聽了這個壞消息，覺得應該 brainstorm some ideas，to brainstorm 是頭腦風暴，集思廣益的意思，看看怎樣徹底調整一下公司的銷售和市場規劃。Lisa建議，擇日不如撞日，說談就談，問Frank覺得問題出在哪裏。
F: Well, it seems our competitors have managed to carve a niche in the market. They are now perceived as more "cool" or trendy than we are. Perhaps we should consider getting some celebrity endorsements.
L: You mean like a rock star or a famous sports figure?
F: Yeah, that might help. The person has to be seen as kind of a rebel so we can associate our brand with individuality.
L: That's not a bad idea. I'll talk to the Board of Directors about that.
F: I'd also suggest we reevaluate our packaging. Right now the box we sell our product in seems a little drab and colorless.
Frank說，公司的競爭對手 carved a niche in the market 在市場中找到了屬於自己的一塊地方，niche is spelled niche, niche 是縫隙的意思，動詞 carve 是雕刻，劃出的意思。Frank說，現在消費者都覺得公司競爭對手的產品更時尚，因此不妨找兩個名人，給公司做產品代言，get some celebrity endorsements, 但選擇的名人一定要帶有反叛色彩，讓用戶覺得我們的產品有個性化，individuality. Frank 還建議，眼下的產品包裝有些呆板，a little drab, 可以考慮變化一下。Lisa說：
L: Yes, we could redesign our packaging. But on the other hand, there is a recent trend to move away from excessive packaging. You help save the environment.
F: That's another way we could go. We could reduce our packaging, and then advertise our environmentallyfriendly business policies. Being"green" is definitely cool these days. Perhaps environmentallyfriendly packaging would appeal to a younger customer demographic.
Lisa說，如今的趨勢是放棄過度包裝，實現包裝簡單化，因爲這樣做有利環保 environmentallyfriendly. Frank覺得Lisa說得有道理，公司在包裝上可以走環保路線，用環保的新思維來吸引年輕客戶羣，appeal to 是吸引的意思，demographic is spelled demographic, demographic 在這裏指的是消費人羣中的一部分。
A: Lisa和Frank談起了如何改進公司的運營情況，Frank說，公司需要 carve a niche in the market， 在市場中找到屬於自己的一塊地方，get some celebrity endorsement, 找名人給公司代言，而且可以use environmentallyfriendly packing, 包裝更加環保化。
B: Yanglin, didn’t you study business for your graduate degree?
A: 沒錯啊！
B: So in your opinion, what are the best ways to boost a business?
A: Oh there are a lot of ways, streamline the production line, cutting labor costs, and better advertisement, etc. Overall there are two major things: cutting costs, and improving exposure to the public.
B: Well, what can I say, sounds like all that money in graduate school tuition wasn’t wasted!
A：那當然！ 現在咱們接着來聽聽Lisa和Frank的討論吧！
禮節美語BE234 Boosting Sales II
公司副總裁Lisa找到銷售部經理Frank，商量如何提高產品銷量。
Lisa: What about our pricing? Are we competitive?
Frank: Actually, we are roughly 15% more expensive than our closest competitors. But it's going to be hard to cut costs any further, seeing as we are already operating on a very slim margin.
L: There're always ways to cut costs, we just have to think outside the box. Perhaps we should consider relocating one of our factories to a more costefficient country.
F: We can also talk to our vendors about where they place our products. Perhaps if they're placed in a more prominent location in stores, they'll catch the eye of more customers.
在價格方面，Frank說，他們的產品比競爭對手高出大約15%, 但要想進一步削減成本，恐怕很難，因爲他們本來就沒有多少利潤，we're already operating on a very slim margin. Lisa說，要降低成本，一定有辦法，必須 think outside the box 用創造性思維，比如考慮把工廠遷到成本更低廉的地方去。Frank說，也可以看看，銷售商能否把產品放在商店裏更顯眼的地方，catch the eye of more customers.吸引更多顧客的注意。
L: Would it help if we offered a mega sale to clear out some of our inventory? We might not make a lot of money, but we might gain some brand awareness.
F: That's a great idea. Getting people talking about our brand would be a big boost.
L: Are we harnessing the power of social network websites?
F: What do you mean?
L: I mean like setting up a Facebook page or using Twitter. It's free to get online and set up an account. We might as well take advantage of these opportunities.
Lisa 建議清倉甩賣，增加 brand awareness 品牌知名度。此外也不能忽視社交網站的力量。We should harness the power of social network websites. harness is spelled harness, harness 是駕馭的意思。Lisa說，公司可以在Facebook臉譜網和Twitter推特網上開帳戶，免費利用這些網站做宣傳。Lisa繼續說，
L: Another idea is for us to reevaluate where we are spending our advertising dollar.
F: Right now, we break it down between all the major media outlets. Television advertising gets 45% of our budget, 30% goes to print media, 20% goes to radio and 5% goes towards advertising online.
L: I think we should boost our online advertising. Online ads are cheap and they can reach a much wider audience.
F: All right, I'll ask the ad department to make the changes.
L: If we can implement these new ideas by the end of this quarter, we might be able to reverse our sales slide and put ourselves in position for a major rebound come next year.
F: That would be great.
Lisa還主張在advertising dollar廣告開支的分配上進行調整，增加互聯網廣告投入，因爲在網上做廣告不僅便宜，而且能 reach a much wider audience 能讓更多的人看到。她說，如果能在這個季度結束前把這些措施落實的話，公司就可能reverse our sales slide扭轉銷售量下滑的趨勢，爲明年銷量翻身做準備。
A: 沒錯！增加brand awareness品牌知名度是最重要的！一旦樹立了品牌，賣什麼都好賣！
B: Yeah I agree. If people trust a brand, they will think whatever products that particular brand has deserves every dollar they spend.
A: Exactly. 哎，你剛提到了deserve這個詞兒，正好是今天我們Learn a word要教的！
B: And let’s listen!
Learn A Word 1689 deserve
今天我們要學的詞是deserve. Deserve is spelled deserve, deserve. Deserve 應該得到。All workers deserve fair treatment and respect in the workplace. 在工作場所，所有人都應該得到公平的對待和尊重。You deserve some time off after all the long hours you put in. 你加班加點的，真是應該好好休息一下了。The coach deserves a lot of credit for taking the team all the way to the playoffs. 球隊能一路打進季後賽，教練功不可沒。蘭斯.阿姆斯特朗承認使用禁藥並表示道歉。Do you think he deserves another chance? 你覺得應該再給他一次機會嗎？好的，今天我們學習的詞是 deserve, deserve, deserve...
A: Hear it? Everyone deserves respect at the work place. Mike，you need to show me some respect! Stop eating all my food!
B: What? You are the one who always want to lose weight, so I’m just trying to help you on your quest!
A: Ugh I know… Like last night for dessert, I was debating between chocolate ice cream and strawberry cheese cake, finally I chose the lesser of two evils…
B: Hahaha, well, you should have brought me along. I could have eaten for you! What is it, cheese cake? Oh I love Cheese cake!
A: 好，下次打電話叫你來吃。
B：But you did just mention a very good term: lesser of two evils. Let's listen to today's words and idioms and check it out!
Words and Idioms 824 LESSER OF TWO EVILS
美國習慣用語第 824講
如果你去住旅店，只有兩個房間可供選擇，一個在電梯旁邊，另外一個在飲料自動販賣機旁邊，你挑哪個？要是我的話，我肯定挑選飲料自動販賣機旁邊的那個，雖然不時會有人來買東西，但起碼不會象電梯口那麼吵。在英語裏，有一種說法叫，
M: The lesser of two evils. Lesser is spelled lesser, and evils; evils. Thelesseroftwoevils. The lesser of two evils. Evil 是邪惡的意思，lesser 意思是比較小的，次要的。說 The lesser of two evils 就是說在兩種令人不快的選擇中，選擇一個傷害相對小的，也就是中文裏說的兩害相權取其輕。所以說，一個房間在飲料自動販賣機旁邊，另外一個在電梯口旁邊，我寧可選擇在飲料販賣機旁邊的那個，這就是兩害相權取其輕 The lesser of two evils。好在我隨身帶了一副耳塞。
不過，下面例子裏這個新娘子可就沒有我這麼幸運了。讓我們聽聽新郎官是怎麼說，
M: "My inlaws insisted that my wife choose one her sisters as her maid of honor. She could have asked Marilyn, but she isn't dependable at all. So she picked Ann, THE LESSER OF TWO EVILS. She may be rather unsociable, but, at least, she could be relied upon to help out with arrangements and be on time."
我丈母孃和老丈人堅持要我妻子在她的妹妹裏選一個當伴娘。她本來可以請瑪裏琳來當，可是她太靠不住了，思前想後，我妻子最後挑選了 Ann，Ann 雖然不怎麼喜歡跟人搭訕，但至少還能指望她幫忙做一些婚禮的安排，而且知道她會準時出現。
難怪有人要跑到拉斯維加斯去結婚，這樣能省掉不少麻煩！那天女兒問我，在無糖但是帶有化學成分的健怡可樂，和含有很多糖分的普通可樂，哪個是 the lesser of two evils. 我想了半天，最後告訴她，還是喝水最健康。好的，讓我們再來聽聽上面那段話。
M: "My inlaws insisted that my wife choose one her sisters as her maid of honor. She could have asked Marilyn, but she isn't dependable at all. So she picked Ann, THE LESSER OF TWO EVILS. She may be rather unsociable, but, at least, she could be relied upon to help out with arrangements and be on time."
美國大選前，很多選民都覺得，在民主、共和兩黨的候選人裏，沒有任何一個讓他們感到滿意，我的鄰居約翰就持這種看法。讓我們一起聽聽他是怎麼說的。
M: "There doesn't seem to be much choice in the upcoming election. Both candidates lack experience and leadership skills. I guess I'll have to vote for the one who promises not to raise taxes. He's THE LESSER OF TWO EVILS."
在即將舉行的選舉中，好像沒有什麼選擇。兩個候選人都缺少經驗和領導才能。我最後可能還是會把票投給保證不增收個人所得稅的那個候選人，兩害相權取其輕嘛！
如今經濟不景氣，很多以前從來沒有考慮過的問題現在都變得格外現實了。昨天還有一個同事問我，在減少工資和不減少工資，但是增加工作小時數二者之間選擇哪個。換句話說，which is the lesser of two evils? 我一時還真答不上來，這裏面涉及了太多的因素，包括我的生活開銷、以及時間對我有多重要等等。好的，我們再聽一下上面的例句。
M: "There doesn't seem to be much choice in the upcoming election. Both candidates lack experience and leadership skills. I guess I'll have to vote for the one who promises not to raise taxes. He's THE LESSER OF TWO EVILS."
THE LESSER OF TWO EVILS 這個習慣用語的歷史非常悠久，最早來自古希臘，從十四世紀末開始在英語裏出現。十九世紀一篇非常著名的短篇小說“美女還是老虎”，就是要在“兩害”中權衡利弊，做出選擇。你可能會問，evil? 美女怎麼會是禍害呢？如果讀過這個故事，你就會明白了。
好的，這次美國習慣用語就到此結束了。
M: Until next time.
下次節目再見。
M: This has been Words and Idioms.
A: Working with you or finishing all the work by myself…I guess I have to choose the lesser of two evils. I know I’m stuck with you…(sigh)
B: You think you have it bad? I either have to work with you or be out of a job! Life is so unfair……..
A: You may be out of a job anyways for that comment! 好了同學們，這次節目時間就到這裏了。
B: Tune in next time for American English Mosaic!
A: See you next time!
