2014年ESL之商务英语 17 Dealing with Crises

 

Dealing¹ with Crises 

Teresa: Hey, where are you going? We have a meeting in 10 minutes. 

Adrian: I’m sorry. I’m going to have to postpone². I’m in the middle of putting out fires and I’ve had to clear my schedule to deal with the latest crisis. 

Teresa: Can I help? 

Adrian: I wish you could. With the new layoffs³, I feel like I’m being pulled in several directions at once. As soon as I feel like I’m making headway with one problem, I get another thrown at me. 

Teresa: I know exactly what you mean. I always feel like it’s crunch⁴ time around here because we’re so shorthanded. 

Adrian: I’m so tired of everything being urgent all the time and needing attention ASAP. I long for the days when projects had timelines and people followed them. I’ve got to go. 

Teresa: Hey, when are we going to have that meeting? 

Adrian: As soon as things quiet down. 

Teresa: When will that be? 

Adrian: I’ll let you know as soon as the latest disaster has been averted⁵. 

 

Script by Dr. Lucy Tse 

1 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

2 postpone   

v.延期，推迟

参考例句：

• I shall postpone making a decision till I learn full particulars.在未获悉详情之前我得从缓作出决定。
• She decided to postpone the converastion for that evening.她决定当天晚上把谈话搁一搁。

3 layoffs   

临时解雇( layoff的名词复数 )； 停工，停止活动

参考例句：

• Textile companies announced 2000 fresh layoffs last week. 各纺织公司上周宣布再次裁员两千人。
• Stock prices broke when the firm suddenly announced layoffs. 当公司突然宣布裁员时，股票价格便大跌

4 crunch   

n.关键时刻；艰难局面；v.发出碎裂声

参考例句：

• If it comes to the crunch they'll support us.关键时刻他们是会支持我们的。
• People who crunch nuts at the movies can be very annoying.看电影时嘎吱作声地嚼干果的人会使人十分讨厌。

5 averted   

防止，避免( avert的过去式和过去分词 )； 转移

参考例句：

• A disaster was narrowly averted. 及时防止了一场灾难。
• Thanks to her skilful handling of the affair, the problem was averted. 多亏她对事情处理得巧妙，才避免了麻烦。