Modern English 洋话连篇(八十一)(在线收听


  Michael是纽约大学的美国学生,他同时也在一家建筑公司实习。他的中国同学李华今天要去他的公司看他。Michael听得懂中文,但是说还有点困难。Michael和李华在今天的对话里会用两个常用语,一个是:big gun;另一个是to quarterback。Michael现在在办公室门口和李华打招呼。

  M: Hey, Li Hua, Come on in. How're you doing?

  L:我挺好。你怎么样?对了,你下午想干什么?

  M: Ah, I've got a meeting with the big guns this afternoon. They want to talk to me about continuing to work here after graduation.

  L:我听懂了你后面的一句话,他们要跟你谈关于毕业后回来工作的事。那真是太好了。可是,你刚才说今天下午要跟谁开会?

  M: Yea, I'm meeting with my bosses. Sometimes we call them the big guns of the office.

  L:噢,你要跟你的几个老板开会。你们把老板叫做the big guns!

  M: It's an expression that can be used to describe powerful people.

  L:噢,那是指权力很大的人,也就是大人物。那么,总统的顾问能称为big guns吗?

  M: Yes, a president's advisors are big guns. But it can also be used in sports. In soccer the stars of a team are the big guns.

  L: Big guns还能用在体育方面。

  M: OK, let me show you around the rest of the office.

  L:你要带我去看看这公司的大楼,那太好了。Let's go!

  M: This is the conference room. We had a meeting here yesterday on our plan for a new building. The project leader quarterbacked the meeting.

  L:等等,你说这是会议室,你们昨天在这里开了一个会,讨论盖一栋新楼的计划。可是,你还说那项目主任是踢美式足球的,是quarterback,四分卫,对不对?

  M: No, no, no! Quarterback here is a verb, meaning to lead. The word quarterback is borrowed from American football, where the quarterback leads the team.

  L:噢,quarterback在这里是动词,意思是领导。你说这里的quarterback是从美式足球里借来用的,因为quarterback在球队里是主力。你刚才是怎么说的?

  M: The project leader quarterbacked the meeting.

  L:现在我听清楚了,你刚才说的是:项目领导人主持会议。

  那么,to quarterback还能用在别处吗?

  M: To quarterback is business slang. If someone is responsible for a group working on a new project that individual is quarterbacking the team.

  L:知道了,to quarterback是用在商业方面的。要是某人负责一个新项目,这个人就是在领导这个项目的小组。要是某人在一个法律事务所主持会议,那该怎么说呢?

  M: Someone quarterbacked the meeting at the law firm.

  L:你们公司的一位重要领导主持会议,讨论公司的收入报告,这又该怎么说?

  M: The company's big gun quarterbacked the meeting about their revenue report. Hey, I need to get back to work. I'll call you later.

  L:好吧,那就再见吧!希望你将来成为a big gun.

  M: Oh, yea, I'm sure soon I'll be quarterbacking every meeting and every project.

  L:你真的当真呐!还想主持所有会议,总管所有项目。得啦,再见吧!

  Michael和李华在对话中用了两个常用语,一个是:the big guns,意思是大人物,对决策有重大影响的人;另一个是:to quarterback,意思是主持会议,或总管项目。
 

  原文地址:http://www.tingroom.com/listen/yhlp/9398.html