BBC听英文｜Doing your homework

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Hello again. Last time on English at Work, we heard Anna leaving Tom crying into his cold pizza.He may not have had the evening he was expecting, but for Anna it was a huge success.She came up with an idea for a new plastic vegetable and now she needs to pitch it to Paul, the boss.

大家好，欢迎再次来到职场英语。上次我们讲到Anna离开，留下Tom对着冷披萨哭泣。也许他没度过自己期望的夜晚，但对Anna来说，这可是个大成功。因为她想出了开发新式塑料蔬菜的主意，现在正准备推荐给老板Paul呢。

(On phone)… so I think I’ll go for the blue, Marge, it matches my eyes… well almost…

（打电话中）Marge，我觉得还是买蓝色吧，看起来非常顺眼。。

Morning Denise!

早上好，Denise！

Oh, hello Anna… (back to phone/whispering)…yes, Anna, bright girl, what she sees in Tom I’ll never know… what?!... ha, ha, I’m sure you would…

哦，早上好，Anna。（接着悄悄打电话）对，是Anna。真猜不透她是怎么看Tom的。。。什么？。。。哈哈，你肯定。。

Oh hi Tom. You’re in early.

嗨，Tom，来的挺早嘛。

Uh? Oh yeah, couldn’t sleep after you’d left.

啊？哦，是啊，你走后就没睡着。

Tom, it was a fantastic night – unforgettable in fact. Thanks so much.

Tom，谢谢你给了我一个不可思议、难忘至极的夜晚！

(On phone/whispering) Did you hear that Marge? She said it was ’unforgettable’! Looks like they’re getting very serious…

（悄悄地打电话）Marge，你听到没？她说昨晚令人难忘！看来他们现在很认真啊。。。

You’re such a gossip, Denise. The only think Anna is serious about is her new idea. How’s it going Anna?

Denise，你真八卦！Anna唯一认真的是她的想法。进展怎样了，Anna？

I’m really excited about launching a new product, although Tom doesn’t seem so keen.

我很兴奋，毕竟开发新产品了嘛！可Tom似乎不太感兴趣。

Don’t worry about him. You need to concentrate on convincing Paul that your new idea will bring in the business.

别担心他。你得集中精力说服Paul，让他相信你的想法能带来生意。

But how?

但我要怎样做呢？

You need to pitch the idea to him but before that, you need to do some research.

你得把想法推荐给Paul，但在这之前，你要做一些研究。

Yes, of course – research – but how do I do that?

恩，当然得做研究。可是要怎么做？

Check out the competition, work out some costs and find out what new product people would really like to see. Why not do a customer survey?!

核实竞争、算出成本、找出顾客想要什么新产品。对了，你为何不做个客户调查呢？

A customer survey. Right. But what should I ask?

客户调查？对，但我要问哪些问题呢？

Say: ‘Could I ask for your opinion on a new product we are hoping to develop?’ ‘What plastic products do you currently use?’‘What products would you like us to make in the future?’, ‘How do you feel about the idea of selling plastic vegetables?’, ‘Any particular vegetable you would like to see?’

‘请问您对我们希望开发的新产品有何想法？’‘您目前在使用哪些塑料产品？’您希望以后我们生产哪些产品？’‘您对销售塑料蔬菜有何看法？’‘您想看到哪种特别蔬菜？’

OK, so it’s like a questionnaire. I need to do some cold calling again!

好的，和调查问卷差不多嘛。看来我得再打几个无约电话了！

Good luck!

祝你好运！

I think I’m going to need some help with this. Tom, Denise, have you got time to help me… please?

我想我需要些帮助。Tom， Denise，你们有时间吗？帮我个忙呗？

Of course Anna.

当然可以，Anna。

Yeah, well it’s a bit tricky with my… ouch… sprained arm. But go on. As it’s you.

帮呗，虽然我的扭伤胳膊不太方便，但没关系，你的忙我肯定会帮。

Thanks. We need to call up some companies and find out how interested they would be in buying plastic vegetables.

谢谢。我们要给几个公司打电话，看他们对购买塑料蔬菜有多大兴趣。

Oh lovely. I love talking to people on the phone.

哦，太好了，我就喜欢电话聊天。

You certainly do Denise!

一点没错，Denise，你真那样。

Good Denise. If you work your way through our business directory, call our existing customers and ask these questions.

太好了，Denise。你去看看企业名录，给现有客户打电话，问下这些问题。

I’ll get onto it straight away.

好的，我马上去办。

Great, and Tom, could you help me by cold calling some new businesses?

太好了。对了，Tom，你能帮我给新企业打无约电话吗？

Oh yeah sure. I’ve got loads of contacts.

当然可以，我联系人可多了！

I suppose I had better make some calls too. (Looks through directory) Hmm, let’s try this one. (Dialling) 7-4-3-9-1-0-0 (Phone rings)

我也应该打几个电话吧~（翻看电话本）恩，试试这个吧。（拨号中）7439100（电话铃响了）

Hello. Plastic Purr-fection. Can I help you?

你好，完美塑料公司。请问需要帮忙吗？

Oh hi. I’m Anna from Tip Top Trading, we make and sell plastic fruits.I’m trying some to get some opinions on a new product we’re trying to develop. Can you spare a few minutes to help me?

哦，嗨，我是顶级贸易公司的Anna，负责制作并销售塑料水果。我想问下您对我们即将开发的新产品有何想法？您能抽出几分钟时间帮下忙吗？

Well I’m quite busy at the moment but I’ll try and help.

说实话我现在很忙，不过我会尽力帮你。

Thank you. I’ll be as quick as I can. Firstly, what plastic products do you use at the moment?

谢谢。我会尽快完成。首先，您目前在使用哪些塑料产品？

All sorts – plastic balls, plastic fish, plastic mice…

恩，各种啊，比如塑料球、塑料鱼、塑料鼠。。。

Plastic mice?! Oh, I see. And… errr… what sort of things would you like us to sell… in the future?

塑料鼠？！哦，我明白了。呃。。。那您希望以后我们销售哪些产品呢？

Let’s think… erm … more squeaky toys.

我想想啊。。。恩，多点吱吱响的玩具吧。

Squeaky toys?! What about plastic vegetables?

吱吱响的玩具？！那塑料蔬菜怎么样？

Do they squeak?

它们能吱吱响吗？

Err, not really. I think there might be some confusion here. Do you use plastic fruits in restaurants and shops?

呃，不能。我想您误会了。您在餐馆和商店里使用塑料水果吗？

No. We just sell plastic toys… for cats, hence the name ‘plastic purrfection’.

不用，我们只卖猫咪玩具，因此才起名为‘完美塑料’。

Oh I see, ha, ha. A good name, but, I’m sorry you’re not really the business I was looking for. Thanks for your time anyway. Bye.

哦，我明白了，呵呵。好名字。很抱歉，您不是我们真正寻找的企业，但还是感谢您抽出宝贵时间回答我的问题。再见。

Bye. (Aside) get down Tiddles!

再见。（旁边）快下来，小猫咪！

Uh-oh Anna. It’s a good idea to check exactly what type of business you are calling before carrying out your survey. Better luck next time!If you’re doing some research and want to get the opinions of your customers, here’s a reminder of the questions you could ask:

啊哦，Anna。做调查前，你得先弄清楚人家是做什么的。祝你下次好运喽！如果您正在做研究，想获得客户的意见，那么您可以参考以下几个问题：

Could I ask for your opinion on a new product we are hoping to develop?

请问您对我们希望开发的新产品有何想法？

What plastic products do you currently use?

您目前在使用哪些塑料产品？

What products would you like to see us sell in the future?

您希望以后我们销售哪些产品？

How do you feel about the idea of selling plastic vegetables?

您对销售塑料蔬菜有何看法？

Any particular vegetable you would like to see?

您想看到哪种特别蔬菜？

Let’s find out how the team is getting on.

一起去看看团队进展吧~

That was fun. I called ten companies, asked them your questions – one man asked me out for dinner –anyway, I’ve created a database and put all the information there.

太有趣了！我给十家公司打电话，问了你们的问题，有一个男的竟约我去吃饭。。。不过话说回来，我已经建了个数据库，把信息都放里面了。

(Boasting) Well I’ve called twenty companies and they all say plastic vegetables would be a great addition to their range… especially aubergines!

（炫耀地）我给二十家公司打了电话，他们都表示对塑料蔬菜感兴趣，尤其是茄子！

Great. Well, I had some success too so I’ll put all the results in that database.Thanks everyone. (Typing on computer) Oh no… what’s happened? Denise! Denise! Everything’s disappeared off the computer!

太棒了。我也取得了一些成功。现在把结果都输入数据库里吧。谢谢各位喽！（在电脑上打字）哦，不要。。。发生什么事了？Denise! Denise!电脑上啥都没有了！

Hey, my computer’s gone blank. We’ve lost all our documents!

嘿，我的屏幕也空白了。完了，文件全没了！

Oh no a computer crash! Has Tip Top Trading lost all its valuable information? Find out next time in English at Work. Bye!

哦，电脑死机了！顶级贸易公司丢了所有有价值的信息吗？请在下期职场英语中寻找答案吧~~拜拜。

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