BBC English at Work Episode 42: The dinner date
BBC白领工作英语 第 42 集：晚餐约会，准备商业计划
Waiter: Would you like to see the menu?
Tom: Err, yes please.
Waiter: I was asking the lady actually.
Tom: Oh, right.
Narrator: 大家好， Anna 和 Tom 终于能坐下来，在一家意大利比萨店共进晚餐了。可怜的 Tom 胳膊还没好呢，吃东西的时候用刀叉可能不方便。 他脑子里还想着浪漫，不过 Anna 的心已经不在晚餐上了。Are you feeling nervous Anna?
Anna: Nervous? Why?
Narrator: 你现在可是单独和 Tom 在一起。What are you going to talk about?
Anna: Don't worry. I can handle this, besides I want Tom's ideas about developing a new plastic vegetable.
Narrator: 一个塑料蔬菜！哦！Good luck.
Tom: So this is nice. Finally, us together, on our own, me and you, pizza, red wine… expensive red wine, actually.
Anna: Lovely, Tom. You know Tom, Paul wants me to develop a new idea – plastic vegetables – I thought, maybe, you might like to help me?
Tom: Come on Anna, we're not here to talk business. Tell me about you – the real Anna. Have had many… err, many boyfriends before?
Anna: That's a bit personal. What do you think about plastic peas?
Tom: Err? Can you not switch off from work for one minute?
Anna: Tom. I think you and me are very similar – we're a good team. If we could come up with a great idea for Paul then who knows… we may get to travel the world selling it… together.
Tom: Oh, I see. I hadn't thought of it like that. Right well…
Waiter: Your pizzas… madam… sir. (Putting plates on the table)
Anna: Thanks. Tom, I think you'll need some help cutting that.
Tom: Thanks. Mmm, you smell nice… or is that the pizza?
Anna: I've got it!
Tom: What?
Anna: Plastic aubergines!
Tom: Plastic aubergines?
Anna: Yes. Plastic aubergines. They would look great on this table – a sort of decoration.
Tom: Yeah! And you could put sauces inside or salt and pepper. You could be on to something here.
Anna: We need to put a proposal together, to give it to Paul. But what should we say?
Narrator: Anna, 你的提议应该简短但目标明确。需要有激励人心的一些词汇，比如：特别好 exceptional, 超棒 fantastic, 高质量 quality, 还要提到对公司业务的帮助，比如： 利润 profit, 效率 efficiency, 物有所值 value for money. 祝你好运！
Tom: Are you OK Anna?
Anna: Yes. Just writing some things down.
Tom: OK, well write down how we could target restaurants and cafes. They'll be begging for our vegetables. Oh this is so exciting… let's drink to our… succ… (Bottle knocked over) Oh!
Anna: Tom! What have you done?! You've knocked red wine all over me… and my notebook.
Tom: Erm, sorry. We had better get you out of that dress.
Narrator: Hmm, 浪漫晚餐泡汤了！不过说不定一个成功商业计划就在眼前。让我们看看晚上在 Tom 家到底发生了什么事情…
Anna: …this exceptional product has fantastic potential…
Tom: Say 'demand for this plastic aubergine will reach melting point!' My little joke!
Anna: …by making the production more efficient, our customers will get value for money and our profits will increase. There, done.
Tom: Great. We can pitch this to Paul first thing on Monday morning. So now, maybe we can get back to our date? Look I saved some of that pizza.
Anna: It's all cold! (Walking away) Anyway, I had better go. It's late and I want to tidy up this proposal. But it's been great. I can't wait till next time.
Tom: Bbbut… (Door slams closed)
Tom: Next time?
Narrator: Well, 看来情况不错！ 虽然意大利馅饼都冷了，但 Anna 和 Tom 的商业计划进行得 红红火火。让我们再回顾一下在准备一份专业的商业计划时可以用到的词汇：
Exceptional!
Fantastic!
Quality.
Profit.
Efficiency.
Value for money.
Narrator: 书面的东西都准备好了，接下来得看 Tom 和 Anna 能不能说服 Paul, 这就意味着要 去投标。我们下期节目再看进展如何。再见！
Listening Challenge 听力挑战:
What is Anna's 'brilliant' new idea? Anna 超棒的新想法是什么？
Answer: plastic aubergines 答案：塑料茄子。
