在一个商务宴会上，一家计算机制造商的代表Mark Davidson和一家大型IT企业的采购部经理 Vicki Carmichael在讨论一个商业建议。
Mark: Hello, Ms Carmichael. Please sit down. Would you like a cocktail?
你好，Carmichael女士。请坐。来杯鸡尾酒吗？
Vicki: A dry martini, please. You can call me Vanessa. May I call you Mark?
我要一杯干马提尼酒，谢谢。你可以叫我Vanessa。我可以叫你 Mark吗？
Mark: Of course. Now, if you don't mind, Vanessa, I'd like to discuss some
business before dinner. As the executive summary in my proposal shows, I think
our new line of graphics workstations are exactly what you need. In fact,
they're less expensive and more powerful than your stated requirements.
当然。Vanessa，如果你不介意的话，我想在宴会开始前和你讨论一下我们的合作事宜。就像我在建议书的大纲中所提到的那样，我们新的一系列制图工作站正是你们所需要的。事实上，它们比你们所要求的更便宜，更先进。
Vicki: No problem with that, Mark, but I question your objective of using a
new operating system. That means new software and retraining.
这个没有问题，Mark。但我对你在目标一栏中所说的使用一套新的操作系统不太理解。你所说的也就意味着我们需要使用新的软件和进行人员再培训。
Mark: Most of your existing software will work on the new system. The new
software takes full advantage of our hardware and operating system combination,
and will give your users the tools they need to increase productivity.
你们现有的大多数软件都可以在我们的系统上使用。新的软件充分利用了我们的硬件和操作系统组合，可以为你们的用户提供提高工作效率所需的工具。
Vicki: I do like your proposed methodology of implementing in three phases.
That's important for easing the impact to our users. Now, based on the
assumption that they will need more power again in a few years, I need lots of
expansion capability. Our capital expenditures on hardware and software have
mushroomed over the last 5 years, and my CEO wants me to rein in our costs.
我非常喜欢你提出的分三个阶段实行的方法。这对于减轻对我们用户的冲击很重要。根据你们的设想，用户在几年后会需要更有效的工具，所以我们需要拥有很大的扩展力。我们的软硬件资本开支在过去的五年中迅速增长，所以我们的CEO要求我们控制我们的开销。
Mark: You'll be able to upgrade at relatively low cost to cover all your
needs for the foreseeable future. Our hardware is very reliable, and the service
contract gives you 24-hour on-location service for a full 3 years. Our growth
impact studies show that cash flow expenditures over a 5-year period should be
35% less than other high-end workstations on the market.
用我们的产品，你们可以在将来以低成本进行升级，以满足你们的需求。我们的硬件非常可靠，而且，在三年内我们还提供24小时的上门服务。我们对经济增长影响的研究显示五年内的资金流动支出将是35%，低于市场上其他的高级终端工作站的花费。
Vicki: That's music to my ears, Mark. Looks like we can do business together.
Cheers!
听起来很不错，Mark。看来我们可以合作。干杯！
（来源：大耳朵英语 英语点津 Annabel 编辑）
