Lesson 60 Possibility and Uncertainty

第60課 可能性和不確定性

A:How is your new job, Peter?

A:彼得,新工作還好嗎?

B:Oh, working in international business is great. I meet and work with people from all over the world. It can be a bit frustrating at times,though.

B:哦,做國際貿易棒極了,能和來自世界各地的人們結交共事。不過有時候也會讓人有點挫折感。

C:How's that?

C:此話怎講?

B:For example, when we work with Japanese businesses. It seems that they are very polite and friendly, but then they delay signing a contract for weeks.

B:比方和日商做生意吧。他們好像非常有禮貌,很友好,但又拖著幾個星期不簽合同。

A:Maybe they're trying to trick you.

A:他們可能耍什么伎倆吧。

B:I don't think so; they are very kind and honest.

B:我不這么想。他們很和氣也很誠懇。

A:It could be that they just don't understand English very well.

A:或許他們聽不大懂英語。

C:I worked in Japan for two years and I think I know what the problem is.

c:我在日本工作過兩年,我想我知道是怎么回事。

B:Really? What is it?

B:是嗎?怎么回事呢?

C:Well, Japanese people don't like to say "no". In their culture, it's considered very impolite. So they will try to agree to things, but then they must figure out a way to change things so that it can be acceptable to all involved. If you try to change the way you ask them questions, I'm certain you'll be able to communicate more effectively.

C:是這樣,日本人不喜歡說“不”字。他們的文化認為說“不”很不禮貌,所以他們會盡量取得一致,但同時為了讓大家都接受,他們得想辦法做一些修改。如果你試著改變一下你問他們問題的角度,我肯定你們的溝通會更有效率。

B:Wow! I didn't know that. I understand now. Thank you. You two sure know a lot about this kind of thing. Maybe I'm not cut out for this job. Do you think I'll do alright?

B:哇!我從來不知道這些�，F(xiàn)在我明白了。謝謝。你們在這方面懂得真多。也許我并不適合干這行。你們覺得我能干好嗎?

C:I'm certain you will.

C:我確信你能干好。

A:I know you will too.

A:我也知道你能行。