在一個商務宴會上，一家計算機制造商的代表Mark Davidson和一家大型IT企業的采購部經理 Vicki Carmichael在討論一個商業建議。
Mark: Hello, Ms Carmichael. Please sit down. Would you like a cocktail?
你好，Carmichael女士。請坐。來杯雞尾酒嗎？
Vicki: A dry martini, please. You can call me Vanessa. May I call you Mark?
我要一杯干馬提尼酒，謝謝。你可以叫我Vanessa。我可以叫你 Mark嗎？
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.
當然。Vanessa，如果你不介意的話，我想在宴會開始前和你討論一下我們的合作事宜。就像我在建議書的大綱中所提到的那樣，我們新的一系列制圖工作站正是你們所需要的。事實上，它們比你們所要求的更便宜，更先進。
Vicki: No problem with that, Mark, but I question your objective of using a
new operating system. That means new software and retraining.
這個沒有問題，Mark。但我對你在目標一欄中所說的使用一套新的操作系統不太理解。你所說的也就意味著我們需要使用新的軟件和進行人員再培訓。
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.
你們現有的大多數軟件都可以在我們的系統上使用。新的軟件充分利用了我們的硬件和操作系統組合，可以為你們的用戶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.
我非常喜歡你提出的分三個階段實行的方法。這對于減輕對我們用戶的沖擊很重要。根據你們的設想，用戶在幾年后會需要更有效的工具，所以我們需要擁有很大的擴展力。我們的軟硬件資本開支在過去的五年中迅速增長，所以我們的CEO要求我們控制我們的開銷。
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.
用我們的產品，你們可以在將來以低成本進行升級，以滿足你們的需求。我們的硬件非常可靠，而且，在三年內我們還提供24小時的上門服務。我們對經濟增長影響的研究顯示五年內的資金流動支出將是35%，低于市場上其他的高級終端工作站的花費。
Vicki: That's music to my ears, Mark. Looks like we can do business together.
Cheers!
聽起來很不錯，Mark。看來我們可以合作。干杯！
（來源：大耳朵英語 英語點津 Annabel 編輯）
