商務英語聽力第16期A transport strike
背景提示： The transport strike is going to affect the delivery of packing materials to Biscuit Barrel. Check out how the team manage the crisis.
【Audioscript】
Andrea: Mr McKenzie?
Malcolm: Hi Andrea. What’s up?
Andrea: Bad news, I’m afraid. James Pilger has rung from Alldays, the packaging suppliers. He couldn’t get through ‘cos you were on the line, so as it was urgent they put him through to me.
Malcolm: And?
Andrea: He’s very apologetic but he says they can’t get the full order of packing materials through to us.
Malcolm: What?
Andrea: He said there’s a transport strike. Something to do with all those demonstrations about fuel duty. The hauliers are going out in protest for 48 hours, apparently, and that affects our deliveries here.
Malcolm: Yeah, I heard about the fuel protest, but I didn’t think the Biscuit Barrel would be affected though. What did James say exactly?
Andrea: He told me he reckons that they can get 60% of the supplies to us on time. He didn’t know when they would be able to get the rest to us. I told him that you would call him later.
Malcolm: Is Lee Chung in his office?
Andrea: I think so.
Malcolm: Right. (Making the call) Lee? It’s Malcolm here. Have you heard the news about Alldays? Seems they can’t get tomorrow’s full packaging order over to us ‘cos of this transport strike. Only about 60% apparently.
Lee: Oh, no – that’s serious. We’re in the middle of a big production run, aren’t we?
Malcolm: That’s right.
Lee: Look, we need to get some more information from Alldays, Malcolm. Percentages aren’t good enough - we need to know exactly what packaging they can deliver and what they can’t.
Malcolm: OK, I can ask Andrea to do that right away.
Lee: No, I’ll do that. I want to be exactly sure what is coming and what isn’t.
Malcolm: OK. What else?
Lee: Well, two more things straight away. Once we have established exactly what Alldays can get to us we then need to see who else can supply us with the rest of the order ...maybe Andrea could make a few calls about that?
Malcolm: Sure…And the other thing?
Lee: We need to prioritise our clients. We have to decide whether to send partial orders to everyone or to send full orders to some customers and ask others to wait.
Malcolm: Hmmm… that’s a bit drastic – but crisis management, I suppose. OK, shall I ask Andrea to make a list of suppliers?
Lee: Yes, and I’ll phone James in the meantime.
Malcolm: OK, let’s crack on, the sooner we get on, the better.
Maria: Hi, Malcolm.
Malcolm: Hi, María.
María: Hello. Andrea’s just told me the news. Do you think we’ll get all the supplies?
Malcolm: Well, I hope so – Andrea’s making some calls to find substitute suppliers just now, but we’ll certainly have to pay dearly for them. For once, our suppliers have got US over a barrel.
Maria: Well, at least we will have enough material to get the orders finished on time.
Andrea: Mr McKenzie. I’m really worried. I’ve made eight calls and they’ve all come up negative, no one is available to deliver our packing materials. It seems as though everyone’s affected by this strike – and if they are not out on strike themselves, they are already booked up. I’m running out of contacts.
Malcolm : Oh dear...
- End -
背單詞 — 商務英語詞匯
【Glossary】
apologetic (adj.) - feeling sorry and regretful about having caused someone inconvenience 道歉的，抱歉的
haulier (n.) - used mainly in British English, haulier refers to a business or a person who transports goods by road 運輸工
apparently (adv.) - you have been told about something but you are not sure if it is true or not 顯然
reckon (v.) - to think 考慮，認為
prioritise (v.) - to decide what things are the most important so that you can deal with them first 分主次
drastic (adj.) - very sudden and severe 嚴厲的，猛烈的
substitute (n.) - a thing or person that is used to replace another thing or person 替代，
【Business notes】
在本章節(jié)當中，我們聽到了很多關于運輸工罷工的事情。
Strike action, often simply called a strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to perform work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances.
Strikes became important during the industrial revolution, when mass labour became important in factories and mines. In most countries, they were quickly made illegal, as factory owners had far more political power than workers. Most western countries partially legalized striking in the late 19th or early 20th centuries.
Strikes are sometimes used to put pressure on governments to change policies. Occasionally, strikes destabilise the rule of a particular political party.
The strike tactic has a very long history. Towards the end of the 20th dynasty, under Pharaoh Ramses III in ancient Egypt in the 12th century BC, the workers of the royal necropolis organized the first known strike or workers' uprising in history.
The use of the word "strike" in this sense first appeared in 1768, when sailors, in support of demonstrations in London, "struck" or removed the top sails of merchant ships at port, thus crippling the ships.
A strike may consist of workers refusing to attend work or picketing outside the workplace to prevent or dissuade people from working in their place or conducting business with their employer. Less frequently workers may occupy the workplace, but refuse either to do their jobs or to leave. This is known as a sit-down strike.
罷工行動，或被簡稱為罷工（Strikes），是工人為了表示抗議，而集體拒絕工作的行為。在以集體勞動為重的工作行業(yè)，如工廠、煤礦等，罷工往往能夠迅速得到雇主、政府和公眾的迅速注意，從而工人所提出的要求就更可能獲得保證。在西方國家，罷工在19世紀末期和20世紀初、工業(yè)革命發(fā)生期間產生了關鍵的.作用，成功迫使了政府修改政策、甚至倒臺。 罷工并非現(xiàn)代人所創(chuàng)的概念。埃及法老王拉美西斯三世在公元前十二世紀在位期間，皇家墓園的工人就發(fā)起了罷工，這是一般歷史學家認為世界上的第一場罷工，顯示著工人階級首次獲得重視。本次事件在紙莎草紙上有詳細的歷史記載，保藏于意大利的都靈市（Turin）。
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