背诵为王 第 三 册 第 33 课

Lesson33 Sorry! I'm Late
In Britain and the USA most people are careful about time.
If they want to see a friend, or meet a business colleague¹, they telephonefirst to make an appointment². A lot of people don't like surprises. Theywant to know when a visitor is going to arrive.
Have you arranged³ to meet someone at 3 o'clock? It's polite to arrive a fewminutes early. Of course, everyone is late occasionally⁴. Cars break down,trains are delayed⁵ and meetings go on too long. If you're late, just saysorry, and explain what happened. Sometimes it's impossible to keep anappointment, but if you don't arrive, the other person will be upset. Callthem to explain.
Some people usually spend time chatting and drinking tea or coffee beforethey start a business meeting — but not in Britain or the USA. There, theylike to talk about business first and chat later — if there's time.
Office hours in Britain and the USA are from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m., but someoffices open at 8:30. People usually take about one hour for lunch (between12 and 2). Shops open at 9 or 9:30, and stay open until 5:30 or 6. Mostshops are open all day on Saturday, and are closed all day on Sunday.

抱歉！我迟到了
英国人和美国人大都很在意时间。
如果他们要拜访朋友或会见业务伙伴，会首先打个电话预约。许多人不喜欢不速之客。
他们希望了解客人将在何时到达。
你曾安排三点与人会面吗？提前几分钟到是礼貌的做法。当然，每个人偶尔都有迟到的时候。车坏了，火车晚点了，会议开得太晚了。如果迟到了，要致歉并解释一下原因。
有时不可能准时赴约了，但你不到，会让对方失望，那就打个电话解释一下。
有些国家，人们通常在开会前聊聊天，喝杯茶或咖啡——但英国或美国不这样。这两个国家的人喜欢先谈正事，有时间的话再聊天。
英国和美国的办公时间是早上九点到下午五点，但一些政府机关八点半上班。午餐时间约为一小时（十二点到两点之间）。商店九点或九点半开门，一直营业到晚上五点半或六点。大多数商店星期六全天营业，星期天休息。

1 colleague   

n.同僚，同事

参考例句：

• He is a colleague of mine.他是我的同事。
• The professor paid a return visit to his American colleague.教授回访了他的美国同事。

2 appointment   

n.约会，指定

参考例句：

• I have an appointment with him at four o'clock.我和他四点钟有个约会。
• They made an appointment for the second day of May.他们在五月二号有个约会。

3 arranged   

adj.安排的v.安排，准备( arrange的过去式和过去分词 )；把…（系统地）分类；整理；改编（剧本等）

参考例句：

• The party was arranged quickly. 聚会很快就安排好了。
• Chairs in rows are not as conducive to discussion as chairs arranged in a circle. 椅子成排摆放不如成圈摆放便于讨论。

4 occasionally   

adv.偶然地；非经常地

参考例句：

• He went on talking,occasionally wiping at his face with a towel.他继续说着，偶尔用毛巾擦一下脸。
• I like playing football best,but occasionally I play table tennis,too.我最喜欢踢足球，偶尔也打打乒乓球。

5 delayed   

adj.延时的，定时的v.（使）耽搁，延误( delay的过去式和过去分词 )；推迟；使延期；使延迟

参考例句：

• Deliveries of mail could be delayed because of cost-cutting. 由于削减成本，邮件的递送可能会延迟。
• The most likely explanation is that his plane was delayed. 最可能的解释是他的飞机晚点了。