ESL Podcast 492 – Importing and Exporting Goods

Giselle: Good morning, Brian. This is Giselle calling from Intergroup in Kansas City.

Brian: Hi, Giselle. How are you?

Giselle: I’m great, thanks. Listen, the reason I’m calling is that I wanted to touch base with you about the new proposed regulations. Have you had a chance to review them?

Brian: We’ve only had time to give them a cursory¹ look, but I think we have a grasp on what the changes will be. I don’t think that most of the new regulations would apply to our class of cargo². As long as our certificates of origin are in order and our shipping³ agents are well informed of the changes, we won’t have anything to be concerned about. Rest assured we’ll take care of all that.

Giselle: That’s good to hear. Won’t the customs procedures be different, though? I understand that there are changes to the regulations affecting which containers we can use and how we transport our freight.

Brian: No, lucky for us, all we need to do is to put some additional information on our waybills and make sure our packing lists reflect the same information.

Giselle: I’m relieved to hear that. You’ve really put my mind at ease, thanks.

Brian: Don’t mention it. While I have you on the phone, do you mind if I ask you a couple of questions about the latest order?

Giselle: No, not at all. Fire away.


Script by Dr. Lucy Tse

1 cursory   

adj.粗略的；草率的；匆促的

参考例句：

• He signed with only a cursory glance at the report.他只草草看了一眼报告就签了名。
• The only industry mentioned is agriculture and it is discussed in a cursory sentence.实业方面只谈到农业,而且只是匆匆带了一句。

2 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

3 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。