英语单词大师：Crafting a Complaint

 AA: I'm Avi Arditti with Rosanne Skirble, and this week on Wordmaster: a lesson in complaining.

RS: English teacher Lida Baker¹ is with us from Los Angeles to discuss a topic suggested by one of our listeners, an English teacher in Iran. His students would like to know the proper way to complain.

AA: Lida Baker says the first part of any complaint is a factual statement about what the problem is. But there's another part to learn that's more important, she says.

LIDA BAKER: I'm guessing that there are students from a lot of cultures where this cultural behavior we have in the United States of being very forthright² about what we think and what we want -- that's the part that would be a lot harder for them than the linguistic³ part of complaining, which is just saying 'here is the problem.'

RS: It's legitimate⁴ in the United States to complain, it's legitimate to take a product back to a store, and I think this is something that a student would have to understand before he or she could actually put the complaint into action. But Lida, how would you put this into context, into a classroom? How would you teach -- I guess it would be kind of an assertiveness⁵ training?

LIDA BAKER: I think in teaching, the first step is providing that cultural background. What is the return policy of a store? And understanding that it isn't the same from one store to the next. I had an incident a few weeks ago where I bought some clothes for my daughter from a store where I just assumed that if they didn't fit her, because she wasn't with me at the time, I just assumed that if they didn't fit I could bring them back.

And they didn't fit, and I went back to the store, and to my utter surprise this store would not refund⁶ my money. It would only give me a store credit or allow for an exchange. And I was very shocked because I was used to shopping in stores that provided you with a full refund for your money.

AA: What did you say to the clerk? I'm curious, how did you handle that?

LIDA BAKER: I expressed my surprise. But at the same time, I reminded myself that this is not -- you know, the clerks are the people in the first line of fire. But we have to remember that they are not the ones who set the store policy.

AA: You know what, I have here an example of a complaint letter. This is on the Sarasota, Florida, public school system's Web site, and it was written to this clothing company. And this is a letter about some shoes, and it begins:

'To Whom It May Concern:

'On September 20, I ordered (by phone) a pair of brown leather Peace Mules⁷ for $36.99, which includes $4.99 for shipping⁸ and handling. When they were delivered to my home, the package was wet and the leather shoes were ruined.

'I am returning the shoes. I realize the shipping and handling fee is non-refundable, but I would like the original amount of $32 to be refunded⁹.

'Thank you for your attention to this matter.

'Sincerely,' and she signs it here. So what do you think of that?

LIDA BAKER: I think that's a perfect letter of complaint. She states what the problem is. She states what correction she would like the company to make. The tone is neutral; she doesn't come across as angry or demanding. It's short -- you know, there's nothing extra there, so that the person reading the letter doesn't have to go hunting, you know, through the letter. What is it that happened, and what does the person want?

And getting back to the classroom now, if we wanted to give our students experience learning how to write letters of complaint, we would show them several examples. We would then give them a situation in which there was something to complain about, and we would ask them to write a similar letter using one of the models that we've provided, like the one that you just read.

What is much harder, of course, is for people to get experience complaining verbally, in person. And so once we have demonstrated, by means of either video or literature, several scenarios¹⁰ in which complaining takes place, and we've analyzed¹¹ the language and structures that go into complaining, the final step -- and perhaps the most important one -- is to give students practice complaining in a sheltered environment; in other words, in the classroom. And I would do that by means of role playing.

RS: Lida Baker writes English textbooks and teaches in the American Language Center at the University of California, Los Angeles. We love to hear from you, even if it is a complaint! Our e-mail address is [email protected].

AA: And we have all our previous segments with Lida at voanews.com/wordmaster. With Rosanne Skirble, I'm Avi Arditti.

1 baker   

n.面包师

参考例句：

• The baker bakes his bread in the bakery.面包师在面包房内烤面包。
• The baker frosted the cake with a mixture of sugar and whites of eggs.面包师在蛋糕上撒了一层白糖和蛋清的混合料。

2 forthright   

adj.直率的，直截了当的 [同]frank

参考例句：

• It's sometimes difficult to be forthright and not give offence.又直率又不得罪人，这有时很难办到。
• He told me forthright just why he refused to take my side.他直率地告诉我他不肯站在我这一边的原因。

3 linguistic   

adj.语言的，语言学的

参考例句：

• She is pursuing her linguistic researches.她在从事语言学的研究。
• The ability to write is a supreme test of linguistic competence.写作能力是对语言能力的最高形式的测试。

4 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。

5 assertiveness   

n.过分自信

参考例句：

• Her assertiveness was starting to be seen as arrogance. 她的自信已开始被认为是自负了。
• Role playing is an important element in assertiveness training. 在果敢自信训练班上，角色扮演是个重要内容。

6 refund   

v.退还，偿还；n.归还，偿还额，退款

参考例句：

• They demand a refund on unsatisfactory goods.他们对不满意的货品要求退款。
• We'll refund your money if you aren't satisfied.你若不满意，我们愿意退款给你。

7 mules   

骡( mule的名词复数 )； 拖鞋； 顽固的人； 越境运毒者

参考例句：

• The cart was pulled by two mules. 两匹骡子拉这辆大车。
• She wore tight trousers and high-heeled mules. 她穿紧身裤和拖鞋式高跟鞋。

8 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。

9 refunded   

v.归还，退还( refund的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Postage costs will be refunded (to you). 邮费将退还（给你）。 来自辞典例句
• Yes, it will be refunded to you at the expiration of the lease. 是的，租约期满时，押金退回。 来自无师自通 校园英语会话

10 scenarios   

n.[意]情节；剧本；事态；脚本

参考例句：

• Further, graphite cores may be safer than non-graphite cores under some accident scenarios. 再者，根据一些事故解说，石墨堆芯可比非石墨堆芯更安全一些。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• Again, scenarios should make it clear which modes are acceptable to users in various contexts. 同样，我们可以运用场景剧本来搞清楚在不同情境下哪些模式可被用户接受。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

11 analyzed   

v.分析( analyze的过去式和过去分词 )；分解；解释；对…进行心理分析

参考例句：

• The doctors analyzed the blood sample for anemia. 医生们分析了贫血的血样。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The young man did not analyze the process of his captivation and enrapturement, for love to him was a mystery and could not be analyzed. 这年轻人没有分析自己蛊惑著迷的过程，因为对他来说，爱是个不可分析的迷。 来自《简明英汉词典》