英语播客EnglishPod 73

 A:    Well,  right,  let’s  move  to  our  next  order  of  busi-
        ness, as many of you are aware, in recent weeks
       there has been a lot of media coverage¹ surround-
       ing this bird flu issue.  And it’s come to my atten-
       tion  that  our  company  lacks  any  sort  of  bird  flu
       contingency² plan.

 B:     Basically, we need to come up with a clear plan;
       we need to outline specific actions that our com-
        pany can take to maintain critical business func-
       tions in case a pandemic strikes.

 A:    So, what I’d like to do is: first appoint someone to
        look after drafting our plan;  Ralph, I’d like you to
        head up this project.

 C:    Sure, no problem. What issues do you want me
       to consider?

 B:    Well, let’s see, there are a few points we need to
        be thinking about. . . first, I’ll need you to analyze³
       our numbers and figure out what kind of financial
        impact an outbreak might have.
 A:    You’ll also need to think about how we can avoid
       any  of  our  employees  getting  infected; think  of
       ways to reduce employee-customer contact, per-
       haps⁵ some IT solutions that will allow our people
       to work from home.

 C:    I guess you’ll need me to forecast employee ab-
       sences as well, right?  And I’ll think about the im-
       pact⁴ this will have on our clients. Hey, what about
       vaccines⁶?Should  we  be  thinking  about  getting
       vaccines for our employees?

 A:    Exactly right. So,  I’ll  leave this to you,  and we’ll
       review the draft plan in two weeks. Okay, so, any-
       one want to order some KFC for lunch?

1 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

2 contingency   

n.意外事件，可能性

参考例句：

• We should be prepared for any contingency.我们应该对任何应急情况有所准备。
• A fire in our warehouse was a contingency that we had not expected.库房的一场大火是我们始料未及的。

3 analyze   

vt.分析，解析 (=analyse)

参考例句：

• We should analyze the cause and effect of this event.我们应该分析这场事变的因果。
• The teacher tried to analyze the cause of our failure.老师设法分析我们失败的原因。

4 pact   

n.合同，条约，公约，协定

参考例句：

• The two opposition parties made an electoral pact.那两个反对党订了一个有关选举的协定。
• The trade pact between those two countries came to an end.那两国的通商协定宣告结束。

5 haps   

n.粗厚毛披巾；偶然，机会，运气( hap的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He recorded all the little haps and mishaps of his life. 他记录了下他生命中的所有小祸小福。 来自互联网
• Per haps he's never run up against any walls. 这家伙大概没有碰过钉子吧？ 来自互联网

6 vaccines   

疫苗，痘苗( vaccine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His team are at the forefront of scientific research into vaccines. 他的小组处于疫苗科研的最前沿。
• The vaccines were kept cool in refrigerators. 疫苗放在冰箱中冷藏。