2012年ESL之商务英语 25 An Unscrupulous Partner

 

An Unscrupulous Partner

My friend Charles convinced me to go into business with him about a year ago. I wish I had had the benefit of hindsight to say “no.” I was too trusting and that was my downfall. 

At first, everything was fine. We worked our butts¹ off to get the business off the ground. But as soon as it looked like the business was going well, Charles turned on me. I had never been so deceived. 

We never signed a formal partnership² agreement. Since we were old friends, we relied on a verbal agreement that we would own the business 50-50. One day, out of the blue, Charles said that as the owner of the business, he had decided³ that my services were no longer needed. I told him he was crazy. I was co-owner and he couldn’t just fire me. He said that that was never the agreement and he was the sole owner. 

And that is how I got cheated out of being co-owner of a successful business. My old friend Charles turned out to be unscrupulous. From now on, I’ll be watching my back and looking out for my own interests. No one will ever stab me in the back again! 

 

Script by Dr. Lucy Tse 

1 butts   

笑柄( butt的名词复数 )； （武器或工具的）粗大的一端； 屁股； 烟蒂

参考例句：

• The Nazis worked them over with gun butts. 纳粹分子用枪托毒打他们。
• The house butts to a cemetery. 这所房子和墓地相连。

2 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

3 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。