商务礼节美语第140期:总裁的母亲去世了(下)

　　公司开会前，经理Jeff说，总裁John Henderson的母亲去世了。大家问George, 遇到这种情况，中国人一般会怎样处理。
J: What do they say in China?
G: A sentence with four Chinese characters that roughly¹ means: "May your pain be lessened² and may you get through this bad time quickly."
P: As far as what we can do, should we send flowers?
J: Actually, I spoke³ with Mr. Henderson earlier and he asked that no flowers be sent. Instead of spending money on flowers, the Henderson family is suggesting people make a contribution to their favorite charity in Mrs. Henderson's name.
P: That's so generous of them.
George说，在中国一种很常见的说法是“节哀顺便”。Penny问，需不需要送花。Jeff回答说，总裁Henderson说，不要送花，如果愿意表示心意，可以用Henderson老夫人的名义，给他们的慈善机构捐款。"make a contribution to their favorite charity in Mrs. Henderson's name."
G: In China, people give the family white envelopes with cash in them. But I'm assuming⁴ they don't do that here.
J: No, that probably wouldn't be appropriate. The tradition used to be that you sent flowers when a person passed away.
Recently though, many people have begun to believe that spending money on flowers is a waste. Some families now prefer that friends plant a tree or make a donation⁵ to a charity group instead.
G: That's quite a meaningful gesture.
George说，在中国，人们会给死者家属包个白包。Jeff说，西方不兴这个。西方以前的习俗是送花，但是后来，有人觉得花钱买花太浪费，所以很多家庭更愿意别人以死者的名义种一棵树或是向慈善机构捐钱。
J: But I can see why the Chinese might give money. The family could use the funds⁶ to help take care of a lot of things.
G: Yeah, I think that's the general idea.
F: We should still send a card, right?
J: Yes, I think that would be good. We can just get one card and everyone can sign it.
他们决定买张卡片，让大家在上面签字。
P: Sounds good. What about the funeral service? Should we attend?
J: From what I understand, the service will be held this coming Sunday and will be for family members only. Also, as you can imagine, Mr. Henderson will be taking some time off from the office. He won't come in for around two weeks.
P: Next time you speak with Mr. Henderson, please tell him his family is in our thoughts.
F & G: Yes.
J: I certainly will. Thanks, guys.
Penny 问要不要去参加葬礼，the funeral service. Jeff回答说，葬礼没有邀请外人。It will be for family members only. 大家要Jeff下次有机会，向Henderson表示问候。Tell him his family is in our thoughts.

1 roughly   

adv.概略地，粗糙地，粗鲁地

参考例句：

• If you treat your coat so roughly,it will be worn out soon.你如果这么糟蹋你的外套，它很快就不能穿了。
• The island is roughly circular in shape.这个岛屿大致是圆形的。

2 lessened   

减少的，减弱的

参考例句：

• Listening to the speech through an interpreter lessened its impact somewhat. 演讲辞通过翻译的嘴说出来，多少削弱了演讲的力量。
• The flight to suburbia lessened the number of middle-class families living within the city. 随着迁往郊外的风行，住在城内的中产家庭减少了。

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 assuming   

如果

参考例句：

• You were mistaken in assuming it. 你这样臆断是错了。
• The country's industry is assuming a new aspect. 该国的工业正在呈现新的面貌。

5 donation   

n.捐赠，捐献，捐助；捐赠物

参考例句：

• She made a personal donation to the fund.她以个人名义向基金会捐款。
• Then next big donation of musical instruments came from Germany.第二笔音乐乐器的大型捐助来自德国。

6 funds   

n.pl.资金

参考例句：

• He absconded with the company funds. 他卷走公司的资金潜逃了。
• They held a harambee meeting to raise funds for a new classroom. 他们为筹款建新教室而办了个募捐会。