BEP 19 – Meetings: Supporting your Position (Part 2)

Welcome to the second part of our Business English Pod series on how to support your position or argument in meetings.

Our friend Jack¹ is giving an update on the Costa Rican project. Dan is against the idea, because as production manager, he doesn’t want to lose all his staff. The HR manager, Angie, also doesn’t want to lay off her US staff, and is worried about the difficulty of hiring workers in another country. Jack tries to defend his plan, but has difficulty supporting his argument.

Key Language: emphasizing, minimizing², supporting points & vocal³ stress.

1 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

2 minimizing   

极小化，求最小参数值

参考例句：

• It was a new production technique aimed at minimizing wastage. 这是一项旨在使损耗减至最低的新生产技术。
• The filters should be cemented together, thus minimizing the surface reflection losses. 为了尽量减少表面的反射损失，应该把这些滤色镜胶合在一起。

3 vocal   

adj.直言不讳的；嗓音的；n.[pl.]声乐节目

参考例句：

• The tongue is a vocal organ.舌头是一个发音器官。
• Public opinion at last became vocal.终于舆论哗然。