Using English at Work：36 Scheduling a Meeting(1)

You're listening to ESLPod.com's "Using English at Work" lesson seven.

I'm Dr. Jeff McQuillan, from the Center for Educational Development, your host for this course.

In the sixth lesson of "Using English at Work," we learned vocabulary that is used when we're having computer problems.

In lesson seven, we're going to learn how to schedule a work-related meeting in English.

We'll get started by listening to our story at a slow speed.

At 3 p.m., I get a call from one of our vendors² who wants to set up a meeting for the following week.

Since I was away from my desk at the time, she left a voicemail message.

When I get back to my desk, I retrieve³ the message and listen to it, and then return her call.

I call her twice, but she isn't there, so I leave a voicemail message for her.

We're playing phone tag. Finally, at 4 p.m., she calls again and since I am at my desk, we can talk at last.

Andrea asks me if it is possible for us to meet early in the week next week.

I check my calendar and I tell her that I'm tied up Monday and Tuesday, but that I'm free Wednesday afternoon or Thursday morning.

She says that Wednesday afternoon suits her and asks what time would be good for me.

I tell her the earlier the better, since I will be entertaining clients that night and need to leave work a little early that day.

She suggests 1 p.m. I check my scheduled again to confirm that 1 p.m. Wednesday is free and clear and it is.

She says that she will send me an email Wednesday morning as a reminder⁴ and I thank her.

After all of that back and forth⁵, we finally have a meeting set for next week.

When this part of my day begins, it is 3 p.m. and I get a call from one of our vendors.

A "vendor¹" is a company that sells a specific type of product to other companies.

Most companies have vendors for computer products, office supplies, maybe photocopy⁶ machines, and many other things - whatever that company needs to buy from another business.

1 vendor   

n.卖主；小贩

参考例句：

• She looked at the vendor who cheated her the other day with distaste.她厌恶地望着那个前几天曾经欺骗过她的小贩。
• He must inform the vendor immediately.他必须立即通知卖方。

2 vendors   

n.摊贩( vendor的名词复数 )；小贩；（房屋等的）卖主；卖方

参考例句：

• The vendors were gazundered at the last minute. 卖主在最后一刻被要求降低房价。
• At the same time, interface standards also benefIt'software vendors. 同时，界面标准也有利于软件开发商。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

3 retrieve   

vt.重新得到，收回；挽回，补救；检索

参考例句：

• He was determined to retrieve his honor.他决心恢复名誉。
• The men were trying to retrieve weapons left when the army abandoned the island.士兵们正试图找回军队从该岛撤退时留下的武器。

4 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。

5 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

6 photocopy   

n.影印本；v.影印

参考例句：

• The original reproduces clearly in a photocopy.原件复印得十分清晰。
• What's wrong with the photocopy machine?复印机出了什么问题？