英语听力精选进阶版 15133

English at Work 

Episode 40: The Appraisal¹ 

Language to use in an appraisal 

Paul:  Could I have a word Anna, in my office?   

Narrator:  Hello again. I wonder what Paul wants to say to Anna? Could it have 

something to do with Rachel, the pen thief or is it just to do with biscuits?! 

Let's find out.   

Paul:  Have a seat…so well done for speaking to her. Stealing all those pens from 

the office was the final straw.  

Anna:  She was stealing straws? 

Paul:  No, no. It was the final thing that she did wrong – and it meant disciplinary 

action. I've had to 'let her go' – in other words, sack her.  

Anna:  Oh, so she's gone. But what is Mr Socrates going to say? She was his best 

employee. 

Paul:  Leave it with me. I'm sure he'll understand…I hope. Now, I wanted to 

speak to you about your appraisal.  

Anna:  My appraisal? 

Paul:  Yes, we do it every year. It's a chance to talk about you, talk about the 

highs and lows of the past year and look forward. 

Anna:  Highs and lows? But I haven't been walking up any hills. 

Narrator:  No Anna! He means your appraisal is about reviewing your performance 

and setting objectives for the year ahead. 

Anna:  I see. But what are objectives? 

Narrator:  These are tasks for you to do, to try and improve your performance and 

skills and help the business. Here are the questions you're likely to hear in 

an appraisal: What's gone well for you this year? 

What didn't go so well? 

What should you do more of? 

Let's look ahead and set some objectives. 

Anna:  Right. Thanks. So Paul, when shall we have this, err², appraisal? 

Paul:  If you've time, we could make a start now? 

Anna:  Oh OK. So I need to think about my performance first? 

Paul:  Exactly. What has gone well for you this year? 

Anna:  Well I guess I've just done my job. 

Narrator:   Anna! This is your chance to sell yourself. Think about the deals you've 

made, the people you've managed, that sort of thing. 

Anna:  Right. Well, I did complete two big contracts for the Imperial Lemon… 

Paul:  You've had plenty of compliments for that. You seem to have a zest³ for 

selling!  

Anna:  Err, right…and then there was dealing⁴ with Mr Ingle in the warehouse⁵. 

Paul:  Yes, that's a good example of dealing with difficult staff. And what didn't go 

so well? 

Anna:  Well…erm…working with Rachel…and cold calling I suppose. That wasn't 

easy. 

Paul:  Ah yes. But you soon warmed up! And what should you do more of? 

Anna:  Err, erm… 

Narrator:  It's a tricky⁶ question Anna – but don't be ashamed about admitting things 

that you feel you could improve on. Nobody's perfect! Think about skills 

you'd like to improve. 

Anna:  Oh OK. Well Paul, I guess I could….develop some ideas for new products? 

Continue to work on the European marketing⁷ strategy..sell more Imperial 

Lemons…err… 

Paul:  That's enough Anna!  If you do all that, you'll put me out of a job! 

Anna:  Oh, I don't want to do that! 

Paul:  Now let's look ahead and set some objectives. Biscuit? 

Anna:  Biscuits as an objective?  Oh I see…no thanks. 

Paul:  We've all got to improve our sales targets so I'm asking all the team to 

make an extra ten sales deals this year. 

Anna:  Oh, ten, that's a lot. 

Paul:  It is but I know you can do it. And you mentioned developing new 

products, well I'd like you to do just that – but not plastic fruit, I'd like you 

to develop a plastic vegetable. Potato, carrot, that sort of thing.  

Anna:  Gosh. Well, ok. 

Paul:  Oh and one more thing. Could you help Denise sort out the stationery 

cupboard? It's a right mess. 

Anna:  Err. 

Narrator:  That's a lot of objectives for Anna. She's got her work cut out for the next 

year.  Appraisals are a good time to review your work and plan what you 

going to do next.  Here's a reminder⁸ of the kind of questions your manager 

may as you: 

What has gone well for you this year? Give me some examples. 

What didn't go so well? 

What should you do more of? 

Let's look ahead and set some objectives. 

Paul:  So if you could write up your appraisal and have it back to me by Friday?  

Anna:  Of course Paul. Thanks. See you later. 

Tom:  Oh hi Anna. Are you still on for dinner on Friday? 

Anna:  Yes Tom!   

Anna:  What's going on?! 

Denise:  A mouse…a mouse! I've just seen a mouse running out of the stationary 

office. 

Tom:  Was he stealing the pens?! 

Denise:  It's no joke. Quick…there he goes! 

Tom:  Leave him to me! Oh…oww! 

Anna:  Tom…Tom? Are you ok? 

Narrator:  Uh oh! What's happened to Tom? Has he broken something? Join us next 

time to find out. Bye! 

Listening Challenge  

In Anna's objectives, what has she been asked to develop?   

 (Answer: Plastic vegetables) 

1 appraisal   

n.对…作出的评价；评价，鉴定，评估

参考例句：

• What's your appraisal of the situation?你对局势是如何评估的？
• We need to make a proper appraisal of his work.对于他的工作我们需要做出适当的评价。

2 err   

vi.犯错误，出差错

参考例句：

• He did not err by a hair's breadth in his calculation.他的计算结果一丝不差。
• The arrows err not from their aim.箭无虚发。

3 zest   

n.乐趣；滋味，风味；兴趣

参考例句：

• He dived into his new job with great zest.他充满热情地投入了新的工作。
• He wrote his novel about his trip to Asia with zest.他兴趣浓厚的写了一本关于他亚洲之行的小说。

4 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

5 warehouse   

n.仓库；vt.存入仓库

参考例句：

• We freighted the goods to the warehouse by truck.我们用卡车把货物运到仓库。
• The manager wants to clear off the old stocks in the warehouse.经理想把仓库里积压的存货处理掉。

6 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。

7 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

8 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。