BEP 96 INT Socializing: Business Meals & Dining Out

In most parts of the world, having lunch or dinner together is an important part of doing business. In places such as North America, eating meals is a way of building a relationship or celebrating a partnership¹. And in other cultures, such as China, much of the real work of making deals actually often gets done over the dinner table.

No matter where you are doing business, it’s important to be able to handle the basics of dining out. This includes ordering food, recommending dishes, proposing² a toast, and paying for the check, among other things. These skills will be the focus of this episode³.

In the listening, we continue to follow Mario and Francesca, who represent the Italian fashion company Viva, on their visit to the U.S. As planned, they are having dinner in Las Vegas with their distributor Adriana, who works⁴ at the American company Foxtrot. Bill, one of their new customers, has also joined them.

When the dialog⁵ begins, the group has already made some small talk and looked at the menu. Now they are ready to order.

Listening Questions:
1) Why doesn’t Francesca want to try the “steak tartare?”
2) How does Francesca signal that she’s ready to go back to the hotel?
3) Who pays for the meal?

1 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。

2 proposing   

v.提议，建议( propose的现在分词 )；打算；提供（解释）；提出（行动，计划或供表决的方案等）

参考例句：

• The bridegroom ended his speech by proposing a toast to the hosts. 新郎向主人敬酒结束了他的讲话。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He acted as pioneer in proposing the method. 他是率先创导这一方法的人。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 episode   

n.（作品的一段）情节，插曲，系列事件中之一

参考例句：

• The episode was a huge embarrassment for all concerned.这段小插曲令所有有关人员都感到非常尴尬。
• This episode remains sharply engraved on my mind.这段经历至今仍深深地铭刻在我的心中。

4 works   

n.作品，著作；工厂，活动部件，机件

参考例句：

• We expect writers to produce more and better works.我们期望作家们写出更多更好的作品。
• The novel is regarded as one of the classic works.这篇小说被公认为是最优秀的作品之一。

5 dialog   

n.对话，对白

参考例句：

• At last there can be a reasonable dialog between our two governments.我们两国最后终于能理智地进行对话了。
• Address every primary view and dialog possible.要尽可能考虑到所有主要的视图和对话。