商務禮節美語第40期:國際認證(1)

一家香港公司的老闆Hank帶Chris去見部門主管Rebecca。

Hank: Rebecca, I'd like you to meet Chris Lee.

Rebecca: How do you do, Mr. Lee?

Chris: Very well, thank you. And call me Chris.

H: Chris is here to walk us through the certification process.

R: Why are we getting certified?

老闆Hank爲部門主管Rebecca引見Chris。Chris is here to walk us through the certification process. 原來， Chris是要幫他們公司完成國際認證程序。 To walk someone through something，意思是帶某人按部就班完成某一程序。這裏用的名詞certification is spelled c-e-r-t-i-f-i-c-a-t-i-o-n, 意思是認證，動詞則是certify, c-e-r-t-i-f-y, certify. 這家公司爲什麼要申請國際認證呢？

C: You're required to get certified by an independent auditor before beginning business with certain American companies.

H: And as we just landed that new account in California, we have to get the ball rolling on this ASAP.

R: Ok, what is required?

C: To be honest, it's quite a lengthy list of things. Let's start with safety issues.

原來，要跟特定美國公司做生意，就必須通過independent auditor獨立審計師，完成國際認證。公司在加州剛找到一個新客戶，just landed a new account. 這裏的account不是帳戶，而是指正式商業夥伴和客戶。所以，we have to get the ball rolling on this ASAP. 所以要立刻開始申請國際認證。To get the ball rolling, 意思是着手做某件事。ASAP是 as soon as possible意思是立即動手。Chris說，申請國際認證非常繁瑣，首先是安全方面的要求。

C: We need to make sure there are fire extinguishers on every floor and there should be proper ventilation.

H: I think we are already compliant in these areas.

C: Workers need to wear protective gear if they're near dangerous chemicals or machines.

R: Yes, we already require that.

C: Also, we need to make sure your factory is safe from the threat of terrorism.

Chris說，每層樓都要有滅火器，fire extinguisher, 要有通風設施，ventilation, 靠近化學物品和危險儀器的員工要穿戴保護性工作服wear protective gear。這些都沒問題。We are already compliant in these areas. 這些措施公司已經在做了。compliant is spelled c-o-m-p-l-i-a-n-t, compliant，意思是遵守的，服從的。可是，生產家用產品的公司爲什麼要防範恐怖襲擊呢？我們下次繼續聽。