商務禮節美語第10期:投資(2)

投資顧問Jerry跟客戶Frank見面，向他推銷一種投資想法。

Jerry: I believe the iron is hot right now in the field of energy and transportation. Everyone is looking for new ways to reduce energy consumption.

F: Yeah, you're right. I bought a hybrid car last s me as much as 50% in gasoline use!

J: Hybrids are the hottest thing on the market these days, and I think they fill a niche right now, but I'm betting that the future belongs to fully electric-powered vehicles.

Jerry 覺得，能源和交通是投資的正確方向，一定要趁熱打鐵。Frank表示贊成，說自己上個月剛買了一輛汽電混合動力車hybrid，耗油量少了一半。Jerry承認，汽電混合動力車現在很流行，有自己的市場定位niche, niche is spelled n-i-c-h-e，但他覺得，汽車今後還是要向純電動的方向發展。

F: That might be true. But I manufacture in China. Millions of people there don't even have a gas-powered car yet.

J: don't you see? This is a golden opportunity! Millions of middle class Chinese could potentially leapfrog over the old technologies and embrace electric vehicles.

F: It's an interesting idea. I know the government is supporting electric vehicles since many cities have serious air pollution.

Frank的工廠在中國，而中國很多人連汽油動力車都沒有，哪談得上什麼純電力車呢？Jerry卻覺得，這是絕好的機會。This is a golden opportunity. 因爲中國數以百萬計的中產階級都可以跨越陳舊的技術，直接利用新技術，這裏所說的leapfrog蛙跳，是躍過，跨過的意思。Frank覺得，這種想法有道理，因爲中國政府爲了治理空氣污染，非常支持電動汽車的發展。

J: Just imagine! You could make a lot of money AND help make China a better place for people to live.

F: So you want me to invest in producing electric cars?

J: I think the real area of interest here is batteries. Battery technology needs to catch up. We already have a lot of companies that can make the cars, but batteries are far too expensive.

開發電力汽車，這種既能賺錢，又能改善中國生活環境的事何樂而不爲呢？Jerry補充說，他其實不是建議Frank投資電力汽車，The real area of interest is batteries，真有幹頭的是電池這一塊，因爲battery technology needs to catch up，電池技術還需要改進。Frank會被Jerry說服，投資電力汽車電池技術的開發嗎？我們下次繼續聽。