原汁原味商務英語播客第107課:電話預約

In this Business English Podcast, we'll be looking at the language used to make appointments on the telephone. 在本期的商務英語播客中，我們將要學習電話預約所使用的語言。

We live in the era of remote communication: teleconferencing, videoconferencing, and online meetings. More and more group efforts are getting done from a distance. In theory, at least, it's possible to work closely with anyone in the world without leaving our desks. Nevertheless, there's something about a face-to-face meeting that no virtual one can replace. We still need to shake people's hands, read their body language, and make personal connections. That's why—even today—one of the commonest uses for the telephone is to make appointments. In this episode, we'll take a close look at making appointments on the phone. 我們生活在一個遠程通訊的時代，電話會議、視頻會議和網上會議被廣泛採用。遠距離的團體協作越來越普及。理論上來講，足不出戶而緊密協作是可行的。但是當面會談也有其不可替代的一面。我們仍需要與對方親身接觸。因此，直到今天，電話仍有一個重要的用途，即約定免談。在本集中，我們將進一步學習怎樣進行電話預約。

Gordon Knight works for Bridgewater, a U.S. pension fund. (Pension funds are institutions that invest retirement savings.) At a recent conference, Gordon met Penny Yip, a senior financial analyst for the Asia Markets office of Solomon-Clyde. Solomon is a boutique—or small and specialized—global investment company that deals only with institutional customers—very large clients, like Bridgewater. Now, Gordon plans to be in Malaysia, and he phones Penny to set up an appointment to discuss possibilities for investment. Gordon Knight 任職於一家名爲Bridgewater的美國退休基金組織（即進行退休金投資的組織）。在近期的會議中，Gordon 會見了Solomon-Clyde亞洲市場部的高級財務分析師Penny Yip。Solomon 是一家專業的國際投資公公司，專門與Bridgewater這樣的大型客戶交易。Gordon 正欲前往馬來西亞。他打電話給Penny 讓她安排一場會面商討投資事宜。

Listening Questions:

1. Where and when does Gordon say he met Penny?
2. When does Gordon suggest meeting with Penny?
3. Why does he want to meet with Penny?
4. What time do they finally agree on?