礼节美语 161 Trade Expo 2

公司开会，经理Nick宣布，他们要在法兰克福的纺织品博览会上设展台，大家头脑激荡，看需要做哪些准备。Elaine说，

E: I think we should have a little pow-wow with the team who will be manning the booth. They need to understand how important their role is. First impressions are crucial!

M: That's a good idea, Elaine. Seeing as I will be leading the team, I think I'll get everyone together before departure and go over these points. It's really true that first impressions can make or break a deal.

Elaine建议跟负责展台的人have a little pow-wow. Pow-wow is spelled p-o-w-w-o-w, 意思是碰头会，因为他们在展台接待客人 man the booth, 是公司门面，而且first impressions are crucial，第一印象是非常关键的。

Mark同意Elaine的看法，因为第一印象can make or break a deal， 既能促成交易make a deal，又能 break a deal， 让交易泡汤。

N: That's another thing to stress to your team, Mark. We should remind them to never judge a book by its cover. The guy wandering around our booth might not look like a major buyer, but you never know!

E: Looks can be deceiving!

N: That's right. We need to treat each person who stops by our booth as a potential customer. Many times I've met someone who didn't look like a major player, but then they pull out their business card and they turn out to be the vice-president of a huge company.

经理Nick说, 负责展台的人必须记住，never judge a book by its cover，不要以貌取人。Elaine也说，looks can be deceiving，外表有时是有欺骗性的，外表其貌不扬的人，说不定却是个大人物，a major player. 因此，不论什么人从展台旁边走过，都必须把他当做a potential customer，潜在的客户来对待。

M: These are all good points, but we also have to be aware of industrial espionage. Some of the people milling around could be spies!

N: Yes...there are always people trying to steal ideas. We do need to be careful. We should let our staff know what kind of information they can give away and what kind of information they should not make public.

Mark提醒大家，参加商品博览会要小心industrial espionage. industrial is spelled i-n-d-u-s-t-r-i-a-l, industrial，工业的, espionage is spelled e-s-p-i-o-n-a-g-e, espionage，间谍。连在一起，industrial espionage，就是工业间谍。

在展台附近游荡的人those who are milling around the booth，很可能是寻找机会to steal ideas，盗取别人的想法，所以必须让负责展台的员工知道，什么信息可以公开，什么信息不能公开。