Dialogue 1：
Jingjing: Hey, Xiao Gao, do you know what's on the agenda for this afternoon's meeting?
京晶：嘿，小高，你知道今天下午的會(huì)議要討論什么嗎？
Xiao Gao: Not entirely, but I know what's up at the top. There's been a lot ofbackroom chatter lately about a possible take-over by one of our competitors.
小高：不完全知道，但是我知道最重要的話題是什么。最近有很多謠言說(shuō)公司可能要被一個(gè)競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手收購(gòu)。
Jingjing: Oh,right,I've heard some talk about that,I thought it was mostly rumors.
京晶：哦，對(duì)了，我也聽(tīng)過(guò)，我還以為都是謠言呢！
Xiao Gao: No, we've been performing very poorly lately and I'm afraid it's time to face the music, unless we see a white knight, there's a good chance that we'll be bought out.
小高：不，最近公司確實(shí)狀況不太好，恐怕我們不得不面對(duì)現(xiàn)實(shí)了。除非遇到一個(gè)大救星，不然很可能我們就會(huì)被別的公司收購(gòu)了。
Jingjing: How do our job prospects look? I just signed a new 2-year contract, do you think their buy-out will affect our positions?
京晶：那我們的工作怎么辦？我剛剛跟公司簽了一個(gè)兩年的工作合同，你覺(jué)得收購(gòu)會(huì)影響我們的職位嗎？
Xiao Gao: That's one thing we're going to discuss today, I know that the boss wants to rally the troops.
小高：這就是我們今天要討論的話題之一，我覺(jué)得老板們想把大伙集中起來(lái)鼓舞士氣。
Jingjing: I've got a feeling he's gonna scale back our responsibilities just in case we do lose out.
京晶：我感覺(jué)他會(huì)裁員，以防我們真的被收購(gòu)。
Xiao Gao: Could be, I know the big cheese has been talking about down-sizing, if that's the case, some of us will definitely lose our jobs.
小高：很有可能。我知道公司的高層最近在商量縮減規(guī)模。如果是真的話，那我們中肯定有一些人就要丟掉工作了。
Jingjing: Yeah, I can hear the message loud and clear, shape up or ship out!
京晶：是啊，我已經(jīng)很明確地感覺(jué)到了，要么好好表現(xiàn)，要么就得收拾東西走人。

習(xí)語(yǔ)短語(yǔ)
1. on the agenda =要討論的話題
2. at the top =最重要的事
3. backroom chatter =背后議論，謠言
4. take-over =收購(gòu)，一個(gè)公司吞并另一個(gè)公司
5. face the music =面對(duì)一個(gè)不太令人愉快的現(xiàn)實(shí)
6. white knight =白衣騎士，指大救星
7. rally the troops =將員工集結(jié)起來(lái)為某事鼓舞他們的士氣
8. scale back =減少（員工或工作職位）
9. big cheese =公司里的高層，做重要決定的人
10. down-sizing =裁員，縮減規(guī)模
11. shape up or ship out =提高工作表現(xiàn)，不然就會(huì)被開(kāi)除

Dialogue 2：
(Jingjing and Xiao Gao are attending a meeting. Xiao Gaois reading the part of the Chairman)（京晶和小高在參加公司會(huì)議，小高扮演總裁的角色）
Chairman: I'm calling this meeting to session. As you may have heard, we have a wolf at the door and we're here to discuss a possible buy-out by one of our competitors.
總裁：我宣布會(huì)議正式開(kāi)始。你們可能已經(jīng)聽(tīng)說(shuō)了，公司正處于困境之中，所以我們今天要討論一下：公司可能會(huì)被一個(gè)競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手收購(gòu)。
Jingjing: Can you tell us our deadline?
京晶：您能告訴我們截止日期是什么時(shí)候嗎？
Chairman: We have one month to the day, but pending a bail-out, I think it's anopen and shut case.
總裁：從今天算起一個(gè)月。不過(guò)除非有經(jīng)濟(jì)援助，我估計(jì)收購(gòu)已經(jīng)是一個(gè)既定事實(shí)了。
Jingjing: Are we looking at becoming a subsidiary or is this a whole-sale buy-out?
京晶：那我們將會(huì)成為一個(gè)子公司還是完全被吞并?
Chairman: That is up for discussion, however, I'm tabling a motion to allow us to operate under the same brand name.
總裁：這還沒(méi)有決定，不過(guò)我已經(jīng)提出建議，讓我們?nèi)匀槐Ａ粼瓉?lái)品牌的名字。
Jingjing: I think we are looking at tightening our belt. We've been spending too much lately.
京晶：我想我們得節(jié)省開(kāi)支了，最近我們的花銷太大了。
Chairman: True, we've been in the gutter for sometime now, and this buy-out can help us get back on our feet.
總裁：確實(shí)，我們的狀況已經(jīng)不好了一段時(shí)間了，而這個(gè)收購(gòu)可以幫助我們重新恢復(fù)實(shí)力。

習(xí)語(yǔ)短語(yǔ)

1. call this meeting to session = 宣布會(huì)議正式開(kāi)始
2. wolf at the door = （門外有一只狼）這里指公司正面臨著困境和威脅
3. deadline = 截至日期
4. to the day = 從今天算起
5. bail-out = 經(jīng)濟(jì)上的援助
6. open and shut case = 既定事實(shí)，非常明確的事情
7. subsidiary = 子公司，受控于總公司
8. whole-sale = 完全的
9. table a motion = 提出建議
10. tightening our belt = 勒緊褲腰，指縮減開(kāi)支
11. in the gutter = 處于不好的狀況
12. get back on one's feet = 從某事中恢復(fù)過(guò)來(lái)