提出解決方案 Proposing Solutions

Hopper公司以經營電子零件制造為主，為擴展歐洲市場，已至人工便宜的東歐國家尋求代工廠商。但最近盛傳東歐工廠使用次級原料，造成消費者對Hopper不滿。老板 Raymond與市調部經理Nina及生產部經理Jonathan為此緊急進行磋商。

英文正文

Raymond: What the heck is going on here?How could we be so completely in the dark about these rumors until now? J

onathan: There've been a lot of stories that factories in Eastern Europe are using second-rate materials to save costs.

Raymond: We've all heard those stories, but how were they linked with us? Can you clarify the issues?

Nina: Some people say that some local middlemen knew all about these things. They didn't report it because the factories gave them extra money. Our local middleman was one of them. When people learned about the stories, most thought that we must have known about the problems too.

Raymond: My Lord!! Jonathan, what's our best course of action here? You're sure that we're not using cheap materials anymore, aren't you?

Jonathan: I've been to all of the factories there; no second-rate materials that I could see. It could be they're still secretly working with other factories, though. I'll do some more checking.

Raymond: Even if we didn't know, people would still think it's our fault for not checking enough. And then we'll be in big trouble.

Nina: Let me put that another way. If sales get any worse we could go belly up very quickly. What we have to do is quite clear. We need to start some damage control on our public image... right away.

句型總結

●　 請求詳細說明
1. Can you clarify the issues?
2. Can you tell us more about the situation?
3. Can you give us more detail on what has happened?
4. Could you please explain the present situation?

"clarify"是‘闡明；澄清’；"issue"是‘議題’。這句話的意思是要請他人詳細說明事件的來龍去脈。如果口氣較嚴厲的話，則隱含強烈責怪與憤怒的態度。本課中是老板對下屬所言，沒有在句尾加"please"，但其實加一個‘請’字會比較禮貌些。

●　 征詢建議
1. What's our best course of action (here)?
2. What are our options here?
3. What avenues do we have open here?
4. What courses of action are open to us?

"course"是‘方針；路線’；"action"為‘行動’；"best course of action"就是‘最有利的行動、最佳做事方向’。這句型是問‘該采取什么行動才最有利’。此句型用于揭露問題之后，請大家共同腦力激蕩，想出最好的辦法。如果要請某人發言，則可在問號之前加上此人的姓名。

●　 結論性的建議
1. What we have to do is quite clear.
2. What we need to do is evident.
3. What we must do is obvious.
4. What we should do is easy to see.

這句話是說‘當務之急已清楚地擺在眼前了’，口氣堅定，有強調重要性的意思。這個句子強調所提的建議是唯一可行之道。用"what"引導的名詞子句當主詞時，后面一定是接單數動詞，如此句型的"is"。

●　More 提出建議

與會者提出適切的建議或方案，在會議中是非常重要的部分，畢竟討論會是為了得到最佳方案而開的。而提出建議時的語氣相關于您對建議本身覺得可行程度的高低。以下列出三種提出建議的口氣：

強勢的口氣
The only solution is to...
I see no other alternative but to...
There is no alternative but to...
We must...

平緩的口氣
I recommend that we should...
I think we should...
My recommendation is that we should...
I would suggest that we...
We should / we ought to...
If I were you I would...

推薦性的口氣
We could always...
It might be a good idea to...
Have you thought of...?
One solution would be to...
What about...?