This is the first in a two-part intermediate Business English Podcast lesson on opening and managing meetings. In this episode, we’ll look at how to open a meeting. In the second part we’ll look at language you can use to manage the discussion.
這是有關開始會議和引導會議兩節商務播客中的第一節。在這節中，我們來看下如何開始會議。在第二節看中，來看下如何引導會議。

The listening takes place in the Singapore offices of Daneline, an international shipping company. Martin, the GM, is chairing a meeting with Sandra, David and Sam to discuss a budget shortfall. Shortfall means their budget has fallen short of expectations. In other words, they don’t have enough money, so they need to make some cuts. To chair a meeting is to lead the meeting. We can say that Martin is the chairperson. So in these two episodes on opening and managing meetings, you’ll be learning language for chairing meetings.
對話發生在一家新加坡國際船運公司Daneline，總經理Martin正主持會議，和Sandra, David 和Sam討論預算不足的事。預算不足也就是預算少于估計的數。換句話，他們沒有足夠的錢，少于他們需要減少花費。主持會議也就是引導會議。Martin是主角，在這兩節涉及開始會議和引導會議的課節中，你會學到用來主持會議的語言。

Listening Quiz:
1) What is the amount of the budget shortfall?
2) Why doesn’t Sandra have a copy of the agenda?
3) How many possible cuts are under discussion?
4) What is the first item on the agenda?