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(wù)英語播客中，我們將要學(xué)習(xí)電話預(yù)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(yuǎn)程通訊的時代，電話會議、視頻會議和網(wǎng)上會議被廣泛采用。遠(yuǎn)距離的團(tuán)體協(xié)作越來越普及。理論上來講，足不出戶而緊密協(xié)作是可行的。但是當(dāng)面會談也有其不可替代的一面。我們?nèi)孕枰c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(jìn)一步學(xué)習(xí)怎樣進(jìn)行電話預(yù)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 任職于一家名為Bridgewater的美國退休基金組織（即進(jìn)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(wù)分析師Penny Yip。Solomon 是一家專業(yè)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?