Barry召集公司同事開(kāi)會(huì)，有個(gè)壞消息要宣布。

Barry: Well, folks...I'm afraid I have some bad news. Our lawyers told me this morning that we are being sued.

Chris: Sued? Who's suing us?

Susan: And on what grounds?

B: An Australian man named John Smith alleged that his microwave exploded while he was using it last year. Mr. Smith suffered injuries and he wants compensation.

C: How much compensation does he want?

B: His lawyers are asking for two million dollars.

S: Two million! That's insane!

Barry說(shuō)，公司被告了，We are being sued. sued is spelled s-u-e-d, sued, 是控告、起訴的意思。Susan問(wèn)，起訴罪名是什么，on what grounds? grounds，在這里是理由、根據(jù)的意思。

Barry說(shuō)，原告是一個(gè)澳大利亞人，被微波爐炸傷，索賠兩百萬(wàn)美元，Susan覺(jué)得，That's insane! 這簡(jiǎn)直是瘋了!

C: This is how the game is played. They ask for millions but it's usually a negotiating tactic.

B: Yeah, Chris is probably right. The figure of two million dollars is a place to begin bargaining from. They are probably hoping to settle the case quickly.

S: But Barry, we don't manufacture microwave ovens! How in the world are we responsible for an accident like this?

B: We might not manufacture microwaves, but our company does make a heat-sensing component that is part of many microwaves. Maybe Chris can shed some light on this, Chris?

Chris說(shuō)，對(duì)方要價(jià)兩百萬(wàn)只是一種談判策略，

a negotiating tactic。Barry也覺(jué)得對(duì)方希望settle the case quickly，盡快了結(jié)案子。可是，公司不生產(chǎn)微波爐，為什么要為微波爐爆炸賠錢(qián)呢？Barry請(qǐng)Chris給大家解釋一下，shed some light on this. Chris說(shuō)，

C: If I'm not mistaken, you're referring to our company's sensor chips. They are small chips that help control how heat is regulated.

S: So our chip made the microwave blow up?

C: Not exactly. The chip might have malfunctioned, but I doubt it. We test those products very rigorously and our quality control is strong. I don't think we are responsible for the explosion.

S: I don't believe the sensor could cause an explosion. We are innocent! This lawsuit is totally without merit!

原來(lái)，他們公司生產(chǎn)的sensor chip感應(yīng)芯片是微波爐的感熱部件。不過(guò)Chris說(shuō)，公司質(zhì)檢很?chē)?yán)格，所以芯片應(yīng)該和微波爐爆炸無(wú)關(guān)。這么說(shuō)，This lawsuit is totally without merit, 這樁訴訟完全就是無(wú)理取鬧。那么，公司要如何應(yīng)對(duì)這樁官司呢？我們下次繼續(xù)聽(tīng)。