Mark在公司門口看見同事Robert.

Mark: Hey Robert...going on vacation? Lookslike you're planning on doing some golfing.

Robert: Yes, I will be playing golf, butI'm not going on vacation. I'm meeting up our New York office's seniormanagement team. We'll be playing a few rounds and going over the merger plans.

M:Really? So when did you take up the sport?

R:Around two years ago I began to realize that if I could get on thegolf course with other senior executives, it could open a lot of doors for me.At first I didn't really enjoy it, but now I'm almost a golf fanatic.

Robert要跟紐約辦公室的高層主管打高爾夫play a few rounds，同時討論并購的事。Mark 問他是什么時候開始打高爾夫球的，這里用的動詞是take up, to take up sth. 意思是開始做某件事情。Robert說，他兩年前開始覺得，打高爾夫could open a lot of doors for me. 可以幫助自己打開很多大門，得到更多機會。Robert說，他剛開始打的時候也不太喜歡，但現在已經快變成golf fanatic 了。fanatic is spelled f-a-n-a-t-i-c, fanatic 是指對某件事瘋狂的人，比如，a jazz fanatic 爵士樂迷，a basketball fanatic 籃球迷。Mark 聽后說：

M:I see. So you meet a lot of business executives on the course, huh?

R:Yeah, definitely. It's a good way to network.

M:Isn't golf really expensive?

R:To be perfectly honest, golf is a bit of a status symbol...andyes...it can be an expensive game. There are green fees, caddy fees and chargesfor renting the golf cart.

M:But the business opportunities are worth it.

R:Absolutely. I read somewhere that a high percentage of seniorbusiness executives play golf.

M:It sounds like it's almost mandatory to learn golf if you want toclimb the corporate ladder.

Robert說自己在高爾夫球場上能遇到很多商業界高層主管。這里說的on the course 指的就是golf course. It's a good way to network. 打高爾夫球是認識人，積累人脈的好辦法，network在這里是動詞，意思是建立人際關系。打高爾夫球確實需要錢，要交greenfees球場費；caddy fees球童費，cart rental fees 租車費，但是能認識更多的人，得到更多機會，還是值得的。Mark說，看來，如果想在企業里升遷climb the corporateladder 就必須學打高爾夫球。

R:Networking is a big plus....but I think another reason executivesenjoy the golf course is that it gives them an excuse to get out in the freshair and connect with nature.

M:I can understand that. If you turn off your cell phone orBlackberry you can hear birds chirping and enjoy a fresh breeze. It's a nicebreak from a hectic office.

R:It is a good way to recharge, but you're right: golf primarily is asocial sport. You get a chance to talk and get to know people on a differentlevel on the golf course than you do in the boardroom.

公司高層愿意出去打高爾夫球，除了建立人脈以外，也是為了能離開hectic office 忙碌的辦公室，投入大自然的懷抱，It's a good way to recharge. 是個充電的好辦法。Robert 覺得，高爾夫主要還是一種social sport 社交型運動，讓你在董事會議事廳以外，換個環境，換個層面，在高爾夫球場上去彼此了解。