一家香港公司的老板Hank带Chris去见部门主管Rebecca。

Hank: Rebecca, I’d like you to meet Chris Lee.

Rebecca: How do you do, Mr. Lee?

Chris: Very well, thank you. And call me Chris.

H: Chris is here to walk us through the certification process.

R: Why are we getting certified?

老板Hank为部门主管Rebecca引见Chris。Chris is here to walk us through the certification process. 原来, Chris是要帮他们公司完成国际认证程序。 To walk someone through something,意思是带某人按部就班完成某一程序。这里用的名词certification is spelled c-e-r-t-i-f-i-c-a-t-i-o-n, 意思是认证,动词则是certify, c-e-r-t-i-f-y, certify. 这家公司为什么要申请国际认证呢?

C: You’re required to get certified by an independent auditor before beginning business with certain American companies.

H: And as we just landed that new account in California, we have to get the ball rolling on this ASAP.

R: Ok, what is required?

C: To be honest, it’s quite a lengthy list of things. Let’s start with safety issues.

原来,要跟特定美国公司做生意,就必须通过independent auditor独立审计师,完成国际认证。公司在加州刚找到一个新客户,just landed a new account. 这里的account不是帐户,而是指正式商业伙伴和客户。所以,we have to get the ball rolling on this ASAP. 所以要立刻开始申请国际认证。To get the ball rolling, 意思是着手做某件事。ASAP是 as soon as possible意思是立即动手。Chris说,申请国际认证非常繁琐,首先是安全方面的要求。

C: We need to make sure there are fire extinguishers on every floor and there should be proper ventilation.

H: I think we are already compliant in these areas.

C: Workers need to wear protective gear if they’re near dangerous chemicals or machines.

R: Yes, we already require that.

C: Also, we need to make sure your factory is safe from the threat of terrorism.

Chris说,每层楼都要有灭火器,fire extinguisher, 要有通风设施,ventilation, 靠近化学物品和危险仪器的员工要穿戴保护性工作服wear protective gear。

这些都没问题。We are already compliant in these areas. 这些措施公司已经在做了。compliant is spelled c-o-m-p-l-i-a-n-t, compliant,意思是遵守的,服从的。可是,生产家用产品的公司为什么要防范恐怖袭击呢?我们下次继续听。