Buy and Sell
　　Dan Smith是一位美國(guó)的健身用品經(jīng)銷商，此次是Robert第一回與他交手。就在短短幾分鐘的交談中，Robert即感到這位大漢粗獷的外表下，藏有狡黠如脫兔的心思--他肯定是名沙場(chǎng)老將，自己絕不可掉以輕心。雙方第一回過(guò)招如下：
　　英文正文
　　Dan: I'd like to get the ball rolling by talking about prices.
　　Robert: Shoot. I'd be happy to answer any questions you may have.
　　Dan: Your products are very good. But I'm a little worried about the prices you're asking.
　　Robert: You think we should be asking for more?
　　Dan: That's not exactly what I had in mind. I know your research costs are high, but what I'd like is a 25% discount.
　　Robert: That seems to be a little high, Mr. Smith. I don't know how we can make a profit with those numbers.
　　Dan: Please, Robert, call me Dan. Well, if we promise future business -- volume sales that will slash your costs for making the Exec-U-Ciser, right?
　　Robert: Yes, but it's hard to see how you can place such large orders. How could you turn over so many? We'd need a guarantee of future business, not just a promise.
　　Dan: We said we wanted 1000 pieces over a six month period. What if we place orders for twelve months, with a guarantee?
　　Robert: If you can guarantee that on paper, I think we can discuss this further.
　　中文翻譯
　　D: 我想就從價(jià)錢方面開始談吧!
　　R: 洗耳恭聽!我很樂(lè)意答復(fù)任何問(wèn)題。
　　D: 貴公司的產(chǎn)品很出色;但你們開的價(jià)碼，讓我覺(jué)得有點(diǎn)困難。
　　R: 你是覺(jué)得我們應(yīng)該把價(jià)錢開高一點(diǎn)啰?
　　D: 我不是這個(gè)意思。我知道你們投入很高的開發(fā)費(fèi)用，但是，我想要七五折。
　　R: Smith先生，這個(gè)折扣似乎多了點(diǎn)。這樣的價(jià)格，我們公司怎么能有利潤(rùn)可賺!
　　D: Robert，請(qǐng)叫我Dan好了。這樣吧!若我們答應(yīng)以后繼續(xù)合作，而且是大筆的生意，就可以使你們大幅降低‘健你樂(lè)’的制造成本，對(duì)不?
　　R: 嗯!不過(guò)，我看不出您怎能下這么大筆的訂單?!貴公司如何銷售這么多的貨呢?我們要的可是保證，而不是隨口答應(yīng)就算數(shù)的哦!
　　D: 我們本來(lái)說(shuō)半年內(nèi)訂貨1000件。如果現(xiàn)在我們保證一年內(nèi)都會(huì)跟你們訂貨，你意下如何?
　　R: 如果你們能以書面保證，我想我們可以再談。
　　短語(yǔ)解說(shuō)
　　get the ball rolling 開始
　　"get the ball rolling"字面意思是‘讓球滾動(dòng)’。此詞組乃源自足球慣例：由一位球員開球，把球傳給隊(duì)友，借此展開一場(chǎng)比賽;因此這個(gè)‘讓球滾動(dòng)’的動(dòng)作，就引申為‘開始某活動(dòng)’。
　　We can get the ball rolling on this deal by talking to the company's vice president.
　　關(guān)于這筆生意，我們可以先找這家公司的副總談。
　　shoot 有話直說(shuō);洗耳恭聽
　　"shoot"，當(dāng)動(dòng)詞有‘發(fā)射’的含意。在本文中為感嘆語(yǔ)，作用是鼓勵(lì)他人踴躍發(fā)言，意思是‘有話盡管說(shuō)，我洗耳恭聽’，為美式口語(yǔ)。
　　If you think you have a better idea than this, shoot.
　　如果你覺(jué)得還有比這更好的意見(jiàn)，盡管直說(shuō)吧!
　　make a profit 賺錢;獲利
　　‘賺錢’這個(gè)詞組的動(dòng)詞為 "make" -- 用法是 "make a profit"。請(qǐng)注意 "profit" 要加冠詞 "a" ,或改為復(fù)數(shù)形 -- "make profits "來(lái)使用。