訓練你的英語腦

　　訓練自己用英文思考，多練習常用的搭配和慣用語，能夠更快學習英語，掌握更自然的發音方式。本期將為您介紹一些熟悉的單字，當它們合併在一起時，能產生不同的意思，讓你的英文聽起來更貼近職場應用。

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會議慣用語補給站

1. in a nutshell（簡而言之）

In a nutshell, we want to make sure all parties are satisfied with the event. We are willing to do whatever is needed to prevent unnecessary problems from happening.（簡而言之，我們希望各部門在活動中都能滿意，只要確保活動能順利進行，我們都願意盡量配合。）

2. go the extra mile（付出更多的努力）

She went the extra mile by doing more than she has been asked to do.（她付出更多的努力，遠超出本來的期望。）

3. go down the drain（付諸流水）

Due to the adverse business climate his company is going down the drain fast.（由於商業環境不佳，他的公司很快將付諸流水）

4. go back to square one（從頭來過）

I hope our game plan works properly. Otherwise, we will have to go back to square one.（希望我們的計劃能順利進行，否則我們將從頭來過。）

5. the big picture（全局）

The CEO focuses on the big picture instead of on little details.（執行長處事總是顧全大局，不拘泥小細節。）

Sample Dialogue（情境範例）

During a meeting, Mark is presenting his ideas to his colleagues and they are having a conversation about this marketing strategy…（公司會議進行中，Mark 正跟大家說明本季的行銷計畫）

Mark：Picking up from where we left off, I’d like to walk you through real quick. In a nutshell, there’re three main steps that we should work on for this recent marketing strategy. We’ll begin by increasing our brand awareness. Then, we’ll follow up by connecting with potential customers. Last, we’ll keep extending commercial relationships via the mass media…（接續上次的討論，我快速為大家回顧一下。簡要來說，本季度行銷策略分為三大階段。首先，將主力放在提升品牌意識，然後著手聯繫潛在客戶，最後透過媒體行銷，增加曝光機會…）

Sabrina：Thank you for the brief summary, Mark. To make it unfold smoothly, we need to go the extra mile to getting it off the ground.（謝謝 Mark 簡短的摘要，為了讓行銷策略能順利開展，我們需要付出更多努力。）

Mark：You’re absolutely right ! Just to make sure we’re on the same page. Gary has developed a proper game plan regarding time allocation. Do you mind providing the sheet to every one after the meeting, Gary?（您說得對！簡單地確認大家對此計畫都有一致的了解。關於時程的分配，Gary已整理出一個妥善的計畫。Gary您介意會後把資料寄給大家嗎？）

Gary：I’d love to. Unfortunately, my computer crashed. I wish I’d backed up all my files, but I didn’t. All files just went down the drain. I need to go back to square one.（我相當樂意。但很不幸地，我的電腦當機了，真希望我有將我所有檔案都備份過，但可惜我沒有，所有心血都白費了，我需要從頭來過。）

Sabrina：We all learned from the experience. It’s actually fine. Let’s all look at the big picture. We can take this opportunity to adjust our plan. We have all these great ideas and valuable plans from the meetings we had these last couple of weeks. Why don’t we send the previous meeting minutes to Gary; he’ll compile the information altogether with the needed adjustment. How does it sound to everyone?（我們都是從經驗中學習。其實沒關係，我們往大方向看。我們剛好利用這次機會來調整本次計畫。過去幾周的會議中，大家的建議與想法都很寶貴也很實際，不如我們將前幾次的會議紀錄寄給 Gary，讓他幫我們再次整理，並進行必要的修改。大家覺得這樣如何？）

Gary：Sounds good to me! Thank you for all the great support. I’ll make sure the adjusted game plan is ready before the next meeting.（聽起來不錯！謝謝大家的全力支援，我會在下次會議前將計畫修改完成。）

註：以上英文教學由EIE美語提供，英文課程諮詢請洽：EIE Institute Belle Yin（Tel: (02) 8773-6828 Ext. 368；Email: belle@eie.com.tw）#