THE CHALLENGE OF CHANGE  改变的挑战

Dan McDonald is a project manager at Normark, a large printing company. He figures out how much each printing job will cost. Normark then uses this information to prepare bids for customers.
(phone rings)
Dan: Dan McDonald speaking.
Rob: Hi, Dan. This is Rob Ward in Accounting.
Dan: Hi, Rob. What's on your mind?
Rob: Well, it's about that health booklet project. I need to check your estimates before our bid goes to the government.
Dan: What? Since when are you supposed to check my estimates?
Rob: Since about a week ago. Didn't Mr. Teeter tell you? It's a new policy.
丹‧麦当劳是诺马克公司的一位企划经理，那是一个大规模的印刷公司。他的工作就是计算出每一笔印刷订单的成本是多少，然后诺马克公司利用这个的信息来向客户出价。
（电话响）
丹 ：我是丹．麦当劳。
洛伯：嗨，丹，我是会计部的洛伯．瓦德。
丹 ：嗨，洛伯，有什么事吗？
洛伯：嗯，是有关那份健康手册的印刷案。在我们给政府出价前，我要和你比对一下你的估价。
丹 ：什么？从什么时候开始你要查对我所估的价？
洛伯：大概是一个礼拜以前。难道提特先生没告诉你吗？这是新的政策。
【Word Bank】
bid (n) 出售; 投标
estimate (n) 估价
policy (n) 政策

Dan: Nobody told me anything. What new policy?
Rob: Well, Mr. Teeter wants me to double-check all cost estimates. If they're too high, we won't win contracts. If they're too low, we'll win contracts but lose money.
Dan: I know that. The printing business has always been that way.
Rob: Well, times are getting tougher. Competition is fierce. Profit margins are so tight that we can't afford a single error. You know how it is.
Dan: Yeah, only too well, longer hours, fewer support staff, and now, accountants looking over my shoulder.
Rob: Hey, I'm just doing my job.
丹 ：没人告诉我任何事。什么新政策？
洛伯：是这样的，提特先生要我再查对一次所有的成本估价。如果太高，我们没法赢得合约；但如果太低，我们即使赢得合约，也会赔本。
丹 ：我知道。印刷业本来就是那样。
洛伯：没错，但是生意愈来愈不容易做了。竞争非常激烈，因为利润很少，所以我们经不起一点点错误。你知道这个情形的。
丹 ：对啊，太清楚了——工作时数增加、工作人员减少，而现在连会计师也看紧我。
洛伯：嘿，我不过是在尽我的责任罢了。
【Word Bank】
contract (n) 合约
profit margin (n phr) 利润

Later, Dan goes for his regular Wednesday pizza lunch with two of his co-workers, Jim and Mark.
Dan: I just can't get over Teeter making a policy change like that without informing me.
Jim: He probably just forgot. He's facing a lot of changes himself these days.
Mark: He sure is. I hear the board members are putting pressure on him. They want to see more profit and higher share value. There is even talk of showing Teeter the door.
Dan: Boy, what happened to the good old days, when people trusted you to do a decent job?
一会之后，丹与他的两个同事吉姆和马克一起去吃每礼拜三固定的披萨午餐。
丹 ：提特在政策上做了那样的改变，而不通知我，真是让我无法释怀。
吉姆：他大概忘了，最近他自己也是面对许多的改变。
马克：那倒是真的，我听到董事们对他施压，他们希望看到更丰厚的利润和更高的股票面值，甚至有传说要扫提特出门。
丹 ：天啊，过去的好时光那儿去了？那时人们还会信任你能做好你的工作。
【Word Bank】
share (n) 股票；股份
get over something (v phr) 对...不胜惊讶
show someone the door (v phr) 将某人扫地出门；开除某人

Mark: I doubt "the good old days" were as rosy as you remember them to be. And don't forget, in 20 years these will be "the good old days."
Dan: Help!
Jim: Mark's right. In the future, change will be the one thing that won't change. Except that it'll snowball. In twenty years, today will seem like a slow-moving dream. So you may as well enjoy it.
Dan: Oh, yeah? How am I supposed to do that?
Mark: Well, you could start by having another slice of pizza.
Dan: Mark, I do believe you're smarter than you look!
Dan: But seriously, how do we handle all this change? Nothing stays the same for very long anymore. For example, look at the new "improved" e-mail software that the computer department just dumped on us. We'd only used the previous system for six months. Now we have to learn something totally new.
Mark: But think, Dan. The new e-mail system will let us share photos, drawings, even video!
Dan: Video? I'd be happy if we could just share simple information about new policies.
Jim: Aw, Dan, don't be such a spoilsport. Technology is the wave of the future. Better get your surfboard!
Dan: Surfboard? I need a life preserver!
马克：我怀疑「过去的好时光」是否真如你所记得的那么美好。别忘了，一、二十年后，现在的日子也会成为「过去的好时光」。
丹 ：拜托啊！
吉姆：马克是对的。将来，变迁将是唯一不变的东西，只是它会像雪球一样愈变愈大。二十年之后，「今天」将看来像一个慢动作的梦。所以你索性好好享受一下吧！
丹 ：哦，真的吗？那我该怎么享受呢？
马克：嗯，你或许可以再吃一块披萨开始。
丹 ：马克，我真的觉得你比你看起来还要聪明。
丹 ：可是说真的，我们如何应对这些变化呢？再也没有什么可以长久保持原样了。举例来说，看看计算机部门丢给我们的那个新的「改良式」电子邮件软件，前一个系统我们才用了六个月而已，现在我们又要学习完全新的东西。
马克：但想想，丹，新的电子邮件系统可以让我们共享照片、图案、甚至是电视影像。
丹 ：电视影像？只要它能传递有关新政策的简单信息，我就很高兴了。
吉姆：噢，丹，别那么扫兴。科技是未来的浪潮。最好准备好你的冲浪板。
丹 ：冲浪板？我需要一个救生圈。
【Word Bank】
rosy (adj) 光明的；愉快的
snowball (v) 像滚雪球般愈滚愈大
dump (v) 倾倒；丢弃
spoilsport (n) 扫兴的人
life preserver (n phr) 救生器材

Mark: I suppose there are two ways of dealing with change. You can try to hide from it. Good luck. Or you can accept it and make the most of it. Change can be exciting, and it often brings opportunities.
Jim: Like that new e-mail system, Dan. I've already mastered it. So now . . .
Mark: . . . so now all the single women in the office ask Jim for lessons.
Dan: Hmmm. Maybe change isn't such a bad thing after all. But there's one thing I hope never changes.
Mark: What's that?
Dan: Our pizza lunch on Wednesdays. Come on, guys. Have another slice.
马克：我猜只有两种方法可以应付这些变化：你可以试着躲避它，那么祝你好运；或是你可以接受它，并且从中获得最大的利益。改变可以是令人兴奋的，而且往往会带来些机会。
吉姆：就像那新的电子邮件系统，丹。我已经非常熟练了，所以现在……
马克：所以现在办公室里所有的单身女子都要求吉姆开课。
丹 ：嗯，或许改变倒也不是件坏事。但有件事我希望永远不变。
马克：那是什么？
丹 ：我们每个礼拜三的披萨午餐！来吧，再来一块！

The origin of article: Studio Classroom

资料来源: 空中英语教室