先听一遍对话音频，看看能懂多少？

第一遍视频建议关闭字幕，根据画面来判断剧情；第二遍再打开英文字幕，对照学习：

回答下面问题，检验一下对对话的理解程度。

对话文稿

A: ...like I told you before, we just don’t have the resources to hire you an assistant.

A: ...就像我之前告诉你的，我们确实没有资源为你聘请助理。

B: I understand that, but the fact is we’re understaffed.

B: 我理解，但事实是我们人手不足。

A: The timing is just not right. The economy is bad, and it’s too risky to take on new staff.

A: 时机不对。经济状况不好，招聘新员工风险太大。

B: Yeah, I guess you’re right.... here’s an idea, what if we hire an intern? She would take some of the weight off my shoulders.

B: 嗯，我想你是对的……我有个主意，如果我们雇个实习生怎么样？她可以帮我分担一些工作。

A: She?

A: 她？

B: Yeah, you know, a recent graduate. She could give me a hand with some of these projects and we could keep our costs down.

B: 是的，你知道的，刚毕业的学生。她能帮我处理一些项目，我们也能控制成本。

A: That sounds reasonable... let me see what I can do.

A: 听起来合理……让我看看能做些什么。

A: Tony, I’d like to introduce you to your new assistant.

A: Tony，我想向你介绍你的新助理。

B: OK, great! Let’s meet her!

B: 好的，太棒了！让我们见见她！

C: Hi, I’m Adam.

C: 嗨，我是Adam。

B: Oh... hi... I’m Tony...

B: 哦……嗨……我是Tony……

Vocabulary List

Key Vocabulary

• resources (noun, plural) – money 资金，财力
• understaffed (adjective) – not enough people to do the job 人手不足的，人员不够的
• the timing is just not right (phrase) – it is not a good time now 时机不合适，现在不是合适的时间
• weight off my shoulders (phrase) – remove pressure or stress 如释重负，减轻压力
• give me a hand (phrase) – help 帮助我，帮个忙
• that sounds reasonable (phrase) – is OK 听起来合理，听起来不错

Supplementary Vocabulary

• recruit (verb, infinitive) – hire 招聘，雇佣
• overworked (adjective) – working too much 工作过度的，劳累过度的
• short staffed (adjective) – not enough people to do the job 人手短缺的，人员不足的
• cut costs (phrase) – reduce spending 削减成本，减少开支
• overstaffed (adjective) – having too many employees 人员过多的，员工过剩的