赴纽约与Giant George公司接洽续约订单之事。对方要求计算机化家用保全设备优厚的折扣，但David无法接受这样的条件。纽约客素以直来直往见称，David亦在极力说理又不得罪人的情况下，与对方直言相对：
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英文正文
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D: Paula, to be quite frank with you, I think your demands are too high. The 20% price cut is more than we can give.
P: David, we sold four times as much last year as two years ago.
D: I understand what you're saying, you think we're selling a lot more now, so we should have much better economies of scale.
P: That's right. When we started selling for you, your prices were a little high, but we knew the quality was very good.
D: And your point is...?
P: My point is that by this time, your costs for making each item should have come down a lot.
D: I understand why you think that's true, but you've forgotten some things. Labor costs have gone up.
P: But those aren't costs that you should expect Giant George to pay for.
D: We don't; and we've never passed costs on to you.
P: So you're saying your costs have been going up, not down?
D: No, in fact they've stayed about the same. But because we're very happy with our relationship with you, we're willing to offer a 10% price cut anyway.
P: I appreciate that, David. I think 10% is acceptable.
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中文翻译
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D: Paula，老实说，您的要求太高了；八折实在超出我们的能力范围。
P: 我们去年的销售量可是前年的四倍哦！
D: 我了解了，您是认为我们现在的销售量大得多，所以生产方面会比较经济。
P: 没错。开始销售贵公司产品时，你们的价格就比较高，但我们知道品质是没话讲。
D: 那您的意思是……?
P: 我是说，现今贵公司单项产品的生产成本，一定大幅降低了。
D: 我了解你的想法，但你们忽略了一些事。目前人工费用上涨了！
P: 不过贵公司不能寄望Giant George负担这些成本呀！
D: 我们没有；而且从不曾转嫁费用给贵公司过。
P: 所以您是说，贵公司的成本不跌反涨?？
D: 不，事实上，成本是差不多。但由于我们与贵公司往来非常愉快，因此很愿意打九折给你们。
P: 我很感激，David。我想九折可以接受。
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短语解说
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economies of scale 合乎经济的生产
"scale" n. 原义为‘（尺上的）刻度；程度；比例’；"economy" n. 原指‘经济；节约’，但在此处有强调‘合算；合乎成本’的意思。"economies of scale" 是说因大规模生产而带来降低成本的优点，使得产品竞争力强；"economies" 用复数是表示不同产品线的生产。?
Big companies are buying up small farms in the West; they say very large farms are needed for better economies of scale.
大型公司买下许多西部的小农场，他们说超大型的农场才能达到更合乎经济的生产规模。
labor costs 人工
"labor" n. 意思是‘劳动；工作’，亦可当动词用，为‘操劳；努力’的意思。"cost" 为‘价钱；成本’。"labor cost(s)" 即指在生产过程中，属于人力的成本，就是常说的‘人工费用’。
Taiwan's labor costs keep rising, so many businessmen are moving their factories to the Mainland.
台湾的人工一直上涨，所以很多商业人士将工厂移师到大陆去。
pass costs on 转嫁成本
"pass on" 是‘传递；转移’；"pass costs on" 是指商家将成本的涨幅直接反映到价格上，而不自行承担。"on"之后接转嫁的对象。
When Iraq took over Kuwait and oil prices went up, President Bush wouldn't let oil companies pass costs on to car owners.
当伊拉克占领科威特，油价上涨时，布什总统没让石油公司将成本转嫁到车主身上。
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句型总结
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● 坦言拒绝
1. To be totally open with you, I think your demands are excessive.
2. To be very honest with you, it's impossible for us to meet your demands.
3. To get right to the point, I think you are asking (for) too much.
4. To be quite frank with you, I think your demands are too high.
整句话用于商场上，指出对方要求过高了；语气相当直接，但并不伤人。"frank" a. 是‘坦白的’，"be frank with someone" 即‘对某人实说’；"quite" 为副词，意思是‘十分地’；"demand" n. 为‘要求’。"to be frank with you" 常用于句首做开头语，其后接所要坦白的事实。
● 不明白意思
1. I'm not sure what you're getting at.
2. I'm not sure what you're saying.
3. I'm not sure that I get your point. [page]
4. And your point is...?
"point" 在此是指‘论点；主旨’。讲这句话时，句尾的语调要上扬，表示询问；用于不明白对方的意思，请对方将话再次说明。等于 "What's your point?"，但较为口语化。语气直截了当，不作多余的修饰。
● 提醒对方
1. I see your thinking, but you haven't thought about a few important things.
2. I get what you're saying, but you haven't thought about a few important things.
3. What you've said has some truth, but you haven't thought about a few important things.
4. I understand why you think that's true, but you've forgotten some things.
这句话的语气相当和缓，前半句先表达体谅之心，后半句再提出反对的意见。"but" 句型最大的妙用就在于，不是一开头就驳斥对方，而是先以肯定的语气卸除对方的武装戒心之后，再以 "but" 提出异议。而后半句使用 "forget"，乃假设对方只是忘记而非不知道，也是有缓和气氛的作用。
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语法练习
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以下哪一句英文用法正确？
(A) ...your prices were a little high...
(B) ...your prices were a little expensive...
价格 "price" 上所标示的是数字，所以不能用 "expensive" 形容，而是以 "high" 或 "low" 来表示。而 "expensive" 则指物品本身的昂贵，例如："This table is expensive." 但是 "The price of this table is too high."。所以 (A) 才正确。
以下哪一句英文用法正确？
(A) Those aren't costs that you should expect Giant George to pay for.
(B) Those aren't costs that you should hope Giant George to pay for.
"hope" 与 "expect" 都是 ‘希望’的意思，但所在的句型结构不尽相同。其用法是："expect +（受词）+ to+ V" 或 "expect + 子句"；而 "hope+ to+ V" 或 "hope + 子句"；"hope" 如果要加受词，则必须以 "hope for something" 表示，并且不可在 "something" 之后加不定词。因此 (B) 句为错误句子。
以下哪一句英文用法正确？
(A) Those aren't costs that you should expect Giant George to pay.
(B) Those aren't costs that you should expect Giant George to pay for.
正确句为 (B) 。"pay" 与 "pay for" 的用法不同；"pay for"的受词大都为物品或服务等，如 "pay for the books"；而 "pay" 后的受词则是账单或一笔钱、如 "pay 20 dollars" 、"pay the bill"。
