(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
Now, the VOA Special English program, Words and Their Stories.
There are many special terms in the world of business.
The following story is about a sweetheart deal which I made last week. I made the deal with a friend, and we both made a profit.
I had started a small company several years ago. I worked hard to make it successful. It was a sign-making business. It was a small company, not a blue chip company. It was not known nationally for the quality of its signs. It did not make millions of dollars in profits. And it was private. It was not a public company with shares traded on the stock market.
Still, I worked hard building up my business. I did not work only a few hours each day -- no banker's hours for me. Instead I spent many hours each day, seven days a week, trying to grow the company. I never cut corners or tried to save on expenses. I made many cold calls. I called on possible buyers from a list of people I had never seen. Such calls were often hard sells. I had to be very firm.
Sometimes I sold my signs at a loss. I did not make money on my product. When this happened, there were cut backs. I had to use fewer supplies and reduce the number of workers. But after several years, the company broke even. Profits were equal to expenses. And soon after, I began to gain ground. My signs were selling very quickly. They were selling like hotcakes.
I was happy. The company was moving forward and making real progress. It was in the black, not in the red. The company was making money, not losing it.
My friend knew about my business. He is a leader in the sign-making industry – a real big gun, if you know what I mean. He offered to buy my company. My friend wanted to take it public. He wanted to sell shares in the company to the general public.
My friend believed it was best to strike while the iron is hot. He wanted to take action at the best time possible and not wait. He offered me a ball park estimate of the amount he would pay to buy my company. But I knew his uneducated guess was low. My company was worth much more. He asked his bean-counter to crunch the numbers. That is, he asked his accountant to take a close look at the finances of my company and decide how much it was worth. Then my friend increased his offer.
My friend's official offer was finally given to me in black and white. It was written on paper and more than I ever dreamed. I was finally able to get a break. I made a huge profit on my company, and my friend also got a bang for the buck. He got a successful business for the money he spent.
This VOA Special English program, Words and Their Stories, was written by Jill Moss. I'm Faith Lapidus.
词汇解释
1.blue chip 蓝筹股；优值股票；高值筹码；一贯赢利的企业
Blue chip issues were sharply higher, but the rest of the market actually declined slightly by the end of the day.
蓝筹股一路飙升，但股市其他股票却在当天收盘时稍有走低。
2.big gun 重要人物；有势力的人；大口径水炮
He became a big gun in scientific circles.
他成为科学界的要人。
3.bean-counter 统计专家，会计师
This bean counter looked very nice.
这个柜员看起来人很好。
内容解析
1.I never cut corners or tried to save on expenses.
cut corners 抄近路；以简便方法做事；用最简捷的方式做事；节约(人力、物力)
Take your time, don't cut corners and follow instructions to the letter.
慢慢来，不要图省事，要严格按照说明去做。
We must cut corners on production costs.
我们定要用最简便的方法来减低成本。
2.But after several years, the company broke even.
break even 不赚不赔；并列起跑；打成平手
Taylor's business just managed to break even last month.
上月泰勒的生意不赔不赚。
The airline hopes to break even next year and return to profit the following year.
那家航空公司希望明年实现收支相抵，在随后一年重新盈利。
参考译文
这里是美国之音慢速英语词汇典故。
商业世界中有很多特殊用语。
下面的故事是我和朋友上周达成的一项私下交易，我们两个都赚了钱。
我几年前开了一家小公司，我努力经营以求成功，这是一家广告牌制作公司，是个小公司，不是蓝筹公司，还没有因广告牌的质量而全国知名，也没有赚得数百万美元的利润，这是一家私企，不是股份在股票市场交易的股份市场。
不过我努力工作壮大业务，不是每天只工作几小时，而是每天工作很长时间，一周七天都工作，希望能让公司壮大起来。我从未走捷径或试图节省开支，给很多潜在买家打了推销电话，这样的电话叫电话推销，我必须非常坚定。
有时我亏本卖广告牌，没有从销售中赚到钱。这时只能降低成本，用更少的原材料并削减员工人数。但在几年后，公司收支平衡了。不久后，很快我就慢慢起步了，我的广告牌卖得很快，非常抢手。
我很开心，这家公司开始稳步前进，开始盈利而不是出现赤字，公司挣了钱，没有亏损。
我朋友了解我的公司，他是一家广告牌制作行业的领军人物。他想出价买我的公司，我朋友想让公司上市，他想将公司股份卖给大众。
我朋友认为最好趁热打铁，他想在时机最佳时行动，不想等待。他就给我的公司提了大概的报价，但我觉得他的估值太低了，我的公司价值比这个高。他要求他的会计师核算并估价。随后我的朋友提高了报价。
我朋友的最终报价终于黑纸白字的交到我手里，我最终时来运转，而我的朋友做的交易也物有所值。
这就是美国之音慢速英语词汇典故，作者吉尔·莫斯，我是费斯·拉皮德斯。
