This Business English Podcast lesson is the first in an ongoing series where we’ll listen in on some typical chitchat around the office water cooler. You’ll find a water cooler in offices around the world – usually in the break room where employees gather to drink a cup of coffee or tea and take a rest from work.
这节商务英语播客是有关在饮水冷却器旁进行闲谈的课程，全世界的办公楼里都有饮水冷却器——通常安放在员工的休息室中，在那里大家能聚起来喝杯咖啡或喝茶，从紧张的工作中休息一下。

And during these breaks, you might meet with a colleague and exchange words about life, your jobs, your company, sports, politics or whatever. So “water cooler chichat” has come to refer to all types of informal communication that take place at the office.
休息中，你可能会遇到同事，并谈论生活，工作，公司，运动，政治和其他话题。所以“饮水冷却器旁的闲谈”现在泛指在办公室中的各种非正式交流。

We’ll be listening in on Jan and Jen, who work in the same office of Ambient, an American telecoms company, gossiping around the water cooler. They are discussing the latest industry news: Accent, a major European player in the market, has just announced the takeover or buy out of Ambient’s main competitor,TelStar.
我们会听到Jan和Jen，同在一家美国电信产业公司Ambient工作，他们在休息室闲谈。他们正在谈论最新的工业新闻:市场中一家主要的欧洲竞争对手Accent刚刚宣布接受或买断Ambient的主要竞争对手TelStar。

Listening Quiz:

1) Do Jan and Jen think Accent’s takeover of TelStar was a good idea?
2) Why was there a delay in the takeover?