原文

I need an assistant!

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

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

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

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.

A: She?

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.

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

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

B: OK, great! Let’s meet her!

C: Hi, I’m Adam.

B: Oh... hi... I’m Tony...

发音笔记：

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

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

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

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.↗

A: She?↗

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.↘

A: That sounds reasonable.↘↗ Let me see what I can do.↘

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

B: OK, great! Let's meet her!↘

C: Hi, I’m Adam.↘

B: Oh... hi... I’m Tony...↘

Key Vocabulary

单词或短语

1.resources

money

2.understaffed

not enough people to do the job

3.the timing is just not right

it is not a good time now

4.weight off my shoulders

remove pressure or stress

5.give me a hand

help

6.that sounds reasonable

is OK

补充词语

1.recruit

hire

2.overworked

working too much

3.short staffed

not enough people to do the job

4.cut costs

reduce spending

5.overstaffed

having too many employees

办公室的情景用语

1. but the fact is...

2.Here's an idea.

3.That sounds reasonable

4.Let me see what I can do.

5.l'd like to introduce you to ...

6.Let's meet her!

对话词汇与句子

1.like 口语中可以连接句子

◆Like l told you before, ...

2. hire sb+职位名称

◆hire you an assistant

3.understaffed adj.人手不足的

◆ Understaffed means that they don't have enough people working there.

◆Now, his group's focus has shifted to training young men to help understaffed local police patrol their communities.

现在，他的团体已经把注意力转移到训练年轻人，以帮助人手不足的当地警察进行社区巡逻。

Understaffing n.人手不足

◆Trade unions blamed understaffing for the error that led to the child's death, saying there were not enough trained nurses for the unit.

公会指责是人手不足导致了婴儿的死亡，称重症监护室没有足够的受过训练的护士。

4. timing 时间选择;时间控制

【戏剧】(戏剧等为达到最佳效果的)时间安排【体育】(动作、比赛等的)计时;定时

【机械工程】调速;同步

◆ In the game of love, as in comedy, timing, they say, is everything.

他们说爱情游戏就跟喜剧一样，时机的把握就是一切。

◆One timing system comes from the evidence of our senses and stomachs，and the periodicity we experience when living in a particular time zone.

一个定时系统来自于我们的感官和胃的证明,就是当我们生活在一个特定的时区所经历的周期性。

◆How accurate should l do the timing?那么计时时我要达到怎样的精度?

5.The timing is just not right.不是时候。

◆l was gonna sell my house, but the timing is just not right.

◆-Honey, l think we should have a baby.

-The timing is just not right.

6. take on 聘用，承担，呈现出

◆He's spoken to a publishing company. They're going to take him on.

他已经跟一家出版公司谈过了。他们将聘用他。

◆No other organization was able or willing to take on the job.没有任何其他组织能够或愿意承担这项工作。

◆Believing he had only a year to live, his writing took on a feverish intensity.他认为自己只有一年能活了，他的文字呈现出一种极度的狂热。

◆This is a brief stop to take on passengers and water.

这是一次短暂的停车以上客和装水。(交通工具)停下装载(乘客、货物、燃料)

◆Democrats were reluctant to take on a president whose popularity ratings were historically high.

民主党不愿意与一个支持率创历史新高的总统较量。与(尤指强于自己的人)较量

take something on/upon yourself 擅自决定做

◆Knox had taken it on himself to choose the wine.诺克斯已擅自主张选了这种葡萄酒。

◆He took upon himself the responsibility for protecting her.他自作主张承担起保护她的责任。

7.take some of the weight off my shoulders= take some of my work away from me

8. recent graduate应届毕业生

◆A mom of a recent graduate attended a college alumni career networking event with her daughter.

一位母亲带着她刚毕业的女儿一起参加了校友职业交流活动。

9.give me a hand (with...)帮助

“Give me a hand" is another way of saying "help” or"to help out".

◆Can you give me a hand with these boxes?

◆Neil, I'll need you to give me a hand with this sales report.

◆Here, let me give you a hand with your suitcase.

10.keep the cost down减少支出

◆Many companies control how much printing you do to keep the costs down of paper.