Sandoz眼前最大的問題是中南美洲當(dāng)?shù)夭涣嫉男l(wèi)生狀況。從法律觀點來看，只要在包裝上印上“切勿使用臟水”的警告標(biāo)示，就毋須對后果負責(zé)。但基于職業(yè)道德與社會良心，Sandoz仍然希望善盡人事。這個片段中，與會的人針對如何確保當(dāng)?shù)厝藭詢羲疀_泡奶粉進行討論。
Vincent: As a good corporate citizen, we must face the following issues. One
is to make the powder so that you can't mix it with dirty water. Two is that we
find a way to give clean water to everyone who uses the powder.
身為一家有社會良知的公司，我們必須面對以下的關(guān)鍵問題：一是制造出一種無法用不潔的水沖泡的奶粉；二是找到法子，提供凈水給所有食用奶粉的人。
Sam: Can we do both and still not make the price too high? We want to market
it to the people who need it the most - the poor. And most of those people in
those places are very, very poor.
我們可以兩樣都做到，又不致使成本漲幅過高嗎？我們想把奶粉賣給最需要的人－－窮人。這些地方的住民大部份都非常、非常的窮。
Vincent: A valid point. Well then, let's toss the first problem around a
little. We can't make the powder so that you can't mix it with dirty water. The
price will be too high, and people could get sick if they still try to drink it.
But I think we can add something that would make the color change.
完全同意。那，我們就先討論一下第一個問題。我想我們無法制造出這種用臟水沖泡后即無法食用的奶粉。成本太高了！而且如果當(dāng)?shù)厝擞彩且?，他們還是可能會生病的。不過我想我們可以摻入一些會改變顏色的添加物。
Grace: Good idea. Like black or something. Nobody would let their kids drink
something that didn't look like milk.
好辦法！諸如黑色之類的東西，沒有人會讓自己的孩子喝下不像牛奶的東西。
Sam: I'm sorry, but I have to disagree. These people wash, drink, and even
swim every day in the water that LOOKS dirty. But they do it anyway, because
they're so poor there's no way they can get clean water.
很抱歉，我無法同意。這些人每天洗滌、飲用、甚至游泳，都在那些看起來很臟的水里；但是他們橫豎還是用了。只因為太窮，他們根本沒辦法得到凈水。
Vincent: That's true. Maybe we could add something that would make it smell
bad too. If it smells bad and looks bad, that might make sure they don't drink
it. But I don't know how much more it will add to the cost.
沒錯。不然我們添加一些會變得難聞的物質(zhì)，如果牛奶既難聞又難看，那鐵定沒有人會喝了。不過我不知道成本會提高到多少。
Grace: If it jacks up the cost too much nobody will buy it. That won't help
anyone -- them or us. But we can't just sell it without a way to stop buyers
from using dirty water.
不過成本太高，就沒有人會買了。這樣對誰－－不論是他們或我們，都沒有好處。不過我們也不能只管銷售，而不去想辦法阻止顧客使用臟水。
Notes:
1. good corporate citizen 有社會責(zé)任感的公司（公民）
Corporate
的意思是“法人組織的”；citizen為“公民”。這個詞組原義是指好公民，如今已意義已被擴展，包括有社會良知的機構(gòu)組織－－即不為私利而犧牲大眾福祉，并能關(guān)懷社會的團體。
It was over 10 years ago that Nests sold its powdered milk in Africa, but
people still believe it is not a good corporate
citizen.
雀巢在非洲銷售奶粉已是十多年前的事了，但至今世人仍視它為缺乏社會道德的公司。
2. toss (something)
around 非正式的討論；隨意聊聊
Toss 的原義為“投擲”，尤其指不停地丟來丟去的動作；因而常用來比喻你一言，我一語地討論。這種討論是不拘形式，也不必按特定的程序進行。toss
around為美式口語，意思是“隨意、非正式地討論”。
I'm not sure if Raymond or Nicole should become general manager; let's toss
it around and see if we can decide right
now.
我不確定是Raymond還是Nicole調(diào)任總經(jīng)理比較好；我們不妨討論一下，看能否立刻下決定。
3. jack up 上漲；上升
jack當(dāng)名詞是“千斤頂”－－用以頂住并托起車子的底盤，以便進行修理的機器；因此當(dāng)動詞時有“使……上升”之意，可形容價格、成本的上揚。
I don't think we can jack up our prices on our books anymore, because people
don't have much extra money to spend these
days.
我不認為我們的書價還可以再提高，因為現(xiàn)在大家沒有太多閑錢可花了。
（來源：《國際商務(wù)英語教程》上海理工大學(xué)通訊員何旖文供稿 英語點津 Annabel 編輯）
