Business Dialogue

　　1) Negotiating a Job Offer

　　Employer: would you consider an offer of $56,000 per year?

　　Ms. Wilson: What kind of benefits are talking about?

　　Employer: Our standard package includes health insurance, two weeks vacation and a company car.

　　Ms. Wilson: Are these things negotiable?

　　Employer: Uh…not normally. What do you have in mind ?

　　Ms. Wilson: Vacation time is important to me. I would be willing to give up these other items in order to receive more vacation days.

　　Employer: What an interesting idea, Ms. Wilson. Would you also be willing to accept a cut in initial salary?

　　Ms. Wilson: possibly. What do you have in mind ?

　　2) Employee Pay Raise

　　Boss: You have done an excellent job this year and we are pleased with the results.

　　Employee: I am glad that you have been happy with my performance.

　　Boss: As a result of your performance, we happy to offer you the position of manager.

　　Employee: Does this title come with an increase in salary?

　　3) Asking for a Raise

　　Mr. White: So, tell me: what makes you think we should give you a raise?

　　Miss Small: I’ve got several good reasons. I’ve been here several years, my work has proven to be good, and I’ve noticed that people in comparable jobs get paid more than I do.

　　Mr. White: Salaries are confidential; how do you know how much money these “other people” make?

　　Miss Small: Well, I’ve noticed all the new cars around here, for one thing.

　　Mr. White: Those are company cars provided to the sales staff for their business trips. Also, some employees receive sales commissions. So good salesmen will naturally earn more.

　　Miss Small: That’s understandable. Well, rather than comparing my salary with someone else’s, perhaps we could talk about my job performance. Surely you’ve noticed the extra hours I’ve put in recently? If I were being paid an hourly wage, with the standard time – and – a – half for overtime, I’d be earning much more.

　　Mr. White: I see you point. However, it might be hard to get a raise approved. Profits were down last quarter, and the whole company is tightening its belt, so anything that affects the annual budget is hard to get approved. But I’ll tell you what I’ll do. I’ll give you a one – time bonus for your recent hard work. And I’ll try to arrange some sort of compensation for any future overtime.

　　Miss Small: That would be very good of you, Mr. White.

　　4) Asking for a Raise

　　Martin: Mr. Smith, I have been doing some industry research and was shocked to learn that the average salary for a position that is similar to mine pays, on average $2,000 more per year than I am currently making.

　　Mr. Smith: What are you basing this information on?

　　Martin: First and secondary research. I hope that you can address this concern immediately as I find it very disturbing.

　　Mr. Smith: Yes, I will. We are very happy with performance and want to continue our good working relationship.

　　Martin: I wish the same. As such, I hope you will seriously consider a pay increase.

　　Mr. Smith: Let me take this up with the Director and get back to you immediately.

　　Ⅳ Conversation Notes

　　注意：

　　1. 考试中不要说 “Pardon?”

　　2. Never say “sorry” in examination!

　　3. 没听清可用以下说法

　　I don’t quite understand you. Would you explain it a little bit for me?

　　I am not sure what you are getting at. Would you express it in another way?