初级商务英语Unit20.docVIP

Unit 20 The budget meeting Modals 1. Listening Listen to the extract from a budget meeting. Peter, John and Susan are discussing next year’s departmental budgets. As you listen, indicate their opinions on the table below. Use these symbols: + = more money should be spent - = less money should be spent OK = the proposed figure should remain the same Budget proposals 请见附图20-1 Listening Task P: Right, let’s get started. Now, you’ve all seen the budget proposals for next year. Have you got anything to say? J: I think the research figure is too low. We should increase it by at least 5%. P: Well, we could do that, but it means less money for the other departments. I think it should stay the same. S: I agree with John. We could reduce the figure for marketing-that would allow us to increase the budget for research. P: I felt marketing needed a good figure this year. They’ve got a big launch mid-year. I think they couldn’t manage with less. J: I’m sure they could and… P: Just a moment. Let’s look at the other two department budgets. That’s production and sales. J: Well, we can’t cut the production budget, that’s for sure. I don’t know about sales. S: Why do you say we can’t cut production’s budget? They had a big investment last year. Well, surely they could manage on less this year? P: Yes, I think I agree. Production ought to manage with less this year, having spent so much last year. S: A small cut in the production budget might mean we could increase the research figure. P: Right, I’ll put that to the Production Manager. Finally, what about sales? S: I think it’s a bit high. They might save a bit by spending less on the after-sales side. P: John, any views? J: Well, I think we should spend more on sales. P: That’s out of the question. The figure shouldn’t be changed. 2. Presentation Modal verbs(such as should, ought, can, could, might) can be used to indicate speakers’ attitudes or opinions. These can be categorized as follows: # strong re