[英语学习]商务礼仪美语_Business_Etiquette L91-L120.docVIP

091 A Death in the Company 公司开会前，经理Jeff说，总裁John Henderson的母亲去世了。 Jeff (manager): Folks...before we begin our workday, Im afraid I have some sad news. Our CEO John Hendersons mother passed away late last night. As you can imagine, this is a difficult time for the Henderson family. Frank: Oh, that is sad news. I met his mother once...she was a very nice woman. Penny: Was she sick? J: Yes, I believe she was suffering from some illnesses; but she was also 91 years old. F: Wow! Ninety-one years old! Thats a pretty good run. P: Yeah...very impressive. Frank说，他见过Henderson的母亲，老太太人很好。She was a very nice woman. Penny问，她是不是病死的。得知老太太91岁高龄后，Frank说，Thats a pretty good run，意思是“够长寿的”。 George: You know, Im from China and in some places in my homeland if you live past 80, they used to celebrate your death instead of mourning. J: Thats kind of a nice tradition. A long, full life is something to celebrate. G: Um, seeing as Im not that familiar with Western culture, Im wondering...whats the protocol here? What can we do for the Henderson family? What should I say? George是从中国来的。他说，在中国年过八旬就是喜丧，是值得庆祝的。他想知道，西方有些什么习俗，能为死者家属做些什么。 J: In the West, people usually just say something like, Im sorry. G: Yeah...Ive heard people say sorry before and I always wondered why. P: I guess its because we mean that we feel sorry that they must endure this difficult time of sorrow. Or maybe we mean we are sorry the person died. J: I think Pennys first guess is right. People mean to say, I sympathize with or am sorry for, the pain you and your family are feeling. But somehow along the way it just sort of got shortened to, Im sorry. Penny解释说，一种可能是说，对你悲恸的心情深表同情。另外一种可能是对此人去世感到惋惜。Jeff认为，第一种解释最说得通，说sorry是对死者家属的悲伤表示同情。 F: But George makes a good point. I think we do struggle to find the right words to say when someone dies. I mean, what can you say thats really going to be helpful? P: Thats true. Its always a bit hard to know what to say. But usually the person understands that were just trying to offer condolences.