Dialogue 对话
A. Good morning, we're live at Bentonville Arkansas this morning at a super
store by Walmart's Headquarters. The Dow component as you may know by
now beating on its earnings this morning. But the bigger news, the company
announcing a wage hike for half of a million of its employees. Joining us this
morning in a CNBC exclusive, Doug McMillon is the president and CEO of
Walmart stores. Doug, thanks so much for having us.
早上好，我们在阿肯萨斯州的Bentonville为您直播，我们今天早上在这里的沃尔
玛总部。正如您所知道的，今天早上道琼指数飘红。但是更大的新闻是沃尔玛宣布
提高其五十万员工的薪水。今天CNBC独家专访Doug
McMillion，沃尔玛的总裁CEO。Doug，谢谢你能邀请我们。
B. Thanks for coming to Arkansas.
非常感谢能来阿肯萨斯。
A. Yes, it's very cold, but very nice.
对，这里很冷，但也很棒。
B. Yeah.
对。
A. You're the nation's biggest employer: more than a million employees in this
country and you're raising your minimum starting wage. Why now?
你是全国最大的企业雇主：国内有超过一百万员工。现在那么要提高最低工资。为
什么选择这个时间点？
B. We want to provide a great customer service experience and we want our
associates to know how much we value them. And the changes that we're
making include structural changes in the stores: wage increases, training
programs.
我们想提供优秀的客户服务体验，而且我们想让我们的员工知道我们有多么重视他
们。我们正在进行的改变包括一些结构性的变化：提高工资，训练项目。
A. And this company as you probably know has always been a people business.
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It's a people business today and it will be tomorrow. So our associates, their
pride in the company, the ownership that they take: Those things are vital to
running a good retail business. And today we’re investing in them and want
them to know how important they are.
这家公司一直是一个以人为本的企业。今天如此，明天也如此。所以我们的员工，
他们对公司的自豪感，他们的主人翁意识：这些都对于运营一个零售企业至关重要
。今天我们投资他们的成长，希望他们知道他们有多重要。
B. You've been a target for a long time from critics who argued that you didn't
pay employees enough. You wish you had done this earlier? And if so, why
didn't you?
一直以来，很多评论者都批评沃尔玛的薪酬过低。你有没有想过那么应该早点做这
个决定？如果是的话，为什么先前没有做？
A. So we make wage adjustments all the time. We've just decided this is a really
good moment to be more bold in the changes we're making. And again it's
really aimed at just running a really good business. But annually we go through
wage and benefit reviews and make adjustments. But right now we want to
make sure everybody is crystal clear on how vital our store experience is to our
future.
我们其实一直在做薪酬调整。我们认为现在是一个大胆改进的好机会。我们的目标
是运营一个出色的企业。每年我们都会做薪酬福利审核，然后做相应调整。现在我
们希望每个人清除地知道门店体验对我们的未来是至关重要的。
关键词汇
hike haɪk 陡升
exclusive ɪkˈskluːsɪv 专属
critics ˈkrɪtɪks 批评家
Dow component daw kəmˈponənt 道琼指数
adjustments əˈjəstment 调整
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补充词汇
federal ˈfedrəl 联邦
poverty line ˈpɑvərti lajn 贫困线
reform rɪˈfɔrm 改革
lobby ˈlɑbiː 游说
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Expansion
hike (hike)
Businesses always hike up their prices during the holidays.
经营者总是在假期坐地起价。
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Although the government won’t use the word “tax”, this is definitely a tax hike.
尽管政府不用税收这个词，但是用意肯定是增税。
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00:06
If they hike up the price of tuition any further, I’m afraid I won’t be able to afford aneducation.
如果他们再提高学费的话，我恐怕就上不起学了。
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exclusive (exclusive)
Coming up next: a CNN exclusive interview with the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin.
接下来：CNN独家专访俄罗斯总统普京。
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00:06
I tried to join their club, but they’re too exclusive and wouldn’t take me in.
我试过加入他们的俱乐部，但是他们很严格，没有接纳我入会。
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When building a strong organization you should strive to be inclusive, not exclusive.
建立一个强大的团体时应该尽量包容，不是排外。
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critics (critic)
His last album was praised by both the public and the critics.
他上一张专辑受到大众和乐评人的好评。
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Constructive criticism is valuable: you should learn how to accept it.
有建设性的批评很宝贵：你应该学着接受。
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I can’t believe she criticized her family in public like that.
我不敢相信她在公开场合那样批评她的家庭。
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vital (vital)
Good looks are vital to the movie business.
漂亮的外表对演艺圈非常重要。
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Water is a vital part of all life on Earth.
水对地球上所有生命都很重要。
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It’s vital that you do this exactly as I told you.
你一定要严格按照我说的做。
Grammar
Using the word “people” in front of nouns
Even though “people” is a noun, we still like to put it in front of some words to help them describe a direct relation to other people.
If you are a people-person, not only do you often deal with people, but you deal with people very well. Similarly, something people friendly will be good for people. As such, it is almost never used as a negative description.
尽管“people”是个名词，我们还是喜欢把它放在某些词前面来帮助形容和人的紧密关系。如果你是一个people-person你不只老与人打交道，你还能做得很好。相似的，一些people-friendly的东西对人很好。像这样的用法一般不是负面的。
Sample sentences:
Retail is a people-business: you need to be friendly and relatable.
零售业是个人力企业：你要友善还要会拉关系。
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I think you’ll like him: He’s a real people-person.
我觉得你会喜欢他的：他真的是个与人为善的人。
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He might not have strong technical skills. His people skills are exceptional.
他的技术能力也许不过硬。但是他的人际能力非常出色。
Exercises
Culture
Walmart has long been under attacks for paying its staff low wages. Its recent decision to raise the minimum wage was seen as a combination of pressure from activists and the company’s attempt to improve its labor condition, quality of service and its public image. Minimum wage in the United States is a highly contentious issue. While labor rights groups argue for a higher minimum wage, many business groups lobby politicians to keep it down. The current federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. But states also have the right to set its own minimum wage.
沃尔玛一直以来都因给员工薪水很低而为人诟病。而近期的提高最低工资水平的举动可能是活动家的压力和公司提高劳动力条件、服务质量和社会形象的共同作用催生的。最低工资在美国一直是一个富有争议的话题。劳工权利团体要求更高的最低工资时，很多企业会游说议员来抵制。目前美国联邦最低工资是每小时7.25美元。但是各个州都有权设立自己的最低工资。
Practice