节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2013-07-25
难易度:High
关键字:diminish, ultimately, generate, human resources, hidden cost
We are continuing the second day of our article: New Employees?
Ben and his Uncle Bob are talking about some of the hidden costs that might come
along with hiring new employees for Ben's business.
So far we've talked about how Ben thinks it will make his job much easier if he
hires employees.
But while his own responsibilities diminish,
he's going to be taking on new responsibilities to manage these employees
because we want to have good controlled and balanced growth.
Well, we have a lot more to learn from Ben and his Uncle Bob in the next reading
for today.
(Music).
New Employees?
How do I do that?
For starters, you need to realize that growth can make some things easier, but
it also generates problems in other areas.
I see.
You mean hiring employees might make production easier, but it might make things
like accounting and human resources harder.
Maybe I should put some more thought into this.
That's a good idea.
But I'm not saying you can't do it.
And hiring employees is a good thing...
Because it means the company is growing?
Exactly!
Let's go celebrate your growing company with some coffee.
You're on!
(Music).
OK. Well, we're on right now.
It's time for us to look at this conversation in more detail.
So before our break, Uncle Bob was talking about growth and how it should be
done in a balanced and controlled way.
Ben, it's your line.
Yes. Ben is very curious.
How do I do that?
Good question.
For starters, you need to realize that growth can make some things easier, but
it also generates problems in other areas.
Great, Uncle Bob.
Thank you.
That is a wonderful word that you just used from our Word Bank: generate.
To generate something means to create it, to start it.
And you might think of this word when you hear about electricity.
You need to generate power so that you can turn on the lights.
That's true.
Or another thing I think of is income.
You need to generate some income.
That means you're making some money from somewhere or somehow.
Or sometimes you like to get together with your friends and generate some good
ideas for a project that you are doing.
So these are different ways you can use that word.
That's right.
So you can generate problems, generate electricity, generate ideas or maybe even
general happiness.
What creates happiness in your life?
Well, right now I think that Liz has something she wants to tell us about this
sentence in the Grammar Gym.
Hello, friends.
Thanks for joining me here at the Grammar Gym.
My name is Liz.
In our article today we see this statement:
For starters, you need to realize that growth can make some things easier...
Our Grammar Tip focus is at the beginning of the sentence: for starters.
It just means "first of all." We use this expression whenever we want to begin
explaining something to someone.
In the case of today's sentence, Uncle Bob is telling Ben he needs to first
realize that growth can make some things easier but also create problems in
other areas.
OK. Let's take a look at some other examples.
Traveling overseas takes a lot of preparation; for starters you need to save up
some money.
Or: There are things you need to do before you go for a job interview; for
starters, make sure your resume is up to date.
If you'd like to see some more example sentences, then please take a look at
today's Grammar Tip section for more examples.
And that's it for today.
This is Liz from the Grammar Gym.
See you next time.
Thank you, Liz.
Well, we just looked at a sentence that talks about growth and how it could
generate problems in other areas.
Actually, this makes me think of a phrase that we use when we talk about
growing.
Sometimes there are growing pains.
And we talk about this when we're talking about a human who is growing up.
A child might have growing pains.
But of course in a company, if there is growth, there are some things you need
to adapt to or adjust to.
These are called growing pains.
That's right.
Well, I think that Ben... I have the next line.
I see.
You mean hiring employees might make production easier, but it might make things
like accounting and human resources harder.
Great. Let me interrupt you.
That was very nice, very nice.
Let's talk about those words from our Word Bank.
Here Ben is talking about human resources.
And this basically just means the workforce or people who make up the workforce
at your job - your workers or employees, everyone who is working there.
That's right.
So these are the resources that are provided by your employees, your human
resources.
Well, maybe I should put some more thought into this.
Excellent, excellent!
I would like to put some thought into that sentence right there, Carolyn,
because we have a good phrase here:
to put some thought into something.
All right.
This just means that you are going to spend time thinking about something.
But you can use this phrase in other ways, right, Carolyn?
That's right.
Maybe you're thinking about retirement after you are finished working.
You should have put some thought into your retirement plan so that you know what
you're going to do once you finish your job.
All right.
That's a great point.
You could also put some thought into where you will go to study at... for
university.
Or you can put some thought into the relationship that you're in.
Or hey, someone is... is having a birthday soon, and you want to buy a gift.
You can put some thought into a good gift for your friend.
That's right.
So there are many things that you can put thought into.
Try using that phrase today as well.
Uh, Uncle Bob, I think that you have the next line.
That's a good idea, Carolyn.
Uncle Bob says:
That's a good idea.
But I'm not saying you can't do it.
And hiring employees is a good thing.
Because it means the company is growing?
Exactly! Let's go celebrate your growing company with some coffee.
You're on!
I thought so.
Yes!
Excellent.
You know, I love... I love the conversations with Ben and Uncle Bob because they
almost always end by going to get some coffee.
This does seem to be a trend, something that happens over and over.
But in this last part of the conversation, it is true, Ben's company is growing.
So his need, or his... just thinking about hiring new employees is probably a
good thing so long as he thinks about all of the added costs that go with it.
Exactly.
Well, Ben says something here at the very end.
Of course Uncle Bob suggests that they go get coffee.
Ben says, "You're on." This just means I agree with you; let's do it.
You can use this phrase in other ways, too.
For example, I might say let's... let's race somewhere. OK?
Carolyn, let's race to... where should we race to?
Let's race to the basketball court.
You're on!
Excellent!
And then we start...
Hold on.
Start running, yes?
OK... great.
Well, OK, later.
So "you're on." It just means that you agree, you want to do whatever the other
person suggests.
Maybe you want to go out for coffee or you want to go out for dinner and a
movie.
Hey, would you like to go out Friday night?
We can go watch this great movie.
You're on! Let's go.
You're on.
Well, Carolyn, I have another racing idea.
Let's... let's race to the Language Lab.
You're on.
I'm on. You're on. We're on.
Let's do it.
OK.
(Chinese).
And now back to our lesson.
Well, we've enjoyed a great conversation here today between Ben and his Uncle
Bob about whether or not Ben should hire new employees or full-time employees to
work for him.
I don't know what you think.
Maybe there are some advantages or disadvantages to hiring full-time staff.
What do you think about this, Carolyn?
Well, I think that it can be a good thing.
It does mean that his business is growing.
But if you hire new employees, then there are many other things you need to
consider like insurance and vacation leave and overtime pay,
and maybe even writing up a formal contract for your employees.
Those are definitely some things to consider.
Well, these are things that Ben might also need to consider for his company.
Right now it's time for us to say goodbye.
But of course, we will see you next time right here on Studio Classroom.
See you then.