李晨英语教学网

大家好，李晨回来了！

从伦敦到慕尼黑，再到北京，11个多小时的飞机旅程十分枯燥，若没有人说说话的确是个让人烦恼的问题。李晨今天就谈一谈如何与老外（在飞机上）攀谈。

Topic: Breaking the Ice

1. Introduction

Break the ice - if you break the ice in a new situation, you say or do something to make people feel relaxed and comfortable;

Ice-breaker - an ice-breaker is something that someone says or does in order to make it easier for people who have never met before to talk to each other.

In our everyday lives, it is often necessary for us to break the ice, particularly when we are at a party or meeting, or in a new situation. To do this, we need to master certain ice-breakers. This evening, we are going to study a dialogue between two business persons, Jenny and Bill, who happened to sit together on an aeroplane. Jenny, as an experienced sales representative, started a conversation with Bill as soon as she noticed that Bill was reading an electronic magazine, establishing a potential business relationship while on the go.

2. Words and expressions

Based in - literally, it means "where the basis/base is placed", but in this dialogue it actually means "where the headquarters of a company is located in". For example, there are HSBC braches in Beijing, but they are still "based in London", which means they are headquartered in London. Another usage is to use "…-based" as a compound adjective, e.g. The materials of this product were imported from a Vietnam-based firm.

Look forward to - if you look forward to something that is going to happen, you want it to happen because you think you will enjoy it. Note that "look forward to" must be followed by "V.+ing", e.g. I am really looking forward to taking the trip to Barbados.

On the market - if something is on the market, it is available for people to buy, e.g. Their new computer should be on the market sometime  early next year.

Come out (with) - when a new product such as a book or record comes out, it becomes available to the public, e.g. We’re going to come out with a new toothpaste that will make everyone have beautiful white teeth.

Turn out - if something turns out a particular way, it happens in that way or has the result or degree of success indicated, e.g. ABCTV’s new talk show series turned out (to be) a failure.

Best seller - a best seller is usually a book of which a great number of copies has been sold, in this dialogue, it is referred to as the "best-selling (product)".

3. Useful sentence patterns

3.1 Ice-breakers

· Excuse me, I …

· Pardon me, but …

· I don’t mean to bother/interrupt you, but …

3.2 Expressing expectations

· I’ve been waiting to …

· I’m really looking forward to …

· It should be very exciting to …

3.3 Asking for personal information

· Do you mind if I ask …

· I hope you don’t mind if I ask …

· If it’s not too forward of me, may I ask …

4. Dialogue

(Jenny Wang = J; Bill Millington = B)

J: Excuse me, I noticed you’re reading an electronics magazine. Do you know there’s a big electronics exhibition in Manchester starting tomorrow?

B: Of course! That’s the reason I’m going to Manchester. Hi! My name’s Bill Millington. What’s your name?

J: Jenny Wang. I’m a sales representative for Action Appliance Inc., based in Hong Kong. Are you looking forward to the exhibition?

B: Yup, I’ve been waiting to go to this show for more than three months. Companies from forty different countries will be there so I heard. 

J: I know. I’m really looking forward to seeing what new products will be on the market next year.

B: I’m more interested in the new discoveries which are being made in the electronics industry.

J: Really? Do you mind if I ask what part of the electronics industry you’re in?

B: Not at all. I work in the R&D department of a company based in Los-Angeles. We specialise in designing printers.

J: What’s the name of your company? Maybe I’ve heard of it.

B: I don’t think so. We’re just a little company called "Envision".

J: Hmm. Oh, didn’t you come out with an amazingly small but strong high-tech printer at the exhibition last year in London?

B: Yeah, that turned out to be our best seller of the year, but everyone forgets our name.

J: One of my jobs is to look for the products that will be the most successful, and then find out why. So I don’t just remember the big companies.

B: I like the way you think, Jenny. Would you like to get together for dinner when we arrive in Manchester, so we can talk more about this?

J. Sure, I’d love to.

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