In this conversation， Oscar Davidson， the owner of a chain of retail¹ clothing stores， is talking to Kathleen Harbrough， his financial manager， about a big deal one of his competitors has just concluded.

　　Kathleen： Have you heard the news， Oscar？ The InFashion merger² with Artingdales has just been approved.

　　Oscar： Yeah， I heard. They've just leap-frogged ahead of us by a good margin³. Our 265 shops nationwide pales in comparison to their 710. On top of that，they now have a top manufacturer as part of their operation.

　　Kathleen： For sure. Most analysts⁴ think that Debusy Manufacturing was the crown jewel of Artingdales.

　　Oscar： This really gives InFashion a huge competitive advantage over us. Do you have any news on potential acquisitions we might go after？

　　Kathleen： Actually， I do. You may be a little surprised at this one. I've been checking up on Clarisa Exclusives.

　　Oscar： Clarisa！ They've never shown any interest whatsoever⁵ in a merger， and they would probably never agree to an acquisition.

　　Kathleen： I know， but the time might be right for a takeover.It's not a well-known fact， but their finances are in poor shape. Actually， they could turn out to be a Sleeping Beauty. I think their assets are highly undervalued in the industry.

　　Oscar： Wow， that would surely put us back in the thick of things. OK， Kathleen， give me a report on the finances involved as soon as you can. Let's go after them！

　　参考译文：

　　在以下这段对话中，Oscar Davidson是一家服装零售连锁店的老板，而Kathleen Harbrough是他的财务主管。他俩正谈论一个竞争对手刚完成的一笔大买卖。

　　Kathleen： 嘿，Oscar， 你听说了吗？InFashion和Artingdales已经成功合并了。

　　Oscar： 我听说啦。他们已经大步向前，把我们远远甩在后面了。你看，全国范围内，我们只有265家店，而他们却有710家。另外，现在还有一个顶尖的制造商加入了他们的行列

　　Kathleen： 的确如此。大多数分析家都认为Debusy制造公司是Arlingdales最具实力的拳头部门。

　　Oscar： 这无疑给Infashion增加了不少竞争砝码，而我们已处于劣势了。对了，对于我们下一步的收购计划你有什么目标吗？

　　Kathleen： 当然。或许你会有些意外，但我现在确实在关注Clarisa专卖店。

　　Oscar： Clarisa！他们对合并可从来没有过什么兴趣，我想他们更不会同意被收购。

　　Kathleen：我知道，但此一时，彼一时，现在也许正是收购的最佳时机。他们的财务状况可以说是一团糟，但这个事实却鲜为人知。可以说Clarisa现在还是一个"睡美人".据我所知，他们的资产被业界大大低估了。

　　Oscar ：好啊，那肯定会使我们脱离困境的。这样吧Kathleen，你尽快给我一份涉及相关财务状况的报告，是 我们大显身手的时候了