一个大公司的主管人员正在参加一个商业研讨会。在会间休息时，他们一起讨论在不同地区实施项目的优势和劣势。

Dale: I really envy your milestones¹ over the last few years, Don. In your presentation, I noticed the great results you've obtained in region D. We've had some trouble there.
我真的很羡慕你在过去几年中所建立的丰功伟绩。在你的发言中，我注意到你在D区取得了巨大的成绩。我们在那里遇到了一些麻烦。

Don: How so?
怎么会这样？

Dale: We've had problems on delivery dates for materials. Often, they're not on time. Looks like we'll have to change suppliers.
我们在原材料的交货时间上有一些麻烦。他们经常不准时交货。看来我们得换个供应商了。

Marshall: In my region, delivery is not a problem, but we're often behind schedule. If we hadn't extended the drop-dead date on a couple of projects, the situation would be even worse.
在我管辖的区域，交货不是问题，但是我们常常延期工期。如果我们不是延长了一些项目的交付期限，情况会更糟。

Don: What's going wrong?
那是什么出了问题？

Marshall: We think it's an employee problem. We can't seem to get a good completion status from them, so that makes it difficult to track a project. We're going to start some job training in this area soon, so that should improve matters.
我想是员工的问题。无法从他们那里得到项目完工情况，因此想要监控整个工程很难。我们将在那个区域开展一些培训工作，这样会使情况有所改善。

Don: I hope you're right. Looks like the seminar's set to continue, and I'm presenting soon, so I'll catch you gentlemen later.
希望如此。好像研讨会要开始了，我马上要发言了，一会再和你们聊。

来源：洋话连篇