Michael是纽约大学的美国学生，他同时也在一家建筑公司实习。他的中国同学李华今天要去他的公司看他。Michael听得懂中文，但是说还有点困难。Michael和李华在今天的对话里会用两个常用语，一个是：big gun; 另一个是to quarterback。Michael现在在办公室门口和李华打招呼。

M: Hey, Li Hua, Come on in. How're you doing?

L：我挺好。你怎么样？对了，你下午想干什么？

M: Ah, I've got a meeting with the big guns this afternoon. They want to talk to me about continuing to work here after graduation.

L：我听懂了你后面的一句话，他们要跟你谈关于毕业后回来工作的事。那真是太好了。可是，你刚才说今天下午要跟谁开会？

M: Yea, I 'm meeting with my bosses. Sometimes we call them the big guns of the office.

L：噢，你要跟你的几个老板开会。你们把老板叫做the big guns。

M: It's an expression that can be used to describe powerful people.

L：噢，那是指权力很大的人，也就是大人物。那么，总统的顾问能，称为big guns吗？

M: Yes, a president's advisors¹ are big guns. But it can also be used in sports. In soccer the stars of a team are the big guns.

L：Big guns还能用在体育方面。

M: OK, let me show you around the rest if the office.

L：你要带我去看看这公司的大楼，那太好了。Let's go!

M: This is the conference room. We had a meeting here yesterday on our plan for a new building. The project leader quarterbacked the meeting.

L：等等，你说这是会议室，你们昨天在这里开了一个会，讨论盖一栋新楼的计划。可是，你还说那项目主任是踢美式足球的，是quarterback，四分卫，对不对？

M: No, no, no! Quarterback here is a verb, meaning to lead. The word quarterback is borrowed from American football, where the quarterback leads the team.

L：噢，quarterback在这里是动词，意思是领导。你说这里的quarterback是从美式足球里借来用的，因为quarterback在球队里是主力。你刚才是怎么说的？

M: The project leader quarterbacked the meeting.

L：现在我听清楚了，你刚才说的是：项目领导人主持会议。那么，to quarterback还能用在别处吗？

M: To quarterback is business slang². If someone is responsible for a group working on a new project that individual is quarterbacking the team.

L：知道了，to quarterback 是用在商业方面的。要是某人负责一个新项目，这个人就是在领导这个项目的小组。要是某人在一个法律事务所主持会议，那该怎么说呢？

M: Someone quarterbacked the meeting at the law firm.

L：你们公司的一位重要领导主持会议，讨论公司的收入报告，这又该怎么说？

M: The company's big gun quarterbacked the meeting about their revenue³ report. Hey, I need to get back to work. I'll call you later.

L：好吧，那就再见吧！希望你将来成为a big gun.

M: Oh, yea, I'm sure soon I'll be quarterbacking every meeting and every project.

L：你真的当真呐！还想主持所有会议，总管所有项目。得啦，再见吧！

　　Michael 和李华在对话中用了两个常用语，一个是：the big guns，意思是大人物，对决策有重大影响的人；另一个是：to quarterback，意思是主持会议，或总管项目。

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