2015年ESL之商务英语 26 Reading Contracts Carefully

（单词翻译）

ESL Podcast 1168 – Reading Contracts Carefully 

Barbara: Just sign on the dotted line and be done with it. 

Sean: Didn’t your parents ever teach you to read every document carefully before you sign it? 

Barbara: Not when the contract is boilerplate. All of the terms are standard. 

Sean: No, they’re not. Did you notice in the fine print that if the agreement is cancelled, we’re on the hook for additional charges? 

Barbara: Really? No, I guess I missed that. 

Sean: If you had gone through this document with a fine-tooth comb as I have, you would have noticed that there are loopholes for the other side to end the contract at any time. 

Barbara: I guess I overlooked those. 

Sean: And there are contingencies² for problems on their end, but not on ours. 

Barbara: Wow, I didn’t realize they were trying to screw us. Maybe we shouldn’t do business with them. 

Sean: Relax. This is par¹ for the course with this kind of contract. They try to sneak³ in all kinds of things and it’s our job to find them. We just have to be vigilant⁴, that’s all. 

Barbara: Do you think this is going to take much longer? They’re waiting in the other room to finalize⁵ the agreement. 

Sean: It’ll take as long as it takes. What do you think that cot is for? 

Script by Dr. Lucy Tse