【正确答案】A: You know our departmental costs have risen a lot recently.
B: Yes, we are exceeding our budget.
A: What do you think are the reasons?
B: I think there are many reasons for this. You know last month we ran a series of promotion campaigns. That's a lot of money, isn't it?
A: Yes, but we spent too much on that. I mean we could have spent less.
B: Um.
A: You know we have been traveling a lot around the country. And most of us travel by air.
B: You mean some of the travels are not necessary.
A: Exactly. You know, some of the face-to-face talks may simply be replaced by e-mail communication.
B: There's a lot in what you've said. I think we should make full use of our modern facilities and save some expensive travels.
A: Not only that. Modern facilities, like computers, should be made full use of within the company, too. I mean a lot of money could have been saved, if we had done that.
B: What do you mean?
A: You see, each month we spend a good lot of money on office supplies like print paper.
B: Yes, some of the managers always ask for printouts instead of retrieving information from the computer system.
A. Especially those senior managers, who are usually older than others. They are simply not accustomed to the advanced computer system.
B: And young people are also responsible for the increase in costs, too. You know many of them often keep their computers on for the whole night.
A: And very often they forget to turn off the lights when they leave their offices.
B: So, something must be done before things get any worse.
A: Right. We should offer some incentives to those who save costs in their work.
B: Like what?
A: Like a quarterly award for them.
B: And personally I see an absolute need for a training course for our staff members.
A: On computers?
B: Yeah. So that they can make better use of them. And in this way, I believe we'll be able to bring down our costs.
Follow-on questions
·Yes, I think so. Because running promotion campaigns costs a lot of money.
·No, I don't think so. Some of the face-to-face talks may simply be replaced by e-mail communication.
·Maybe. Perhaps it will make other employees think about their own behaviors and realize that they waste too much, then they will save costs.
·Yes, it will. Each month we spend a good lot of money on office supplies like print paper. Some of the managers always ask for printouts instead of retrieving information from the computer system. It will save us a lot of money if they make full use of modern facilities.
·Yes. Because it will improve the efficiency of the staff.