Vernon: Okay guys， is everyone settled? Good. ①Wendy， why don’t you get the ball rolling?

Wendy: Thanks， Vern. As you all know， Delcom has decided to throw a lot of 1)green into internet marketing. We’re here today to 2)brainstorm ways to increase internet traffic to their various sites and hopefully expand their target base. So everyone put their thinking caps on and let’s get to it. Ideas?

Fran: Why don’t we take a look at SEO?

Vernon: SEO?

Wendy: Search engine optimization.

Fran: Right.

弗農(nóng)：好了，大家伙，是不是每個人都準(zhǔn)備好了？好的。溫迪，何不從你開始呢？溫迪：謝謝，弗恩。正如你們都知道的，Delcom公司已經(jīng)決定在網(wǎng)絡(luò)營銷上投入大量資金。我們今天在這里來集體討論為他們的網(wǎng)站增加數(shù)據(jù)流量的方法，希望藉此來擴(kuò)展他們的目標(biāo)市場。那么大家都好好想一想，然后我們就開始著手準(zhǔn)備。有什么想法嗎？

弗蘭：我們?yōu)楹尾豢紤]看看SEO？

弗農(nóng)：SEO？

溫迪：搜索引擎優(yōu)化。

弗蘭：沒錯。

Vernon: I’m not quite with you.

Wendy: Go ahead， Fran. ②Give him the basics.

Fran: Basically the concept revolves around figuring out how search engines work， what people search for， which search engines are the most popular， and what terms or keywords are used most often. Then we put two and two together and try to optimize a company’s website to meet those criteria.

Vernon: I’m still not clear on how this benefits anyone.

Fran: Ah， sorry. The point is this: the higher and more frequently a website shows up in the search results， the more traffic that site will get from search engine users.

Vernon: This sounds like it has a lot of promise.

Wendy: ③The only problem is that it hasn’t got a snowball’s chance in hell in the American market.

Vernon: What? Why?

Fran: Wendy’s got a point. What with Google having something 3)akin to a 4)monopoly over there， ④this kind of marketing is just walking the green mile.

Vernon: How so?

Wendy: Google personalises search results now.

Vernon: Ah. And there’s no point discussing how a site is ranked if the ranking is potentially different for every user. Wendy: Bingo.

Vernon: ⑤So SEO is essentially pushing up the daisies? Fran: In the US market， yes. But Google hasn’t cornered the market in China yet， and I believe we could still utilize SEO to our advantage.

Vernon: Wendy， you’re the expert here. Do you want to add your two cents?

Wendy: I think Fran may have something. ⑥But let’s take this nice and easy so that this doesn’t turn into a poisoned 5)chalice.

Fran: I’ll get a team to look into whether it’s even a 6)viable option.

Wendy: Perfect. Alright， next on the agenda…

弗農(nóng)：我不太明白你的意思。

溫迪：繼續(xù)說說看，弗蘭，給他“科普”一下。

弗農(nóng)：總的來說，這個概念圍繞搜索引擎如何工作，人們上網(wǎng)搜索什么，哪種搜索引擎最受歡迎，以及什么樣的短語或者關(guān)鍵詞最常用為主要內(nèi)容。然后我們據(jù)此推理，努力優(yōu)化一家公司的網(wǎng)站，就能達(dá)到（Delcom公司的）那些標(biāo)準(zhǔn)了。

弗農(nóng)：我仍然不是很清楚這如何從中獲利。

弗蘭：啊，對不起。問題的關(guān)鍵是這個：一家網(wǎng)站在搜索結(jié)果里出現(xiàn)得（排位）越高、（次數(shù)）越頻繁，這家網(wǎng)站從搜索引擎用戶那里得到的流量就越多。

弗農(nóng)：這聽起來似乎很有前景。

溫迪：唯一的問題是這在美國市場根本不可能發(fā)生。

弗農(nóng)：什么？為何呢？

弗蘭：溫迪說的有道理。因?yàn)楣雀柙冢绹┠抢镉行╊愃茐艛嘀?，所以這種營銷手法只會是死路一條。

弗農(nóng)：怎么會呢？

溫迪：谷歌現(xiàn)在將搜索結(jié)果個性化了。

弗農(nóng)：哈。那么就沒有意義去討論一個網(wǎng)站的排名怎樣了，如果排名對每位用戶來說都可能不同的話。

溫迪：對極了！

弗農(nóng)：那么SEO根本就是行不通的？

弗蘭：對美國市場來說，是這樣。但是谷歌還沒有壟斷中國市場，因此我相信我們還是可以利用SEO來達(dá)到我們的目標(biāo)。

弗農(nóng)：溫迪，你是這里的專家。你想說說你的意見嗎？

溫迪：我認(rèn)為弗蘭說的有些道理。但是讓我們慢慢來，這樣它才不會變成圣杯里盛著的毒酒。

弗蘭：我會讓一個組去調(diào)查一下這是否是一個可行的選擇。

溫迪：很好！好吧，接下來討論一下議程……

Smart Sentences

① Wendy， why don’t you get the ball rolling?溫迪，何不從你開始呢？

get / set the ball rolling: get a process started， begin sth.（開始某項(xiàng)活動）。例如：

We’ve been trying to get the ball rolling on the construction of a new playground.

我們一直努力想啟動新操場的施工。

② Give him the basics. 給他“科普”一下。

give sb. the basics: give sb. the basic training（讓某人學(xué)點(diǎn)初級知識）。例如：

As part of the training， Leslie will give you the basics on how papers are made.

作為培訓(xùn)的部分內(nèi)容之一，萊斯利會把制紙的基礎(chǔ)知識告訴你們。

③ The only problem is that it hasn’t got a snowball’s chance in hell in the American market. 唯一的問題是這在美國市場根本不可能發(fā)生。

not get a snowball’s chance in hell: sth. impossible， sth. that will never happen， always used negatively（不可能的事，常以否定形式出現(xiàn)）。例如：

With those sales figures， she hasn’t a snowball’s chance in hell of getting a bonus.

她的那些銷售數(shù)字根本不可能讓她得到獎金。

④ This kind of marketing is just walking the green mile. 這種營銷手法只會是死路一條。

walk the green mile: head towards the inevitable（走向滅亡）。例如：

Few people would agree that radio is walking the green mile.

很少人會認(rèn)為收音機(jī)正在消亡。

⑤ So SEO is essentially pushing up the daisies? 那么SEO根本就是行不通的？

push up (the) daisies: dead and buried（葬在地下）。例如：

I believe that letter writing is pushing up the daisies， as people are using telephone， email， social media， etc.

我覺得寫信已經(jīng)成為歷史，因?yàn)榇蠹叶荚谟秒娫?、電子郵件和社交網(wǎng)絡(luò)等等。

⑥ But let’s take this nice and easy so that this doesn’t turn into a poisoned chalice. 但是讓我們慢慢來，這樣它才不會變成圣杯里盛著的毒酒。

poisoned chalice: an apparently very attractive opportunity， but one that will lead to failure（金杯毒酒，看似誘人實(shí)為有害的事物）。例如：

The new blog turned out to be a poisoned chalice—the more you explain， the more people believe you are guilty.新的博客結(jié)果成了害人的東西——你越解釋，人們就越覺得你做錯了。