英语听力：问题跟进与解决技巧全解析

So we've looked at what we can do when we need to follow up on a problem that we have, like someone not paying their bill. Let's now look at it from the view of a person who is trying to resolve a problem and following up on that problem. Do you remember that Tray McCavvers is organising a product launch party? Well, everything seems to be on track when a few days before the party, he receives this voice message. Listen to this message, what problem does Tray have now? This is Joe Fingers from Sam and Slide Blues and we were like, we're going to play at your party this weekend. Listen man, our drummer is really sick and we don't have a replacement. Listen, I'm sorry, but we have to cancel. I'm really sorry about this. Thanks. Bye. Well, that's definitely not good news. Tray immediately gives Emily Hamilton, who is organising the rest of the event a call. Distance of their conversation and answer the following questions. How does Tray feel? Does Emily resolve the problem? What is Emily going to do next? This is Emily. Hi Emily, this is Tray here. Hi Tray, what can I do for you? Listen, I've got a major problem. You know that band that I arranged for the party? Oh yeah, Sam and something, right? Sam and Slide Blues. Well, I just got a call from them and they've cancelled. Oh no, that's terrible. No kidding? I don't know what to do. We got to have music. This is going to be an absolute disaster. I should have let you take care of it. Okay Tray, calm down, stop panicking. Now let me think about what we can do. This is really short notice so I don't know if we will be able to get a replacement. How about a DJ? No DJ, I really need a band. Preferably fun, but not too poppy. We're not teenagers you know. Okay, let me ask around. Speak to a few people and I'll see what I can come up with, but I'm not promising anything. I'll call you back later today. Is that okay? Okay, thanks a lot then. We'll speak to you soon. Here are the answers to the questions. Tray is definitely not happy. He's very worried because there are only a few days before the party. Emily doesn't resolve the problem. Her suggestion about the DJ won't work and it's short notice to find a replacement band. However, Emily will speak to some people she knows and call Tray back later today. Let's hope she finds someone. We're going to talk briefly about a phrase Emily used in that conversation that is useful when you can't resolve a problem at that time. Listen again. Okay, let me ask around. Speak to a few people and I'll see what I can come up with. We can use Let Me with and I'll to make a suggestion to the other person to give you time to find a solution to the problem and then contact the other person later. Here are some examples. Let me speak to my supervisor and I'll call you right back. Let me check our records and I'll call you when I have some more information. Let me do some more research and I'll see what we can do. Now let's practice some of this language. You'll see two verb phrases. You have five seconds to say the complete sentence using Let Me and I. Then listen to check if you were right. Are you ready? Let me speak to my colleague and I'll call you as soon as I can. Let me check your account and I'll call you back. Let me see if I can find the file and I'll send it directly to you. Let me see if I can find a replacement and I'll fix it right away. Good. Let's see what happens next. Later that day Emily called Tre but he didn't answer. Listen to Emily's voicemail message. Does she have a solution to the problem? Hi Tre, this is Emily calling you back about the band problem. Well good news. I've spoken to a friend of mine and he knows this band that does music in the 90s. Apparently they're really good. So anyway, I've managed to contact someone from the band called Mark in finite a few details. Luckily they are available the night of your party and would be willing to play. They are probably a little bit more expensive than you plan but I've managed to persuade them to do it for $1,500. I've asked them to contact you directly so you should hear from Mark later tonight. You want to check them out. They're called 24 hour party people and they have their own website. Anyway, I'll call you tomorrow to see if it worked out. Thanks. Bye. Well, it looks like Tre's in luck. Emily has found a band and they are available. All right, there are a couple of phrases that are useful when you are following up on a problem. First of all, Emily told Tre about what she'd done. It's very common to use present perfect phrases with I've. Listen again. I've spoken to a friend of mine. I've managed to contact someone from the band called Mark. I've managed to persuade them to do it for $1,500. Here, managed to means that you have been successful. Notice that when you use I've, the verb is in the present participle form and with I've managed to, it is in its original or base form. With most verbs, the past participle is formed by adding ED like contact, contacted. However, there are common irregular verbs that have different forms, for example, speak, spoken, find, found, take, taken, send, sent. So let's practice some of this language. You will see a verb phrase. You have five seconds to say the complete sentence using both I've and I've managed to. Then listen to check if you were right. Are you ready? I've fixed the problem. I've managed to fix the problem. I've hired more waiters. I've managed to hire more waiters. I've ordered more coffee. I've managed to order more coffee. I've found a replacement. I've managed to find a replacement. When you think you have resolved a problem, you can also tell the person what to expect next. You can use should. Listen to what Emily said. You should hear from Mark later tonight. You should receive the replacement by tomorrow. A technician should contact you later this morning. Sometimes we can say you should expect, for example, you should expect a refund by next week. You should expect is only used for something that will happen in the future. And there is usually a time phrase like later tomorrow by the end of the week. However, we can use should for something that we think is already true. Often we use the word now. For example, it should be working normally now. Now, again, let's practice some of this language. You will see a verb phrase and a future time phrase. You have three seconds to say a complete sentence using should and the time phrase. Then listen to check if you were right. Are you ready? You should hear from my colleague soon. You should receive a new one tomorrow. You should have more coffee available by 9 o'clock. Now, you will see some subjects and verb phrases. Make a sentence to describe what you expect to be true now. You should and add now at the end of the sentence. Again, you have three seconds to say the complete sentence. Listen to see if you were right. Are you ready? You should be able to access your account now. The computer should be fixed now. The car should be working normally now. Okay, one final thing to talk about. If you think the problem will soon be resolved, it's a good idea to promise to check back to confirm that it has. Emily used the phrase, I'll call you tomorrow to see if it worked out. We can use expressions with I'll and to, with a verb like check, or make sure, to promise to follow up and confirm that the problem has been resolved. Here are some more examples. I'll call you tomorrow to check everything is okay. I'll contact you later this week to make sure there are no more problems. I'll drop by tomorrow to see if there is anything else you need. Let's do one more short practice using this language. You'll see two verb phrases. You have five seconds to say the complete sentence using I'll to. Then listen to check if you were right. Are you ready? I'll call you later to confirm that it has arrived. I'll contact you next week to make sure it is working properly. I'll drop by this afternoon to check everything is set up. So to review, if you cannot resolve the problem immediately, you can tell the person what you're going to do and then let them know when you will next contact them. Then when you do contact them next, you can tell the person what you have managed to do, then what to expect. And finally, if appropriate, you can promise to contact them once more to make sure everything is okay.