Smith was the manager of a construction',event)">construction company and was taking bids on a new project. The first bidder¹ was a Polish company, and their representative offered to do the job for $ 400,000.

"That seems reasonable," said Smith. "Can you give me a breakdown² on that?"

史密斯是一家建设公司的经理，他正负责一个新工程的招标案。第一位投标的是一家波兰公司，他们的代表出价四十万元接那个案子。“似乎很合理，”史密斯说。“你可不可以给我一张明细表呢？”

"Sure," said the Pole, " $200, 000 for labor³ and $ 200,000 for materials. "

“当然没问题，”波兰公司代表说道，“廿万元工资，廿万元材科费。”

Next to make a bid was the Standard American Construction',event)">Construction Company, which bid $ 800,000.

下一个出标的是美国标准建设公司，他们以八十万元竞标。

"Hmm, that seems a bit high," said Smith. "What's the breakdown?"

“嗯，这个价钱似乎有些偏高，”史密斯说道。“你们有明细表吗?’

" $ 400,000 0n materials, $ 400,000 0n labor. "

“四十万元材料，四十万元工资。”

"I'll get back to you. "

“我以后再同你联系。”

Finally the representative of Cohen, Goldstein and Leibowitz entered Smith's office.

最后可翰·高斯坦·雷伯威兹公司的代表走进史密斯办公室。“一百廿万元是我们竞标的价码，”代表说道。

" $ 1,200,000 is our bid," said the agent."$11 200, 0001 That' s way out of line," exclaimed Smith. "Can you give me a brea kdown on that?"

“一百廿万元这个标高得太过分了，”史密斯叫道：“你可以给我一张明细表吗?"

"No problem," replied the rep. " $400, 000 for me,$ 400 , 000 for you and $ 400 . 000 for the Polacks.

“没有问题，”代表回答道。“四十万元给我，四十万元给你，最后四十万元则给那家波兰佬开的公司。”