In the next dialogue Erik has some good news for Maria.
E: Hello? Maria? It’s Erik here. M: Hi Erik. Nice to hear from you. It sounds like you’re having a party! Can you speak up a bit? 5 E: I’m calling from the restaurant. It’s very noisy in here – I’ll just go outside. (…) Can you hear me now? M: Yes, that’s fine now. E: Good. I was just calling to tell you the news about the contract. We got it! We got the contract! M: Fantastic! That’s wonderful! 10 E: They’re going to pay two hundred and fifteen thousand. M: Did you say two hundred and fifty – five, zero? E: In your dreams! No, two hundred and fifteen – one, five. It still gives us a very good margin. 15 M: And did they agree to the time schedule we proposed? E: Well, I had to move a little on that in the discussions. M: What exactly do you mean by ‘move a little? E: I said that we could start work in early March and finish the installation by the middle of April. 20 M: Now, wait a minute. Let me just check that I understand. Are you saying that we have just six weeks to do the whole job? E: That’s right. M: I see. That’s going to be difficult, you know. E: Well, there is a way we can do it. Look, my battery is very low. I think we’re going to get cut off. I’ll give you a call tomorrow. M: OK. Great news anyway. Thanks for calling. Bye. · Notice at line 12 how Maria checks the figure by saying the individual numbers (it is very easy to get confused by thirteen/thirty, fourteen/forty, etc). · Notice at line 17 how Maria clarifies a very specific point. · Notice at line 20 how Maria checks by rephrasing the idea in different way.
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