Level 6 Unit 3 Part4 Listening Rent or Buy 2
Another reason John is against buying a house is that he doesn’t have confidence in his new company.
It is no longer growing as fast as it used to.
Though the management talks about a bright future, he has doubts.
They say great things to keep everyone motivated, but he doesn’t trust them.
When he does a SWOT analysis of the company, he is even more concerned.
SWOT is an acronym for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.
acronym ：英 [ˈækrənɪm] 美 ['ækrənɪm] n. 首字母缩略词
The company's strength is based on technology that is very competitive.
But technology changes fast, and what’s good now will soon be out of date.
Continuous innovation is necessary.
continuous ：英 [kənˈtɪnjuəs] 美 [kənˈtɪnjuəs] adj. 连续的;延伸的;绵;联绵
innovation ：英 [ˌɪnəˈveɪʃn] 美 [ˌɪnəˈveʃən] n. 改革，创新;新观念;新发明;新设施
In the SWOT acronym, the O stands for opportunities.
The company’s weakness is that it hasn’t developed an alternative to what it has now.
Nobody is working on the next generation.
There are already signs that their technology is nearing the end of its life cycle.
There are still opportunities if the company is willing to hire new people or acquire a company with new technology.
The main threat is that other companies are spending more on research and development.
alternative： 英 [ɔ:lˈtɜ:nətɪv] 美 [ɔ:lˈtɜ:rnətɪv] adj. 替代的;另类的;备选的;其他的 n. 可供选择的事物
So, based on his analysis, the company is okay for the next year or two.
But beyond that, its future is questionable.
As a result, John doesn’t want to buy a house now and take on a huge debt.
Until he has more confidence in his situation, he doesn’t want to take the risk.
If he would to buy a house now, it would mean taking on a huge debt.
His wife thinks he’s too conservative.
他的妻子认为他太保守了。
conservative 英 [kənˈsɜ:vətɪv] 美 [kənˈsɜ:rvətɪv] n. 保守的人;（英国）保守党党员，保守党支持者 adj. 保守的;（英国）保守党的;（式样等）不时新的
She has waited long enough, and she doesn’t want to wait any longer.
So John’s dilemma is how to balance his wife’s happiness against the risk of losing a lot of money.
One thing for sure is that she isn’t happy as things stand now.
有一件事是肯定的，她现在不高兴。
as things stand 按现状看来，在目前的情况下
She’s been waiting for a long time and he loves her.
So the decision seems clear.
John knows exactly what to do.
Maybe some flowers and a celebration?