Business objectives workbook by vicki hollett and michael duckworth

2 Jobs Complete the sentences using the following phrases.. 4 MeasurementsExample BExample 6 Car problems Complete the sentences with the right dimensions from the list below.. Complete

EDITION

Business

Objectives Workbook

INTERNATIONAL EDITION

Business Objectives

Unit 12 Comparing Information 53Unit 13 Business Travel 58

Unit 15 Tackling Problems 68

1 F ir s t m e e t in g s Put this conversation into the correct order.

Morning, Jenny How are you?

Yes, it is Let me introduce you Excuse me, Elaine

May I introduce you to Paul Carroll?

Good morning, Paul

Pleased to meet you, Elaine

Not bad How are you?

Pleasure to meet you, too

Fine Is that Elaine Redford over there?

2 Jobs Complete the sentences using the following phrases.

for Lego in computers a doctor an accountant

a real estate agent in construction a lawyer for Canon

1 I’m I buy and sell houses

2 I’m I work for IBM

3 I’m I work in legal services

4 I w o r k We produce photocopiers, fax machines,and other office equipment

5 I’m I work at the NYU Medical Center in New York

6 I w o r k _ , the Danish toy manufacturer

7 I’m I specialize in corporation taxes

8 I’m I work on building projects in the Middle East

3 Jo b t it le s A Think of three people you work with Write their names and job titles.

Name Job title

Example Nadine Calvo human resources director _

1

3 _

B Describe briefly what one of the people does at work.

Example Nadine Calvo is our human resources director She is responsible fo r all

personnel matters She recruits new s ta ff liaises with health and safety representatives, organizes training courses, and also deals with retirement arrangements.

4

4 Companies

5 Asking questions

1 Meeting People

Now describe your job Say what you do at work.

Match these companies to their main business activities, the countries in which they are based, and the countries’ currencies Use the information below.

South Korea Japan Finland te fy Switzerland Brazil the U.S Denmark

pertoleum products forest products shipbuilding food photographic equipment electronics beverages compute-rs

krone real dollar yen euro won Swiss franc

Company Main business activity Country Currency

MitsuiJacobs Suchard Eastman KodakDaewoo electronics

BraskemRauma-RepolaCarlsberg

Read this conversation between two men at a conference Fill in the blanks with these question words:

who what why when where

Klaus Hello, I’m Klaus Binder.

Peter Oh, hello Peter Green.

Klaus Ah! You’re giving a talk on satellite launches.

Peter That’s right 1 are you from?

Klaus Berlin.

Peter And 2 _do you work for?

Klaus Sky Television.

Peter Ah, yes! You’re giving a talk on transmission systems

Klaus That’s right.

Peter I’d like to hear it 3 _is it?

Klaus After lunch 4 don’t you come along?

Peter I’d like to 5 time does it start?

1 Meeting People

B Ask Peter some questions about Klaus Complete the conversation.

You Who is that m an over there?

Peter His name is Klaus Binder.

Peter He’s the technical director.

Three business people are at a meeting From the information below, work out everyone’s name, nationality, job, and where they are sitting.

The managing director is at the head of the table

The people come from three different countries

They have three different jobs There’s the MD, an accountant, and a lawyer

♦

♦ The accountant comes from Switzerland

♦ The Canadian is on the MD’s right-hand side

♦ Peter comes from Australia

♦ The lawyer’s name is Nathan

♦ Bernadette is opposite the man from Canada

Name Nationality Job

6

travels to work by 3 _ It takes

in the morning and she but she enjoysthe trip She travels with

because 6

and she doesn’t get bored

B What questions can you ask to get the missing information?

1

2

3 4 5

WhereWhat time

H o w _

How long _

W h o _

6 Why

C Here is the missing information Now use it to complete the passage.

over an hour M anhattan three friends

they all play Trivial Pursuit 6:30 train

Match these questions to the correct reply.

A

Example

1 Where do you come from? — a About half an hour.

2 Do you know Ian Fisher? .— b Taiwan.

4 How long does it take? d Cathay Pacific.

5 Who do you work for? e No, I’m from Canada

6 What line of business are you in? f I’m an accountant

7 What nationality are you? g Advertising.

8 How do you get to work? h Sure, I do.

9 Are you American? i By train

10 What do you do? j Not bad How are you?

Match the sentences below to make rules like the one in the example.

M anagers don't make mistakes They test their staff.

1 Managers don’t arrive late a They collect information

2 Managers don’t read the newspaper

b They think with their eyes

shut

3 Managers don’t forget things c They invest in new technology

4 Managers don’t sleep d They are unavoidably delayed.

5 Managers don’t buy new

toys

e If they do, they’re the

m anagers’ ideas

6 Employees don’t have good ideas f Their employees forget to

rem ind them

B Can you make any more rules?

5 COD BOT FOB POD

Match these comments to their replies.

1 Could you spell that, please? a Yes, I said 206-432-9191.

2 Could I speak with Lisa Fenton, please? b That’s OK I’ll hold.

3 Could you take a message? c I’ll call back next week.

4 The line’s busy d This is Lisa.

5 He’s away this week e Yes, of course I’ll get a pen.

6 Could you repeat that? f Yes, it’s M-E-E-R-S.

8

B 1 Number / Extension 473, please.

A I’m afraid the line’s 2 broken / busy Will you hold?

B Yes

A The line’s free now I’l l 3 put / connect you through.

C Paint shop

B I’d like to speak to Sara Isaacs

C 4 W ho’s / Whose calling, please?

B Jacques Duval

C 5 Wait / Hold on, Mr Duval I’ll 6 bring / get her.

C I’m 7 afraid / regret she’s in a meeting Can 1 8 leave / take a message?

B Could you ask her to call me 9 up / back as soon as she can? It’s urgent!

C Yes, 10 I do / o f course 11 Should / Could I have your number, please?

B Sure I’m in Paris The country 12 code / area is 33 then the num ber is 1-46- 58-93-94 Could you 13 say / read that back to me?

C 33-1-46-58-93-94

B That’s right

C 14 Anything / W hat else?

B No, th at’s 15 anything / all Thank you very much.

C You’re 16 welcome / fine.

A Put these phrases into two groups:

Could you .? Can I .? Would you .?

May I ? Can y o u ? Could I ?

asking other people to do things asking if it’s OK to do things

B Use the phrases from Part A in sentences below.

Example What would you say to a customer if you wanted to use their phone?

May I use your phone?

What would you say:

1 to ask a friend to tell you the time?

2 to a colleague if you wanted to smoke in their office?

3 if you wanted a friend to give you a ride to the station?

2 Telephoning

5 Wordcheck

4 if you wanted to borrow your boss’s copy of the production plan?

5 if you wanted to copy a file from a colleague’s computer?

6 if you wanted a colleague to lend you a book?

Complete the puzzle and find the key word in 14 down.

Across

1 I’ll back later (4)

2 The line’s busy Can you ? (4)

3 Could you hold on a _ , and I’ll get a pen (6)

4 My new .will be 303-335-2378 (6)

5 I leave a message? (5)

6 May I have 3285, please? (9)

7 Good afternoon Paul Moran .(8)

8 I’ll ask Mrs Travers to call you as soon as possible I

9 Would you like me to take a .? (7)

10 Could you me through to Sally Nixon, please? (3)

11 Good morning, is Richard Bowers (4)

12 I’m _ , but Mr Laws is away all week (5)

13 The is busy Can I ask her to call you back? (4)

Down

14 One of the keys to successful management (13)

10

Sw eden from June 11-14 3 _

arrange for me to visit th e technical d ep artm en t in Stockholm If possible, I w ould also like to m eet Sven Elmqvist

4 also sen d me a list of anyhotels near th e office th a t you w ould recom m end, and I will m ake a reservation from here

2 give you details of the arrangements for your visit

3 show you around the technical department when you arrive

1 have arranged a visit for Monday June 12 at 11:00 a.m 4 SvenElmqvist will not be here when you come, but his deputy, Anders Karlsbad, will be happy to meet you

5 a list of hotels near the office I recommend the Sheraton,

where most of our visitors stay

8

yours,Katrina Hendrickson

2 Telephoning

7 Reading

"Hold on a second, Bob I'm

putting you on a stickie."

Read these extracts from telephone calls Who do you think is talking? What do you think they are talking about?

1 A OK, I’ll see you outside the bank at 11:30

B No, I said 11:28

A OK, 11:28

B And don’t forget to change the license plates

2 A It’s Mr Carter on line 4

B Not again! Could you tell him I’m busy, Mary

A I did, but he says he’ll wait

B Oh, all right Put him through

3 A I’m afraid no one is available to take your call

B Oh, no I hate these things

A Please leave your name and num ber after the tone

B Uh, hello uh I’ll call back later

4 A Darling, it’s me Can you talk?

B Wait a minute Yes, I think so, but be quick

A I can’t stop thinking about you

B Thank you for calling, Mr Jackson I’ll mail a catalog to you right away

5 A My battery is about to run out, but you can call me on Stan’s phone Hisnum ber is

B Hold on, Jane, I’ll get a pencil OK

A Stan’s num ber is 202

B Oh, no!

6 A All in all the legal fees come to $30,000

B That’s very reasonable You said one three, right? $13,000?

A No, Mr Brown, three zero.

B What? For three weeks’ work? You must be joking!

12

A Match the two halves of these sentences.

1 The British Airports Authority is planning

2 NCC is strengthening its position in Europe by making

3 BAT Industries and Pecs are negotiating

4 Due to the shortage of space, ROLFCOM moved its AGM

5 SKF is transferring some of its manufacturing operations

6 Equity International is investing in

a a joint venture agreement,

b from the Hilton to the Marriott,

c a leading Brazilian property company,

d a new runway at Stansted

e a num ber of strategic acquisitions,

f to Mexico.

B Now write two sentences about your company’s current activities:

A journalist from the New York Times is phoning a friend in London

Complete the dialogue, using the verbs in the box Use the present continuous tense.

do write stay call visit collect stay

Peter Peter W arner speaking

Hilary Peter Hello, this is Hilary.

Peter Hilary! Great to hear from you! Where 1 - you

Hilary I 4 _some information

for an article that I 5 about the London Stock Exchange

Peter That’s wonderful Is David with you?

Hilary Yes, he 6 his London

office at the same time

Peter How long 7 you b o t h -?

Hilary Just a week.

Peter I hope you have time to come and see us

6 How many meeting ro o m s - ?

7 plenty of parking space?

■ Rooms and spaces

• 3 auditoriums seating 1,800, 800, and 400

• 2 exhibition halls: space for 385 booths

• 23 meeting rooms for 10 to 400 people

■ Hotels

Within walking distance of the Grimaldi Forum, there are 2,600 hotel rooms of the highest international standard

By Car: There are good road connections from

Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, and France

By Train: All international trains stop at

Monaco station

■ How to get there

By Plane: The Grimaldi Forum is 25 km from

the International Airport of Nice Cote d'Azur There is a regular helicopter service which takes

7 minutes International direct flights include:Paris-Nice:

• Network and internet access in all rooms

• Simultaneous translation: more than 1,200 wireless headsets and microphones

• Parking for 600 cars

B Now match the above questions to these replies.

a Yes, there are technical services in the complex,

b There are 23 The largest holds 400 people,

c Yes, there are two restaurants,

d Yes, there’s space for over 600 cars,

e Yes, th ere’s one with 1,800 seats,

f Yes, you can access the web from every room,

g Yes, there is You can listen with a wireless headset

14

Ask and answer more questions about the Grimaldi Forum Put the words

in the right order to make the questions.

Forum Grimaldi is the Where?

Q Where is the Grimaldi Forum?

Read these two paragraphs about Hilary Morey:

Hilary Morey is a journalist She lives in New York and works for the

New York Times She writes for the financial section of the paper.

At the moment she’s visiting London, doing some research for an article she’s writing She’s staying at the Hilton with her husband, David

Write two similar paragraphs about yourself.

Note: We use the simple present tense to describe perm anent or long-term

situations, but we use the present continuous tense to describe tem porary or current activities

We have 13 factories thirteen _

1 I joined the company in 1999.

2 The meeting begins at 10:45

3 The next sales conference starts

1 This company’s headquarters are in Michigan, but it earns a lot of its annual

$9 billion revenues outside the U.S It sells its products in 180 countries, and has about half of the European breakfast cereal market Its leading brand names are Cornflakes, Rice Krispies, and Frosties

OOTYTA

4 This company is a world leader in beverages and snack foods With revenues of more than $29 billion, it is the world’s largest producer of potato chips and corn chips Its brands include Fritos corn chips, Ruffles and Walkers potato chips, Tropicana orange juice, and Gatorade sports drink Its most famous product is a carbonated drink, and the first part of the

company name is the same as the first part of that drink’s name

SEPOCIP

5 This company is the largest tire m aker in the world and has a 20% share of the world market Based in France, it has 74 production plants in 19 countries and rubber plantations in Brazil and Nigeria 96% of its sales come from tires and wheels and only 4% from other products such as guidebooks and maps

CELMIHNI

16

8 Wordcheck

We are always looking for new

markets for our products

1 the main office of a company (12)

2 the people who work for a company—its employees (5)

3 a large building where goods are stored (9)

4 a building where goods are made (7)

5 a person who buys and uses goods or services (8)

6 a company that is controlled by another company (10)

7 to produce in large quantities with machinery (11)

8 the total sales of a company (8)

9 a group of products sold by one company (5)

0 a regular payment for use of land, building, offices, machinery, etc (4)

1 a cooperative operation between two companies (5, 7)

I Exchanging Information

1 Opposites Here are some adjectives Complete their opposites as in number 1.

2 Describing things Match the groups of adjectives, 1 -1 0 , with one of the nouns on the right

that they can describe Then add one more word to each group, as in the e;

1

2

345

1 Thank you very much for a really interested / interesting presentation.

2 We were all very interesting / interested.

3 Of course, w e’re exciting / excited to hear about this new product.

4 But the figures are a little confusing / confused.

5 We were surprising / surprised by next year’s sales targets They’re very

high

6 And this present recession is very worrying / worried.

7 Anyway, it was a fascinating / fascinated presentation.

8 And we were all amusing / amused by your joke at the end.

ifriendly luxurious five-star \ an officereliable punctual bilingual ^ a presentation

efficient small multinational a hoteleconomical fast comfortable a letter

18

4 Measurements

Example

BExample

6 Car problems

Complete the sentences with the right dimensions from the list below.

1,615 m deep 8.85 km high 2,114 pages thick300.5 m tall 3,460 km long 70-72 beats per minute

1 The Eiffel Tower i s _

2 The Grand Canyon i s _

3 Mount Everest i s

4 The Great Wall of China i s _

5 The normal adult pulse rate i s _

6 The Denver, Colorado telephone directory i s

Look at the lists and circle the word that is different from the others.

2 a mistake a phone call a suggestion a job

3 comfortable friendly efficient happy

Now choose the correct words you circled for these sentences:

Chair is different because i t ’s furniture The others are materials to make furniture.

1 - is different because it’s packaging material, not a container

2 _is different because we do it, we don’t make it

3 _is different because the opposite starts with in-, not un-.

4 _is different because it’s an adjective, not a noun.

Complete this story Put was, were, wasn't, and weren't in the correct

spaces.

Do you know the story of the three engineers? There 1 _threeengineers in a car; an electrical engineer, a chemical engineer, and a softwareengineer, who 2 in the back with his computer They

3 - a long way from town when their car suddenly stopped

There 4 _any warning It just stopped They wondered what 5 wrong The electrical engineer said it 6 _probably an electrical problem So he checked the electrical system, but there

7 any problems The chemical engineer 8 _a carexpert; in fact, his knowledge of cars 9 almost zero, but hesuggested that maybe there 10 a chemical problem in the fuel

He tested it, but there 11 _no problems there Then it12 _the software engineer’s turn The other two looked at him.They 13 late for an appointment, i t 14 a hot day,and they 15 happy “Well,” the software engineer said, “If weclose all the windows, get out, get back in, then open the windows again, maybe it’ll work.”

Dimensions Width: 17 mm

Height: 10 mm Length: 67 mm

WEEK

This

Is it a chair or a backpack?

A m an from Chicago has designed a

comfortable beach chair that folds into

a backpack

Dan Pedemonte, whose am bition is to

walk all the beaches in the world, says,

T v e walked a lot of them already, and

f ve learned that along the way you

need to rest and enjoy the m om ent ”

And so his idea of the perfect portable

chair was born: comfortable and

stylish, light, quick and easy to fold,

and with useful space inside

Portable folding chairs are not lew They vary in weight between 1kg and 7kg, they mostly fold to a :ompact shape of about 70 cm x

>5 cm x 5 cm, and they cost mywhere from $25 to $140 While

h e new design is at the lighter

m d of the scale, it has advantages

if comfort and style and it

includes a foot rest, a cooler for drinks, and good storage space.The design was one of the winners in the annual Hammacher Schlemmer Search for Invention contest, a U.S competition for inventors of products that have not yet reached the marketplace

20

5 Reporting

Born in Prague, Czechoslovakia

Started tennis lessons

Played in her first tennis tournament

Entered the Czechoslovakian women’s singles title, age 16, and won

Won the junior girls’ championship at Wimbledon

Reached the quarter-finals of the U.S Open, and decided to stay in the U.S

Won the Wimbledon doubles championship with Chris Evert Won the Wimbledon singles title

Finished the year as the world’s number 1 women’s tennis player

Became a U.S citizen

Dominated international competitions, winning the Wimbledon women’s singles title every year and the U.S Open four times

Achieved her ninth Wimbledon women’s singles title

Established a world record by winning her 158th tennis title Retired from professional tennis

Returned to professional tennis

At 46, became the oldest player ever to win a grand slam competition (= one of the four biggest competitions) She said, “I definitely will not be playing in 2005.”

Announced that she would continue to play for one more year

A English verbs ending in -ed are pronounced in three different ways:

/d/ died, lived l\l produced, rushed /id/ wanted, expanded

B Group these words from the career history according to their pronunciation.

achieved announced decided dominated entered establishedfinished played reached retired returned started/d/

N

/id/

1956196219641972

197619781979

19811982-87

199019921994

2002

2003

2005

1 A career history

5 Reporting

2 Describing a career Complete the text using the simple past tense of the verbs in

parentheses.

Thom as J Watson Senior 1 (begin) his business career as a

sewing machine salesman and later, when he 2 (become)

president o f IBM, he 3 (use) his sales techniques to promote

the com pany’s name There 4 _(be) IBM anthems, IBM

songbooks, IBM regulation clothes, and the company motto—“T h in k”—

5 (appear) on every wall in the organization

When Watson 6 0 ° ' n) in 1914, the company

7 (be) almost broke Under his leadership, i t 8

(grow) beyond all expectations, and 9 (adopt) a leading

position in the information-processing industry So how did he do it?

Watson 10 (believe) that the way to win a person’s loyalty is to

build up the person’s self-respect So under his management, IBM employees

11 _(earn) above-average salaries and good pensions In return,

he 12 (dem and) loyalty and enthusiasm Everyone

13 _(work) long hours

Until the 1950s, IBM never 14 _(sell) machines They just

15 _(rent) them to customers Watson 16 _(insist)

on this policy, and i t 17 (help) the company to survive the

Depression o f the 1930s He 18 _(have) a strong personality and

19 _(make) all the major decisions himself As many as forty top

people 20 (report) to him personally Watson 21 _

(think) that a manager should be an assistant to his workers, and IBM

22 _ (run) no management training schools in his day The only

advice he 23 _(g*ve) was: “You’re promoted to assistant manager

Be careful with people, don’t swear, and wear a white shirt.”

2 3 4 5

6

7

8

Ainfinitive break

s _

y

k _

a _1

Bpast simple broketde_ e _

e __ _1_n

a contract, a promise, a glass

an invoice, a letter, a fax

in cash, a bill, a dividend

a profit, a mistake, an appointment

a report, a book, the newspaperbusiness class, by helicopter,

on a 747sick, tired, happy

a company, a race, a test

Write down when you last did these things Use on, in, or at in your

answers.

1 When did you last go on vacation? /n the summer. _

2 When did you get to work this morning?

3 When did you last go to the dentist?

4 When was your last birthday?

5 When did you last go abroad?

6 When did you last go to a meeting?

-7 When did you last get paid?

8 When did you start this exercise? _

A Here are some questions and answers about a business trip Complete the questions using words from the list below Then match each question

to the correct reply.

Who Was Where When Did How Which What Why

did you meet? " ' X c Yes, a few.

you make any useful contacts? ' d To do some m arket

research

long did you stay? e The Sheraton

did you get back? f Gulf Air

airline did you fly with? g Dubai

hotel did you stay in? h A week.

the trip a success? i On Thursday

The w eather was great.

6 Your career Write a short paragraph about your past business experience and career.

Give details about:

where you went to school

what you did after you graduated

when you started your first job

what you did, w hat your responsibilities were

what happened to you between your first job and your present one

24

1 Welcoming a

visitor

Complete the conversation using the phrases below.

try some Japanese food eat anything on the plane the restaurant or the hotel first kind of food do you like have a good flight to meet you your first visit

B Yes, I’ve always wanted to come, but I never had the chance

A Good, I can show you around Did you 3 ?

B Yes, it was fine, thanks No delays or problems

A Good Let me take your case The car’s just outside Did you

B No, I w asn’t hungry

A Well, what should we do? Would you like to go to 5 _

B The hotel, I think I’d like a shower We can eat later, if th at’s OK

A That’s fine W h a t6 ? We have a good choice ofrestaurants here—French, Italian, and Japanese, of course

B I’d like to 7 _ _

A Good I’ll drop you off now and come and pick you up again at about eight

2 Socializing Match the comments with a suitable reply.

1 Another drink?

2 Where do you come from?

3 Thank you very much

4 Hello, Steve! How are things?

5 Milk? Sugar?

6 Can you speak Japanese?

7 Do you know Mr Davis?

8 Is there a golf course near here?

a Taiwan.

b Not too bad, thanks,

c Yes, we met last week,

d Just a few words,

e No, thanks, I’m driving,

f Yes, there’s a very good one

g A little milk, please,

h You’re welcome.

2 m ashed frozen french-fried baked

3 peach potato melon raspberry

6 cream m argarine butter milk

7 cauliflower sprouts carrots bread

8 medium rare well-done cooked

Match the nouns below with the correct pictures Then decide whether the nouns are countable (C) or uncountable (U).

Check some of your answers in a dictionary A good dictionary will tell you

if a noun is countable or uncountable, or look at p 176 in the Student’s Book for further information.

B In your own language, write down the names of five dishes which are popular in your country Then describe these dishes for an English person you are taking to lunch.

Example Bulgogi is strips o f frie d beef

Match these comments to when you would say them.

1 Many happy returns! a When meeting someone for the first

time

2 Excuse me? b When you’ve made a mistake.

3 I’m really sorry c When someone is going away

4 Happy New Year! d When someone has had a baby.

5 No, thanks, I’m just looking e On someone’s birthday

6 Have a good trip f When someone thanks you

7 Pleasure to meet you g When someone offers you some cake.

8 I’d love some, but I’m on a diet h When a salesclerk offers to help you.

9 Don’t mention it i On January 1st

0 Congratulations j When you didn’t hear w hat someone

said

6 Socializing

7 Adverbs

of frequency

8 Reading

Rewrite the following sentences using words from the table below.

every two weeks

four months

twicethree times

a week

a month

a yearExample We send out publicity brochures in January, April, July, and October

We send out publicity brochures every three months.

1 I take clients out Wednesdays and Fridays

2 I travel to Corby on the 1st and the 14th of every month

3 We have appraisal meetings in January, May, and September

4 I go jogging on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays

Every country has its own social customs Information about them can never be true in all situations but is useful as a general guide Read the descriptions of customs in the U.S., and match them to these topics.

a Greetings c Enthusiasm e A confusing phrase

b Being polite d Punctuality f A warning for smokers

1 _ “Time is Money” is a famous phrase in the U.S., and being on

time is very important in business Socially, too, it’s rude to be very late If you are invited to a meal at someone’s home, arrive about 10 minutes after the agreed time, but no later If you are going to be later, phone, explain, and apologize

2 _ People shake hands briefly but firmly in business situations, but

at social events they are very informal They frequently greet you only with a casual “How are you?” or just “Hey” or “Hi.” In larger groups, some people may say nothing when you arrive, and people don’t usually shake hands on leaving

3 _ Many people in the U.S take a very negative view of smoking in

public In a lot of places, smoking is not allowed, and some people don’t want you to smoke in their homes If you need a cigarette, you may be expected to go outside Never smoke anywhere without asking permission

4 _ A positive attitude is highly valued in America, and people like to

show enthusiasm They often start conversations by paying compliments: “I love your accent Where are you from?”

5 _ “Please” and “Thank you” are very important in the United

States Even if you are paying someone to do something, you should always say these words

6 _ At the end of a conversation or social event, Americans often say

“See you later.” This can cause confusion because it does not really mean they will see you later It is just an expression like “Goodbye.”

Which customs are generally similar in your country, and which are different?

28

7 Meetings I

1 Holding a meeting

Recommending

action

Choose the right words in italics to complete the conversation.

Ja n e We need to 1 argue / discuss the LT60—the quality issue.

2Basic / Basically, we have two alternatives We can either accept a

wastage rate of 10%, 3or / and we can delay the schedule and redesign the component 4A ny / Some views on this, Mark?

M ark The im portant thing is timing The customers can’t wait any longer It’s

90% OK I 5think / propose we should go ahead with production.

How do you 6think / fe e l about that, Tom?

71 / I ’m disagree Waste costs money We need zero defects.

But we don’t have time 8A re n ’t / Don’t you agree, Jane?

I’m sorry, but I think Tom 9has / is right I don’t think we should start

production until the design is OK

Jan eTom

M arkJan e

Example

Read the problems, then select an alternative to recommend and give your reasons You can invent your own reasons.

Problem: Employees aren ’t using computers to their full potential

Alternative 1: Send employees on training courses

Alternative 2: Hire an in-company instructor

Action: 1 don’t think we should hire an instructor; because it ’s very expensive

I think we should send employees on training courses, because i t ’s more cost-effective.

1 Problem: Late payments from a major client

Alternative 1: Refuse to supply more goods until they pay their invoices

Alternative 2: Offer a longer credit period to the client

Action:

2 Problem: Advertising expenditure rose by 26% last year

Alternative 1: Reduce the amount of advertising we do

Alternative 2: Hire a different advertising agency

A ction :

3 Problem: To cut costs, we must lay off 100 employees

Alternative 1: Lay off the 100 most recent employees (last in first out)

Alternative 2: Lay off the 100 least efficient employees

Action: _

4 Problem: Our competitors are headhunting our best m anagers

Alternative 1: Offer all our top m anagers a large pay raise

Alternative 2: Employ an agency to headhunt our competitors’ best managers.Action:

7 M e e tin g s

3 Decisions Read the situations below, and say what’s going to happen.

Example Interform ’s headquarters are in Manhattan Office rent rose by 26% last

month The directors are looking at some new offices outside M anhattan today

The directors are going to relocate their headquarters.

1 Leighton Dairies wants to buy some new bottling machinery, but it doesn’t have enough money The CEO has an appointment at the bank tomorrow with a loan officer

2 Virginia Wright is in a restaurant with a client They finished their meal a few minutes ago She’s signaling to the waiter

3 Corvent, Inc wants to expand its freight transportation service The share price of Transpo, Inc., another freight company, is low at the moment Corvent is buying up a large num ber of Transpo shares

4 Mr Lawson is at work He has a tem perature of 100°F It’s 2:30 p.m., and

h e’s picking up his briefcase and putting on his coat

5 Rivolet Ltd has a problem Its main competitor cut prices by 30% last week Rivolet’s sales m anager has called an emergency meeting for this afternoon

4 Wordcheck Complete the puzzle and find the key word in 12 down.

Across

1 I need a haircut Is there a 3 There’s a

-nearby? (11)

restaurant here

There are 3 grass and 3 hard

te n n is in the grounds (6)

that does good fish dishes (7)The hotel has a fitness center with

a sauna and s te a m _ (4)You can have a snack at the bar or

a meal in t h e _ (10)Please return your keys to the _ desk when you leave (9)

I w ant these shirts cleaned Is there a service? (7)

My nam e’s Ward, and I have a _ for 3 nights (11)

If you want to buy presents,there’s a shop in thelobby (4)

For a sandwich and a coffee, try

t h e bar (5)

If you need to use a computer or fax machine, you can go to the _ center (8)

Down

12 All good hotels offer this (4, 7)

30

Fill in the blanks with the correct phrases and sentences from the list below.

Can we get back to the main point? I didn’t follow w hat you said.Should we get started? What do you m ean by

Can we move on? Let’s turn to

Do we all agree? we need to discuss

1 OK, everyone’s h e r e ?

2 A Our training budget is less than 5% of the extra 2.5% tax that comes on

top of the original 15% on the 18,300 brochures at $2.47

B I’m sorry, _

3 It seems that a price increase of 5.4% is the best solution

? Good

4 A By the way, I saw Pete the other day He bought a new car last weekend.

Did you know? He told me

5 OK We all agree on that ite m ?

6 Fine We can offer a commission of 12%

_ the next item on the agenda

7 There are three items on the agenda Firstly, _ the problem of late payments

8 A There are some unusual things happening in the Finance Department

B unusual?

Suggest three different solutions to these problems.

We have some meetings with clients from Tokyo, but none of us speaks Japanese

A We could learn Japanese.

B Can we get an interpreter?

C Why don’t we see if they can speak English?

1 We need to get these papers to head office before tomorrow morning

7 M e e tin g s

7 Reading Complete the passage using the correct words from the box Do you agree

with the writer? Check (/ ) the ideas you agree with.

action agenda attended copies decisionsmeeting nothing responsible should

How many unnecessary or ineffective meetings

im portant in most businesses, but often they are

a waste o f time We have all been to meetings where ten people take two hours to achieve almost 2 _

Here are some tips to make meetings work more efficiently:

M ost meetings 3 not last morethan 45 minutes People start to lose

concentration after this time Moreover, a time limit encourages people to prepare properly and

to focus on the topics during the

A meeting should have a clear purpose

A written 5 _ should be preparedwith input from the people who are going to attend Everyone should get a copy in advance

Bring extra 6 _ to the meeting,because some people will forget theirs

Every meeting should have someone who is7 _ for making sure that each point

on the agenda is discussed in the available time

Another person should be responsible for takingnotes o f 8 _ and action points andthe names o f people who have agreed to take

32

7 Meetings

8 Memorizing words Memorizing new words is one of the biggest problems people face when

they try to learn a language Are you employing the best memorization techniques? Try this quiz and find out.

A /

Which is better? to study for one hour

a day for eight days

or to study for eight hours

If you are trying to learn a long list of words, should you:

El

start at the top and work your way down, then go back up again and keep repeating the process

or start at the top, work a

short way down, then return to the top and start again and work your way down the list in this way?

Which memorization technique is more effective?

saying words aloud over and over again until you know them

or using the sounds of the

words to dream up mental pictures?

Which list is easier

green money leg dog fork pencil business book history tea salt black clock coffee pepper white

Now turn to page 76 to check your answers

Arrive Los Angeles (LAX): 5:30 p.m.

Total duration: 16 hrs 30 mins

CecWe,

The trip takes 7<3 hours,

so make sure you have

a good hook

J

A manager is discussing her visit to a trade fair with her assistant Use the information in the letter to write her questions and the assistant’s replies.

Example When / the flight / from Los Angeles / leave?

Q When does the flig h t from Los Angeles leave?

A irp ort transfers

A shuttle bus will pick up

visitors at the airport every

45 minutes and take them

to the Mandarin Oriental

and Sheraton Hotels

1 Schedules

34

8 Making A rrangem ents

2 Arrangements Lynne Turner and Jim Wilson are trying to arrange a meeting Look at

their appointments for the week, and complete their conversation using each of these verbs only once.

Jim Wilson's calendar

Lynne Turner's calendar

meet do give interview attend see show visit pick up

Lynne Are you free on Monday morning?

Jim No, I ’m visiting our warehouse in the Bronx What about the

Lynne Jim

afternoon?

No, I can’t make that 1 I_

about Tuesday?

Bill Hardy at Citibank How

Well, Tuesday’s difficult In the morning I _

Takashita at the airport, and in the afternoon 3 I_

Junhimaround the Jersey City factory But how does Wednesday morning look?

Lynne Jim Lynne

Jim Lynne

Not good I_

afternoon

the sales conference, but I’m free in the

No, that doesn’t work for me I_

Embassy

Well, Thursday morning 6 I _

someone at the Thai

rep job, and in the afternoon 7 1_

applicants for the sales

a talk

anything on Friday morning?

No, I’m free then How about 9:30?

9:30 on Friday, then

8 Making A rrangem ents

6

7

8 9 10 11

12

Across

1 I don’t know if I’m free on Friday I’ll check m y (8)

2 I lo o k _to meeting you next Friday (7)

3 I’m calling t o _ our meeting next week—is it still OK for you? (7)

4 He was half an h o u r _because of the traffic (4)

5 Mike Adams called and made a n _to see you next week (11)

6 What time i s _ for you? (4)

7 She picked up a from the station to check the train times (8)

8 I can’t Tuesday’s meeting—I have to go to Hong Kong (4)

9 I can’t see you on Thursday afternoon—I’m _ up (4)

.0 Could y o u my appointment with the marketing m anager? I’m

afraid I w on’t be able to make it (6)

1 Friday at 3:30? Let me see Y e s, works for me (5) Down

12 A plan you make with someone (11) Can you complete the joke?

A m an made an appointment to see a dentist He was terrified of dentists, but

he always kept appointments When he arrived at the dentist’s office, the receptionist told him, “I’m sorry sir, the dentist had to go out I can make another appointment for you.”

“Thank you!” said the nervous man “When will he b e again?”

Look at your calendar and write down sentences about your future plans and arrangements.

On Wednesday at 8:00 p.m., I'm attending a Rotary Club meeting.

36

Put these two telephone conversations into the correct order.

A □ Oh Do you want to change it? B EH T hat’s right

EH Hello, John This is Matthew EH T hat’d be terrific Thanks.Brown EH Rosemary! Great to hear from

EH That’s great Thanks for being so you How’s Tony?

flexible EH Great Until Saturday, then

EH Then let’s say the 26th, all right? Bye

HI John Parker EH You know where we live,

□ I’m calling about our appointment don’t you?

on the 25th Something’s come up CD John Parker

EH No problem EH He’s much better, thanks

EH Thank you Goodbye In fact, w e’re having a party

EH Hi, Matthew What can I do for next Saturday Can you come?you? EH John, this is Rosemary

EH Can I? I’m free on the 24th or EH Around eight, if that works for

EH I look forward to seeing you on EH Russell Drive, isn’t it?

the 26th, then EH What time should we come?

People who write a lot of text messages often use abbreviations to save time Do you know what these ones mean? Fill in the missing words.

1 RU OK? A _ y OK? (Is everything all right?)

2 IMO In my o (I th in k )

3 AFAIK As f as I k (To my knowledge .)

4 OIC Oh, I s (Now I understand.)

5 CYR OFIS C _ your o _ (Telephone work.)

6 PLZ 4GV ME P _ f me (I’m very sorry.)

7 CU L8R S _ you 1 _ (Goodbye for now.)

8 LOL L _ out loud (Ha, ha, ha!)

Emoticons are used in e-mail to show emotions and pass on visual information about the user You have to read them with your head on one side

: -) The user is happy

Look at some more emoticons Which one means the user:

1 is sad? a 8-)

3 is sending a flower? c :-(

5 is listening to a personal stereo? e ;-)

6 is winking (closing one eye)? f @ ~ )~

match each one to the correct graph.

1 Electronics sales went down slightly between 2001 and 2003, and then

rem ained more or less steady because of falling prices for televisions and other electronic items

2 Games sales rose sharply in 2002, but then fell in 2003 and 2004 The

decline of the games segment slowed, however, in 2005 as a result of the introduction of Sony’s hand-held game player, PlayStation Portable

3 Pictures group sales increased between 2001 and 2002, and there was a

further sharp rise in 2003 due to the strength of releases such as Spider Man and Men in Black II However, sales fell slightly in 2004 and again in 2005.

4 Sales in the music segment dropped very slightly from 2001 to 2003 But a

change in the way the company recorded sales for its music business resulted in a dramatic decline in revenue from Sony Music Entertainm ent in

2004 and 2005

5 The Financial Services Group was established in 1999 in order to provide

credit for purchasers of Sony’s products Sales increased steadily until 2004, but in 2005 a rise in credit card use led to a fall in demand for Sony’s financial services

6 Others: Sales showed a dramatic rise between 2001 and 2002 and continued

to increase in 2003 A sharp drop in 2004 was followed by a slight drop in

2005, due partly to falls in sales between groups within the company

700 □1 2 0 0 - B

1000

8 0 0

-2!

>-2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005

9 Describing Trends

2 Money

3 Wordcbeck 1

We can spend money and we can save it But we can do a lot of other

things with money, too Find 14 more verbs we can use with the word

money in the square You can read some from left to right, some from top

to bottom and some diagonally.

1 Complete the sentences with a word from the list below.

borrowed made gave invest owed saved spent wasting

1 In 2005, the g r o u p _$4 million from investments in overseascompanies

2 The accountants advised us to repay 15% of w hat w e _to the

banks

3 The stockholders criticized the board f o r _so much money

on unnecessary trips abroad

4 The co m p an y _$10,000 to a local school to set up a

I 9 Describing Trends

4 Sales results A Choose the correct words in italics to complete this report.

SALES ANALYS I S

Sales began the year at 30,000 units in January and increased

'slight / slightly to 32,000 units in February There was a sharp / sharply rise 3fo / by 38,000 in March “due / led to the

introduction of a new price discounting program This was followed

by a ^slight / slightly fall in April when sales dropped to 36,000 units.

Our competitors launched a rival product in the spring and this

resulted 6/'n / from a 7dramatic / dramatically fall to 25,000 in May.

But we ran a summer advertising campaign and sales increased

8 steady/ steadily 9to / by 2,000 units a month throughout June, July, and August until they stood win / at 33,000 in September.

experienced problems meeting demand and sales fell usharp / sharply

'H BtjiSS i|S3& 3jj$

in November and remained '“steady / steadily "at / by 39,000 in

The 11 dram atic/ dramatically rise to 45,000 in October resulted

12/d / from the launch of our new autumn range But then we

13 _

December

B Use the information in the report to complete this graph.

gillM