Advanced Business English

John Silberstein

Group Y7

Lesson 9

Belated – dict.com: coming or being after the customary, useful, or expected time

Surge – dict.com: To increase suddenly: As favorable reviews came out, interest in the software surged.

Serverance – dict.com: 1. the act of severing or the state of being severed. 2. a breaking off, as of a friendship. 3. Law. a division into parts, as of liabilities or provisions; removal of a part from the whole.

Vocabulary Review

US calls on G20 to help bolster int'l demand: report

Current Events

Read the sentences about a team leader. Use the words in brackets and might/might not or must/can’t (can not)

to make more sentences.

Modal Forms

She has worked from 7:00am to 9:00pm. [tired]

She hasn’t achieved very much. [an efficient worker]

The members of her team haven’t been helpful. [please with them]

The haven’t respected the deadlines. [satisfied with their work]

Her boss wants to speak to her tomorrow. [worried about this]

Make deductions about the following past situations.

Past Modals

He was busy when he set the deadline. [time to plan things properly]

The team did not meet the deadline. [Not enough time]

The instructions were not clear. [the team/confused]

The team had to work overtime every day last week. [not happy]

All the other teams were waiting for the results of our work. [they/frustrated]

Two directors of a pharmaceutical company are discussing the reasons why a new software project is behind schedule. Correct the errors in BOLD with the

correct form of the verb.

Past Modals

Rosanna: So, Bruce, where did we go wrong? We’re two months behind schedule. Murray’s just resigned and the end users are now saying the system will be unusable!

Bruce: Well, Rosanna, we should not choose Murray as project manager in the first place. Mavericks like him just don not make good PM’s. We can predict he was not going to change if we had not been in such a rush. In retrospect, we should put Isabelle in charge. She is no star but she will do a steady job.

Rosanna: Yeah, I see what you mean, but it is easy to be wise after the event. She might be a better choice in some ways, but will she listen to the users? Their views ought to be taken into account properly before we started the implementation phase. We must waste at least one month asking the wrong questions. If only we had got the right, we are not in the mess we are now!

Bruce: I just wish we had been given project approval a but earlier. That way can make sure people bought into the project in the first place. Anyway, the question is, what are the lessons learned and where do we go from here?

Evaluate the two career choices

The Biz - Regrets

Grant: Yeah, I remember Kim, I studied business administration in college with her: we had a great time. I took a job as a trainee accountant in London at the same firm as her. But I felt that it was not for me. I was earning good money and they offered me a salary of £45,000 just to stay, but I said ‘no’. Instead, I downshifted. I left to become a dairy farmer. When I look at the peopleI used to work with, we’re really different now. They live in nice houses and drive expensive cars. But overall, I think I made the right choice. I am really happy on my farm. I am not at all stressed.Kim: I studied business administration at college but did not really enjoy it. I always really wanted to be a vet but made the wrong study choices. In the end, I joined an accountancy firm. Now I am a senior partner, which means I have a great salary. But I sometimes think there is something missing. My friend Grant, who joined the same time as me, left after a few years to start a farm. He asked me to help him set up, but I said ‘no’. I think it was the wrong choice. He says his job’s not at all stressful, but mine is constant pressure.

Complete these sentences using an appropriate past modal form of the verb in brackets.

The Biz - Regrets

Grant _____ [have] a career as and accountant, but he left.

Grant __________________[earn] £45,000 or more but he turned it down.

In the end, Grant does not thing that he ______________ [stay] at the accountancy firm.

Kim thinks she __________________ [study] to become a vet, not an accountant.

Kim now thinks that she _______________ [leave] the accountancy firm and started a business with Grant.

Kim _______________ [live] a less stressful life on a farm.

had

could have earned

should have stayed

should have studied

should have left

would have lived