limba engleza greavu

UNIVERSITATEA LUCIAN BLAGA SIBIU FACULTATEA DE STIINTE ECONOMICE

Suport de curs Limba engleza

Anul I

Titular curs: lect. univ. Greavu Arina

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CONTENTS

Chapter 1: Socializing ................................................................3

Chapter 2: Telephoning ............................................................27

Chapter 3: Meetings .................................................................37

Chapter 4: Presentations general considerations ...................51

Chapter 5: Company presentation ............................................56

Chapter 6: Presentations describing trends............................66

Chapter 7: Presentations product description ........................76

Selected bibliography: ..............................................................80

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Chapter 1: Socializing

Social language skills are the skills which enable people to be

comfortable with each other without a formal agenda- when

meeting, when making small talk, when discussing matters of

mutual interest and when partying. An effective socializer must

be characterized by:

1. the ability to behave appropriately in different cross-

cultural situations

2. the ability to start conversations

3. the ability to reply appropriately

4. the ability to select safe topics for conversation

5. the ability to develop conversations around different

topics

Socializing covers a large range of situations requiring specific

communication skills and language knowledge, such as:

1. first contact (introductions, opening small talk)

2. getting to know each other

3. more contacts (every day meetings, inclusive behaviour)

4. arrangements (understanding and responding to

invitations)

5. dinner (hosting, complimenting, inclusive behaviour)

6. after work (choosing and developing topics for

conversation)

7. farewells

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I. First contact

1. Greetings and introductions

Welcoming

Welcome to

Its a (great) pleasure to welcome you to (F)

On behalf of Id like to welcome you to (F)

Greeting and introducing oneself at the first meeting

Often the greetings and the introductions follow this sequence:

greeting

introducing oneself or someone else

reply to introduction

Greeting Introducing yourself Reply

How do you do Im / My names . (F) How do you do?

Im./ my names

(F)

Hello, you must be

.

Let me introduce myself.

Im .

My names Im (job

position)

Nice to meet you.

Mines / Pleased to

meet you. Mines ..

How do you do? My

names

We havent met. Im

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! How do you do? is not a real question: it is not a request for information. It is a formal greeting used only when meeting

someone for the first time. The standard reply is How do you

do? not Fine, thanks

How are you? is a real question and request for information.

Fine, thanks and Very well, thanks are correct replies.

There is usually a difference between meet for a first meeting

and see for a second and subsequent meeting, e.g. Pleased to

meet you (first time), Nice to see you (subsequent time).

Introducing someone else

May I introduce ?

Id like to introduce you to (F)

Have you met?

, this is,

2. Opening small talk: topics

Travel

How was your trip?

Did you have any trouble finding us?

It was fine/ very smooth/ easy

It was a bit delayed/ the traffic was terrible/ it was a bit

rough.

I missed my connection/ the plane was late

There were no problems.

Weather

How do you find the weather here?

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What was it like when you left?

So, how was the weather in ?

What was the weather like in

Isnt this weather terrible/ wonderful?

Its lovely/ sunny/ warm.

It was dismal/ cloudy/ cold/ damp/ wet/ stormy/ windy/

Oh, much the same as here.

Much warmer than here.

Absolutely awful/ fabulous.

Accommodation

Hows your hotel?

Is everything all right?

Its very comfortable/ convenient/ luxurious.

The service is excellent.

Its rather noisy/ dirty.

The service is rather slow.

The rooms are a bit cramped.

! We often modify our negative remarks by using words like a little, a bit, or rather. When we insert these words, our remarks

are softened. They become less direct and sound more natural !

1. The following dialogues contain examples of first contact

exchanges. Underline all instances of welcoming, introducing

ourselves or other people to each other.

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1.

A: Id like to welcome you to our Institute. I am Professor

Stansilav

B: Its an honour to meet you professor.

A: Did you have a good trip?

B: Yes, thank you.

A: Good, so shall we start the tour?

B: Certainly. Im looking forward to it.

2.

A: Hello, Im Pete Stanford.

B: Hi. Nice to meet you. Im Sheena, a friend of Pauls.

A: So, do you know many people here?

B: Most of them. Ill introduce you to a few if you like.

A: Thanks. So where are you from?

3.

A: Good morning, welcome to Bond Associates.

B: Hello.

A: My names Deborah Polovsky, but just call me Debbie-

everybody does.

B: Its a pleasure to meet you. My names Susan Denison.

A: So, have you checked in to your hotel?

B: Yes, I have. Ive got a great room overlooking the bay.

A: Wonderful. Were having some lovely weather at the

moment. Lets hope it continues. How was the weather back

home?

B: Pretty dismal actually. Cold and wet. It was great to step off

the plane into all this sunshine.

4.

A: Have you met Jonathan?

B: No, I havent. Please introduce me.

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A: Jonathan, this is Maggie. She works in the research

department

C: Nice to meet you Maggie. How long have you been here?

B: with the company? Oh too long nearly fifteen years.

What about you?

C: I dont work here. Im just on a visit for a couple of days.

B: Oh? Where are you staying?

C: Greg is putting me up.

B: And have you seen much of the city?

C: well, not so much as Id like to

2. Here are some answers, but what are the questions?

a.

Nice to meet you. Im Sarah Sarandon, Vice-President,

Marketing.

b. ...

Thank you. Its a pleasure to be here.

c. ..

Not really. I guess weve never met. My names John Dunn.

d. .

How do you do. Im Tania Philips.

e. .

No, I havent. Why dont you introduce me?

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II. Getting to know each other.

1. Language focus: Present Tense Simple

Formation

A. Sample sentences

The marketing director reports to the MD. We usually hold our European meeting in Madrid. I don't understand these statistics. My plane leaves at 10.30 on Tuesday.

B. Form

The present simple comprises:

one part in the positive, i.e. VI(s)

two parts in the negative and interrogative, i.e. do/does + VI

1. Positive form

I/you/we/they work in different departments. He/she/it works in different departments.

2. Negative form

I/you/we/they do not/don't produce a monthly report. He/she/it does not/doesn't produce a monthly report.

3. Interrogative form

Do I/you/we/they need more information? Does he/she/it need more information?

C. Uses

We use the present simple to talk about:

- general or permanent activities or situations - the frequency of activities - truths or current beliefs

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- fixed schedules in the future

1. To indicate a general or permanent activity:

The company produces a wide range of pharmaceuticals.

I live in Frankfurt. 2. To describe how often an activity is done:

We appraise our employees once a year. 3. To describe a truth or current belief:

Managers plan, organise, lead and control. 4. To indicate a fixed schedule in the future:

The new training programme starts on 1 January. 5. With non-continuous verbs:

At present our company belongs to the ABC Group, (nor: 'is belonging')

At the moment the board consists of six people.

The following verbs are usually used only in the simple form:

hope know understand like love mean

forget imagine remember prefer suppose want

belong concern consist of contain cost equal

have involve depend on owe possess own

remain require

2. Small talk topics

The range of acceptable topics for conversation will depend on:

Where you are

Who you are with

Your relationship with the people

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Some topics may be considered to be taboo in some cultures.

Here is a list of safe topics:

House and home

Life at home

Education and career

Work

Free time and entertainment

Travel

Health and welfare

Shopping

Weather

The economy

Politics (can be a delicate subject in some parts of the

world)

Topics which may be dangerous:

Religion

Death

Family relationships

Jobs

Quite a lot of opening small talk centres around peoples jobs.

Most of us classify people initially in terms of their work.

What do you do? Im a teacher/ engineer/ lawyer/

factory manager (profession/ job

title)

I work for an electronics

company (employer/ company

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sector)

I work for myself at the moment.

(self-employed)

Im retired/ I look after the

children/ Im a housewife.

What line are you in? Im in computing./ Im in

marketing.

Who do you work for? I work for the ABC Corporation.

What do they do? We/ They make electronic

components (activity)

Where are they based? We are based in York. (location)

And what exactly do you

do?

Im responsible for the quality

control of silicon chips.

How long have you been

with them/ there?

Five years now.

Do you like it?/ Are they a good employer?/ Is

your job interesting?/

How is business?

Yes, I like it a lot.

Family and home

So, where do you live? Just outside York

Do you live in a house

or a flat?

In a house.

Are you married? Yes/ No/ Not at the moment.

Do you have any

children?

Yes, a girl and a boy./ No I dont.

what about you.

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How old are they? The boys seven and the girls four.

And does your wife

work?

Not at the moment. Shes at home

with out daughter.

Spare time

What do you do in the evenings?/ at weekends?

Where do you spend your holidays?

What do you do in your spare time?

Do you like films/ gardening/ walking/ sports?

What are your hobbies?

Origins

Where do you come from?

Where were you brought up?

Which part of were you born in?

Where were you born?

3. Question types

For a conversation to develop positively, the responder in any

small talk exchange needs to give full answers. If possible these

should include a comment.

Closed questions elicit yes/no answers, and may be not very

effective:

Did you see that film on television?

Do you live near here?

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Have you been here long?

Open questions should elicit a fuller answer:

Where do you spend your holidays?

What about the country?

Acknowledging information

When we exchange information in a conversation, we have

three strategies that we can use to indicate that we understand

and to encourage the speaker to continue:

Noises Words/phrases Echo

Uh-huh Okay Sixty thousand?

Mm Right Six hundred years?

Ah Fine The biggest in Europe?

Oh Really?

Amazing!

I see

I know

Yes

No

I didnt know that

I cant believe that

Quite (so)

Indeed

Of course

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Answer the following questions:

1. What do you do?

..

1. How long have you been doing this job?

..

2. Do you like your work?

..

3. Hows business at the moment?

4. What do you do at weekends?

5. Do you like sport?

.

6. Are you married?

.

7. Do you have any children?

8. Where were you born?

.

9. Were you brought up there?

.

Read the following dialogues and then decide whether they are

instances of good or bad conversations.

1.

A: What do you do for a living?

B: Im in banking.

A: Oh, what sort of banking?

B: Foreign exchange transactions.

A: I see. And have you always been in that line of work?

B: Yes, I have.

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A: Personally, Ive changed my career twice already. I started

out as a dentist, but I decided that peoples teeth didnt really

interest me, so I moved on to become a salesman for one of the

big pharmaceutical companies. After a while I couldnt stand it,

and now Ive set up a garden centre just near here.

B: I see.

A: Right, well, I suppose I should think about going soon.

2.

A: Where do you come from?

B: India.

A: Oh, whereabouts?

B: The south.

A: Interesting. Which city?

B: Madras.

A: Oh, I see and is your family here with you?

B: No.

A: So you left them at home.

B: Thats right.

A: I suppose that must be very hard for them.

3.

A: Where were you brought up?

B: In Greece, actually. But my parents are Danish.

A: That sounds complicated.

B: Not really. My father had a job as an adviser to the

government.

A: So, did you go to school there?

B: Yes, I did. It was an international school and we had to speak

English.

A: Your English is very good.

B: Thanks. In fact, I use it all the time in my current job.

A: What do you do?

B: Im a pilot you know, on a commercial airline.

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A: Really? My brother is training to become pilot.

B: Oh? Wheres he training?

III. More contacts

1. Language focus

Greetings

Hello./ Hi. Good morning. / Good afternoon.

How are you?

How are things?

Nice to see you again. (after a long gap)

Very well, thanks. And you?

Fine, and you?

Not so bad. How are you?/ So and so./ Could be worse.

Not too good, Im afraid.

Absolutely awful/ terrible/ dreadful.

!The greeting How are you? is normally part of a ritual. We dont expect people to reply honestly or in detail. Therefore in

most situations, we dont respond by saying Not so well or

Awful. Clearly these responses would invite further enquiries.

Requests (favours)

The language we use for making a request will depend on the

nature of the request, and who we are asking. Normally we

would use more formal or polite language for difficult or more

personal requests, especially with someone we dont know well.

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For smaller requests, or with people we know well, we are

usually less formal.

We can make a request with either a direct question, an order or

a request:

Does your company organize training programmes? (direct

question)

Please finish the budget before you go home. (order)

Would you mind repeating that, please? (request)

The following phrases can be used as introductions:

Im glad I bumped into you

I wanted to ask you something.

Have you got a moment? I wanted to ask you something.

Im glad I saw you/ I caught you. Ive got a favour to ask.

Please

Can you .?

Will you ?

Could you ?

Id like you to

Perhaps you could

Could you possibly .?

Do you think you could ?

Do you think I could ask you

Ive got a favour to ask you. Could you ?

Would you mind -ing ?

I wonder/ wondered/ was wondering/ if you could/ if youd

mind

Sure./ Certainly./ Of course./ Go ahead

Not at all. / Its a pleasure.

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I suppose so./ Should be no problem

Well thats not so easy / a bit of a problem.

1. When we respond positively to a request we say No

Would you mind postponing the meeting?

No, not at all. / No, thats all right.

When we respond positively we tend not to say Yes (I do

mind)

Would you mind cancelling the meeting?

Well, Im not sure

2. We often ask people to lend us something. Be careful how to

use lend and borrow:

Could you lend me 10p for the phone?

I wonder if I could borrow your copy of the agenda?

Complete the empty lines in the following dialogues with the

missing words and expressions:

A: Hi, Marion. How are things?

B: ..?

A: Fine, thanks. ask you a favour?

B: ..

A: Could I borrow your laptop for the weekend?

B: .. Ill bring it in tomorrow.

A: Thanks, Marion. Thats really good of you.

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A: Morning, Tom. How are you?

B: .?

A: Actually, Im feeling a bit rough.

B: Oh, Im sorry to hear that.

A: a couple of aspirin?

B: Umm .. . Why dont you try Jonathan?

Hes a walking medical chest.

A: Good idea. See you later.

B: Bye. Hope you feel better soon.

A: Hello. How are you doing?

B: Hello. .

A: Fine thanks. Actually, Im glad I bumped into you.

B: Whys that?

A: Well, I missed the meeting this

afternoon?

B: ..

A: You see, Ive got to pick up my son from the doctors.

B: If you have to,

A: Thanks very much.

Invitations

Inviting

Wed like to invite you to

Would you like to come to ?

We wondered whether you could come to ?

What about ?

Responding

Accepting

Thank you

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Id love to.

That would be nice.

Id be delighted.

Thats a good idea./ Lovely./ Id like to very much

Declining

Id love to, but

Im sorry but Ive got another engagement.

Im afraid I cant come/ cant make it tonight. Im going to

!When declining an invitation, an explanation or excuse should normally be given.

Decline or accept each invitation as indicated below.

a. Could you come to dinner on Friday? Accept

b. What about joining us at the opera on Friday? Decline

(your mothers birthday)

c. Wed like to invite you to our house on Sunday for

lunch. Decline (away from the weekend)

d. What do you think about eating out on Sunday? Accept

e. Come on. Lets go for a drink. Accept

f. We wondered whether youd like to come round for

dinner one evening? Accept

g. Were going out for a bite to eat. Why dont you join

us? Decline (another dinner engagement)

h. How about a drink after work? Accept

i. Would you like to come home one evening? Accept

j. Do you fancy a meal? Decline (work to do)

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Polite responses

Knowing the right polite response can make everyone feel more

comfortable. Here is a list of things to say and to reply in a

variety of situations.

1. When someone thanks you You respond . . .

Thanks for the present

Thanks for a lovely evening

Not at all

Don't mention it

My pleasure

Glad you enjoyed it

2. When someone apologises

Oh, I'm so sorry. I seem to have

lost his address

Never mind

It doesn't matter

Don't worry

Not to worry

3. When someone asks your permission

May I come in?

Can I ask you a question?

Do you mind if I smoke?

Yes, of course

Please do

Certainly

Go ahead

(Refusing permission)

Well, actually I'd rather you

didn't (polite)

Yes, I do actually (direct)

(Giving permission)

No, not at all

Of course not

4. When you give something to someone

Could you pass me the . . .,

please? Of course. Here you are

Yes, here they are

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Have you got the tickets? Here are your tickets

5. When you haven't heard properly

Sorry?

(I beg your) pardon?

I didn't quite catch

that/what you said

Could you repeat that,

please?

6. To express comfort

I didn't get that job. Well, never mind.

Well, better luck next

time.

7. To express sympathy

We missed the plane.

My aunt died last night.

Oh, hard/bad luck!

Oh, I am sorry (to hear

that).

Vocabulary

Types of business organisation in the United Kingdom

We should ask ourselves the following questions when considering how types of companies differ. Where did the money to start or expand the business come from?

Who owns or controls the company? What happens to the profit? What legal requirements must the company satisfy? Does the company have limited or unlimited liability*?

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* Unlimited liability means that if a business gets into debt and eventually

fails then all the private wealth of the owner(s) can be used to pay the

creditors - the people the business owes money to. If a business has limited

liability and it fails, the owners lose only the money that they have invested in

the company and no more.

The simplest form of business organisation is the sole trader or

SOLE PROPRIETOR - one person who provides the capital

(the money needed to start), has complete control of the

business, keeps all the profit (or bears the loss), and has

unlimited liability. It is not necessary to publish the accounts

and there are no special legal requirements except that the name

of the business must be registered if it is different from the

owner's name. It is easy to start this type of business, but it can

be difficult to compete with large firms, and difficult to raise

money for expansion. When people open small shops, or work

for themselves as plumbers, decorators and so on, they are

usually sole proprietors. These are 'one-man businesses' but

they can, of course, employ others.

The amount of money available for investing in a business can

be increased by forming a PARTNERSHIP of at least two

people, who all contribute capital to the business and share the

profit in agreed proportions. Like sole proprietors, partnerships

have unlimited liability and there are no special legal

requirements. Professional people such as doctors, accountants

and solicitors often form partnerships.

PRIVATE LIMITED COMPANIES have at least two but

usually not more than fifty members who provide the capital

which is divided into shares. A private limited company is

controlled by a Board of Directors elected by the shareholders -

one share, one vote. Shares can be transferred only with the

agreement of other shareholders and cannot be offered for sale

to the general public. The profit is distributed to the

shareholders in proportion to the number of shares they own. A

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private limited company has limited liability and this is

indicated by the letters LTD after its name. There are several

legal requirements, including the submission of a Memorandum

of Association and other documents to the Registrar of

Companies when the company is set up, and the publication of

annual accounts. Many medium-sized companies in

manufacturing and retailing are of this type. They do not

usually become very large since they must obtain capital for

expansion either from the profits or by borrowing from a bank.

Sometimes a private limited company becomes a PUBLIC

LIMITED COMPANY - which must put the letters PLC after

its name. A PLC has at least two members but no maximum

since it can offer its shares for sale to the public and may,

therefore, have hundreds of thousands of shareholders, who

have one vote for each share they own. Like private limited

companies, PLCS have limited liability, must have a

Memorandum of Association, publish their accounts and are

subject to many legal requirements as set out in the Companies

Act, 1985. The shareholders are the owners of the company and

elect the Board of Directors who control it. Shareholders cannot

sell their shares back to the company but they can sell their

shares to people who wish to buy on the Stock Exchange. The

price of shares will go up if the PLC is making good profits and

will go down if it is not doing so well. That part of the profit

which is not re-invested in the company is paid out to

shareholders as a dividend (e.g. 6p per share). It is possible for

anyone who succeeds in buying 51% of the shares to gain

control of a PLC.

Match the terms with the definitions:

1. limited liability a. a company consisting of two or

more owners who manage it together

and have unlimited liability.

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2. sleeping partner b. you make it when the company is

not profitable

3. board of directors c. the effective management

committee of a limited liability

company

4. sole trader d. shares are traded on the stock

.

5. partnership e. a limited liability company where

anyone has the possibility to buy

shares

6. exchange f. a person who has capital in a

partnership but takes no part in its

commercial and managerial activities

7. public g. a person who is the only owner of

a business whose manager he also is.

8. private h. a company in which the shares are

sold to a limited number of people.

9. profit i. this means that no shareholder of

such a company can be asked to pay

more than the nominal value of his

shares if the company goes bankrupt.

10. loss j. you make it when the company

does well.

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Chapter 2: Telephoning

Background

The telephone is very much an essential part of business life. It brings with it certain advantages for the users, but also certain disadvantages. Let's look at both sides of the coin.

Advantages Disadvantages

Immediate contact and feedback: the telephone enables people to com-municate without a personal meeting

Economy of time and money

More personal than writing

Can create, affect and correct relationships

Demands and retains attention

The receiver may be unprepared

No record of the conversation

No face-to-face contact

If used badly, can damage

relationships

The receiver may feel that the call is an intrusion

Having looked at the advantages and disadvantages of the telephone as a medium, the next question is: when should you use the phone?

1. When speed is important. 2. When no written record is needed. 3. When you are sure you can contact the right person. 4. When you are sure that your call can be effective.

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Structuring a call

Outgoing calls (i.e. when you make the call)

Greeting

Good morning/afternoon/evening.

Hello, (informal)

Identifying yourself

My name is . . . (first introduction)

This is . . . here, (second and subsequent introduction)

This is . . . (speaking).

Asking to speak to someone

Could I speak to ... , please?

Could you put me throught to ... , please.

Could I have extension 4356, please?

I'd like to speak to ... , please.

John Brown, please.

Giving further details

It's in connection with . . .

It's about. . .

Explaining purpose of call

I'm calling to ask about. . .

I'm phoning to let you know the details of. . .

I'm ringing to tell you about. . .

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Showing understanding

I see.

I understand.

Yes/Right/Fine/Okay.

Making an appointment

Could we meet some time soon?

When could we meet?

When could I see you?

What time would suit you?

Would . . . (day) at. . . (time) suit you/be okay?

Can you manage . . . (day) at. . . (time)?

Leaving a message

Could you give ... a message, please?

Could you ask ... to call me (when he gets back)?

(Could you tell. . . ) I'll call back later.

Confirming details

meeting you next week, then.

receiving the contract by fax, then.

Well, I look forward to hearing from you later today, then.

Thanking

Well, thank you very much for your help.

Well, thanks for the information.

I'm much obliged to you.

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I'm very grateful for your assistance, (formal)

Well, thanks a lot. (informal)

Ending the call

I look forward to seeing/hearing from/meeting you.

See you/speak to you soon, (informal)

Goodbye/Bye.

Incoming calls (i.e. when you receive the call)

Identifying yourself when you pick up the phone

Hilary Beacham.

Hilary Beacham speaking.

Caller: Could I speak to Hilary Beacham, please?

Receiver: Yes, speaking.

Helping the caller

Can I help you?

Who would you like to speak to?

Asking for the caller's identification

Who's speaking, please?

Who's calling, please?

And who would like to speak to her, please?

And your name is?

Asking for further information

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What's it in connection with, please?

Explaining that someone is not available

I'm afraid ... is not available this morning/afternoon/at

the moment.

I'm afraid ... is out/in a meeting/with a client at the

moment.

I'm sorry, but... is on holiday/not in the office today/this

week.

I'm sorry, but... is on the other line at present.

I'm afraid his/her line's engaged. Do you want to hold?

Alternative actions

Could you ring/call/phone back later?

Would you like to leave a message?

Can I take a message?

Confirming information

Yes, that's right/correct.

Confirming arrangements

that suits me fine.

that would be fine.

Yes,

that's fine.

Declining arrangements and suggesting alternatives

I'm afraid I won't be in the office on . . . (day).

I'm sorry, but. . . (day/time) doesn't suit me at all.

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I'm afraid I can't manage/make . . . (day/time).

Can you manage . . . (day) at. . . (time)?

I could make it on . . . (day) at. . . (time).

How about. . . (day/time)?

Responding to thanks

Not at all.

Don't mention it.

You're welcome.

Ending the call

I look forward to seeing/hearing from/meeting you.

See you/speak to you soon, (informal)

Thanks for calling.

Goodbye/Bye

Match the words and phrases with similar meanings.

1. the line is busy a. Ill connect you

2. will you hold? b. one moment

3. Ill put you through c. an office number

4. a code d. could I have your name?

5. an extension number e. Im ready

6. whos calling please? f. the lines engaged

7. hold on g. a country or area number

8. this is ... h. is that all?

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9. go ahead i. can you wait?

10. anything else? j. ............. speaking

Supply the missing words in these conversations:

1.

A: Sales Department, good morning.

B: .................................................. Helena Steiner, please?

A: Hold on. Ill get her.

2.

A: Curtis Holdings.

B: .................................2398, please.

C: Accounts Department.

B: ...................................... Jean Delmont?

C: Yes, ................................. How can I help you, Mr. Keller?

Read the following telephone conversations payng attention to

the specific language used for this function.

Conversation One

A Galaxy Computer Supplies.

B Overseas Sales Department, please.

A The lines are busy. Will you hold?

B Yes.

A The line's free now. I'll put you through.

C Overseas Sales. Lynne Noon speaking.

B Good morning. I'm interested in your firesafe cabinets.

Do you have a sales office in Spain?

34

C I'm afraid we don't, but I can arrange for a sales visit from

our agent.

B No, no. That's not necessary. Could you quote me a price

for 20 BZ11 cabinets, CIF Cadiz?

C May I have your name?

B Yes, it's Jose Rosales. That's J-O-S-E, R-O-S-A-L-E-S and

my fax number is nine one, that's the code for Madrid, four

three zero, six six eight seven. Could you read that back to

me?

C Nine one four three oh, double six eight seven. And what

company are you with, Mr Rosales?

B EVP.

C EVP. Right. I'll work out the price and fax a quotation

through immediately.

B Thank you very much. Good bye.

Conversation Two

A Galaxy Computer Supplies. B Extension 143, please. A Hold on. C Overseas Sales. B Could I speak to Mary Thatcher, please? C Who's calling, please? B Marcel Dupont of RGF France. D Mary Thatcher. B Hello. This is Marcel Dupont of RGF. I'd like to place an

order. D Certainly Monsieur Dupont. Go ahead. B I'd like six photoconductor units, reference number seven

six nine oh five, A stroke K. Do you have them in stock? D Yes, we do. Anything else? B No, that's all. This is an urgent order. D OK. We'll send them straight away. Could you confirm this

in writing please, Monsieur Dupont? B Of course.

35

D Thank you very much. B Good bye.

Vocabulary: The market economy

Match the words in column A with their definitions in column B.

A. B.

1. subsidy

2. overstating

3. unemployment

4. supply

5. demand

6. ownership

7. bankruptcy

a. The state of a company which is

unable to pay its debts and has to be

wound up.

b. Inability to find a job.

c. A component of the market forces

which when it prevails makes prices of

goods rise

d. A payment by a government to

producers of certain goods to enable

them to sell their products at a low price.

e. Rights over property.

f. Employment of personnel in excess of

the real necessities.

g. A component of the market forces

which when it prevails makes prices of

goods fall.

Fill in the gaps with words from the list at the end of the text.

A market economy is based on private ...(1) in contrast to

planned economy where [2) ownership prevails. In a free

market economy efficiency is the key word, while on the other

36

hand command economy most likely leads to ...(3). In a free

market economy efficient businesses go ...(4), whereas in a

command economy businesses are ...(5), is allowing them to

survive in spite of their non-satisfactory economic performance,

is enables the latter type of economy to resort to ... (6), that is

employing more personnel than actually required. Market

economy leads to high ...(7) of goods and services, die on the

other hand planned economy will not focus on offering high

quality goods d services to ...(8). This is due to the fact that in

the latter type of economy there is ually no ...(9), as there are

state ...(10) and therefore the options of customers are merely

restricted. On the other hand in a market economy companies

freely ...(11) for a larger market .. .(12), and are thus forced to

be efficient and employ .. .(13) according to real necessities and

...(14) their resources with utmost care.

bankrupt; compete; competition; customers; inefficiency;

manage; monopolies; overstating; ownership; quality; share;

staff; state; subsidized.

37

Chapter 3: Meetings

Background

Meetings can be defined as:

The gathering together of a group of people for a controlled

discussion with a specific purpose

Having defined a meeting, the next question is: when should

you call a meeting?

1. When decisions require judgement rather than

calculation or expertise, (problem-solving)

2. When pooling ideas improves the chances of good

decisions, (idea-generating)

3. If 'acceptance' of the decision is an important

consideration for members.

4. To discuss multi-faceted problems requiring different

skills or specialists.

So what are the essential elements of a meeting?

1. A purpose. The three basic purposes of meetings are

problem-solving, idea-gathering or training.

38

2. An agenda. Without a list of points any meeting will

quickly go out of control, and an uncontrolled meeting

is most unlikely to be effective or efficient.

3. Members. There are three types:

the chairman (or chairperson)

the secretary

the other participants

All the members will be expected to prepare for the

meeting, and, when there, to concentrate, communicate

and co-operate in order to produce . . .

4. A result: the whole object of the exercise. However, this

will be insufficient without. . .

5. A report: normally the minutes of the meeting.

Chairing a meeting

The chairman must control the meeting so that it can reach a

successful conclusion and achieve its purpose. Although the

exact style of chairing will depend on the purpose and type of

meeting, the diagram on the next page shows the main tasks

that the chairman needs to perform.

Some meetings need a referee; some need a captain. But they

all need someone to make sure that the maximum amount of

business is conducted in the minimum amount of time. This is

the role of chairman (addressed 'chairman', 'mister chairman' or

'madam chairman'), who needs a certain amount of language to

get things started, keep them going and lead them to a

conclusion. Here are some phrases you can use:

Opening the meeting

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen/colleagues.

39

If we are all here shall we start/make a start/get

started? let's start/make a start/get started? I think we

should start/make a start/get started. I'd like to

introduce

First of all let me introduce two colleagues from our

Munich office.

Would you like to say a few words about yourselves?

Right, thank you.

Have you all got a copy of the agenda?

If everyone has got a copy of the agenda, let me first explain the purpose of the meeting.

The objective/purpose/aim/target of this meeting is to . . .

Now let's look at the agenda in detail.

As you can see there five main points/items.

I propose/suggest that we take them in the following order.

I think we will need about 30 minutes for point/item 1, 20 minutes for point/ item 2

As we have a lot to get through this morning, can we agree on the ground rules? I suggest/propose the

following: . .

Moving to the first point

Right. Now let's move on to/look at the first point.

Handing over to another person

Right, Jeremy, over to you.

Bringing people in (encouraging hesitant speakers)

40

We haven't heard from you yet, George. What do you

think about this proposal?

Would you like to add anything, Margaret?

Anything to add, Peter?

Stopping people talking

One at a time, please!

We can't all speak at once. John first, then Mary, then Max.

Would you mind addressing your remarks to the chair? (but don't silence the person who talks too much; you

may need him or her later)

Well, thank you, Deborah. I think that's clear now.

Could we have some other opinions?

Right, thank you, Peter. I think we've all got the point now. Shall we move on?

Okay John, thanks. Susan, I think you wanted to say something?

Listening actively

What to do What to say

Nod head Right, I see

Lean forwards Okay, I understand

Study the speaker Um, that's interesting

Show interest Right

Maintain eye contact Okay

Asking for repetition or clarification

1. If you didn't hear, you can say:

41

(I'm) sorry. I didn't hear what you said. Would you mind

repeating it, please?

2. If you didn't understand, you can say:

(I'm) sorry. I don't quite follow you. Could you go over that

again, please?

3. If you feel the speaker is being vague or imprecise, you can

say:

What exactly do you mean by ... ?

Preventing irrelevance

I'm afraid that's outside the scope of this meeting.

We're beginning to lose sight of the main point.

Keep to the point, please.

I think we'd better leave that subject for another meeting.

Paraphrase

So what you're saying is . . .

In other words . . .

So you mean . . .

So, if I understand you correctly . . .

Summarising

To sum up then,. . .

So, to summarise what has been said so far, . . .

Keeping an eye on the time

We're running short of time. Could you please be brief?

42

Moving to the next point

Right. Let's move on to the next point

Geraldine, would you like to introduce the next point?

Okay, on to item 4. Who's going to open this one?

Well, I think that covers everything on that point. Let's move on.

Controlling decision-making

I'd like to (formally) propose that . . .

I'd like to propose the following amendment.

Can we take a vote on that proposal?

All those in favour. Right. All those against. Right, thank you.

So that motion has been accepted/rejected by 4 votes to 3.

Very well, then, we agree with some reservations/ unanimously that

Well, it seems that we are broadly in agreement that . . .

Indicating follow-up tasks

Paul, do you think you could . . . ?

Derek, how about preparing some figures for the next

meeting?

Closing the meeting

Right. That just about covers everything.

I'd like to thank Marianne and Anke for coming over from Munich.

So, the next meeting will be on . . . (date) at. . . (time)

43

Thanks for your participation

Right, I declare the meeting closed.

Language focus:

a. Asking and giving opinions

We can express our opinions on a scale from strongly to

weakly. Below is a list of expressison to introduce the opinion:

strongly I'm convinced/sure/positive that . . .

I strongly believe that . . .

I have absolutely no doubt that. . .

I definitely/certainly think that. . .

I really do think that. . .

I really feel that.

neutrally In my opinion

I think/consider/feel that .

I believe that . . .

As I see it, . . .

To my mind . . .

From my point of view . .

I'm inclined to think that.

weakly I tend to think that. . .

Similarly we can ask for opinions on a scale from forcefully to

tactfully. Below is a list of expressions to ask for an opinion:

forcefully Do you really think that. . .

Do you really believe that. . .

Are you absolutely sure/ convinced/

positive that. . .

44

Don't you think that. . .

neutrally Do you think . . .

Do you believe that. . .

Do you consider that . . .

Am I right in thinking that. . .

tactfully Would I be right in thinking that. . .

NOTES

1. Notice the use of the positive and negative of think:

I think we should invest in a new computer system. (positive)

I don't think we should invest. (negative; not: I think we

shouldn't invest)

I think so. (positive)

I don't think so. (negative)

2. Think versus mean

What do you think about the new model? (= what is your

opinion)

What do you mean? (= what do you want to say?)

3. Other expressions to give opinions:

As far as I am concerned, we should introduce the new security

arrangements as soon as possible.

According to the MD, the money is not yet available for the new

system, {not: according to the MD's opinion)

b. Agreeing/ disagreeing

We can use the following scale to show the range from

agreement to partial agreement to disagreement.

45

We can also distinguish between agreeing with someone and

agreeing to something.

Agreeing with someone Agreeing to something

agreement I totally agree with

you

I fully/completely

agree

I'm in total agreement

with you there

I totally accept that

I fully/completely

agree

I'm all in favour of

that

partial

agreement

Up to a point/To a certain

extent

I'd agree with you, but...

You may have something there,

but...

You could/may be right,

but...

Up to a point/To a

certain extent

I'd accept that, but...

That may be so, but...

That may/might be

right, but...

disagreement (I'm afraid) I can't agree

with you

I don't agree

I can't go along with you

on that

(I'm afraid) 1 can't

accept that

I don't accept that

I can't go along with

that

Agree and accept

I agree with you. (with someone; not: I am agree with you)

I agree with the chairman's statement. (with something; = I

have the same opinion as)

I agree with you about/on the new plans. (= to share the same

opinion about/on something)

I agree to your request to postpone payment. (agree to

something = to be willing to accept or allow something)

I agree to review your credit position in a few months. (agree to

do something; not: accept to do something)

46

I accept your invitation. (to accept something; not: to agree

something)

Study the following meetings paying attention to the specific

language used.

Sample 1

A The next item on the agenda is the new Spanish sales

organization. As you know, we're going to open the new sales

office in March and so we need to discuss recruitment.

Basically, we have two alternatives. We can either take on new

Spanish sales representatives and train them. Or we can teach

our French sales reps Spanish and transfer them. Any views on

this, Marcel?

B Yes. The important thing here is product knowledge, not

language. The French sales staff have already got the product

knowledge. They know how the company operates too. I think

we should teach them Spanish and transfer them.

A How do you feel about that proposal, Carlos?

C I don't agree. It takes years to learn a language. But why

don't we employ Spanish staff, and send them to France for

technical training?

B No. It's a waste of time, if they can't speak French.

C What do you think, Nancy?

A I don't know. How long does it take to train a new sales

rep, Marcel?

B It depends on the rep. Usually about a year.

A Mmm. That is a problem. But I think nationality is

important here. It's a Spanish branch so I don't think we should

employ French nationals. Now I know you're not going to agree

with me here, Marcel, but as I see it we have no choice...

47

Sample 2

A Right. Shall we get started? Everyone's got copies of the

report so I'm not going to go through the figures in detail. The

Parkview hotel isn't showing a good enough profit and we need

to decide how to tackle the problem. Kim, would you like to

begin?

B Yes, thanks. First of all, I don't think this is a problem of

bad management. It's a problem of investment. It's a beautiful

building in a wonderful country setting. It should be a top class

hotel but at the moment it's too cheap. Why don't we upgrade

it?

A What do you mean by 'upgrade' it?

B I think we should redecorate, improve the services we

offer, then we can increase our prices. I'm sure the investment

will show good returns.

A How do you feel about that, Oscar?

C Well, I don't think investment is the key issue here. The

Parkview hotel doesn't make money because it's in the wrong

location, and that's our main problem. Why don't we make

cutbacks in services and use the money we save to reduce

prices? We could offer budget weekend breaks and special off-

season deals.

A I didn't follow what you said about the hotel's location.

C Well, the hotel isn't in a prime site. It's way out of town

and we can't fill it. That's why I want to reduce our prices.

A I see. Any reaction to that, Miranda?

D Yes, I think we're getting sidetracked here. This isn't a

question of prices. This is a marketing problem. We need to

decide what customers we want to attract, and the business

conference trade is the growing market - day conferences,

weekend conferences, weekday conferences - this market is

booming and I think we should develop it at the Parkview. Of

course, this means we have to provide the right facilities. We

48

need a new conference hall for a start and an office service

centre but this is ....

Vocabulary

The business cycle

The business cycle or trade cycle is a permanent feature of

market economies: gross domestic product (GDP) fluctuates as

booms and recessions succeed each other. During a boom, an

economy (or at least parts of it) expands to the point where it is

working at full capacity, so that production, employment,

prices, profits, investment and interest rates all tend to rise.

During a recession, the demand for goods and services declines

and the economy begins to work at below its potential.

Investment, output, employment, profits, commodity and share

prices, and interest rates generally fall. A serious, long-lasting

recession is called a depression or a slump.

The highest point on the business cycle is called a peak, which

is followed by a downturn or downswing or a period of

contraction. The lowest point on the business cycle is called a

trough, which is followed by a recovery or an upturn or

upswing or a period of expansion. Economists sometimes

describe contraction as 'negative growth'.

Match the words in column A with their definitions in column B.

A. B.

1. boom a) An intermediate stage in the trade cycle

when the upward movement has started

but not reached its maximum.

49

2. slump

3. inflation

4. trend

5. recovery

6. recession

7. inflation

8. fluctuate

b) The point in the business cycle when

prices and employment reach a peak.

c) A persistent rise in the level of prices

and wages in a national economy.

d) The point in the business cycle when

prices and employment are at their

lowest.

e) A slowdown in the growth rate during

the trade cycle with falling levels of

investment and employment.

f) A persistent rise in the level of prices

and salaries and wages in the economy

of a country.

g) To go up and down (of prices, rates of

employment etc.).

h) A tendency, a direction in which an

economic phenomenon moves.

Fill in the gaps with suitable words at the end of the list.

A business cycle, also called a .. .(1) cycle, is the fluctuating

movement of a country's :onomy So if at the moment

production has reached a peak, employment rates, wages id

salaries are high, this stage of the cycle is called a ...(2). Sooner

or later, sales of )ods will decline, and so will output, as well as

the rate of ... (3). This means a ... (4) has t in. If the decline

becomes very severe, the demand for goods reaches a

minimum, ^employment... (5) dramatically, while output... (6),

the cycle has reached the moment : ...(7), also called slump.

This does not happen very often, as economies do not always

ach the minimum level before starting up ...(8). Depressions are

usually accompanied r a general fall in the level of prices, a

50

phenomenon termed ... (9). When the increase in itput and

demand for commodities has started and unemployment ...(10)

down, we y we have reached the point in the cycle called ...(11).

again; boom; deflation; depression; employment; is falling;

goes; recession; recovery; rises; trade.

51

Chapter 4: Presentations general considerations

Background

A presentation is a prepared talk given by a speaker (the

transmitter) to one or more listeners (the receivers). To be

effective, the speaker's message must pass to the listeners it

must be heard and correctly understood. In general, two-way

communication is more effective than one-way communication;

so, encourage the audience to provide feedback by asking

questions or making comments. In any case, remember that the

talk is given for their benefit - not for the speaker's.

So, what are the elements of an effective presentation?

1. The effective organisation of the information

2. The effective delivery of the information

3. The effective use of language

Preparing your presentation

Five easy steps:

1. Collect your material/ideas, jotting them down as they come

to you on a piece of paper or a board. Be as wide-ranging as

possible.

52

2. Select the points which seem most relevant for the situation

you have defined.

3. Group the points which have some common thread, each

group having a rough heading for the moment ('historical

background', 'features of the product', 'practical problems', etc.).

4. Sequence these groups into an order which will make most

sense for the audience.

5. Consider ways of linking the groups together, by a common

idea, an analogy, a visual.

Structuring your presentation

The introduction

Remember: First impressions count; so let the audience see your

best qualities. In particular try to be:

Organised - make your plan of your talk 'transparent'.

Human - make some reference to the immediate situation, and

relax.

Fluent - learn this part perfectly.

Brief - the audience have come for the information.

Here are some phrases you can use to introduce yourself and

your talk:

Good morning/afternoon/evening, ladies and gentlemen/

colleagues. My name is . . . and I am marketing director

of . . . say a few words to you today about the AZ120.

talk to you today about the AZ120.

I'd like to

explain to you today the operation of the AZ120.

I shall take about 15 minutes of your time.

I aim to talk to you for abour 15 minutes.

53

This will take about half an hour.

I've divided my talk into five main parts.

The subject can be looked at under five main headings.

During my talk I'll be looking at five main areas.

please feel free to interrupt.

If you have any questions, I'll be glad to try to answer them at end of my talk.

To start with, then, I'd like to consider ...

Linking Sentences

You can use the following sentences to link the different parts

or sections of your presentation. Remember that they also give a

clear 'signal' to your listeners as to the point you have reached

in the structure of your presentation.

Introducing your first point

To start with, then, I'd like to consider . . .

First of all, I'd like to look at .. .

Finishing a point

Those are the main points on . . .

That's all I have to say about. . .

So that, then, is . . .

Now we've looked at/dealt with . . .

Starting a new point

turn to . . . Now let's

move on to . . .

54

consider . . . I'd like now to examine . . .

Next we come to . . .

Turning now to . . .

Let's move on now to . . .

The next point I'd like to make is . . .

Referring to what you have said

As I said at the beginning . . .

I told you a few moments ago that. . .

In the first part of my talk, I said . . .

As I've already said, . . .

As I mentioned earlier, . . .

Referring to what you will say

I'll come to that later.

I'll return to this point in a few minutes.

... and I'll talk about this in the next part of my

presentation.

... I'll comment on this in my conclusion.

Summarising

So now I'd just like to summarise the main points.

In brief, we have looked at . . .

Concluding

That's all I have to say for now.

(I think) that covers most of the points.

That concludes my talk.

Thank you for your attention.

Inviting questions

55

And now, if you have any questions, I'll be glad to (try

to) answer them.

Does anyone have any questions?

Any questions?

56

Chapter 5: Company presentation

We can describe the organization in terms of:

1. Hierarchy

Examples:

1. The company is headed by the MD

2. The sales director reports to the MD.

3. The sales director is under the MD.

4. The sales director is accountable to the MD.

5. The sales director is supported by a sales team.

6. The sales director is assisted by a sales assistant.

2. Responsibilities/ functions

Verbs frequently used to describe company organization

include:

to be in charge of

to be responsible for

to support or to be supported by

to assist or to be assisted by

to be accountable to

Examples:

1. The finance department is responsible for accounting

57

2. The R&D department takes care of new product

development

3. The administration manager is in charge of personnel.

4. The marketing department is in charge of the sales

force.

5. The marketing department is responsible for advertising,

sales promotions and

6. market research.

7. The five department heads are accountable to the

Managing Director.

3. Titles

Below are the main managerial titles with the US

equivalents in brackets:

Chairman (president)

Managing director (chief executive officer/ senior

vice-president)

Finance director (vice-president finance)

Sales manager (sales director)

4. Affiliates

X is the parent company.

A, B and C are subsidiaries (more than 50 per cent owned

by the parent)

5. Structure

A company can be described in terms of its departments,

divisions and sections.

The most common verbs for describing structure are:

consists of contains includes

58

is composed of is made up of is divided into

Examples:

1. The company consists of five main departments.

2. The marketing department is made up of three units.

3. The sales department is divided into two sections.

1. Read the following text on company structure.

Most organizations have a hierarchical or pyramidal

structure, with one person or a group of people at the top,

and an increasing number of people below them at each

successive level. There is a clear line or chain of command

running down the pyramid. All the people in the

organization know what decisions they are able to make,

who their superior (or boss) is (to whom they report), and

who their immediate subordinates are (to whom they can

give instructions).

Some people in an organization have colleagues who help

them: for example, there might be an Assistant to the

Marketing Manager. This is known as a staff position: its

holder has no line authority, and is not integrated into the

chain of command, unlike, for example, the Assistant

Marketing Manager, who is number two in the marketing

department.

Yet the activities of most companies are too complicated to

be organized in a single hierarchy. Shortly before the first

world war, the French industrialist Henry Fayol organized

his coal-mining business according to the functions that it

had to carry out. He is generally credited with inventing

functional organization. Today, most large manufacturing

organizations have a functional structure, including (among

59

others) production, finance, marketing, sales, and personnel

or human resources departments. This means, for example,

that the production and marketing departments cannot take

financial decisions without consulting the finance

department.

Functional organization is efficient, but there are two

standard criticisms. Firstly, people are usually more

concerned with the success of their department than that of

the company, so there are permanent battles between, for

example, finance and marketing, or marketing and

production, which have incompatible goals. Secondly,

separating functions is unlikely to encourage innovation.

Yet for a large organization manufacturing a range of

products, having a single production department is generally

inefficient. Consequently, most large companies are

decentralized, following the model of Alfred Sloan, who

divided General Motors into separate operating divisions in

1920. Each division had its own engineering, production

and sales departments, made a different category of car (but

with some overlap, to encourage internal competition), and

was expected to make a profit.

Businesses that cannot be divided into autonomous

divisions with their own markets

can simulate decentralization, setting up divisions that deal

with each other using internally determined transfer prices.

Many banks, for example, have established commercial,

corporate, private banking, international and investment

divisions.

An inherent problem of hierarchies is that people at lower

levels are unable to make important decisions, but have to

pass on responsibility to their boss. One solution to this is

matrix management, in which people report to more than

one superior. For example, a product manager with an idea

might be able to deal directly with managers responsible for

60

a certain market segment and for a geographical region, as

well as the managers responsible for the traditional

functions of finance, sales and production. This is one way

of keeping authority at lower levels, but it is not necessarily

a very efficient one. Thomas Peters and Robert Waterman,

in their well-known book In Search of Excellence, insist on

the necessity of pushing authority and autonomy down the

line, but they argue that one element - probably the product

- must have priority; four-dimensional matrices are far

too complex.

A further possibility is to have wholly autonomous,

temporary groups or teams that are responsible for an entire

project, and are split up as soon as it is successfully

completed. Teams are often not very good for decision-

making, and they run the risk of relational problems, unless

they are small and have a lot of self-discipline. In fact they

still require a definite leader, on whom their success

probably depends.

2. Which of the following three paragraphs most

accurately summarizes the text, and why?

First summary:

Although most organizations are hierarchical, with a

number of levels, and a line of command running from the

top to the bottom, hierarchies should be avoided because

they make decision-making slow and difficult. A solution to

this problem is matrix management, which allows people

from the traditional functional departments of production,

finance, marketing, sales, etc. to work together in teams.

Another solution is decentralization: the separation of the

organization into competing autonomous divisions.

61

Second summary:

Most business organizations have a hierarchy consisting of

several levels and a clear line of command. There may also

be staff positions that are not integrated into the hierarchy.

The organization might also be divided into functional

departments, such as production, finance, marketing, sales

and personnel. Larger organizations are often further

divided into autonomous divisions, each with its own

functional sections. More recent organizational systems

include matrix management and teams, both of which

combine people from different functions and keep decision-

making at lower levels.

Third summary:

Most businesses are organized as hierarchies, with a clear

chain of command: a boss who has subordinates, who in

turn have their own subordinates, and so on. The hierarchy

might be internally divided into functional departments. A

company offering a large number of products or services

might also be subdivided into autonomous divisions.

Communication among divisions can be improved by the

introduction of matrix management or teams.

Language focus

A company can also be described in terms of its current

projects. In order to refer to such projects we must use

Present Tense Continuous.

A. Sample sentences

Sales are increasing at the moment.

At present we are recruiting a new sales director.

62

What are you doing? -I am just finishing this report.

We are starting a new sales campaign next month.

B. Form

The present continuous comprises two parts: the present

tense of to be + V . . . ing

1. Positive form

I am checking the stock.

You/we/they are checking . . .

He/she/it is checking . . .

We/you/they are checking . . .

2. Negative form

I am/'m not expecting a delivery today . . .

You/we are not/aren't expecting . . .

He/she/it is not/isn't expecting . . .


Am I getting the right results?

Are you getting . . . ?

Is he/she/it getting . . . ?

Are we/you/they getting . . . ?

C. Uses

We use the present continuous:

1. To indicate an activity at the moment of speaking:

What are you doing?

I'm calculating the sales figures.

2. To indicate an activity around the time of speaking:

63

We are installing a new assembly line.

3. To indicate the temporary nature of an activity:

I'm working in Paris at the moment, (but normally I work in London)

4. To indicate a fixed arrangement in the future:

We are running a training seminar next Monday.

NOTES

1. With C l, 2 and 3, we can use the following time expressions

(present time markers):

at the/this moment, at present, currently, now

2. With C4, we normally use a word or expression to show that

we mean future time. This avoids confusion with the present

time:

What are you doing this evening? (future) cf. What are you

doing? (present)

3. Use the present tense continuous of the verbs below to

complete the sentences.

wait, expand, leave, phone, develop, stay, go, get, build, spend

1. Philips their activities in China.

2. Our research department a

new drug.

3. They at the Dorchester Hotel.

4. Someone . For you in your office.

5. We .. a new factory in Barcelona.

6. I ..about order no. AJ/ 2496

7. These products .near the end of

their life cycle.

8. The dollar .up.

64

9. The EDP department a lot of

money on new equipment.

10. Im tired so I . now.

4. Read the following company presentations and

underline all instances of Present Tense Continuous.

Also identify the words and expressions used to refer to

the companies structure and organization.

Presentation 1

The Philips group manufactures and sells over a million

different electrical products. About half our sales are to the

consumer market and half are to the professional and

industrial markets. The group has a turnover of 24,560

million ECUs.

Philips is a multinational company with organizations in

sixty different countries. NV Philips is the holding or

parent company and it's located in the Netherlands. It has

over 120 subsidiaries worldwide and there are 304,800

employees.

The group is also working in joint ventures with other

partners. For example, we're expanding our activities in

China at the moment, developing business ventures with the

People's Republic.

Presentation 2

BICC plc is a large multinational with 55,000 employees

worldwide and a turnover of approximately three billion

pounds. The group's main activities are construction and the

manufacture of cables.

I'd like to tell you about the five different divisions in the

group and I'll begin with Balfour Beatty. Balfour Beatty is

65

Britain's leading construction company with a turnover of

around one thousand four hundred million pounds. The

company is famous for its work constructing motorways

and buildings.

The next division is BICC Cables. The cables division is

expanding fast in Europe at the moment. It now owns the

Italian company, Ceat Cavi, Cel-Cat in Portugal, and part of

CEGB in Spain. BICC Cables has a turnover of five

hundred and eighty-three million pounds.

Now I'll turn to BICC's overseas activities. There are two

overseas divisions, Australasia, and North America Cables.

Australasia's principal activities are cables, construction,

and electronics, and it has a turnover of six hundred and

eighteen million pounds.

North America Cables has a turnover of two hundred and

fifty-seven million pounds from its operations in the US and

Canada. Its main activities are the manufacture of power

and telecommunication cables.

Now I'll move on to the final division, BICC Technologies.

Technologies is a new division and it's growing fast. It

manufactures communication and control systems for

industry and has a turnover of one hundred and sixty-six

million pounds.

66

Chapter 6: Presentations describing trends

Language focus

1. Past Tense Simple

A. Form

1. Positive form

Last year I/you/he/she/it/we/they worked in personnel.

2. Negative form

At that time I/you/he/she/it/we/they did not/didn't know the

forecast.


Did I/you/he/she/it/we/they fill in the form correctly?

B. Uses

We use the past simple to talk about activities in the past.

1. To indicate an activity at a specific time in the past:

Last week the ABC Group took over our company.

2. To ask when an activity happened:

When did the new MD start?

NOTES

67

1. Once we have explicitly mentioned a specific time in the

past, all the following activities are understood to happen within

that time frame, i.e. in the past:

Last year we appointed a new sales director. After he took up

his post, he started to change the sales regions.

2. Typical past time markers include:

yesterday

. . . ago

last . . .

on + day/date, e.g. on Monday, on 21 January

in + month/year e.g. in July, in 1983

at that time

3. Already and recently

In American English already is used with the past simple:

We already finished the figures.

In British English the present perfect is used:

We have already finished the figures.

Recently is used with both the past simple and the present

perfect:

I met him recently. (at a specific time in the recent past)

I haven't seen him recently. (in the period of time from the

recent past till today)

2. Present Perfect Simple

A. Form

68

The present perfect simple comprises two parts: has/have + V3

1. Positive form

I/you/we/they have/'ve finished the project.

He/she/it has/'s finished the project.

2. Negative form

I/you/we/they have not/haven't + V3

He/she/it has not/hasn't + V3


Have I/you/we/they + V3

Has he/she/it + V3

B. Uses

In meaning, the present perfect simple belongs to the present

tenses. This is because in the various uses below, the meaning is

always linked to the present rather than the past.

1. To indicate an activity at some non-specific time in the past

with an impact or result in the present or future:

We have completed the feasibility study. (present result = study

is now finished; future impact = we are ready to proceed to the

next stage)

cf. We completed the feasibility study last week. (specific time

in the past)

We have raised our prices. (present result = higher prices)

cf. We raised our prices at the beginning of the year. (specific

time in the past)

2. To indicate an activity within a period of time which is not

yet finished, i.e. unfinished time:

69

Sales have increased this year. (the year is not yet finished)

Sales increased last year. (last year is finished)

3. To indicate an activity which started in the past and continues

to the present:

So far/Up to now we have tested three new applications. (in the

period between then and now)

He has worked as operations manager since 1989. (he started in

1989 and he is still operations manager today)

The company has been based here for five years. (it moved here

five years ago and is still here today)

NOTES

1. As the activity in Cl happened at a non-specific time in the

past, no time marker is used.

2. In C2, typical time markers are:

this morning/week/month/year

today now

Just and just now are considered as present time markers, so

they are used with the present perfect or other present tense:

We have just signed the contract.

The delivery has just now arrived.

Recently can also be used with the present perfect (see also Past

Tense Simple):

Recently there have been many changes in the department.

Already and yet both provide a frame of unfinished time; the

time frame starts at an unspecified point in the past and

70

continues to the present. Already is typically used in positive

sentences; yet in negative and interrogative sentences:

Have you chosen an advertising agency yet? (between then and

now)

We have already appointed someone for the post, (between

then and now)

3. In C3, typical time markers are:

since (used to indicate the starting point) for (used to indicate

the period)

He has worked in this department since 1989. (starting point)

He has worked in this department for five years, (period)

Describing trends

Trends are changes or movements. These changes are normally

in numerical items, e.g. costs, production volumes or

unemployment. There are three basic trends: upward,

downward and no change (stable). For each of these there are a

number of verbs and nouns to express the movement. We can

divide these verbs into transitive and intransitive. After a

transitive verb we must put an object:

We have raised our prices in line with inflation.

After an intransitive verb we cannot put a direct object.

Our prices have risen in line with inflation.

1.

Transitive verb Intransitive verb Noun

increase increase increase

raise rise rise

71

put/push/step up go/ be up

grow growth

Extend extension

Expand expand expansion

boom boom (dramatic rise)

2.


decrease decrease decrease

fall fall

Drop drop drop

put/push down go/be down

decline decline

Cut cut

Reduce reduction

collapse collapse (dramatic fall)

slump slump (dramatic fall)

3.


keep/ hold stable/ constant remain stable stability

maintain (at the same level) stay constant stability

4. Other expressions used to describe trends.

To stand at. We use this phrase to focus on a particular point, before we

mention the trends of movements.

72

In the first year sales in our region stood at 109,000 units.

To reach a peak of

In the sixth year sales in our region reached a peak of 24,000

units.

We can describe a trend by looking at:

the difference between the two levels

the end point

1. Describing the difference:

This year sales have increased by 10 per cent.

This year there has been an increase in sales of 10 per cent.

Notice the prepositions. We use to increase by (with the

verb) and an increase of (with the noun).

2. Describing the end point:

This year profits have risen to $2m.

This year there has been a rise in profits of $2m.

Notice the prepositions. We use to rise to (with the verb)

and a rise to(with the noun).

Trends are changes. Sometimes we need to give more

information about the change, as follows:

Raw material cost have fallen slightly. (We modify a verb with

an adverb)

There has been a rapid increase in our expenses. (we modify a

noun with an adjective)

73

!Remember that most adverbs are derived from adjectives by adding ly; adjectives ending in ic add ally:

definite definitely,

useful usefully,

productive productively,

dramatic dramatically, etc.

Other adjectives and adverbs used to describe the degree or

speed of change are:

dramatic(ally), vast(ly), huge(ly), substantial(ly), considerable/

considerably, significant(ly), moderate(ly), slight(ly), rapid(ly),

quick(ly), gradual(ly), slow(ly), etc.

Read the following presentations and identify all words and

expressions used to describe trends.

Presentation 1

A This graph shows the sales results for last year. Can

everybody see it OK? Good. Perhaps you could run through the

figures for us, Lester?

B Yes of course. Er ... as you can see, we had a quiet start to

the year. Sales remained steady at 6,000 units in January and

February.

C When did the Spring sales campaign begin?

B In March. You can see that sales increased slightly to

7,000 then and they went up by another 1,000 units in April to

stand at 8,000 units.

C Why did we have that trough in June?

B Ah, that was due to increased competition. Our

competitors launched a rival product in May and sales fell to

74

5,000 units. They decreased by another thousand units in June.

But we increased our discounts to the wholesalers and sales

rose steadily, back to 5,000 units in July and then 6,000 units in

August. The dramatic rise came in the next two months.

Sales increased from 10,000 units in September to 13,000 units

in October.

A Was that because of the Christmas orders?

B That's right. And sales went down by 6,000 units in

November when the Christmas orders stopped. They stayed at

7,000 until the end of the year. Er ... Are there any questions?

C Yes. How do these figures compare with the previous

year's?

B Very well. I've got last year's graph here. Er ... You can

see that there was a slight improvement in January and

February but the figures for April ...

Presentation 2

Inflation fell dramatically in the UK at the start of the eighties.

It was nearly 20% in 1980 but down to 3.4% by 1986.

Unemployment, on the other hand, increased sharply. It

reached three million in the mid-eighties and then began to fall.

By 1988, it was down to around two million.

Consumer spending rose dramatically in the 1980s. Public

spending increased by only 12% but consumer spending

increased by nearly 40%. A large amount of this extra

spending went on foreign goods. This resulted in an increase

in imports. At the same time, a cutback in North Sea oil

exports and a high sterling exchange rate led to a fall in exports.

There was a small surplus of 0.2 billion pounds in the balance

of trade in

1986. This changed to a deficit of 2.9 billion in 1987. The

deficit grew and by 1989 it was over 20 billion pounds.

75

The government took action. They increased interest rates

sharply, to stop the rise in consumer spending. As a result, the

mortgage rate doubled. It went from around 8% in Spring 1988

to 15.5% in Spring 1990. The high interest and mortgage rates

led to an increase in inflation. It rose to around 9% in 1990.

76

Chapter 7: Presentations product description

Language focus: Adjectives

A. Form

1. Many adjectives are derived from nouns or verbs:

Ending Noun or verb Adjective

-ite define definite

-ial manager, accident managerial, accidental

-ful use useful

-less hope hopeless

-al economy economical

-ic economy economic

-ive product productive

-ous number numerous

-ab/e/

ible

agree agreeable

-ing interest interesting

-ed interest interested

2. Other adjectives, especially one- or two-syllable adjectives,

do not have a suffix:

77

good bad young old big small

NOTES

1. Some adjectives end in -ly:

lively lovely friendly lonely

2. Some adjectives have the same form as adverbs:

early late straight hard direct

short long high fast wrong

C. Uses

We use adjectives in the following instances.

1. To give more information about nouns:

The recent figures show a sharp increase in productivity.

Which figures? - The recent figures

What type of increase? A sharp increase.

The adjective normally comes before the noun.

2. After the verb be:

We are pleased about the takeover, (adjective + preposition)

We are pleased that the company was taken over, (adjective +

that-clause)

We were pleased to hear about the takeover, (adjective +

infinitive with to)

3. After verbs of the senses:

He sounds very pleasant on the phone.

78

4. After linking verbs:

Profits have remained stable for the last two quarters.

Read the following product descriptions and underline all

the adjectives used. Think about the way they have been

formed.

Dialogue 1

A What was the trip like?

B It was very interesting, thanks.

A Tell me about the machines. What were they like?

B Very quiet and very efficient. There was very little waste.

A What about breakdowns? Were they reliable?

B Yes. The Production Manager was very pleased with

them. He says they're easy to maintain, too. I was interested in

the controls. They're very user-friendly.

A What was the output?

B Around 6,000 packages an hour.

A Not bad.

A But there's a problem.

A What's that?

B Space. They're over 5 metres high.

A How long are they?

B Just under 5 metres. That's not a problem, but the height

is.

Presentation 1

Good morning, everyone. Today I'd like to introduce you to the

new product in the range next season - a new version of the

aerobic cycle - the AC5.

79

As you know, the previous model, the AC4, was very

successful last year. It's popular with sports centres and

commercial users, but it doesn't sell well in the domestic sector

of the market.

The AC5, on the other hand, is designed for the domestic user.

It's lightweight, only eleven kilograms, so it's easy to pick up

and carry about. It's only 38 cm wide and 65 cms long, but it

has the same high stability as all our other aerobic cycles

limba engleza greavu

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