can - Euroexam

EuroPro B2 

Web Coursebook

Web Coursebook 

EuroPro B2 

introduction 

unit 1 - short texts 

unit 2 - paragraph headings 

unit 3 - scan reading 

unit 4 - multiple choice reading 

unit 5 - short conversations 

unit 6 - making notes 

unit 7 - meeting 

unit 8 - transactional writing 

unit 9 - extensive writing 

unit 10 - dictation 

unit 11 - muliple choice gapfill 

unit 12 - modified cloze 

unit 13 - dialogue 

unit 14 - summary 

unit 15 - letter 

unit 16 - interview 

unit 17 - presentation 

unit 18 - transactional dialogues 

unit 19 - collaborative speaking 

unit 20 - CEFR

EuroPro B2 Coursebook - Introduction Page 1 

About this book 

Introduction to EuroPro B2 Web Coursebook 

This coursebook is intended to prepare students for the EuroPro 

Examination at B2 (Vantage) level. The EuroPro coursebook is 

primarily intended for classroom use, but can also be used by 

those working alone or with a tutor. 

The book has twenty units; one for each task in the examination 

(reading 4 tasks, listening 3 tasks, writing 2 tasks, grammar and 

vocabulary 3 tasks, mediation 3 tasks and speaking 4 tasks); and 

finally a unit containing the CEFR criteria and extra classroom 

activities. 

Each unit, except the last, follows a similar structure: first 

vocabulary related to a particular business or professional topic is introduced; second, students 

meet and work with a reading text; third, examination skills for that task are practised, and 

fourth, there is a practice task for the examination. Throughout the unit there is a continuity of 

topic. 

The teaching time for each unit will, of course, depend on the students’ level and needs as well 

as the teacher’s method of presentation. However each until should provide for three hours 

teaching. The book is, therefore, best suited to a 48-50 hour course. 

Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) 

The CEFR of the Council of Europe (language division) is a set of can-do criteria which enable 

all language examinations in Europe to be related to a common framework of standards. The 

criteria are designed positively, i.e. through establishing what a student can do, and not 

focussing on what the candidate can’t do yet. As the criteria for examinations are based 

positively and on communication competence, those examinations which are related to the 

framework are practical and non-threatening. 

This coursebook and the EuroPro Examination are fully related to the CEFR. As a result both 

the student’s successful preparation using this book and the anticipated successful examination 

result will establish him/her at B2 (Vantage) level. The achievement will be recognised across 

Europe. 

Euro Examinations 

At present Euro Examinations are offered at three levels B1 (Threshold), B2 (Vantage) and C1 

(Operational Proficiency). 

The examinations are in two systems: The EuroExam for general learners of English, and the 

EuroPro for business and professional learners. 

In addition to coursebooks, teachers’ books and sound recordings, the Euro Examination Centre 

also publishes sample sets of examination papers, diagnostic tests and mock examinations. 

Distinguishing the format of the EuroPro from the EuroExam 

The EuroPro and the EuroExam differ in format in just two of the tasks. In the speaking tasks 

the EuroPro features a presentation whereas the EuroExam has a picture story, and in the 

listening tasks the EuroPro has a business meeting and the EuroExam has a radio/TV 

programme. 

The format of the remaining seventeen tasks is the same for both exams. 

Copyright 2007 Euro Examination Centre.


The Structure of the EuroPro B2 Coursebook 

The EuroPro examination has nineteen tasks. Each task has one teaching unit. The answers and 

tapescript (if relevant) are contained in the unit. 

The Reading Units (1 - 4) 

Unit 1: Organisation in the Workplace 

task name Reading test, part 1: short texts 

You match five short texts (hand-written notes, short advertisements, 

task description 

notices, instructions, directions, or excerpts from a leaflet), with one of 

seven possible responses (pictures, titles, notes, definitions, etc.). An 

example is provided. 

skills tested Skim reading, scan reading and reading for detailed information 

real life link 

It is important to understand the meaning in context of notes and other 

short texts (e.g. business emails) 

topic for task in 

this book 

The principles of ‘scientific’ management 

Unit 2: The Restructuring of Business 

task name Reading test, part 2: paragraph headings 

There are six paragraphs for which you must find the most appropriate 

task description heading from a choice of eight paragraph headings. Two headings are 

not needed. An example is provided. 

skills tested Reading for gist. 


You will often have to read long texts, but only have to understand 

what the text is about and not for detailed information. 


this book 

The rights and options of workers who are made redundant 

Unit 3: The Private Lives of Business People 

task name Reading test, part 3: scan reading 

You read four texts on a single topic and eight statements containing 

task description information from one of the texts. Your task is to decide which text 

each statement comes from. An example is provided. 

skills tested Scan reading 

real life link You often have to find key pieces of information in a longer text. 


this book 

The constitution and rules of a club for wealthy businessmen 

Unit 4: Work-Related Conflict 

task name Reading test, part 4: multiple choice reading 


You answer seven multiple choice comprehension questions based on a 

single text of 350-450 words, normally an article, letter or narrative. 

skills tested Skim and scan reading plus reading for detailed information 


Some documents, such as proposals, need to be understood fully in 

professional life. 


this book 

The Grenberg miners’ strike 



Listening Units (5 – 7) 

Unit 5: Business Talk and Chatter 

task name Listening test, part 1: short conversations 

You listen twice to six short recordings made in the same location, and 

task description match them with eight pictures or eight short pieces of text, (e.g. a list, 

email extracts, advertisements) 

skills tested Listening for gist and specific information to enable matching. 

real life link We often need to understand a situation from small pieces of speech. 


this book 

Boring talk at meetings, presentation and speaking skills 

Unit 6: Personal Bankruptcy 

task name Listening test, part 2: making notes 

You listen twice to an extended monologue. There are notes based on 


the text, which contains nine gaps. Each gap requires a piece of 

information, which you must write in no more than three words, whilst 

listening. 

skills tested Listening for specific information. 


In meetings you will often have to listen and take down key points in 

notes. 


this book 

The legal procedure affecting a person who is declared bankrupt. 

Unit 7: People Changing Jobs 

task name Listening test, part 3: meeting 


You listen twice to an excerpt from a formal meeting. You answer ten 

multiple choice questions while listening. 

skills tested Listening for gist, specific information and detailed information 


Understanding what is being said in a meeting is vitally important in 

business 


this book 

The rules for fair and unfair dismissal of employees 

Writing units (8 – 9) 

Unit 8: Formal Letters 

task name Writing test, part 1: transactional writing 

You read several pieces of written or diagrammatic text (leaflets, notes, 


letters, maps, timetables) providing a context and information for the 

task. You are asked to write a ca. 200 word transactional letter, email or 

message using the information provided. 

skills tested 

Achieving a transactional outcome within the correct genre with written 

language accuracy. 

real life link Most of your letter and email writing is to realise specific purposes. 


this book 

Letter terminating a contract of employment 



Unit 9: Formal Reports 

task name Writing test, part 2: extensive writing 

There are three tasks from which you choose one. You must write a 


ca. 200 word text within the genre specified. The type of text could be 

an article, a report, a descriptive or narrative composition, or a 

discursive essay. 

skills tested 

Producing a relevant text within a given genre with written language 

accuracy. 


You need to be able to write in different genres, e.g. a report, a 

proposal, a letter of complaint. 


this book 

A report on the office Christmas dinner 

Grammar & Vocabulary Units (10 – 12) 

Unit 10: Social Welfare 

task name Grammar and vocabulary test, part 1: dictation 

You listen to a recorded extended monologue of 85-120 words. You 

have to write the text down word for word. The text is heard three 

task description times, once all the way through with no break. The text is then heard 

again broken down into small units with each unit repeated once. There 

are breaks between units to allow time for writing. 

skills tested Spelling, grammatical accuracy, vocabulary and detailed listening skills 

Sometimes you need to write down exactly what someone has said in a 


meeting 


The rules for paying social welfare benefits 

this book 

Unit 11: Work Satisfaction 

task name Grammar and vocabulary test, part 2: multiple choice gap-fill 

You receive a written text of 150-200 words with ten gaps where a 

task description single content word has been removed. For each gap, the task is to 

choose the correct word from four options. 

skills tested Vocabulary, meaning in context, collocations and phrasal verbs 


When writing a letters, emails and other texts you often need to find the 

correct word to express yourself clearly. 


this book 

Levels of work satisfaction among women workers 

Unit 12: Business Etiquette and Ceremony 

task name Grammar and vocabulary test, part 3: modified cloze 

You receive a written text of 150-200 words with ten gaps where a 

task description single grammar word has been removed. For each gap, the task is to 

write in a correct word. 

skills tested Grammatical structure and meaning in context. 


When writing emails, letter and other texts, you need accurate 

grammatical structures to ensure your meaning is clear. 


this book 

Etiquette at a formal business dinner 



Mediation Units (13 –15) 

Unit 13: Doing Business Abroad (incomplete) 

task name Mediation test, part A1: dialogue 

You hear a dialogue of six turns between two participants, a Hungarian 

(speaking in Hungarian) and an English speaker (speaking in English). 

task description One of the speakers may be an official working in the public sphere. 

You write down the main points of the conversation in the opposite 

language to the one you hear. Two examples are given. 

skills tested Listening for key points and writing them down in another language. 

real life link You may have to mediate speakers of Hungarian and English. 


Doing business abroad 

this book 

Unit 14: 

task name Mediation test, part B1: summary 

You receive a text in English of 200-225 words, written in five 

task description paragraphs. For each paragraph you are given three summaries written 

in Hungarian. You must choose the most appropriate summary. 

skills tested Reading for gist in English and choosing a summary in Hungarian. 


You will often have to read long texts, but only have to understand 

what the text is about and not for detailed information. 


this book 

Professional associations and trade unions 

Unit 15: 

task name Mediation test, part B2: letter 


You receive a personal or semi-formal letter of about 80 words written 

in Hungarian. You have to translate the letter into English. 

skills tested Translation from and to particular genres 

real life link You may have to translate letters, emails and other documents 


this book 

Work experience 

Speaking Units (16 – 19) 

You are examined in pairs. There are two examiners: one an interlocutor, the other an assessor. 

You have ten minutes before the test for preparing Task 2. 

You may use printed (i.e. non-electronic) dictionaries. 

Unit 16: Interviews at Work 

task name speaking test, part 1: interview 

The interlocutor will ask you one introductory question, and then two 


questions on another topic. Topics include travel, work, family, sport, 

cinema, hobbies, education, relationships, housing, news and current 

affairs and the environment. 

skills tested Turn taking, language functions, detailed listening skills 

real life link Interviews are common in the world of work; e.g. job interviews. 

topic for task in Interviews are important. They involve preparation and communication 

this book skills. 



Unit 17: Business Profits 

task name Speaking test, part 2: presentation 

You receive a set of information (e.g. graphs, charts, figures) to be used 


in the presentation. Before meeting the examiner, you have ten minutes 

to prepare. You may make notes in the preparation stage but should not 

read aloud from a prepared script. (2 minutes) 

skills tested 

You may have to give a presentation of your firms product or service, 

or you may give in-house presentations 


You may have to give a presentation of your firms product or service, 

or you may give in-house presentations 

topic for task in Is all the behaviour of managers in firms directed towards the 

this book maximisation of profits? 

Unit 18: Status at Work 

task name Speaking test, part 3: transactional dialogues 

You receive a cue card. The card describes a situation, your role and 


gives you an instruction. You speak, the interlocutor gives a scripted 

reply and then you respond to the reply. You will have three cue cards. 

You and your partner will alternate in doing this task. 

skills tested 

Understanding a situation, use of language functions, appropriateness of 

style and register 


Being asked questions and responding to them effectively is a key skill 

in business life 


this book 

The language of power and inequality at work 

Unit 19: Expanding a Company 

task name Speaking test, part 4: collaborative speaking 

You receive a topic card which contains a debatable point or question, 

(e.g. what are some of the problems of living in a foreign country?) 

First you and your partner think of issues which answer the question or 


contribute to the debate. Then you discuss, expand on and prioritise 

these issues. Task 4 is the only task in the speaking test where you talk 

to your partner. (3 minutes) 

skills tested turn-taking skills, negotiating, prioritising 

You will have to negotiate and agree plans with others in your 


professional life 


The expansion of a software company 

this book 

The Common European Framework of Reference for languages and extra lesson 

activities 

Unit 20: EuroPro, the CEFR, and Extra Activities (incomplete) 

CEFR criteria All skills plus grammar & vocabulary 

Extra activities All skills plus grammar & vocabulary 



Recurrent skills in the exam 

While each exam task tests a particular language skill, sub-skill or aspect of the language 

systems of English, there are three themes that permeate every exam task. 

A Recognising and producing genre texts 

Every text in the exam, be it receptive/productive or visual/aural, is written in a particular genre, 

e.g. the genre of a letter of complaint, of a humorous narrative, of a joke, etc. Much is at stake 

here. The candidate needs to be able to recognise genre for reading and listening and be able to 

produce in the correct genre for speaking and writing. The following genre related issues will 

arise repeatedly throughout the course and in the exam. 

• What is the genre of the text? 

• What is the purpose of the text? 

• What information is, or should be, included? 

• What is, or should be, the format and layout of the text? 

• How is the information (to be) sequenced into paragraphs? 

• What kind of language is appropriate for the text? 

B Recognising lexical and grammatical words 

The distinction between lexical and grammatical words is central not only to the grammar and 

vocabulary tests, but is an important part of decoding texts in the receptive skills as well as 

playing a role for the candidate in producing coherence and cohesion in the productive skills. 

Lexical words have nominal, attributive or action roots, have meaning when standing alone and 

their number is infinite. Let us examine this definition in a little more detail. 

Nominal root words refer to things (e.g. stone, committee), attributes refer to qualities (e.g. 

strong, beautiful), and action root words to actions (e.g. walk, hit). Though their root may be of 

one kind, words can transform into other classes (e.g. strong, strength, to strengthen) All lexical 

words, whether nominal, attributive or active at root, are capable of transformation into nouns 

and possess a clear meaning when standing alone (e.g. stone, committee, strength, walk). The 

number of lexical words in the language is potentially infinite; (i.e. lexical words form a 

paradigmatic open set) 

Grammatical words create reference and cohesion, largely lack meaning when standing alone 

and are definite in number, They may also be distinguished negatively; i.e. as non-lexical 

words. Let us examine this definition in a little more detail. 

Reference words substitute one word for a word or phrase: i.e. pronomination, and/or relate the 

text, either in part or in whole, to time and place: i.e. deixis. Cohesion is a more general concept 

in which words connect different parts of the text. All reference words serve a cohesive 

function. The major classes of grammatical words are listed below in non-exclusive categories: 

• Pronouns: substitute for nominals (e.g. she, their, whose, those) and thus create either intra 

or extra-textual reference. 

• Prepositions front phrases with either adverbial (e.g. She lived in France) or adjectival 

(e.g. the book on the table) force. Dependent prepositions indicate nominals connected to 

the headword (e.g. She listened to John, to bet on horses) 

• Discourse markers are supra-sentential and relate one part of the text to another (e.g. 

however, consequently) 

• Conjunctions syntactically link words, phrases, clauses, (e.g. and, but, although,) 



• Determiners qualify nominal phrases: articles for definiteness (e.g. a, the), and quantifiers 

(e.g. some, all) 

• Reference adverbials: these contain a pronominal function (e.g. there/in that place, now/at 

this time, likewise/in that way), or a pure relational function (e.g. more coffee) 

• Adverbial particles indicate the perfective aspect (e.g. to tidy up) or are components in 

phrasal verbs (e.g. to put up with) 

• Auxiliaries indicate time and aspect (e.g. is, was, has does). 

• Modals establish the mood of a clause (e.g. should, could, might). 

Grammatical words are often called functional words because they bind with lexical words to 

form propositional meaning and textual coherence. Grammatical words cannot be transformed 

into nouns (being and having excepted) and have little meaning when standing alone. The 

number of grammatical words is fixed in the language; (i.e. grammatical words form a 

paradigmatic closed set) 

C Using top-down decoding 

For every receptive task the issue of top-down decoding is necessarily applicable. The skill 

requires the reader/listener to establish as a first step the topic and genre of the text, which is 

achieved by looking at the task title and any appended picture and then skim reading the whole 

text by concentrating on the lexical words. Having established the topic and genre the candidate 

needs to call up his/her knowledge of the topic and genre. In this way the candidate establishes 

an outline meaning of the whole text, which then becomes a tool for determining detailed and 

specific meaning within the text. 

Top-down methodology is doubly important: first, as a tool for organising the staging of 

receptive lessons, and second, as a tool for candidates approaching tasks in the exam. Even 

productive task units in the book do not escape its grip, as invariably any model speech or piece 

of writing is introduced using a top-down decoding system. 

In conclusion, a sound grasp of genre, recognising the distinction between lexical and 

grammatical words and acknowledging the wide application of top-down decoding enable 

teachers to prepare students for the EuroPro B2Exam. For students these skills make possible 

their success in the exam. 


Unit 1- Reading: Short texts Page 1 

1 Organisation in the Workplace 

In this unit you will… 

• meet expressions about relationships and roles in the workplace 

• read an article about ‘scientific management’ 

• write up the minutes of a meeting 

A What makes a workplace efficient? Do you think your 

workplace is efficient? What could be done to make your 

workplace more efficient? 

B What do the words and phrases in the vocabulary box 

mean? 

prosperity, dividends, class, self-evident, to be coupled with, mutual relations, 

identical, to modify, to begrudge, to be entitled to, a competitor. 

C Put one item from the vocabulary box into each gap. You may need to adapt the word. 

Mr Jenner, a free-market thinker, believes that it is _1_ that shareholders want large 

_2_. He believes everyone is a _3_ in the market and thinks that nobody is _4_ to 

anything from society, except the protection of their property. He doesn’t _5_ 

anybody their wealth, nor does he want to 6 the free market in any way. 

D Look quickly at the text on the next page. How do you know it was written in the past? 

E Look again at the text quickly. What was Taylor’s main message? 

1 Efficiency is to the benefit of everybody 

2 Employees should be made to work harder 

3 Wage rates don’t reflect efficiency 

F Summarise each paragraph in one sentence. 

G Thinking and Writing Look at the opinion in the box below. In one continuous piece 

of writing (not notes), contrast Arnie Fisher’s view with that of Frederick Taylor. Give 

your opinion with reasons. 

There is no doubt in my mind that the relationship between employers and workers is one of 

conflicting interests. All profits for the bosses come from the workers who work in the 

factories or organise production distribution and exchange in the offices. The bosses want the 

highest profits for (themselves and) their shareholders, and the workers want the highest 

wages for the well-being of their families. Because there are always many unemployed 

people, the workers are in a difficult position. Only strong trade unions and left-wing 

governments can help ordinary working people. 

Arnie Fischer, United Workers Union. 

H Before moving on, look at these words in Mr Bibby’s notebook and work out the 

meaning. 

to chat, to giggle, to stand in line, to duplicate, literacy, to monitor, crockery 

Meeting language – real-life phrases 

I’d like it noted in the minutes that… 

I’d like to propose that… 

On a point of clarification… 



The Principles of Scientific 

Management 

Frederick Taylor (1911) 

(1) THE principal object of management 

should be to secure the maximum 

prosperity for the employer, coupled with 

the maximum prosperity for each 

employee. 

(2) The words maximum prosperity are 

used - in their broad sense - not just to 

mean large dividends for the company or 

owner. ‘Maximum prosperity’ also refers to 

the development of every branch of the 

business to its highest state of excellence. 

Efficiency helps prosperity to become 

permanent. 

(3) In the same way, maximum prosperity 

for each employee means higher wages 

than are usually received by men of his 

class. More importantly, however, it also 

means the development of each man to his 

state of maximum efficiency, so that he can 

do the highest grade of work for which his 

natural abilities fit him. Maximum 

prosperity also requires giving that man, 

whenever possible, this type of work to do. 

(4) It would seem to be so self-evident that 

maximum prosperity for the employer, 

coupled with maximum prosperity for the 

employee, ought to be the two leading 

objects of management, that even to state 

this fact should be unnecessary. And yet 

there is no question that, throughout the 

industrial world, a large part of the 

organisation of employers – as well as 

employees – is for war rather than for 

peace. It is sadly the case that perhaps the 

majority on either side do not believe that it 

is possible so to arrange their mutual 

relations, that their interests become 

identical. 

(5) The majority of these men believe that 

the fundamental interests of employees and 

employers are necessarily opposed. 

Scientific management, on the contrary, has 

for its very foundation the firm conviction 

that the true interests of the two are the 

same. Additionally, we believe that 

prosperity for the employer cannot exist in 

Copyright 2007 Euro Examination Centre. 

the long term unless 

it is accompanied by 

prosperity for the 

employee, and vice 

versa. It is possible 

to give the workman 

what he most wants 

high wages, and the 

employer what he 

wants a low labour 

cost. 

(6) It is hoped that some at least of those 

who do not sympathise with these views 

may be led to modify their opinion. Those 

employers whose attitude toward their 

workmen has been that of trying to get the 

largest amount of work out of them for the 

smallest possible wages, should see that a 

more liberal policy toward their men will 

pay them better. Those workmen who 

begrudge profit to their employers should 

realise that such profits are not against their 

interests. So, I suggest a change of opinion 

from those workers who feel that all of the 

fruits of their labour should belong to them. 

They are wrong to say that the capital 

invested in the business should yield little 

or nothing; they should be led to modify 

these views. 

(7) No one can be found who will deny that 

in the case of any single individual the 

greatest prosperity can exist only when that 

individual has reached his highest state of 

efficiency; that is, when he is turning out 

his largest daily output. 

(8) The truth of this fact is also perfectly 

clear in the case of two men working 

together. To illustrate: you and your 

workman have become so skilful that you 

and he together are making two pairs of 

shoes in a day, while your competitor and 

his workman are making only one pair. It is 

clear that after selling your two pairs of 

shoes, you can pay your workman much 

higher wages than your competitor – who 

produces only one pair of shoes – is able to 

pay his man. There will still be enough 

money left over for you to have a larger 

profit than your competitor.


Exam Skills 

A Mr. Bibby is a partner in a leading firm of management consultants. There are a number 

of things which annoy him around the office, some of which he has made notes about. 

What is annoying him in each case? 

Mr. Bibby’s Notebook 

1. All this chatting in the corridors, and endless giggling from the 

young female trainees. 

2. Look at these documents. Did these trainees ever go to school! 

3. I nearly cut my lip when drinking my coffee this morning. 

4. Look at this dust everywhere in my room. 

5. I don’t expect to queue when I need a duplicate of a document. 

6. It’s ridiculous my having to wear a jacket indoors in winter. 

7. The selection is so bad, I feel quite sick when I look at it. 

Exam tip: all the notes are on a related topic and take place in one location. Make sure 

you know place, topic and gist of the notes. 

B Here is an agenda for the firm’s monthly meeting. Match the agenda items with Mr 

Bibby’s complaints above. Which item do you not need? 

a New photocopier 

b Control the work done by cleaner 

c Renew the office furniture 

d Include literacy test in recruitment process 

e Office manager to monitor employee behaviour 

f Change lunchtime sandwich delivery service 

g Call the heating engineers 

h Reserve special crockery for the senior partners. 

Exam tip: in the exam there are two ‘titles’ which you don’t need. When you find the 

unnecessary titles check that they do not apply to any of the notes. 

C. Miss Gold, the office manager, has written the minutes of the meeting. Here is her 

report for item a. 

Mr Bibby noted that the photocopying of documents took over five minutes 

because of the formation of a queue at the photocopier. The firm believes that this 

constitutes an inefficient use of work time, so resolved to purchase another 

photocopier. 

N.B.: Miss Gold (i) notes the facts, (ii) states the policy of the firm (i.e. believes that), 

and (iii) finally states what the meeting resolved. Write up the minutes of the meeting 

for the other issues on the agenda. When you have finished, read each item (without the 

heading) to a partner, who tries to guess the heading. Finally, check each other’s work. 

Exam tip: the titles are designed to mislead you. You should work out the exact 

relationship between the notes and the title. 



Exam Practice: Software Company in Dire Straits 

A Imagine a poorly organised computer software company. What 

can go wrong in the following? 

• bad workmanship 

• untidiness 

• staff parking 

• staff clothing 

• music and noise 

B How would a manager, scientific officer, factory-floor supervisor and hourly-paid 

packer look at these problems? 

C Look at the comments by workers in the first box (A-H). What are they talking about? 

Do their opinions seem reasonable? 

D Mr Grice, the managing director, is dissatisfied with several aspects of his company, 

and has listed in the second box (1-5) some points for discussion by company workers. 

Match these with the workers’ comments. There are two comments you do not need. 

A ‘It’s all very well for them to talk like that, but they should install air-conditioning 

in the office.’ Sally, typist. 

B ‘It’s boring enough working in the factory all day, and the machinery is so loud, so 

we have little choice. They should meet elsewhere.’ Terry, factory worker 

C ‘It’s not our fault at all, Often the foreman’s late and even he can’t start it for 

mechanical reasons.’ Emma, factory worker. EXAMPLE 

D ‘If you’re a smoker, you haven’t much choice, have you?’ Becky, clerical assistant 

E ‘Well that’s rich, as I’ve never managed to get in at all. It’s the bosses who arrive 

first and block the entrance to the building.’ Stephen, factory foreman 

F ‘Well, as far as I’m concerned the whole problem is that they’re not prepared to pay 

for the office to be cleaned. It’s really basic.’ Lisa, secretary 

G ‘Holiday’s are important, and they’ll just have to learn to accept that.’ Deirdre, 

photocopying assistant. 

H The problem is they always buy the cheapest they can get. Most of what they’re 

buying is rubbish and you can’t work with it.’ Gary, factory worker. 

To all company employees: 

Please take note of the following points, and bring any comments to the Works Council 

meeting on Thursday, 7 May. 

Ex Staff are insufficiently punctual. Often the assembly line starts up to twenty minutes late. 

As a result, production is down by over 10 per cent. (The Answer is C) 

1. Over 20 per cent of our manufactured products are defective in some way. While some 

of this is undoubtedly due to poor workmanship on the assembly line, much of the 

problem lies with the poor quality of what we purchase. 

2. The office area is unnecessarily dirty. Plastic cups from the coffee machine litter every 

available space. All of this serves to make a very poor impression on visitors to the 

company and has an adverse effect on profits. 

3. The parking situation needs immediate attention. There are no markings in the car park, 

so space is not used rationally. The extensive practice of double parking means that 

early arrivals are blocked in. Often it is hard to reach the front entrance. 

4. Staff appearance has also become a major source of concern. In summer office staff 

have taken to wearing tee-shirts, shorts and sandals. While this may be fine on the 

factory floor for certain jobs, in the office it has the effect of conveying an 

unprofessional image. 

5 There is no objection to music on the factory floor, but the volume of this music has 

become a matter of serious concern. Office meetings have been made impossible 

because of the noise. 



Unit 1: Organisation in the Workplace 

(p. 1) C 1. self-evident, 2. dividends, 3. competitor, 4. entitled, 5. begrudge, 6. modify 

(p. 1) D the photograph / language, e.g. gender specific language (e.g. workman, etc.) 

(p. 1) E No. 1. ‘Efficiency is to the benefit of everybody.’ 

(p. 1) F 1. Prosperity should be maximized for everybody, 2. ‘Maximum prosperity’ means the 

highest development of business, 3. Efficient use of labour means high wages, 4. Not everyone 

can see that prosperity for everyone is a good aim., 5. Managers and workers have the same 

basic interest, 6. Both employers and employees should modify their views, 7. Individual 

prosperity is based on individual efficiency, 8. Efficiency leads to higher profits which can be 

shared. 

(p. 3) B 1e, 2d, 3h, 4b, 5a, 6g, 7f. Agenda item c does not correspond to any of Mr Bibby’s 

notes. 

(p. 4) D 1H, 2F, 3E, 4A, 5B 


Unit 2 - Reading: Paragraph headings Page 1 

2 The Restructuring of Business 


• meet words and expressions about losing your job. 

• read an article about redundancy rules. 

• learn to write and practise writing organised paragraphs. 

A Have you (or somebody you know well) changed jobs? Why did 

you/he/she do it? If you did, was it easy to do? 

B What does to be made redundant mean? Who of the following are 

more likely to be made redundant? Why? 

• a policeman 

• a teacher 

• a factory worker 

C Have you ever been made redundant, or do you know anyone who has been? How do 

people feel when they have been made redundant? 

D What do the words and phrases in the vocabulary box mean? 

collective redundancy, a civil servant, a fixed term contract, to dismiss a worker, a 

plant, to consult, to notify, a threshold, an obligation, an unfair dismissal claim, 

collective bargaining, a shop steward, a representative, an establishment, a statute, 

to mitigate, 

E For all the verbs in the vocabulary box, write the derived nouns, e.g. to consult / 

consultation. 

F Find the word or expression in the box above which fits these definitions: 

• a factory 

• to reduce the negative effect of something 

• a person who speaks for somebody else 

• when a group of workers negotiate together 

• to tell somebody else some new information 

G Look at the article written by Professor Otto Slovo. Where might you find this article? 

How do you know? 

H There are twelve paragraphs in the article. Half the class should write headings for or 

briefly describe the purposes of paragraphs 1,3,5,7,9 and 11; the other half should do 

the same for the remaining paragraphs. Discuss the headings in class. 

I You have a friend, Sara, who is about to be made redundant. Write her a letter, 

informing her of her rights. Use the information in the article to help you. (100 – 150 

words) 

Formal notification – real-life phrases 

I hereby give notice that… 

I am writing on behalf of… 

I regret to inform you that… 



What are your rights if you 

are made redundant? 

Professor Otto Slovo provides some 

guidelines 

(1) Generally speaking, people can be made 

redundant in two situations. One is when some 

of the workers are no longer needed; the other is 

when a business is closing down, so all the 

workers have to go. In both cases the law is 

pretty much the same. The only difference in 

law is whether or not there is a collective 

redundancy. 

(2) Redundancy law covers most people except 

the military, the police and some civil servants. 

The only class of workers who have no rights 

under redundancy law are people on fixed-term 

contracts of less than three months. 

(3) A collective redundancy situation arises 

where an employer proposes to make twenty or 

more workers redundant within a ninety-day 

period. This means dismissal for a reason 

unrelated to the individual workers concerned. 

This might occur, for example, when a business 

or plant closes down, or when an employer no 

longer needs as many workers to carry out a 

particular task. 

(4) There are a number of requirements which 

fall on employers in all cases. An employer is 

required to inform and consult trade unions or 

other representatives of workers who are being 

collectively made redundant. The employer is 

also required to notify the Ministry for Industry 

of the proposed dismissals. 

(5) Employers are under no specific legal 

obligation to inform and consult workers’ 

representatives in cases falling below the 

twenty-redundancy threshold. They may, 

however, be at risk from successful unfair 

dismissal claims if they fail to inform and 

consult individual workers who are to be 

dismissed. 

(6) When workers who may be affected by the 

proposed redundancy action are represented by 

a trade union recognised for collective 

bargaining purposes, the employer must inform 

and consult an authorised official of that union. 

This may be a shop steward or a district union 

official or a national or regional official. The 

employer is not required to inform and consult 

any other worker representatives in such 

circumstances, but may do so voluntarily if 

desired. A trade union may be recognised for 

one group of workers, but not for another. 

(7) Where there are workers who may be 

affected by the proposed redundancies, the 


employer must inform and consult other 

appropriate representatives of those workers. 

These may be either existing representatives, or 

new ones specially elected for the purpose. It is 

the employer’s responsibility to ensure that 

consultation is offered to appropriate 

representatives. 

(8) In non-union cases, where affected workers 

fail to elect representatives – having had a 

genuine opportunity to do so – the employer 

concerned may fulfil their obligations by 

providing relevant information to those workers 

directly. 

(9) The employer must begin the process of 

consultation in good time (and in any event at 

least thirty days before the first of the dismissals 

takes effect) in a case where between twenty 

and ninety-nine redundancy dismissals are 

proposed at one establishment within a ninetyday 

period. A ninety-day period must be 

allowed for before the first of the dismissals 

takes effect in a case where one hundred or 

more redundancy dismissals are proposed at one 

establishment within a ninety day period. 

(10) Before the consultation, the employer must 

provide the following information in writing: 

• the reasons for the proposals; 

• the numbers and descriptions of 

• 

workers it is proposed to dismiss as 

redundant; 

the total number of workers of any 

such description employed by the 

employer at the establishment in 

question; 

• the proposed method of selecting the 

workers who may be dismissed; 

• the proposed method of carrying out 

the dismissals, taking account of any 

agreed procedure, including the period 

over which the dismissals are to take 

effect; 

• the proposed method of calculating any 

redundancy payments –, other than 

those required by statute – that the 

employer proposes to make. 

(11) The consultation is to include ways of 

avoiding the redundancy situation or dismissals, 

or of reducing the number of dismissals 

involved and mitigating the effects of the 

dismissals. The legislation does not require 

agreement to be reached, but the employer must 

consult in good faith with a view to reaching 

agreement. 

(12) I hope this brief set of guidelines will make 

the situation clearer for workers.


Working with gist – paragraph building 

A Look at the paragraph below. Give the paragraph a title. 

Can you find the topic easily? 

Where is it in the text? What is the structure of the 

paragraph? 

Redundancy can be the result of several causes. First, 

a whole factory may be unprofitable and the bosses 

decide to close it, so everybody loses his or her job. A 

second cause of redundancy is when a business 

‘downsizes’ and decides it needs fewer workers. 

Thirdly, new investment in machinery can lead to a 

reduction in the workforce. 

Exam tip: The topic of a paragraph can often be in the first sentence. Sometimes the 

paragraph title is only a re-wording and/ or summary of that first sentence. 

B Look at the paragraph below and give it a title. Can you find the topic easily? What is 

the structure of the paragraph? 

One hundred years ago there were no laws protecting workers in the event of 

redundancy. Most manual workers had only a daily contract and could be dismissed 

with only a few hours notice. Redundancy rights didn’t come easily; trade unions 

had to struggle hard for the law to be changed. Today, under the pressure of 

globalisation, workers rights are again being threatened. 

Exam tip: some paragraphs are organised chronologically. The gist is a summary of 

the history. 

C. Look at the information below. Work out the topic of the paragraph and then write and 

organise it into a coherent paragraph. 

• More than 20 workers = collective redundancy (in 90 days) 

• Inform the trade union (if there is one) if collective redundancy situation. 

• If only one person made redundant, then possibility of unfair dismissal. 

• If no trade union, then inform workers individually. 

• Redundancy applies to everybody with more than 3-month contract. 

Exam Tip: in the exam, you won’t find the sentences of a paragraph ‘thrown down’ in a 

disorganised manner, so let the structure of the paragraph help you. 

All the highlighted words in the paragraph below make sense by joining the sentences 

and sentence parts to make meaning. Explain to what each highlighted word is 

connected. What is the connection doing? 

DISCOURSE – connectors / reference 

Danny Noble only spent one day, Monday 3 rd February, working in the shoe factory. 

He went in at nine that morning, one hour late, and was given a job putting the 

shoes into boxes. That afternoon the closure of the factory was announced. 

Consequently, he was told that that he had no job from the following day. In 

addition, as he had only worked one day, he was not entitled to any redundancy 

benefits. 



Exam Task: Ice Cream Factory Goes to the Wall 

A Why do factories close down? What are the main reasons? 

• production is too expensive 

• we buy things from China these days 

• wages are too high 

• factories pollute the environment 

B What are the social effects of factory closures? 

C What do the following mean? 

proletariat, monopoly, to plummet, to exploit, diversification, streamlining, a depressed 

area, to fall on deaf ears 

D Read the article. Why did Kenning’s ice cream factory close. 

E Find a title in the box for the paragraphs below. 

A BAD PUBLICITY 

B THE DOMINO EFFECT 

C ADVICE FALLING ON DEAF EARS 

D ORGANISING A STRIKE 

E FALLING SALES 

F CHANGES AT THE COMPANY 

G MARKETING AND DISTRIBUTION 

H REDUNDANCIES 

I EARLY HISTORY OF THE FIRM - 

EXAMPLE 

Last lick of 

Kenning’s ice 

cream 

Saul Denman reports on the closure of a 

historic icon of English ice cream. 

0 The Industrial Revolution created a proletariat, and the proletariat liked to eat ice cream. 

Capitalising on that trend, and to service the urbanised and industrial Midlands, Isaac 

Coupland opened an ice-cream factory in Meckham in the 19 th century, which was sold on to 

the Kenning family at the turn of the century. (Title I) 

1 From the 1930s onwards Kennings operated a fleet of yellow ice-cream vans which played a 

catchy ragtime tune to attract customers. In the 1950s Jack Kenning himself appeared on cinema 

advertisements eating an ice cream the size of a football. In the area the Kenning family had a 

virtual monopoly, and cleverly exploited it. 

2 The 1950s were the heyday for Kennings, but sales have declined or plummeted on a yearly 

basis since then (depending on the year). In a 1985 interview Jack Kenning said, ‘It’s all that 

foreign ice cream. The government ought to ban it to help people like me. We’ve never thought 

of selling our ice cream in Italy, so why should they sell theirs here?’ 

3 Hector Jenner, a leading management consultant who worked with the company in the 1980s, 

thinks otherwise. ‘As I always told them, if you have a product that isn’t selling, you’ve got 

some important questions to answer. In their case, diversification and streamlining was the 

answer. You can’t go on only making just two flavours of poor quality ice cream. Yet that’s 

exactly what they did.’ 

4 In the mid-nineties Consumer Review produced a damning report. Of all the ice creams on the 

market, Kennings came bottom, and a majority of respondents actually said that the ice cream 

had a horrible chemical taste. All of this came on top of a Health and Safety Inspectors’ report 

which stated that the standard of hygiene in the factory fell below legal requirements. 

5 So next month the factory will close, and Kennings ice-cream will be licked no more. John 

Pizzy, one of forty employees, will be joining an ever-growing dole queue in the area. 

Employment prospects are grim. ‘I’ve spent twenty-two years packing ice cream in that darn 

factory. What is there for me? It’s OK for Kenning, who’ll retire on a big pension. But what 

about us, the workers?’ 

6 The area around Meckham has been officially described in a government report as 

‘depressed’. The industrial base in the area has taken several blows recently, with a string of 

factory closures adversely affecting consumer purchasing power and house prices. 



Unit 2: The Restructuring of Business 

(p. 1) E to dismiss / a dismissal, to consult / a consultation, to notify / a notification, to 

mitigate / a mitigation 

(p. 1) F a factory / a plant; to reduce the negative effects of something/ to mitigate; 

someone who speaks for somebody else / a representative; when a group of 

workers negotiate together / collective bargaining; to tell somebody else new 

information / to notify 

(p. 1) G It is from a trade union magazine or a workers’ advice centre. We know this 

because the article is addressed to employees. 

(p. 1) H 1. the situations in which redundancy arises, 2. who is covered by redundancy 

law, 3. collective redundancy, 4. employer requirements in cases of collective 

redundancy, 5. as ‘4’ but for making fewer than twenty workers redundant, 

6. consultation with workers’ representatives, 7. wider consultation, 8. what 

happens when there are no workers’ representatives, 9. when consultation must 

start, 10. information to provide before consultation, 11. the aim of the 

consultation, 12. purpose of the text. 

(p. 3) A Suggested title: The causes of redundancy. The topic sentence is the first. The 

paragraph then goes on to give instances of the topic. 

(p. 3) B Suggested title: The history of workers’ redundancy rights. The paragraph is 

organised chronologically. 

(p. 3) C Suggested title: Employers’ duties in the event of redundancy 

(p. 3) DISCOURSE: ‘in’ refers to ‘into the shoe factory’ in the previous sentence; 

‘the’ in ‘the shoes’ refers to the shoes the factory produces implied in the 

previous sentence; ‘that’ in ‘That afternoon’ refers to the afternoon of Monday 

3 rd February in the first sentence; ‘the’ in ‘the factory’ refers to the shoe factory; 

‘Consequently’ means that the whole previous sentence is the reason for the 

sentence; ‘In addition’ establishes that the current sentence is additional 

information to the previous sentence(s). 

(p. 4) B unemployment, poverty, low spending power, the knock-on effect on other 

companies (e.g. suppliers go out of business, workers can’t buy products for 

themselves), social breakdown 

(p.4) D They produced a single low quality product and faced competition from 

elsewhere. 

(p. 4) E 1G, 2E, 3C, 4A, 5H, 6B 


Unit 3 - Reading: Scan reading Page 1 

3 The Private Lives of Business People 


• meet words and expressions about meetings. 

• read the rules and constitution of an organisation. 

• learn the structure of a meeting agenda. 

A Are you a member of any clubs (e.g. a tennis club)? What are the rules? How much do 

you have to pay? 

B Match words from the vocabulary box in section C with the following definitions: 

1. the head of a club 

2. s/he looks after the club money 

3. a group of people elected to make decisions 

4. a document showing money coming in and going out 

5. a change to the rules 

C What do the other words and phrases in the vocabulary box mean? 

to be eligible for, to exceed, a chairman, a secretary, a treasurer, an annual general meeting 

(AGM), a committee, to expel, an obligation, to cease, conduct, to deem something, to be, 

to audit, a balance sheet, to submit a document, premises, to be liable for s.th., on behalf of, 

a debt, to sue, an amendment, to convene, to vest in somebody or something. 

D Find a word or expression from the vocabulary box to fit each gap. 

(You may have to alter the words or expressions slightly.) 

Mr Bibby is _1_ of the club and keeps order at meetings. He is helped by the _2_ and the 

_3_ as well as the members of the _4_. Last week Mr Bibby voted to _5_ a member from the 

club at a general meeting he had _6_ for that purpose. The _7_ of the member had been 

unsatisfactory. Mr Bibby is _8_ for club _9_, which if not paid could lead to his being _10_ 

in court. 

E Look quickly at the club constitution on the next page and answer this question: Is the 

Businessmen’s Circle easy to join? Why (not)? 

F Are these statements true, false or not stated? If they are incorrect, correct them. 

1. One purpose of the club is to provide its members with education. 

2. At present the club contains 60 members. 

3. The officers of the club are elected annually. 

4. The management committee of the club controls the property. 

5. A new member must be approved by the chairman. 

6. The management committee can change the membership fee. 

7. A member who has resigned has no further obligations to the club. 

8. Nobody can go to the club in the morning. 

9. The accounts are audited by the treasurer. 

10. Changing the constitution is only allowed if all the members agree. 

G Find three paragraphs in the constitution of the club which you disagree with. What is 

wrong? Pool your ideas and vote as a class on changes to be made. 

H Re-write the club constitution with the necessary changes. 

Meeting talk – real-life phrases 

May I call the meeting to order! 

I declare the motion carried/defeated. 

I’d like to put…to a vote. 



1. The club shall be called ‘The 

Businessmen’s Circle’. 

2. The aim of the club is to provide the 

members of the club with a common 

meeting place, for the purposes of 

recreation, entertainment and discussion. 

3. Only businessmen earning over EUR 

20,000 a month shall be eligible to be 

members of the club. 

4. The total number of members of the 

club shall not exceed fifty, unless in a 

special general meeting this number is 

altered by a three-quarters majority of 

the members present. 

5. The chairman, secretary and treasurer 

shall be elected for one year at the 

Annual General Meeting of the club, to 

be held in the month of April each year, 

or as early as possible thereafter. 

6. There shall be a management committee 

consisting of seven members in addition 

to the chairman, secretary and treasurer. 

The three longest serving members of 

the committee shall retire each year, and 

their replacements shall be elected at the 

Annual General Meeting. 

7. The property of the club shall be vested 

in the management committee, and in 

the event of any members of the 

committee dying, being expelled or 

otherwise being incapable of carrying 

out their duties, the property shall be 

vested in the remaining members. 

8. A new member of the club must be 

proposed by five existing club members, 

and then must be approved by the 

management committee. 

9. Each member shall pay a monthly 

subscription of EUR 500, which is 

subject to alteration at an Annual 

General Meeting, provided at least 

three-quarters of the members present 

vote for such an alteration. 


Constitution 

10. A member may tender his resignation in 

writing at any time, but shall remain 

liable for any obligations incurred by 

him while he was a member. After 

resignation he shall cease to have any 

interest in the property of the club or 

exercise any rights in the club. 

11. If the conduct of any member shall – in 

the opinion of the committee or of any 

ten members of the club – be deemed 

injurious to the club, a specially 

convened general meeting of the club 

may expel that member with a three 

quarters majority of those who vote. 

12. The club shall be open to its members 

between 18.00 and 5.00 seven days a 

week, unless otherwise determined at a 

special general meeting. Any member of 

the committee (including the chairman, 

secretary and the treasurer) shall 

however be entitled to visit the club 

premises at any hour. 

13. The accounts shall be audited annually, 

and the annual balance sheet shall be 

submitted to the members at least 

fourteen days before the Annual General 

Meeting. 

14. A member shall be entitled to invite not 

more than two guests onto the club 

premises at any one time, but such 

guests shall not be entitled to be present 

at any general meeting. The names of 

invited guests shall be written into the 

guest book. 

15. A member shall not be personally liable 

for goods supplied to, or any obligation 

incurred by, any officer of the club on 

behalf of the club, but the property of 

the club may be demanded in settlement 

of debts. The management committee 

shall be entitled to sue, and be liable to 

be sued in the name of the club. 

16. Amendments to this constitution may 

only be made by a majority of threequarters 

of the members present at a 

general meeting specially convened for 

the purpose of its amendment.


Exam skills 

A What is the difference between the reading sub-skills skimming and scanning? When 

scanning, which is better (i) reading the statements first, or (ii) reading the text first? 

Exam Tip: it is important to know what ‘scan reading’ is and how to do it. 

B The following are items on an agenda. What do they mean? In what order would you 

expect to find them? If you don’t know, put the agenda items in a logical order. 

A Any other business 

B Approval of minutes 

C Approval of new members 

D Chairman’s opening address 

E Minutes of previous meeting 

F Resolutions 

G Secretary’s report 

H Time and date of next meeting 

I Treasurer’s report 

J Matters arising from the minutes (easily confused with E) 

Exam Tip: when you are asked to find items in a text, read all the items, as it will tell you a 

lot about the content of that text. 

C On the next page is the agenda of a meeting of the Businessmen’s Circle. Under which item 

are each of the following relevant? 

a Only small items of business should be raised here. 

b A proposed change to behaviour in the club. 

c The secretary talks about another meeting 

d A financial discussion 

e A non-controversial part of the meeting to be enjoyed 

f Fifty per cent of the members need to agree 

g Five people have put forward a proposal 

h Changing regular meeting times 

i Members are asked to do some homework 

Exam Tip: it is important to understand the structure of a text. Use your background 

knowledge and skim read before you scan. 

Supplementary Task 

Divide into two groups with at least three people in each group. Each group should prepare 

seven questions about the Businessmen’s Club (from the constitution and the agenda). Test 

the other group with your questions. The other group has only thirty seconds to look at the 

material before answering. 



Dear Members, 

I enclose the agenda for next month’s management committee meeting, to be held in the 

meeting room at the club on Thursday 17 th of next month. 

1. Chairman’s opening address 

Mr Bibby’s short opening address will be: ‘Being a businessman: a pleasure or a burden?’ It 

is very much hoped that members will come on time for the meeting and not miss this short 

but pertinent speech. 

2. Minutes of previous meeting 

The minutes are attached to this agenda. Mr D. Styn has raised an issue over the accuracy of 

the recording of the discussion under Item 7 of last month’s meeting. 

3. Approval of minutes 

You are reminded that a simple majority of members is sufficient to approve the minutes of 

the previous meeting. I note this to answer a point raised in a letter to me by Mr S Guth. 

4. Matters arising from the minutes 

Members are reminded that under this heading only issues directly related to the minutes of 

the previous meeting may be discussed. 

5. Secretary’s report 

My report is attached to this agenda. Please note that I have attached a list of possible other 

times and dates on which to hold this meeting. 

6. Treasurer’s Report 

Mr Rene’s report is attached to this agenda. He anticipates a major discussion on the cash 

flow account, which is now overdrawn by EUR 50,000. Please make yourself fully 

conversant with the report before the meeting. 

7. Approval of new members 

Mr C. Reninson has been proposed as a new member by Messrs R. Wilf, K. Hent, P. Rene, 

F. Relf and V. Aspad. 

8. Resolutions 

One resolution has been submitted to the meeting, proposed by Mr Wilf and seconded by 

Mr Aspad: ‘The main lounge should be a no smoking area.’ 

9. Any other business 

Please do not raise any major matters under this section. It is helpful if the secretary is 

notified of major issues before the meeting, so they can be included on the agenda. 

10. Time and date of next meeting 

According to the standing orders, unless otherwise agreed. 

E. Meredith (Secretary) 

Enc. Minutes of previous meeting 

Report of the Secretary 

Report of the Treasurer 



Exam Practice: Waking Up 

A Do the task by finding the information below in texts A, B,C or D.. Underline the 

information in text which gives you the answer. 

B Summarise the characters of the four people. Whose character is most likely to create a 

successful businessperson? Why? 

Example: This person thinks it odd that 

journalists cover this topic – text A 

1 S/he is driven to work. 

2 S/he uses public transport for 

environmental reasons. 

3 S/he is not in a good mood in the 

morning. 

4 S/he has academic interests. 

5 S/he drives him/herself to work. 

6 S/he has few visitors. 

7 S/he tidies her/his house 

him/herself. 

Wake up, it’s 

morning 

Most of us know the feeling of rushing to 

work in the morning. But what is it really like 

for other people? Every day this week you will 

read about four people in the town. Series 

editor, Saul Denman. 

(A) Miss Rebecca Gold Oh 

dear, I thought, when I was 

asked to write this piece – what 

strange questions journalists ask 

and what strange things people 

are interested in these days. I’m an office manager, so keeping things tidy at work is very 

important and, although I live alone, I try to keep everything in order at home too. Well, my 

little alarm clock goes off at 6.30, and I get up and go to the bathroom. Now, as my mother 

taught me, I always fold my night clothes and make my bed. Although other people hardly ever 

come into my little house, I still feel it is important to be tidy and live properly. Breakfast is a 

simple affair, consisting of tea, toast and jam – a delicious plum and apple jam made by Miss 

Pinkerton from my church group. Now, going to work is a bit of a jolly old trek, as I can’t drive 

– as my late father once said, ‘Who would ever trust you behind the wheel of a car?’ So, it’s the 

bus for me. I normally arrive at about 8.30, before most people arrive at 9.00. 

(B) Mr Ralph Bibby To be perfectly honest, I am usually more irritable in 

the morning than at any other time during the day. At work, as a senior 

management consultant with clients to meet, I can’t always show my irritation 

with things. I’m not a married man, and I am alone, unless I have a friend 

staying over. The alarm goes off at 7.30 most mornings, but I usually get up 

around eight. After washing and dressing, my coffee and chocolate croissants 

are uppermost in my mind. I am very particular about how my coffee is made – 

not too strong or too weak. For the last couple of years I’ve had a fellow who comes in at 7.45 

with fresh croissants, and he makes my breakfast. He also does the cleaning after I’ve left for 

work – I need order and cleanliness, but the sound of the vacuum cleaner – well I couldn’t 

tolerate that. I have a driving licence, but I don’t drive to work – I just simply haven’t the 

patience. My taxi comes at 8.45. 


(C) Mr Hector Jenner My approach to the morning is to get what needs 

to be done completed as efficiently as possible. I am a senior management 

consultant, and I believe that if I can’t organise my own affairs, then who am 

I to make recommendations to others? Our alarm goes off at 6.00 and both 

my wife Sarah and I get up promptly. I immediately go to the gym we have 

in our house for a twenty-minute workout. For several years now we have 

adopted the practice of laying the breakfast table before we go to bed. We


have a simple breakfast of toast, jam, cereal and tea. We live some distance from the town, so I 

need thirty minutes to drive to work. Sarah, who is an accountant, has her own car and usually 

leaves twenty-three minutes after me. She tends to wait to let Mrs Hardie, the cleaner, into the 

house. I am normally the first to arrive at the office at 7.30, and I like to be well underway with 

my work by 7.35. My father used to say, ‘Don’t waste the morning, and you won’t waste the 

day’. 

(D) Mr Arnie Fischer In the last few years I have had problems sleeping. I 

am the regional secretary for the United Workers Union, and my work follows 

irregular hours, with meetings often going on into the small hours. But even if I 

don’t get to bed until one, I am up at 5.30 or so. My wife Barbara, who is 

partially disabled, sleeps on till eight. I call the period until eight my ‘quiet 

time’, when I go downstairs and read. I’ve recently finished a major work on the 

philosopher, Kant. I make a simple breakfast for myself and Barbara – coffee, 

rolls and cheese – and we usually have it on Barbara’s bedside table. I used to 

drive to work, but in view of the early morning congestion in the town, I decided my conscience 

required me to do my bit and go by tram. I usually get to my office at about 9.00, and there’s so 

much to do I don’t know where to start. 

C Look at the five quotations below. Look at the personalities above and decide who you 

think might have said them? How true do you think these sayings are? 

1 ‘Money makes the world go round.’ 

2 ‘The workers united will never be defeated; the problem is they’re not 

united.’ 

3 ‘The market knows no morality, and I believe in the market.’ 

4 ‘Principles – what I want to know is their buying and selling price.’ 

5 ‘Business knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.’ 

Short Story 

A wealthy businessman returned from work one day to find his three-year-old son 

standing on the stairs. 

‘Why are you standing there, son?’ the father asked. 

‘I’m afraid to jump,’ replied the boy. 

‘Don’t worry,’ his father reassured him. ‘Jump, and I’ll catch you.’ 

More confident now, the little boy jumped, but his father made no attempt to 

catch him. He fell onto the floor and bumped his head. 

Through his tears he asked his father, ‘Dad, why were you so horrid to let me 

fall?’ 

‘I’m not horrid,’ his father replied. ‘I’ve just taught you the most important 

lesson in life: “Never trust anyone.”’ 



Unit 3: The Private Lives of Business People 

(p. 1) B 1. the head of a club / chairman; 2. s/he looks after the club’s money / a 

treasurer; 3. group of people elected to make decisions / a committee; 4. A 

document showing money coming in and going out / a balance sheet; 5. A 

change to the rules / an amendment 

(p. 1) C Vocabulary 

to be eligible for s.th. to have the right to apply for s.th 

to exceed to go over the maximum 

a chairman the head of an organisation/club 

a secretary the officer in an organisation who carries out its 

decisions 

a treasurer the officer in a organisation who controls the 

finances 

an annual general meeting a yearly meeting which has special powers. 

(AGM) 

a committee a group of people who exercise power as a 

group 

to expel to throw s.b out of an organisation 

an obligation something which must be done 

to cease to stop 

conduct behaviour 

to deem s.th to be a person or an organisation holds s.th to be true, 

irrespective of whether it is true or not 

to audit to control the finances 

a balance sheet an account sheet which shows income and 

expenditure 

to submit a document to officially give a document 

premises a building (used legally) 

to be liable for s.th the have to pay the costs or bills for s.th 

on behalf of s.b. to do s.th for s.b else 

a debt money that is owed to s.b else 

to sue to take civil legal action 

an amendment to make a change in the content of a motion 

to convene to call a meeting 

(p. 1) D 1. chairman, 2. secretary, 3. treasurer, 4. committee, 5. expel, 6. convened, 

7. conduct, 8. liable, 9 debts, 10. sued 

(p. 1) E The club is seemingly hard to join, as a new member needs to be proposed by 

five existing members. 

(p. 1) F 1. False, 2. False: the number of members cannot be over fifty, 3. True, 4. True, 

5. False, 6. False, 7. False, 8. False: the officers and members of the committee 

may visit the club in the morning, 9. Not stated (this is not in the text: accounts 

are audited by an independent auditor), 10. False 

(p. 3) A Skimming is fast reading the whole text for gist; scanning is fast reading to find 

specific information. In a scanning task, students should read the information 

sought before searching the text. 



(p. 3) B 1D, 2E, 3B, 4J, 5G, 6I, 7C, 8F, 9A, 10H 

(p. 3) C a 9, b 8, c 5, d 6, e 1, f 3, g 7, h 10, i 6 

(p. 5) A 1B, 2D, 3B, 4D, 5C, 6A, 7A, 

(p. 5) B Miss Gold (loyal, obedient), Mr Bibby (selfish, arrogant), Mr Jenner (direct, 

organised), Mr Fischer (sensitive, intellectual) Mr Jenner would probably make 

the most successful businessman. 

(p. 6) C There is no right answer. Fischer (2 and 5), the most likely person to say the 

others is Jenner. 


Unit 4 - Reading: Multiple choice reading Page 1 


• meet words and expressions about strikes 

• read an article about a strike 

• practise detailed reading of a text 

4 Work-related Conflict 

A What happens during a strike? What was the most famous strike 

in your country? When are strikes justified? 

B These words and expressions are about things which can happen 

during or after a major strike. Match each word/expression to its definition 

1 a ballot A To admit that you have lost a fight 

2 a picket B 

When two sides directly oppose each other – 

sometimes violently 

A striker who stands outside his/her 

3 a breakaway party C workplace urging other workers not to break 

the strike 

4 a confrontation D 

When somebody secretly listens to your 

telephone calls 

5 a historical re-enactment E When there is a vote 

6 to concede defeat F 

A political party which is created from a split 

in an older one 

7 Phone-tapping G 

When actors make a play out of a historical 

event 

C Work with a partner. Invent a scenario/short story involving all of the items in the 

vocabulary box above. 

D What are the following, and what do they do? 

a political activist, a renowned and fiery orator 

E What do the following words and expressions mean? 

to declare, local, national prominence, the polls, crucial, a tactical error, funds, 

to seize, to concede defeat, to impoverish, hostile, to reveal, counter subversion 

F Fill each gap with vocabulary items which you have met up to now in this unit. 

Arnie Fischer, leader of the United Workers Union, is a _1_ and _2_ speaker. He 

came to _3_ when he led a national strike some years ago. There were both _4_ and 

national _5_ and a strike was _6_. He sent _7_ to talk to workers around the country, 

and there were _8_ with the police. The government _9_ the _10_ of the trade union, 

so the union had no money. The security service _11_ his phone. 

G Look quickly at the article on the next page. Does the writer, Professor Otto Slovo, 

generally support the miners? 

H Summarise each paragraph of the main article in one sentence or in a title. 

I Write a summary of the article in not more than 100 words. 

J ‘The right to strike is a basic right.’ Do you agree? Write a list of reasons for your 

opinion and discuss it with others in the class. 

Reaching ‘breaking-point’ at work – real-life phrases 

I’ve just about had enough of this… 

That was the last straw! 

Right. I’m walking! 



Jack’s strike 

Professor Otto Slovo outlines one the most famous strikes in Grenberg’s history, 

the 1994 miners’ strike led by Jack Landau. 

(1) In 1994, Northern Coal PLC announced that 

it would break an agreement reached with the 

Grenberg’s miners in 1984; the company 

intended to close twenty pits. Twenty thousand 

jobs would be lost, and many communities 

around Grenberg would lose their primary source 

of employment. The stage was set for conflict. 

(2) Strikes broke out across the area, but they 

were strongest in those pits most heavily affected 

by the job losses. In the Meckham pit, strikes 

began on 5 March following a local ballot, and 

the following day pickets from Meckham 

appeared at pits in the villages south of Grenberg 

(one of the areas least threatened by pit closures). 

On 12 March 1994, Jack Landau – President of 

the Mineworkers’ Union – declared the strikes 

official, and ordered a strike across the whole 

Grenberg coalfield. 

Jack Landau was born in 

1938 in Meckham, just 

north of Grenberg, the son 

of Harold, a miner and 

member of the Communist 

Party. The young Landau 

became a miner himself 

after leaving school. He 

soon became a left-wing 

political activist, joining the 

Young Communist League, but later joined 

the Social Democrats as the influence of the 

Communist Party in the town waned. In 

1981 he was elected leader of the Meckham 

miners, and in 2001 was elected President 

of Grenberg’s miners. 

He is renowned as a fiery and effective 

orator. He bitterly opposed the industrial 

policies of several governments, and rose to 

national prominence during the 1994 

Grenberg miners' strike; defeat for the 

miners in this strike was followed by a split in 

the union. 

In December 1995 he founded the Socialist 

Labour Party, after criticising what he saw as 

a further move to the right by the Social 

Democrats. His breakaway party has had 

little success in the polls. 

(3) Crucially, although there was widespread 

support for the strike amongst mine workers, 

Landau did not call a ballot for the Grenbergwide 

action. This tactical error made it easier for 


the Ministry of the Interior to bring the full 

weight of the law down on the striking miners 

and the union. The union’s funds were seized on 

24 October 1994. The miners received no wages 

and were denied state benefits. The police were 

mobilised to deal with picket lines, on the 

grounds that they represented illegal public 

disturbances. The miners were also split, with a 

minority – mostly in the villages to the south of 

Grenberg – forming the anti-strike Union of 

Democratic Grenberg Mineworkers. 

(4) One of the most famous clashes of the 

Miners' Strike took place in Traunt, a small 

village east of Grenberg on 18 June 1994. This 

confrontation between striking miners and 

Ministry of the Interior police became known as 

the Battle of Traunt. It was the subject of a 

historical re-enactment for television in late 

2005. 

(5) The strike ended on 3 March 1995 – nearly a 

year after it had begun – when Landau conceded 

defeat, faced as he was with an impoverished 

membership and overwhelming state power. 

(6) Rueben Stein, head of the Ministry of the 

Interior’s secret service, published an 

autobiography in late 2005. In this he revealed 

the extent of the service’s ‘counter-subversion’ 

exercises against Landau and the striking miners, 

which included the tapping of trade union 

leaders' phones. 

(7) The rights and wrongs of the strike and the 

behaviour of the state authorities still divide 

Grenberg. Local management consultant, Hector 

Jenner, believes, ‘Defeating the miners, and 

thereby breaking the power of the trade unions in 

the area, was a great gain for business in the area. 

I welcome it.’ But local councillor, Arnie 

Fischer, points to the lasting divisions and high 

unemployment in Grenberg. ‘The tactics used by 

the government were a disgrace,’ says an angry 

Councillor Fischer. 

Prof. Otto Slovo lectures at the University of 

Grenberg. His book, 2004 and the Grenberg 

Miners’ Strike will be published later this 

year.


Exam Skills 

A Read the following paragraph. Who do you think wrote it? 

You need to get pickets at the factory gate to stop the workers going in. Often, to 

make things more difficult, there is a real problem of getting the message through, 

because most of the media is against the strike. Negotiators need to spend time with 

management. Collecting money is important, as is getting the message across to the 

public, who may be having difficulties because of the strike. Strikes are often harder 

work than going to work. 

B Which of the following is the best title for the above text? 

• Strikes can be fun 

• Organising a strike 

• How to end a strike 

C Think of further appropriate titles for the text. Debate with your partner which is the 

best and why. 

D Where is the topic sentence in the paragraph in A? 

Exam tip: you need to read the text very quickly to work out what kind of text it is and 

what it is about. 

E Look at the following ‘sentence heads’: unfinished sentences which can be completed 

by one of four multiple-choice options (here the multiple-choice options for each are 

not shown), Work out the topic of the text. 

The strikers threw stones because… 

The police arrested the three women when… 

Mary’s husband thought that… 

The conflict became worse when Mary’s husband… 

Exam tip: Reading all the sentence heads for the multiple-choice questions (not the 

multiple-choice options) will tell you what the text is about. 

F Look at the following question (without multiple-choice options), and work out in 

which of the two following paragraphs the answer can be found. Why can’t the answer 

be found in the other paragraph? Write a question which has its answer in the other 

paragraph. 

Why did Mr Fischer call a strike? 

1 Conditions for workers in the whole region have been getting worse for several years now. 

The number of houses built by the local council for ordinary working people has declined, 

and little money has been put into education. Unemployment in the region has now passed 

two million. Protest and unrest are now common. 

2 At PKZ Engineering, where I represent over half the workers, conditions have actually 

improved in the last year. A major order from Saudi Arabia boosted production, profits and 

employment levels in the factory. In these circumstances I found it strange that the managing 

director, Mr Grice, should choose to end the profit-sharing agreement worked out last year. 

Exam tip: Read the questions and work out exactly the kind of answer required. 



G Read the following paragraph, written by Arnie Fischer, and answer the multiplechoice 

question. Give reasons for the correct answer and explain why the ‘distractors’ 

are incorrect. 

The strike… 

A was supported by all the members of the executive committee. 

B received Mr Fischer’s vote. 

C was supported by a majority of the members of the union. 

D was opposed by a minority of those who voted. 

‘Whether the strike would go ahead or not was not decided till the last minute. 

The executive committee of the United Workers Union, of which I am 

chairman, voted eight to four in favour of a strike, but then there had to be a 

vote of all the workers. We sent out voting papers for a postal ballot, but less 

than half the members returned the ballot papers. Of those who voted, 59% 

voted for the strike, and the executive committee then endorsed the strike 

seven to five.’ 

Exam tip: work out why the distractors are wrong before choosing the correct answer. 

Extra Task 

Read the pieces of speech below (1 to 6). Which of the following people (A to F) do you think 

said each one? 

A. Jack Landau – the miners’ union president 

B. a police officer from the Ministry of the Interior 

C. a miner on the picket line 

D. the mayor of Grenberg 

E. Rueben Stein – state security service 

F. Hector Jenner – management consultant 

(1) ‘We were running like hell. Mrs Green at number 47 opened her front door. We thought 

we were OK, but then the whole door was knocked in.’ 

(2) ‘Well, we have people everywhere. We have a unit at the telephone exchange, and of 

course we get information from the odd miner – but we pay “under the table” for that. 

Then we have people in the media.’ 

(3) ‘We get our orders. We have shields and batons, of course. If we use gas, we need 

masks.’ 

(4) ‘Trade unions get in the way of profit-making and the market. I welcome anything 

which weakens their power.’ 

(5) ‘It’s not just a question of the miner’s jobs, but the whole community is dependent on 

the mining industry.’ 

(6) ‘What is terrible is that all this is happening in the first place. We’ve already had two 

deaths, and the effects will be felt in Grenberg for many years to come.’ 



Exam Practice: Everybody Out! 

A When workers get angry with pay and conditions, what (apart from leave!) can they do? 

B What do the following mean? 

go slow, work-to-rule, industrial dispute, line manager, negotiation, non-contractual 

work, 

C Which forms of industrial action are most successful and why? 

D Read the following letter from Arnie Fischer. Why is he writing? 

E Do the task. 

Dear Colleague, 

You will by now be in receipt of the letter from Regional Office, outlining the latest 

revised view concerning the current pay dispute. It has come as some surprise to me, 

as it is mistaken and is now superseded by this letter. To help you understand the 

events leading up to the present situation, I will endeavour to explain them. 

Last month the union decided that we would begin a work-to-rule protest. In other 

words, we would only do what our contracts require of us and no more. 

The ‘work-to-rule letters’ which all members were asked to send to their line 

managers came to the attention of the company manager, Mr Edgar Grice. In 

response, Mr Grice declared that he had withdrawn from negotiations, and wrote to 

me indicating this, also questioning the legality of the branch taking industrial action 

against the company. I contacted the Regional Officer to request direction from 

national officers. Their immediate response was unequivocal: we were in dispute, 

and the dispute was legal for the reason in the following paragraph. 

The company was informed of the pay claim and the intention to ballot the 

membership for strike action on 24 April 2003. No challenge was received. The 

ballot was conducted following all legal requirements. I read this statement to Mr 

Grice at the last industrial works council, and there was no protest made at the time. 

Following a meeting of the regional committee of the United Workers Union on 9 

May, the regional officer (Ms O’Brien) circulated a letter to members in this branch, 

stating that the latest advice from National Office was that we would have to be 

excluded from the action in November. I understood there was now some doubt over 

our legal position, and that National Office did not want to risk the integrity of the 

entire national ballot. 

In consequence of the above, I must further advise you that this branch of the United 

Workers Union and its members are in dispute with employers in pursuance of the 

national pay claim. The industrial action on 5 November will proceed as originally 

planned. The work-to-rule is also to proceed with immediate effect as part of the 

national industrial action. This has consequences for all non-contractual work, 

including the Open Day on 9 November. Advice regarding action on Open Day can 

be viewed on the branch website. 

Yours fraternally, 

Arnie Fischer 

United Workers Union, Branch Chair 



1 This letter… 

A comes from the Regional 

Office of the union. 

B is the first that members 

have heard of the industrial 

action. 

C corrects an earlier letter. 

D confirms an earlier letter. 

2 The Union will ask its members… 

A to go on strike. 

B to break their contract with 

their employers. 

C to break company rules. 

D not to do any work not 

specified in their contracts. 

3 Mr Grice… 

A refused throughout to 

negotiate about the pay 

claim. 

B thinks a ‘work-to-rule’ isn’t 

an industrial dispute. 

C has told Mr Fischer that he 

has finished discussing the 

issue. 

D doesn’t know the details of 

the industrial dispute. 

4 About the ballot… 

A Mr Grice questioned it from 

the beginning. 

B Mr Grice was given notice 

of it. 

C It was organised illegally. 

D Mr Fischer and Mr Grice 

discussed it before it was 

held. 


5 Ms O’Brien… 

A wrote to the members of the 

branch. 

B opposed a national strike. 

C ignored the advice of the 

national officers. 

D believed the national ballot 

would have to be held 

again. 

6 The latest position is… 

A as Ms O’Brien described it. 

B that the branch will not join 

the national industrial 

action. 

C that the national union is not 

in dispute. 

D that the branch will start a 

‘work-to-rule’. 

7 Most of the letter is about… 

A the history of the industrial 

dispute. 

B what members of the branch 

should do. 

C Ms O’Brien’s opinions. 

D the national officers of the 

United Workers Union.


Unit 4: Work-related Conflict 

(p.1) B 1E, 2C, 3F, 4B, 5G, 6A, 7D 

(p.1) D political activist: somebody who engages in political activity, usually unpaid 

(not a politician); a renowned and fiery orator:– renowned: well-known; fiery: 

adjective related to fire (here it means ‘passionate or hot-tempered); orator: a 

public speaker. 

(p.1) F 1. renowned, 2. fiery, 3. national prominence, 4. local, 5. ballots, 6. declared, 

7. pickets, 8. confrontations, 9. seized, 10. funds, 11. tapped. 

(p.1) G The article is mainly factual and includes comments from both pro- and antistrike 

people. The article, however, largely explains the strike from the miners’ 

point of view. 

(p. 1) H (possible answers) 1. the reasons for the strike, 2. the start of the strike, 3. the 

politics of the strike, 4. The Battle of Traunt, 5. the end of strike, 6. the role of 

the secret service, 7. present-day opinions on the strike 

(p. 3) A a trade union organiser 

(p. 3) B organising a strike 

(p. 3) C A strike is hard work, Many things to do in strike… 

(p. 3) D arguably the last one: Strikes are often harder work than going to work. 

(p. 3) E Mary’s husband is involved in violent confrontations during a strike. 

(p. 3) F The answer can be found in the second paragraph, because it states a possible 

reason for the strike. The first paragraph talks about the social decline of an 

area. 

(p. 3) G The correct answer is D, a minority (i.e. 41% of those voting) opposed the 

strike. A is incorrect because the votes at the executive meeting were split. For 

B there is no evidence, as we have no idea how Mr Fischer voted. C is 

incorrect, as a majority of the members of the union didn’t vote. 

Extra Task 1 C, 2 E, 3 B, 4 F, 5 A/D, 6 A/D 

(p. 5) D to clarify the status of the strike to branch members 

(p. 5) E 1C, 2D, 3C, 4B, 5A, 6D, 7A, 


Unit 5 - Listening: Short conversations Page 1 

5 Business Talk and Chatter 


• meet words and expressions about public speaking 

• read an article on boring presentations 

• role-play situations during a presentation 

A Do you like listening to business talks and 

presentations? What makes them interesting or boring? 

B What are PowerPoint presentations? What advantages do they have? Do you like them? 

C What do the following words and phrases mean? Which are connected to presentations? 

Power Point, to hire a venue, assorted expenses, to point the finger of blame, a slide, 

to detract from, a monotone voice, umming and erring, to be onside, to come down 

to s.th., a tip 

D Fill in the gaps with a word or expression from the vocabulary box. You may need to 

adapt the word. 

Wayne Shatner runs a small catering business. He has a _1_ presentation which uses 

twenty _2_. He _3_ through the local business college for his presentations. 

Unfortunately, he has a _4_ which is boring to listen to. He never pauses, but _5_ all 

the time, which _6_ from his message. He wants to keep his listeners _7_, so he tells 

bad jokes. 

E Look quickly at the article on the next page. Who wrote it, and who is likely to read it? 

Where would you find it? 

F Read the article again quickly. What is Mr Jenner’s main point? 

G Make a list of the most important pieces of advice from Mr Bibby. Which is the most 

important? Do you agree with everything Mr Bibby says? 

H You have received the following letter from a colleague and friend. Write a reply. Look 

again at Mr Bibby’s advice in the text. Remember, you are writing to a friend. 

Hi there, 

It’s absolutely terrible. 

Last week I gave a presentation to some managers in the catering business and 

they just looked bored all the way through. I thought I had very interesting Power Point 

slides, and I kept talking and had a good stock of jokes. But nobody laughed. Next week 

I have to give them a second presentation, and I’m really worried that things will go 

badly again. 

Have you got any advice for me? 

Jane 

Being clear in public – real-life phrases 

Good Morning. Could I have your attention please… 

In this short talk I want to make three points… 

To conclude, my key message is… 



Boring presentations 

Hector Jenner, management consultant, explains his anger at 

boring and unprofitable talk in meetings and presentations. 

Meetings are about talking. Talking should be about effective 

communication. And effective communication is necessary for profit. 

Yet the sad truth is that boring meetings cost business millions of 

euros each year. And wasting money on orange juice and sandwiches 

doesn’t make the meeting any more interesting or profitable. 

By the time the typical business presentation comes to an end the interest levels of the average 

listener will have disappeared. I am fed up with this army of PowerPoint-crazed middle 

managers. One study suggested that these boring meetings cost businesses more than EUR 8m a 

year. Include preparation time, the cost of providing refreshments, hiring venues and equipment, 

travel and other assorted expenses, and the figure is even more. 

Why then, if there must be meetings, do we get such poor value for money? 

My colleague Ralph Bibby, who teaches public speaking techniques to business people, has 

pointed the finger of blame at slide shows. ‘In a lot of organisations it's not regarded as a proper 

presentation unless there are slides,’ he says. ‘Relying on "visuals" restricts a speaker's eye 

contact with the audience. And the nervous speaker uses them as a support. Nobody wants to sit 

there watching a series of slides. People might as well go away and read a book.’ 

Bibby, a professional public speaker, also focuses on the voice, ‘Listening to people speaking in 

a monotone voice and “umming and erring” – well, they shouldn’t be public speakers at all until 

they’ve had lessons. They need to learn to pause’ 

‘Another problem is those who insist on telling bad jokes in a desperate attempt to keep the 

audience on-side. Bad jokes really irritate me. Why should we have to waste time sitting there 

listening to somebody else’s bad humour and stupid jokes?’ says Bibby. I would add to that the 

financial cost of wasted time and effort. 

‘There's no such thing as a boring subject, only boring speakers,’ says Bibby. ‘A year ago I 

heard someone give a speech about the history of pensions and he held the attention of a 

hundred people for over an hour. It all comes down to training and, I suppose, natural ability’ 

Bibby has a few tips for those who want to improve their speaking skills. The ability to use 

metaphor, storytelling and rhetoric helps keep up interest levels. But, I would add, nothing is 

more important than the speaker believing that his speech will communicate a message that will 

make money. 

The extraordinary thing is that even people who don't like being on the receiving end and can 

see the waste when they're sitting in an audience still use the same slide-dependent approach 

when making presentations themselves. 

So this self-defeating cycle continues, with thousands attending presentations from which they 

are getting little or no benefit. It’s time it stopped, as it’s a waste of money. 



Exam skills 

A A presentation is being given at a firm of management consultants. Working with a 

partner, write a three or four-turn dialogue of not more than sixty words for one of the 

following situations. Role-play the dialogue to the class; other class members must 

guess which situation. 

Two participants… 

• meet before the presentation. They know each other, but have not met for some 

time. 

• participants can’t hear the presenter. When one complains, the presenter can’t 

hear him/ her. 

• are at the buffet table. One spills orange juice on the other. 

• discuss the presentation. 

• who have met at the presentation exchange telephone numbers. 

Exam tip: all the conversations occur in one place, or involve one topic. 

B Look at the following dialogues between two participants, and work out what the 

highlighted pronouns might be referring to. 

Wayne My God, he was boring. 

Kevin Yes, he kept asking all those questions 

Wayne And nobody shut him up. 

Wayne It was quite funny to see Mr Bibby holding it and waving it around like 

that. 

Kevin Well, it saves having a whiteboard-pointer 

Wayne He does have a bad leg, though, poor guy. 

Wayne Wow, they were disgusting. 

Kevin They must have been made yesterday. 

Wayne It was what was in them that was awful. 

Wayne I couldn’t find it at all. 

Kevin Yes, you’d think they’d tell you at the start of the day. 

Wayne Quite. It’s daft, having people wondering around the building looking for 

it. 

Exam tip: often you will hear an object referred to by pronouns. You will have to listen 

carefully to work out what it is. 

C Listen to the following dialogues, which occur at a business presentation. In each, 

determine what the speakers are talking about. 

Exam tip: you will need to listen to the full text to understand what is happening. 



Exam practice: The Garden Party 

A What is a garden party? What do you think 

business executives talk about there? Would 

you feel comfortable there? 

B Look at the structure of the management 

consultancy Bibby and Jenner. What kind of 

job does each person do? Which job would 

you most/least like? 

C Read the instructions and remind yourself of 

the structure of the firm. Do the task. 

D Listen again. What additional information can 

you remember about each person? 

Mr Hector Jenner – senior partner in the firm of management consultants Bibby and 

Jenner – and his wife Sarah are holding a garden party for members of the 

consultancy. 

In each conversation you will hear Mr Jenner talking to a person in the firm. Match 

each conversation with a person in the office structure diagram below. There are two 

people you will not hear. 

A. Mr Anders 

Senior International 

Consultant Partner 

F. Miss Fletcher 

Trainee Management 

Consultant 

C. Miss Schlick 

Personal Secretary to 

Mr Jenner 

Mr Jenner 

Senior Partner and 

Executive Director 

E. Miss Gold 

Consultant and Office Manager 

G. Mr Watergeist 

Management 

Consultant 

D. Mr Pringle 

Consultant and 

Assistant to Mr Bibby 

B. Mr Bibby 

Senior Partner and 

Chief Consultant 

H. Mr Strapling 

Part-time Consultant 

E Make a list of as many job positions in a company you can think of. 

F Make a diagram of the hierarchy in a real firm that you know – or otherwise an 

imaginary one. Explain it to somebody else in the class. 




(p. 1) D 1. PowerPoint, 2. slides, 3. hires a venue, 4. Monotonous voice, 5. ums and ers, 

6 detracts, 7. onside 

(p. 1) E Written by Mr Hector Jenner, an experienced management consultant, who has 

attended many business presentations. You might find it as a general feature in 

a magazine for professional people. 

(p. 1) F His main point is that money is being wasted on ineffective presentations 

(p. 1) G relying on visuals is a mistake; nervous people shouldn’t use slides as a 

support; speakers need training; they need to pause; they should avoid bad 

jokes; any subject can be made interesting; should use metaphor, intonation, 

rhetoric, storytelling; speakers should concentrate on subjects that they believe 

will help people to make money. 

(p. 3) B (possible answers) a participant in a seminar, a walking stick, sandwiches, the 

toilet 

(p. 3) C 1. the seats, 2. the room, 3. the (PowerPoint) screen 

(p. 4) C 1B, 2A, 3E, 4D, 5H, 6C. 


Conversation One 

Mr Jenner Ah, there you are. I wanted to catch you. This party’s creating a massive 

amount of good will in the firm. 

Ralph Yes, Hector. I suppose these types of occasions are necessary. We see these 

people every day in the office, so I’m not exactly over-excited by spending my 

Saturday afternoon with them. 

Mr Jenner Just one thing, given your position in the firm,. I’m expecting you to bear half 

the cost. That comes to around £600, I think. 

Ralph Of course, Hector. If we’d paid a little more we would’ve been able to get 

higher quality French cheeses. This cheap stuff is murdering my palate. 

Conversation Two 

Mr Jenner Hello, Felix. I wasn’t sure that you were back in the UK, when I sent out the 

invitations. 

Felix Yes, I flew in from the States yesterday. 

Mr Jenner Ah, now I’ve been wanting to talk to you about the Seattle-based Liebermann 

Corporation, Felix. 

Felix Next week, Hector. We’re supposed to be enjoying ourselves. 



Conversation Three 

Mr Jenner Hello there, I didn’t know that you drank red wine! Are you enjoying it? 

Rebecca Yes, it’s fine, Mr Jenner – but I only drink in extreme moderation. 

Mr Jenner And I bet now, that even here you’re still keeping an eye on people as if you 

were at the office. 

Rebecca You know me, Mr Jenner. My life’s my work. 

Mr Jenner Yes indeed, middle-management can be quite fascinating. 

Conversation Four 

Mr Jenner Ah, young man. You’re as well-dressed as usual. I like the tie. 

Gavin Well to tell the truth, it’s a present from Mr Bibby. 

Mr Jenner Yes, well I suppose if you have a close one-to-one working relationship with 

your boss, strange things happen. Anyway, let’s change the subject – more 

wine? 

Conversation 5 

Mr Jenner Hello, there. Oh, there are serviettes, so you don’t have to wipe your hands on 

your jacket. 

Laurence Oh, I’m just being my dirty old pig-like self, Mr Jenner. 

Mr Jenner So I can see. I miss your appalling manners since you’re only in the office a 

couple of mornings a week now. Not bad for you. eh? – if you can survive on 

the money. 

Laurence Yes, well, Mr Jenner. After twenty years with the firm I’m still at the bottom of 

the pile. 

Conversation Six 

Mr Jenner Hello, my dear. May I pay you the compliment of saying your perfume smells 

as if it were made in Heaven. 

Lorna I’m not wearing perfume, Mr Jenner. And perhaps you’re standing just a little 

too close – and Mrs Jenner’s looking at you. 

Mr Jenner Good Heavens! We wouldn’t want any misunderstanding, would we? It can 

easily happen, you know, when two people work so closely together. 


Unit 6 – Listening: Making notes Page 1 

6 Personal Bankruptcy 


• meet words and expressions about closing down a business 

• read an article about bankruptcy 

• practise listening for specific information 

A What does it feel like when you have no money? What happens 

to you when you can’t pay your debts? 

B Check you understand the words and expressions. Put one into 

each gap below. You may have to adapt the word. 

bankruptcy, a creditor, a debtor, to petition, a settlement, a receiver, a utility 

supplier, to comply with s.th, a lump sum cash payment, a will 

Leah Bash owned a large business which failed. She had many debts, so she was a 

_1_ and had many _2_ who wanted to be paid. No _3_ with her creditors was 

possible, so she _4_ a court for _5_. The court appointed a _6_, who informed the 

electricity company and other _7_ . She had to_8_ bankruptcy laws and hand over a 

_9_, which she had received in her grandmother’s _10_. 

C What do these words and expressions mean? Which ones are connected to bankruptcy? 

to impose restrictions, a procedure, an asset, a partnership, to commit a criminal 

offence, to disclose, a redundancy payment, 

D Look quickly at the article on the next page. Who is ‘you’ in the text? 

E Look at the article again quickly. In which paragraph can you find the following? 

a how the public finds out that somebody is bankrupt 

b a bankrupt can keep some furniture 

c a bankrupt must visit the receiver 

d who can become a bankrupt 

e organisations which are told about a bankrupt person 

F Give each paragraph a title, or summarise it in one sentence. 

G A friend has just sent you an e-mail saying that she owes EUR 5 million which she 

can’t pay. Write to her and tell her that she will become a bankrupt, and what will 

happen to her. The mail should be no longer than 150 words. Remember, you are 

writing to a friend. 

Talking about debts – real-life phrases 

We’re in the red. (having debts – particularly a firm) 

I’m skint / broke (?) at the moment (slang- having no money) 

The business has a cash flow problem. 



I’m bankrupt! 

What does going bankrupt mean? Sara Liebermann explains. 

(1) Bankruptcy is a serious matter. You will 

have to give up any possessions of value, and 

you will lose your house or flat. Bankruptcy 

will involve the closure of any business you run 

and the dismissal of any employees. Being a 

bankrupt will also impose certain restrictions on 

you. 

(2) Bankruptcy is a way of dealing with debts 

you cannot pay. Bankruptcy can free you from 

overwhelming debts, so you can make a fresh 

start in five years time. It also ensures that your 

assets are shared out fairly among your 

creditors. Anyone can go bankrupt, including 

individual members of a partnership. There are 

different insolvency procedures for dealing with 

companies. 

(3) A court makes a bankruptcy order only after 

a bankruptcy petition has been presented. This 

can either be presented by yourself (debtor’s 

petition), or by one or more creditors to whom 

you owe at least EUR 750 (creditor’s petition). 

(4) A bankruptcy order can still be made even if 

you refuse to acknowledge the proceedings or 

refuse to agree to them. You must co-operate 

fully once the bankruptcy proceedings have 

begun. If you dispute the creditor’s petition, you 

should try and reach a settlement before the 

bankruptcy petition is due to be heard. Trying to 

do so after the bankruptcy order has been made 

is both difficult and expensive – and money is 

something you don’t have! 

(5) Once the bankruptcy order has been made, it 

is advertised in the leading newspapers to 

inform everybody that you are a bankrupt. A 

receiver is appointed by the court to deal with 

your case. He or she has responsibility for 

administering your bankruptcy and protecting 

your assets from the date of the bankruptcy 

order. 

(6) The receiver is also responsible for looking 

into your financial affairs for the period before 

and during your bankruptcy. He or she may 

report to the court, and has to report to your 

creditors. The receiver must also report any 

matters which indicate that you may have 

committed criminal offences in connection with 

your bankruptcy, or that your behaviour has 

been dishonest. 

(7) The receiver will give notice of the 

bankruptcy order to local authorities, utility 

suppliers and the Land Registry. Enquiries will 

also be made of banks, mortgage, pension and 

insurance companies, and landlords. 


(8) When a bankruptcy 

order has been made, you 

must comply with the 

receiver’s request to 

provide information about 

your financial affairs. The 

receiver may request that 

you visit his or her office for an interview. 

Before the interview you will be sent a 

questionnaire, which you must fill in fully and 

accurately. 

(9) After being declared bankrupt you must do 

the following: 

• give the receiver a full list of your 

assets, and details of what you owe and 

to whom; 

• hand over all your assets to the receiver 

together with all your financial records, 

bank statements, insurance policies and 

other papers relating to your property 

and financial affairs; 

• inform the receiver of any property 

which becomes yours during the 

bankruptcy – such property includes 

lump sum cash payments that you may 

receive (for example redundancy 

• 

payments, property or money left in a 

will); 

stop using your bank, building society, 

credit card and similar accounts 

• 

straightaway; 

not obtain credit of EUR 500 or more 

from any person without first 

• 

disclosing the fact that you are 

bankrupt; 

hand over to the receiver any pay or 

salary you receive from work – you 

will be allowed to keep a minimal 

amount for living; 

• hand over to the receiver all documents 

relating to your home, so it can be sold. 

(10) You can keep the following items unless 

their individual value is more than the cost of a 

reasonable replacement: work tools up to a 

value of EUR 2000;, clothing, bedding, a bed, 

table, chair and cupboard. All personal items 

must be disclosed to the receiver, who will then 

decide whether you can keep them.


Exam Skills 

A Look at the following paragraph and give it two possible titles. Discuss with your 

partner which one is the best. (NB the exam task will be gapped) 

From childhood Leah Bash formed a strong interest in cosmetics. When she left 

university she borrowed some money from her father and opened a small shop. 

Many women sought her advice and bought her products, so she was able to open 

several more outlets and after five years had a staff of eighty. However in 2004 

people stopped buying her cosmetics because of a bad review in a newspaper. Soon 

she had debts which she couldn’t pay and went bankrupt. 

Exam tip: when you first see the gapped notes, read them through quickly to get the gist 

of the text. This will help you to understand the recording when listening to it. 

B The following are all in the paragraph above. What is the significance of each term in 

the text? 

cosmetics – university – borrow – eighty – a newspaper review 

Exam tip: when you hear the text you will have to listen for factual pieces of 

information to fill the gaps. 

C Look at the following text. Predict what information will fill each gap. You can put up 

to three words in each gap. 

By April 2004, Leah could no longer pay her _1_. Her shops weren’t able to open 

because she couldn’t afford to buy _2_. She went to court to petition for _3_, and a 

_4_ was appointed to manage her affairs. She became very _5_ because she _6_ and 

now she 7 . 

D Listen and check your answers. 

Exam tip: predict the information for the gaps. You may be wrong, but at least you 

know what you are listening for. 

E Finish each of the sentences below in not more than three words. 

1. Leah opened a business… 

2. At first the business… 

3. A newspaper published… 

Exam tip: remember not to put more than three words into each gap 

F Each of the sentences below has one or more grammatical mistakes. Look at them 

quickly and correct them, if necessary. 

1. Leah was always interesting in cosmetics. 

2. He business quickly grown. 

3. She employing more than eighty peoples. 

Exam tip: in this task spelling and grammar do not matter, as long as the meaning is 

clear. 



Exam practice: ‘I just threw it all away’ 

A What can happen when parents hand over a successful business to their children? 

B Write down all the words you know about a business getting into trouble (e.g. 

bankrupt). 

C Read the notes and try to guess what should fill the gaps. 

D What are Lionel Metcalf’s problems? 

E Morgan Fletcher of Business World Magazine is interviewing Lionel Metcalf, who has 

not been successful in his business life. As a trainee journalist, you are taking notes. 

Listen and fill each gap with not more than three words. 

An unsuccessful businessman 

The Beginnings 

• Lionel Metcalf’s father had a/an _1_ , 

• which Lionel inherited in _2_. 

A Youth Spent in Vain/ A Wasted Youth 

• When he was young he liked to _3_ 

• and have a/an _4_ . 

• For his girlfriends he bought _5_ 

• and _6_ . 

Like Father, Like Son 

• Godfrey Metcalf established a/an _7_ 

company. 

• Soon his company _8_ . 

The Present 

• Both father and son lost their _9_ . 

• They live together in _10_ . 

• Their income comes from _11_ . 

F Make a list of all the mistakes which Lionel Metcalf made. What does the future hold 

for Lionel? 

G Working with a partner, discuss what Lionel should have done. 

H For each gap, choose one option (A, B or C) 

When Lionel became unemployed he had no income. Lionel was entitled to 

unemployment _1_ for a year, because during his working life he had paid into the 

_2_. After a year, Lionel applied for _3_ benefit. He was given a _4_ test to see 

what income and assets he had. As he had neither, he was given benefits. He also 

receives money from the local council, to pay for his _5_. 

1 A scheme B benefit C expenditure 

2 A bank B welfare C scheme 

3 A money B bankruptcy C welfare 

4 A rent B means C spending 

5 A benefit B employment C rent 



Unit 6: Personal Bankruptcy 

(p. 1) B 1. debtor, 2. creditors, 3. settlement, 4. petitioned, 5. bankruptcy, 6. receiver, 7. 

utility suppliers, 8. comply with, 9. lump sum cash payment, 10. will 

(p. 1) D the person who might be going bankrupt 

(p. 1) E a5, b10, c8, d2, e7. 

(p. 1) F (suggested answers) 1. Bankruptcy is a serious matter 2. Bankruptcy is about 

dealing with unpayable debts 3. Debtors or creditors can petition for bankruptcy 

4. You can’t hide from bankruptcy 5. Bankruptcy is made public 6. The 

receiver investigates and reports 7. Notices and inquiries 8. The debtor’s duty to 

provide information 

9. The obligation of a bankrupt 10. What you can keep 

(p. 3) A Possible titles From Success to Failure or The Ups and Downs of Business. 

(p. 3) B cosmetics: Leah always had an interest; university: after that she set up in 

business; borrowing: from father to open shop; eighty: had a staff of 80; 

newspaper review: bad and went bankrupt 

(p. 3) D 1. bills, 2. any cosmetics, 3. bankruptcy, 4. receiver, 5. depressed, 6. had 

worked 

hard, 7. would lose everything 

(p. 3) E (possible answers) 1. …after leaving university, 2. …prospered. 3. …a bad 

review 

(p. 3) F 1. Leah was always / had always been interested in cosmetics. 2. Her business 

grew quickly / quickly grew. 3. She employed more than eighty people. 

(p. 4) E 1 electronics business, 2 1950, 3 drive expensive cars / spend money, 4 luxury 

flat / expensive car, 5 dresses, 6 bracelets, 7 computer , 8 went bankrupt, 9 

houses, 10 a small flat, 11 welfare payments. 

(p. 4) H 1B, 2C, 3C, 4B, 5C 

Unit 6: Bankruptcy and Starting up Again 

Listening – making notes 

Morgan Well, Mr Metcalf, sadly your business career has not been successful. Would 

you like to tell us about it? 

Lionel Well, to tell you the truth my life in business was a complete and total disaster. 

It’s sad to say, but it’s true. I suppose I had a good start in life. My father had 

built up a successful small electronics business, which I inherited when he died 

in 1950. The truth is I wasted all my money. It was far more important for me 

to drive expensive cars and have a luxury flat in London. 



Back in the 1950s, when I was young, I would drive along in my new sports’ 

car. Of course, I really should have been running the business, not driving 

around the countryside. Well, inevitably, everything started to go wrong with 

the company. 

I also spent too much money. The girls would say, ‘Oh. Lionel, couldn’t you 

buy me that dress,’ or ‘I really must have that bracelet.’ Like a fool I would buy 

them what they wanted just to keep them happy. In the end I spent twice as 

much as the company was making in profit. The situation at the company went 

from bad to worse. The company could not pay its creditors, and we were 

rapidly becoming insolvent. Bankruptcy was just around the corner. 

I also set a bad example for my son, Godfrey. He set up a small computer firm 

on borrowed money in the boom of the 1980s, but the company went bankrupt, 

too. I would tell him, ‘Well, son, you can’t run a race and tie up your shoelaces 

at the same time.’ And he kept running up huge debts and in the end that 

brought him down. 

Father and son. Well, we are now both in the same position. We lost our houses 

in the bankruptcy proceedings. The local council rent us a small flat, and we 

live there now on welfare payments. 


Unit 7 - Listening: Meeting Page 1 

7 People Changing Jobs 


• Meet words and expressions connected to employment contracts 

• Read an article about fair and unfair dismissal 

• Practise listening for detailed information 

A Think of five reasons why people change their jobs. Have you ever 

changed your job? 

B Check you understand these words: employer, employee, to dismiss 

C Make a list of all the reasons an employer might want to dismiss an 

employee. 

D What do the following words and expressions mean? 

to resign, to give notice, a fixed term contract, an employment tribunal, a 

qualification, conduct, redundant, to be entitled to s.th., a disciplinary procedure, an 

verbal warning, a right of appeal, financial compensation, to be habitually late, to be 

dismissed on the spot 

E Put the words and expressions from the vocabulary box into one of three columns: good 

things that happen at work; bad things that happen at work; neither/don’t know. 

F Put one item from the vocabulary box into each gap. You may need to adapt the word. 

The ice cream factory closed, and John Pizzy, who had worked there for many 

years, was made _1_. He knew about the closure because he was given three months 

_2_. He also received EUR 300 in _3_, and is _4_ to unemployment benefit. He will 

find it difficult to get another job as he has no _5_. 

G Complete the table. Which syllable is stressed in the words in each box? Does the stress 

change when the word is converted ot another type of word? 

NOUN VERB ADJECTIVE 

qualification 

procedural 

compensation 

dismiss 

H Look quickly at the following article by Professor Otto Slovo. Which of the following 

magazines do you think the article is from? 

1 Management Consultants’ Review, 2 Workers’ Briefing, 3 Meckham Community Post 

I Look at Professor Otto Slovo’s article again quickly. When can an employee be fairly 

dismissed? 

J Write a short leaflet (not more than 100 words) informing workers about the law on 

dismissals. Use the structure on the opposite page, under Mr Slovo’s article. 

Employment – real-life phrases 

They took her on (informal) 

He got the sack/boot / was fired/sacked/ thrown out/kicked out (informal) 

To give notice 




Fair and unfair dismissal 

Have you ever been dismissed from your employment? Was it fair? Read Professor Slovo’s 

article and find out. 

Dismissal is defined as the ending of a contract of employment. It doesn’t matter if the 

employer gives you notice or not. You are also dismissed in law if you resign because the 

employer has broken the contract of employment, or intends to do so. Finally, in law you are 

dismissed if you have a fixed term contract and that contract comes to an end. So you may 

have been illegally dismissed without knowing it! 

Dismissals may be fair or unfair. Dismissal is only fair if it was for one of the reasons listed 

below, and the employer has acted ‘fairly’. You should know, however, that you can only 

claim unfair dismissal before an employment tribunal if you have worked for the employer for 

at least one year, so if you are new to a job you are in a pretty weak position. Let us look at 

the reasons for fair dismissal. 

First, you can be dismissed if you are incapable of doing the job or don’t have the correct 

qualifications. So if you are a singer in a choir and can’t sing, your employer can say goodbye 

to you! And if you’re working as a doctor without ever having been to medical school, 

then your days in the job could be numbered. 

Secondly, you can be dismissed if your conduct is unacceptable – so if you are a waiter and 

you throw soup at the customer or steal the money from the till, then you can be thrown out. 

Thirdly, there is redundancy. This is when you are no longer needed to do the job that you do, 

for example when a factory making ice cream no longer has any customers, and closes. A 

dismissal for redundancy will be unfair if you have been selected unfairly for redundancy. 

Even if you are fairly dismissed you may still be entitled to a redundancy payment. 

Fourthly, if your employer dismisses you because of your race, religion or gender, then that is 

automatically unfair. It doesn’t matter how long you have worked for the firm, you can take 

the case to an employment tribunal. 

Now, it is not just a case of the employer having a good reason to dismiss you, but the 

employer must also act reasonably. The correct disciplinary procedures must be followed. 

This usually involves a verbal warning, a written warning and then a dismissal with a right of 

appeal. So even if you are habitually late for work and you get dismissed on the spot, you 

might still have a case. 

If you think your employer has dismissed you unfairly, you can take your case to an 

employment tribunal, which has the power to recommend that you get your job back or to 

give you financial compensation. 

Have you been sacked unfairly? You might have been, if: 

• 

• 

• 

What can YOU do you about it? 

• 

•


Exam Skills 

A Mr Jenner is the senior partner in the firm of management consultants Bibby and 

Jenner. Look at the questions below and discuss in pairs exactly what information is 

being asked for. Predict the answers. 

(i) Why does Mr Jenner often offer dismissed employees money? 

(ii) What rights do dismissed employees have? 

(iii) What does Mr Jenner want to avoid? 

Now look at the extract from the exam script and find answers to the questions. 

Compare your answers with a partner. 

Mr Jenner… 

‘Now of course when we terminate a contract by dismissing somebody, that 

employee has the right to take the case to an employment tribunal. If the employee 

decides to go down that road, the problem for us is the amount of time it takes us to 

prepare the case and attend the court proceedings For us, time is money. We usually 

get round this problem by offering the dismissed employee some money to leave 

without taking the matter to court. It makes financial sense, even if we believe we 

were right to dismiss the employee. The important thing is to employ good people in 

the first place, so we don’t have to dismiss inefficient or otherwise useless people.’ 

Exam tip: At the beginning of the ‘meetings’ task you are given one and a half minutes 

to read through the multiple choice questions to decide what each question is asking 

for. Questions are often answered wrongly because the question itself has been 

misunderstood. 

B Look at the following multiple-choice question. In pairs decide on the correct answer 

and the three ‘distractors’. Find evidence for your choice in Mr Jenner’s speech. 

Mr Jenner avoids employment court cases because… 

A he is worried about losing the case 

B the company doesn’t have the ability to fight the case 

C they are expensive for the firm 

D he needs to employ lawyers 

Exam tip: When you are looking at the questions, it helps to predict the answer and 

listen to see if you are correct. 

C Fill in the gaps in Mr Jenner’s speech. 

‘Very often people have to leave the firm because the pace of work causes _1_. 

Obviously we need our people to work as _2_ as possible to maximise our profits. 

But if we overdo it, we end up _3_ good people, which is of no benefit to us.’ 

Exam tip: you may not hear every word of the recording. When you cannot hear a word 

try to guess what it means from the context. 

D Fill in the text below with the following words: appeal, standard, code, image, 

procedure, dismissal. 

Bibby and Jenner is a management consultancy which requires a very high _1_ of 

conduct from its employees. There is a strict dress _2_ too. Mr Jenner believes that 

it is important to present a professional _3_ to clients. If a staff member does not 

perform satisfactorily s/he will go through a disciplinary _4_. First, an oral / a verbal 

warning is given, then a written warning and finally _5_. Any employee who is 

dismissed has the right of _6_ to the managing directors, Mr Jenner and Mr Bibby. 



Exam practice: Saying Good-bye to Miss Fletcher 

A Imagine a firm with over fifty people. What issues will concern the 

managing directors? Which ones will not? 

B What is the procedure for dismissing an employee in a properly 

organised company? 

C Read the first lines of the questions and glance over the options 

looking for key words. What do you think the listening text is about? 

D Listen and do the task. You will hear Ralph Bibby, Hector Jenner 

and Sarah Fletcher. 

E Compare Mr Jenner and Mr Bibby’s approach to the issue. What is your opinion? 

1. The meeting between Ralph Bibby 

and Hector Jenner was… 

A. one of their regular meetings. 

B. the result of a note from Mr Bibby. 

C. set up by phone. 

D. called by Mr Jenner. 

2. Concerning Fiona Fletcher’s 

dismissal, Ralph Bibby thinks … 

A. the matter is not important. 

B. Miss Gold is incompetent. 

C. he should not be involved 

D. Mr Jenner should deal with the matter 

alone. 

3. Concerning Fiona Fletcher’s 

dismissal, Hector Jenner feels… 

A. Miss Gold has done her job correctly. 

B. he should not be involved. 

C. Miss Gold’s conclusions are 

unreasonable. 

D. the matter will take the whole morning. 

4. On the question of her dismissal, 

Fiona Fletcher… 

A. is required to meet the senior partners. 

B. has the option of meeting the senior 

partners. 

C. can ask, but has no right to see the senior 

partners. 

D. cannot question a decision made by Miss 

Gold. 

5. Hector Jenner suggests that Ralph 

Bibby has some tea… 

A. to pacify him. 

B. because he is thirsty. 

C. because he always drinks the same tea. 

D. because Mr Jenner is thirsty too. 


6. What does Hector Jenner lie to 

Fiona Fletcher about? 

A. Miss Gold having recommended her 

dismissal. 

B. Mr Bibby knowing the full facts of the 

case. 

C. Mr Bibby being pressed for time. 

D. the senior partners giving the matter 

their full consideration. 

7. When his tea arrives, Ralph 

Bibby… 

A. is grateful. 

B. is irritated. 

C. is amused by the circumstances. 

D. leaves it with Fiona Fletcher. 

8. Concerning the complaint against 

Fiona Fletcher, Ralph Bibby… 

A. believes Miss Gold’s report. 

B. doesn’t see the complaint as serious. 

C. takes a balanced view of the matter. 

D. wants to hear what Fiona Fletcher has to 

say. 

9. Which of the following would best 

describe Ralph Bibby’s behaviour? 

A. self-controlled 

B. formal 

C. impatient 

D. friendly 

10. How does Hector Jenner treat 

Ralph Bibby? 

A. Dismissively 

B. With understanding 

C. With humour 

D. Rudely



(p. 1) F 1. redundant, 2. notice, 3. financial compensation, 4. entitled to, 5. qualifications. 

(p.1) G 

NOUN VERB ADJECTIVE 

a qualification (oooOo) to qualify (Ooo) qualified /-ing (Ooo – ooOo) 

a procedure (oOo) to (e.g. to institute) a 

procedure 

procedural (oOoo) 

compensation (ooOo) to compensate (Ooo) compensatory (rare) (ooOoo) 

a dismissal (oOo) to dismiss (oO) dismissed (oO) 

(p. 1) H A trade union journal, Workers’ Briefing (it is easy to understand, oriented to the 

worker’s point of view) 

(p. 1) I inability to do the job, no qualification, unacceptable conduct, redundancy 

(p. 3) A (i) Mr Jenner offers to dismissed employees money in compensation because it costs 

the firm money to fight a dismissal case, (ii) to take their case to an employment court, (iii) 

spending money on fighting a case at an employment court 

(p.3) B Option A: Jenner never mentions this; he assumes his dismissal is justified. Option B: 

Jenner implies that the firm is unwilling to devote the funds to the case, not that it does not have 

the funds. Option C: the correct answer, Option D: while ‘D’ may be true, it is not the reason 

given. 

(p.3) C (possible answers) 1. stress/illness/dissatisfaction/discontent/friction, 2. hard/much, 3. 

losing 

(p. 3) D 1. standard, 2. code, 3. image, 4. procedure, 5. dismissal, 6. appeal 

(p. 4) D 1D, 2C, 3A, 4B, 5A, 6B, 7B/A, 8A/B, 9C, 10B 


Listening – meeting 

Mr Jenner Ah, Ralph, come in. I see you got the note I left on your desk about the 

probable dismissal of one of our new young recruits. 

Mr Bibby Yes, I did. What’s all this about exactly? I certainly hope it won’t be too timeconsuming. 

Mr Jenner Well, the office manager, Miss Gold prepared the report. It would appear that 

Fiona Fletcher – whom we appointed at the last minute in January, if you 

remember – has been playing up. Miss Gold’s made a full report of the 

incidents involved, and has - so I believe – fully discussed the matter with 

Fiona Fletcher. On the basis of that discussion, Miss Gold has recommended 

her dismissal – and has communicated the fact to her. 



Mr Bibby I fully understand, Hector, but why on earth does a matter of this kind require 

the attention of both senior partners in the firm? What do we employ Miss Gold 

for, if she can’t sort out this kind of matter herself? 

Oh, Hector, don’t answer me, because I know the answer. It’s just that I’m 

really very annoyed about having to give up a whole morning to listen to the 

Fletcher girl. 

Mr Jenner Well, as you know, Ralph, under clause 27 of her employment contract she has 

the right of final appeal to us. It doesn’t help us make money directly, Ralph, 

but… 

Mr Bibby But I’ve got so much to do with the re-writing of the management contracts for 

PLZ Engineering. Where’s Miss Gold anyway? Why are things all over the 

place at the moment? 

Mr Jenner (irritated, but with understanding) Ralph, calm down. These little tempers of 

yours are beginning to affect profits. What I’ll do is have Lorna make you one 

of your teas. What do you want? The Darjeeling tea? 

(loudly) Lorna, be so good as to make Mr Bibby a Darjeeling tea, if you would. 

KNOCK AT THE DOOR 

Ah, that’ll be the Fletcher girl now. 

(loudly) Come in. 

Now, come in and sit down, Miss Fletcher. Mr Bibby and I’ve had the 

opportunity to familiarise ourselves with Miss Gold’s report on the matter in 

hand. 

Miss Fletcher Shall I sit here, Sir? 

Mr Jenner Yes, sit there where we can see you. What’s that you’ve got in your hand? Is it 

Mr Bibby’s tea? Ralph, your tea seems to be here. 

Miss Fletcher Yes, I think so. 

Mr Bibby (irritated) Ok, I’ll take it off you – and for heaven’s sake don’t let us waste any 

more time. Let’s get on with things, Hector. 

Mr Jenner Now, Miss Fletcher. The heart of Miss Gold’s case against you is that you’ve 

come in late on average three times a week, you’ve wasted time while at work, 

used the firm’s phone for private calls and been rude to Miss Gold. Last week, 

if I understand correctly, you were given a final warning by Miss Gold, but the 

offending behaviour since that time has continued. Is all that correct, Miss 

Fletcher? 

Miss Fletcher Could I just say… 

Mr Bibby ‘Could I just…’ Who on heaven or earth do you think you are, Miss Fletcher? 

Do you think we are running some kind of hotel or holiday camp here? 

Miss Fletcher If I could just say… 



Mr Bibby The point is… 

Mr Jenner Ralph, let her comment. Yes, now what do you have to say, Miss Fletcher? 

Miss Fletcher What I want to say is that I’ve found another job, and I’m leaving at the end of 

the week. 


Unit 8- Writing: Transactional writing Page 1 

8 Formal Letters 


• meet words and expressions about formal procedures 

• read an article about the legal steps for dismissing an employee 

• write a letter dismissing an employee 

A Do you enjoy writing formal letters? Why? Why Not? 

B Match the types of letter described on the left with the extracts on 

the right 

1 

A letter telling you that you’ve 

been successful in a job interview 

2 A letter dismissing you from a job B 

3 A letter to a friend about your job C 

A It’s really great…what I have to do is… 

We are pleased to inform you…We look 

forward to… 

In relation to clause 8 of your contract of 

employment… 

C What do the following words and phrases mean? Which words have a negative 

connotation? 

employment termination, redundancy, (gross) misconduct, poor performance, an 

appeal, to delay, 

(a piece of) evidence, to have sth. at your fingertips, vindictiveness, malicious, 

alienating, a victim, vengeful, libel, defamation, a liability 

D Use one item from the vocabulary box to fill each gap. There is more than one 

possibility for some. You may need to adapt the word. 

Sara Liebermann helps workers who have had _1_ bosses. The official reason for 

the _2_ of their _3_ can be _4_, _5_ or _6_. In many cases the formalities were not 

followed, and most of the workers weren’t given a chance to go to an _7_ at work. 

‘If you decide to go to court, it is important to have _8_, and have all the 

information _9_. I tend to see most of these workers as _10_,’ she says. 

E Look quickly at the article on the next page. Who is Mr Jenner advising? 

F What is the purpose of the first paragraph? (You can include the text in bold as part of 

the first paragraph.) 

G Each paragraph has a function and makes a point. Summarise each paragraph in a 

sentence or title. 

H Compare the internal structure of paragraphs 3 and 4. What are the topic sentences of 

each of the two paragraphs? Is there a difference between the topic sentence and the 

theme of the paragraph? 



I Look at the following paragraph from a review of Mr Jenner’s article. Is the letter 

logically ordered? Re-write it. 

He is completely partisan. For Jenner the purpose of keeping records is solely to 

empower the boss, not the worker. Jenner’s article reveals everything which is 

wrong with management consultancy today. Jenner writes entirely from the 

employer’s point of view. He says bosses should avoid vindictiveness, not because it 

hurts the employee, but only because it can cause problems for the employer. 

J Reply to the following email in not more than 150 words. Advise Wayne on the what 

steps he would have to take to make the dismissal legal. 

Hi 

I hope you are feeling better than I am. This new chap has just borrowed one 

of our company vans to go off and get himself some lunch. When he gets back in 

a minute, I’m going to call him a fool and an idiot and sack him on the spot. 

How are things with you? 

Wayne, 

Wayne Shatner, Shatner Catering, 7-11 Park St. 3830 Meckham. 

Giving formal notification – real-life phrases 

I hereby give notice that… 

I have been asked to inform you… (writing for somebody else) 

With reference to clause 4 of your contract… 



Good-bye Letters 

Writing letters terminating employment contracts is not easy. 

Management consultant Hector Jenner provides some advice. 

(1) Whenever you write any kind of official 

letter there are two things that it is vital to 

get right: the style and the content. 

Assuming you have mastered proper 

business style, here I will concentrate only 

on the content. 

(2) Employers must use proper employment 

termination and dismissal procedures to 

ensure that the process when an employee 

leaves is professionally and legally correct. 

There are severe costs to the firm if 

employment termination is, for whatever 

reason, not handled properly. 

(3) Employment termination by the 

employer normally falls into one of these 

categories: redundancy, misconduct or poor 

performance. Poor performance may or 

may not be the fault of the employee; s/he 

might be doing his/her best but his/her best 

is simply not good enough. The central 

principles for dealing with all three of these 

situations are broadly similar. 

(4) There are basic steps that need to be 

followed properly. First, give reasons for 

the proposed dismissal to the employee in 

writing, and give the employee a reasonable 

period during which to consider the facts 

and his/her response. Second, hold a 

meeting with the employee to explain the 

reasons and give the employee the 

opportunity to explain his/her position. 

Third, after the meeting, give the employee 

your decision in writing (whether to 

proceed with the dismissal or other action), 

and invite the employee to make an appeal 

and attend an appeal meeting. After any 

appeal meeting the employer must confirm 

the appeal decision in writing. A manager 

of proper authority must attend meetings, 

Dear Miss Fletcher, 

and meetings must 

be at reasonable 

times and venues. 

The employer must 

also not 

unreasonably delay 

any of the stages in this process. 

(5) The above process means a minimum of 

three official letters. Letters should 

concentrate on the facts of the situation, and 

the clear evidence to support these facts. 

Having facts and figures at management’s 

fingertips requires good record-keeping. An 

essential part of a properly run firm is the 

keeping of accurate day-to-day records on 

every aspect of an employee’s conduct. 

Nothing could be worse than getting into 

the middle of a dismissal process and 

finding basic facts and figures are lacking. 

(6) Even in cases of gross misconduct, 

avoid vindictiveness; there is no money to 

be made from it, and unnecessary hostility 

may cause management problems later. 

Any subsequent legal review process will 

not look kindly on any aspects of malicious 

behaviour used in the employer's handing 

of a dismissal. 

(7) As a matter of good practice, always try 

to part as friends, not enemies. Nothing is 

gained by alienating people who already 

see themselves as victims; negative 

treatment can prompt them to be vengeful, 

which does nobody any good at all. Also, 

by keeping employment termination and 

dismissal letters positive you avoid the risk 

of libel or defamation, which carry potential 

legal liabilities for the employer, 

irrespective of the circumstances and 

process of the dismissal itself. 

Further to our meeting held earlier today, I regret to inform you that your employment 

with Bibby and Jenner is terminated with effect from Friday 14 June. 



Exam Skills 

A Look at the letter template below. On a separate sheet of paper, write out the 

formalities: letterhead and closure (i.e. the position of the sender’s name and address, 

the recipient’s name and address, salutations, the date and the reference). 

Exam tip: you do not need to reproduce addresses in the exam, but you need to 

recognise who the letter is from and who it is to. 

B Look at the letter template again. What is the purpose/function 

of each paragraph? 

Exam tip: your letter in the exam needs a clear structure, 

through logical paragraphing. 

C What is the function of the pieces of formal language 

highlighted in the text? 

Exam tip: you need to use appropriate register in formal 

letters. 

D You are Mr Jenner’s assistant. Using the template below, write a letter dismissing Miss 

Fletcher, the trainee management consultant. Invent details, but be realistic. Your letter 

should look authentic. 

Name, address, date, reference 

Dear Mr/Ms/Mrs ……….. 

(1) Further to our meeting of (date), I (regretfully) confirm that your employment with us is 

terminated with effect from (date)/with immediate effect. 

(2) As stated at our meeting, the reason(s) for terminating your employment with us is/are as 

follows: 

(Employer must clearly state reasons – transgressions and relevant policies if applicable.) 

(3) (Employer must clearly state previous warnings – informal, formal, written etc. – the 

circumstances for each warning and the person's response and subsequent 

behaviour/performance.) 

(4) (Clearly state requirements regarding return of documentation, equipment, car, 

submission of final expenses claims, and any other leaving administration issues.) 

(5) (Clearly state actual leaving date, requirement or otherwise to serve period of notice, 

holiday pay, and other pay and pension details.) 

(6) (Optional sign-off, for example: Thank you for your past efforts and all the best for your 

future endeavours.) 

Yours sincerely,. 

name and position 

(Optional section requiring person to sign, confirming receipt, and return copy of this letter.) 

E Swap your letter with a partner. Discuss how effective the letter is, and check for 

spelling and punctuation. 



Exam Practice: Mr Bibby gets angry with Miss Jowell 

A List behaviour which is acceptable (and unacceptable) in an office which deals 

with high-paying professional clients (e.g. coming to work in jeans). 

B What information should go into a warning letter to an employee? 

C Read Mr Bibby’s letter. What kind of person is Mr Bibby? 

Bibby and Jenner are a leading firm of management consultants. As Mr Bibby’s 

personal assistant you have received the following emails. 

To assistant@bibbyandjenner.com 

From rbibby@bibbyandjenner.com 

I am so angry that I can hardly write this e-mail!!! 

This morning I had a meeting in my room with representatives from a very 

important client of ours. Throughout, a noisy circus seemed to be going on outside 

in the corridor. The main culprit was undoubtedly the new trainee in the office, Miss 

Jowell, who: 

• was shouting to her colleagues (I can never stand the shrill sound of young 

women’s voices when they are shouting) 

• was using language which was vulgar 

• brought in our coffee at 11am, and banged it down on the table, spilling a fair 

proportion of it into the saucers. 

Please draft an official warning letter to Miss Jowell, and mention clearly the 

standards that Bibby and Jenner expects from its employees. Bring it to me for 

signature when you’ve finished. 

Take any other steps you think necessary to deal with this matter. I’m too busy to 

give it any more time. 

Ralph Bibby, Senior Partner, Bibby and Jenner. 


From hjenner@bibbyandjenner.com 

There will be a senior staff meeting on Thursday at 9.00. If a matter needs placing 

on the agenda, notify the office manager, Miss Gold, by 13.00 on Tuesday. 

H. Jenner, Senior Partner, Bibby and Jenner. 

D Write a letter to Miss Jowell, as Mr Bibby instructs. (About 200 words) 

E Write an email to Miss Gold, giving a short explanation of the matter as an item to be 

included in the senior staff meeting agenda. (About 50 words) 

F Write the full agenda for the senior staff meeting on Thursday. Act it out in groups of 

three. 

(Tasks E and F are not examination tasks) 



Unit 8: Formal Letters 

(p.1) B 1B, 2C, 3A Letters 1 and 2 are formal; 3 is informal. A dismissal letter will be 

more formal and legalistic in style than a letter of appointment which will 

probably have an optimistic tone. 

(p.1) C employment termination, redundancy, (gross) misconduct, poor performance, 

vindictiveness, malicious, alienating, a victim, vengeful, libel, defamation, a 

liability, to delay 

(p.1) D 1. vindictive, malicious, vengeful, 2. termination, 3. employment, 

4./5./6. redundancy, misconduct, poor performance (in any order), 7. appeal, 8. 

evidence, 9. at your fingertips, 10. victims 

(p.1) E employers 

(p.1) F to establish the topic of the article (i.e. the correct contents of a letter of 

dismissal) 

(p.1) G 1. Getting the style and content right, 2. Use correct procedures, 3. Types of 

dismissal, 4. Detailed steps of a dismissal, 5. Keeping records and evidence, 

6. Avoid vindictiveness, 7. Try to part on friendly terms 

(p.1) H In both 3 and 4 the topic sentence is the first. Paragraph 3, after the topic 

sentence, details one aspect and then finishes with a transitional sentence 

linking to the next paragraph. Paragraph 4, after the topic sentence, details a 

procedure chronologically. 

(p.1) I The sentences in the paragraph do not follow a logical order. A possible 

correction could be: 

Jenner’s article reveals everything which is wrong with management 

consultancy today. 

(= main thesis statement) Jenner writes entirely from the employer’s point 

of view. (= further specification of thesis) He is completely partisan. 

(=reformation of specific thesis) He says bosses should avoid 

vindictiveness, not because it hurts the employee, but only because it can 

cause problems for the employer. (= example and illustration of thesis) For 

Jenner the purpose of keeping records is solely to empower the boss, not the 

worker. (= another example and illustration of thesis) 

This paragraph identifies the topic/thesis at the beginning, then 

proves/illustrates/exemplifies it in the body of the paragraph. Normal paragraph 

structure moves from the general to the specific. 

(p.1) J The letter should remind Wayne of the correct procedures if he wishes to 

dismiss an employee. The letter to the employee should be written in a formal 

style. He should try not to part with the employee on unfriendly terms. But your 

letter to Wayne will be informal. 

(p. 3) A This is a suggested format for a formal letter 



Mr G. Schlick 

Management Consultant 

12 Green Rd. 

2567 Meckham 

Dear Mr Schlick, 

Re: your employment contract 

I am writing to inform you… 

Yours sincerely, 

H. Jenner 

Senior Partner 

Bibby and Jenner Management Consultancy 

436 The Grenberg Ring 

2318 Grenberg 

12 February 2007 

(p.3) B 1. announcement of employment termination, 2. reasons for termination, 

3. history of the case to date, 4. what will happen next, 5. further details of 

termination, 6. final comments on termination 

(p.3) C These are formulaic pieces of writing used to structure the information in the 

letter. 

(p.4) C Mr Bibby appears to be intolerant, bad tempered and impatient. 


Unit 9 - Writing: Extensive writing Page 1 

9 Formal Reports 


• meet words and expressions about office consultation 

• read a report about a Christmas party 

• write reports, essays and articles 

A Do you ever have to write formal reports in your job? What is 

easy/difficult in writing a report? Give three reasons why reports are 

written. 

B What do the words and expressions in the vocabulary box mean? 

suspicion, to be entitled to s.th, to mingle, a questionnaire, anonymous, a (prior) 

engagement, resentful, a committee, a grant, to let your hair down 

C Put one item from the vocabulary box into each gap. You may need to adapt the word 

One _1_ not to be missed every year is Arnie Fischer’s New Year Party. All trade 

unionists are _2_ to attend, and can have a good time and _3_. The guests eat, _4_ 

and talk. Arnie has a _5_ that not everybody who comes is really a trade unionist, 

but he is not _6_ at paying for his or her food. ‘If an _7_ person wants to be with us, 

then so much the better,’ he says. 

D Very quickly read Mr Bibby’s e-mail on the next page. What does he want? 

1. more free time 

2. to cancel the Christmas party 

3. to re-think the Christmas party 

E Look quickly at Gavin Pringle’s report on the next page. What are the four parts into 

which the report is divided? 

F Summarise in one sentence the findings of Gavin’s survey of the staff. 

G Summarise in one sentence Gavin’s recommendations. Do you think he is right in his 

recommendations? 

H The report is over 500 words long. Reduce the report to one of about 200 words (the 

length you will have to write in the exam) 

H Imagine you are Mr Bibby. Write a letter to the staff telling them of the new 

arrangements for the Christmas party (add details to Gavin’s recommendations). The 

beginning and ending of the letter have been given to you. 

Dear Staff, 

You will be thrilled to know that this whole question of the staff Christmas party has 

come up again. Many of you will have filled in the questionnaire that my assistant, Gavin 

Pringle, sent round. Well, decisions have been made, and here they are. 

WRITE THE NEW ARRANGEMENTS HERE 

Well, I hope everybody is looking forward to our Christmas feast this year. 

Ralph Bibby, 

Senior partner 

Reports – real-life phrases 

Report for the attention of… 

I/We found/discovered that… 

I/We recommend that… 




From rbibby@bibbyandjenner.com 

I’m completely fed up with signing cheques of / paying over EUR 7,000 for the firm’s Christmas party. 

Nobody seems to enjoy it. Everybody just sits there looking bored and miserable, so my suspicion is that it is 

money down the drain. Anyway, I have no time to deal with the problem. Write me a full report and have it 

on my desk by a week Wednesday. Ralph. 

Report for the attention of Mr R. Bibby, Senior Partner, Bibby and Jenner Management Consultants. 

Subject: Possible changes to Bibby and Jenner’s Christmas Party 

Background 

1 Every year since the foundation of the firm in 1970, Bibby and Jenner have held a Christmas party 

which has been free for all full-time members of staff employed at the company’s head office. Each 

full-time member of staff has been entitled to bring one person as a guest for a fee (last year EUR 50). 

Attendance has grown so that in the past three years between 50 and 70 persons have been present. 

2 The party in recent years has been held in the Grand Hotel in the centre of Grenberg. The format has 

been speeches, a five-course dinner, and then after-dinner speeches and mingling. The party has been 

held on the last working Friday before Christmas, beginning at 19.00 and running until 23.00. 

Method 

1 I wrote a questionnaire (attached), seeking the opinion of staff on the Christmas party. The 

questionnaire could be completed and returned anonymously. Eighty per cent of staff returned the 

questionnaire, and the rate of return did not vary significantly between departments. All subsequent 

information about staff attitudes is based on the returned questionnaires. 

Results 

1 A large majority (85%) felt that they were obliged to attend the party, even if they had prior 

engagements on that evening. Of these, 82% felt resentful at having to attend, which affected their 

enjoyment of the evening. 

2 A majority (55%) enjoyed the speeches, but a substantial minority (39%) did not. The most common 

reasons cited were that the speeches focused only on the concerns of senior management. A large 

majority (90%) felt that the speeches were too long. 

3 A concern of a large minority (45%) was that staff had to be ‘well-behaved’ at the party due to the 

attendance of senior management, and this limited their enjoyment. This feeling was strongest among 

the younger staff members (78%). 

4 The current cost of bringing a guest to the party (EUR 50) was a problem for a substantial minority 

(47%). A clear majority favoured a simpler, cheaper and more open party (72%). 

5 A major concern for a slight majority (55%) was the timing of the party on the last working Friday 

before Christmas. Many in the firm would have preferred to attend other engagements on that 

evening. 

Recommendations 

1 My main recommendation is to create two events instead of one: a formal end-of-year dinner with 

speeches in the Grand Hotel, and an informal Christmas party at another location. 

2 The formal dinner would begin at 18.00, with a maximum of 45 minutes devoted to speeches (Mr 

Jenner and Mr Bibby only). The formal dinner would end at 20.30. Attendance at this event would 

still be ‘expected’. 

3 The informal party would be organised by the Staff Committee. The Committee would be given a 

small grant for this purpose. The party would start at 21.00, and would be an opportunity for the staff 

to ‘let their hair down’. 

4 Both events would be held on the Thursday of the last full working week before Christmas. 

5 I propose that the guest fee be abolished. 

Report by Gavin Pringle 

Submitted to Mr Bibby: 14 October 



Exam skills 

A What is a discursive essay? What is the purpose of a discursive essay? 

Exam tip: No piece of writing will be effective and successful unless you know the 

purpose of the text. 

B How many sentences are there in a typical 

introduction? What is its purpose? 

Exam tip: write short and clear introductions. Don’t 

put information into the introduction which belongs in 

the body of the essay. 

C Look at the exam essay below. What is the function of each paragraph? What is the 

function of the text in italics? 

Exam tip: In an essay there is a structure both within paragraphs and between 

paragraphs. 

D An argument in an essay can have every point simply contributing to strengthening the 

thesis of the essay, or it can have points which modify or qualify the initial thesis. The 

first type can often be a simple list, which fails to reflect the complexity of a particular 

issue. In the example essay below, where is the thesis modified? 

Exam tip: good essays are more than simple lists. 

E What is the difference between the content of the introduction and the conclusion? 

Exam tip: A conclusion should be based on the argument of the essay. 

‘Reports are the best means of communicating formal information’: discuss. 

(1) Reports are formal documents for conveying information within and between 

organisations. They are a vital form of communication. 

(2) Reports have a structure that can easily be recognised: who commissioned the 

report, its remit, facts/findings and recommendation(s). The structure allows the 

information to be assimilated easily. 

(3) Reports are also effective because they require the use of formal language. As a 

rule formal language leaves less room for ambiguity, and can be understood more 

easily when a report is read by someone with a different linguistic or ethnic 

background. 

(4) Reports are not appropriate for conveying certain types of information. A 

resolution to be put to a meeting, for instance, will have a different format. Reports 

suggest a hierarchy, with a subordinate reporting to his/her superior(s), so where no 

such relationship exists other forms of communication (letters, e-mails) will 

probably be more appropriate. 

(5) In conclusion, while reports have a key role to play in organisational 

communication, they are not appropriate in every case. 

F Now write the following essay: ‘Writing reports is fun’: discuss 

Exam practice: To what extent do you agree with this statement? 



A Which of the tasks below would you choose? How 

important is the topic? How important is the genre? 

Discuss in groups. 

B Note down some important features of the 

following genres: essay, article, report. 

C Choose one of the topics below and write a plan. 

Discuss your plan with a partner. 

D Write your text, check it, and give it to your partner 

to improve. 

E 

‘Economic growth is the solution to all social problems.’ To what extent do you 

agree with this statement? 

Write an essay. (ca. 200 words) 

Think of an advertising campaign for a product which you have seen. Imagine you 

work for the company that produces that product. Write a report for the managing 

director of the company on the effectiveness of the campaign. 

Write a report. (ca. 200 words) 

You have been asked to write an article for a national newspaper on the economic 

situation in your town. 

Write an article. (ca. 200 words) 

Which of the following would you use in an essay? Why? What are their functions? 

In conclusion…, First, I think…, It has been argued that…, On the one hand…, 

A lot of people say…, In other words…, As a result…, In my Dad’s opinion…, 

I don’t know much about this…, Additionally…, However,… 

F The following essay has been given an introduction and a conclusion. Complete the 

essay. You have 150 words for the main part of your essay. 

‘The only motivation of business is to maximise profit.’ To what extent do you 

agree with this statement? 

Businesses operate in a commercial environment, and the main motivation of their 

owners is to maximise profits. Businesses, on a day-to-day basis, however, have a 

range of objectives. (28 words) 

In conclusion, businesses exist to make profit. All other objectives in the majority of 

cases are subordinate to the drive for profits. (22 words) 



Unit 13: Formal Reports 

(p. 1) A Purposes of reports: to collect together information; to provide a clear and 

logical record; to show that a matter is of some importance; to provide the basis 

for action. 

(p. 1) C 1. engagement, 2. entitled, 3./4. mingle / let their hair down, 5. suspicion, 

6. resentful, 7. anonymous 

(p. 1) D Option 3: Mr Bibby wants his assistant to suggest ways to stop EUR 7,000 

being wasted on a Christmas party that nobody enjoys. 

(p. 1) E 1. background 2. method 3. results/findings 4. recommendations 

(p. 1) F The staff felt that the current party was too formal and expensive, and not held 

at the best time. 

(p. 1) G There should be two parties: firstly a formal dinner, and then following that an 

informal party organised by the staff committee. 

(p. 3) A An discursive essay is about taking a statement, stating the arguments for and 

against it and finally coming to a reasoned conclusion. 

(p. 3) B An introduction in a short essay should consist of no more than two sentences. 

The first is an orientation statement (which puts the matter in context); the 

second is the thesis (the argument you are making across the whole essay). 

(p. 3) C 1 introduction, 2 illustration of essay thesis, 3 ditto, 4 modifying the thesis, 5 

conclusion 

(p. 3) D The essay modifies the thesis in the fourth paragraph. 

(p. 3) E The introduction sets out what is to be proved in the essay; the conclusion 

establishes what has been proved in the paragraphs of the essay. 

(p. 4) B Essay: formal register, logical and standard structure, argumentative, 

impersonal 

Article: formal or informal, informative/argumentative, logically structured, 

opens and closes with powerful points. 

Report: formal, clearly signalled parts, bullet points, economic use of language 

(p. 4) E In conclusion…, It has been argued that…, On the one hand…, In other 

words…, As a result…, Additionally…, However… 


Unit 10 - Grammar & Vocabulary: Dictation Page 1 

10 Social Welfare 


• meet words and expressions about social welfare for people 

• read an article about social welfare for people with no money 

• practise writing down exactly what you hear 

A Look at the quote below. Do you agree with Mr Jenner? 

‘Unemployment is certainly a problem for the unemployed person. But it’s not a 

problem for me, and nor should the government be concerned with it.’ 

Hector Jenner, management consultant 

B What is it like being unemployed? What benefits should be given to the unemployed? 

C Which of the following words are connected to money? 

a benefit, invalidity, a lone parent, maternity benefit, rent, mortgage payments, 

a supplement, individual circumstances, an orphan 

D Fill in the gaps in the text below with a word or expression from the vocabulary box. 

You may need to adapt the word. 

Maria is unemployed. She lives in a small flat with her young son. As a _1_ she 

receives a _2_ to her social welfare _3_. She is now eight months pregnant, so she is 

on _4_. She also needs help with her _5_ because she still owes the bank EUR 

10,000. Some extra money comes in because of her _6_; poor Maria only has one 

leg. 

E Look quickly at the article on the next page. What kind of magazine do you think the 

article comes from? 

F Look at the article on the next page again. What kind of person would receive the 

highest social welfare payments? 

G The following people all want social welfare benefits. Advise them on the basis of the 

Sara Liebermann’s advice. 

‘I am 17 and still go to school. I live at home with my parents.’ Martin 

‘I live alone, work ten hours a week and can’t pay the mortgage on my big 

house.’ Joan 

‘I can’t find a job, but my husband has a full-time job.’ Rachel 

‘I’m 16 and still at school, but my parents moved to Australia last year and send me 

no money.’ Colin 

Benefits – real-life phrases 

She’s on the dole. (colloquial – unemployed) 

I can’t make ends meet. (not enough money to live) 

I’m going to sign-on. (register as being 

unemployed) 



Do you need welfare payments? 

Are you unemployed with no money? Sara Liebermann tells you whether you can 

get benefit. 

As a general rule if you are unemployed, do 

not have any income and have nearly 

nothing in savings then you are entitled to 

Social Welfare Benefit. 

Social Welfare Benefit is for people who 

are under sixty, earn less than EUR 500 a 

month and have savings of under EUR 

3,000. If you are ill you should apply for 

Invalidity Benefit, and if you are over sixty 

then you should apply to the Pension 

Bureau. 

Savings of over EUR 500 affect how much 

Social Welfare Benefit you can get. 

Basically, the more savings you have, the 

lower your benefit will be. 

To apply, you need to go to the Social 

Welfare Benefit Division at the Social 

Security Offices. But you can apply by 

phone or letter if you are a lone parent, if 

you are unable to work because you are 

caring for someone, or if you are blind. 

If you have a partner (wife, husband or 

someone you live with) who works an 

average of 24 hours a week or more, you 

cannot usually get Social Welfare Benefit. 

If you have a partner who works an average 

of less than 24 hours a week, their earnings 

will usually affect the amount of benefit 

you can get. You will be able to get Social 

Welfare Benefit if you or your partner are 

not working because of parental leave. 

Pregnant women and people with children 

under five get free milk and vitamins in 

addition to their welfare benefit. 

If you do not fully own your own home and 

you are entitled to Social Welfare Benefit, 

you may receive extra money to help 


towards rent or mortgage 

payments. However, a 

welfare officer has to 

issue a certificate that 

the size of your house is 

reasonable for your 

needs, and you must show proof of the rent 

or mortgage payments that you make. 

You can usually get extra money for your 

family. The amount paid is dependent on 

how many children you have, and their 

ages. You can also get a supplement to your 

Social Welfare Benefit if you are caring for 

elderly relatives. 

Students are generally not entitled to Social 

Welfare Benefit. If you are studying, you 

may be able to get Income Social Welfare 

Benefit while you are on your course if you 

are a lone parent, sick or disabled, or 

registered blind. You should check with 

your social security office. 

If you are aged between 16 and 18 and still 

at school or college you cannot get benefit 

for yourself unless you are looking after 

your own child, or you are an orphan. You 

will be considered an orphan if: you are not 

living with or not in touch with your 

parents and not being supported by them; 

you are separated from your parents for 

reasons that cannot be avoided and nobody 

is looking after you in their place. 

So, how much will you get? The rules for 

benefits mean that your individual 

circumstances (age, housing cost, and 

dependants) will affect the amount you can 

receive. This means you will not always be 

able to easily work out exactly how much 

you are entitled to.


Exam Skills 

A Match each grammar term on the left with the highlighted word it corresponds to on the 

right. 

adverbial particle He has been unemployed for three years now. 

article They won’t pay us any benefit until next month. 

auxiliary verb You can’t receive both unemployment and invalidity benefit. 

conjunction The welfare officer that works in that office is quite helpful. 

(demonstrative) pronoun She sat on a bench and waited to see a welfare officer. 

modal auxiliary She’s looking for a job. 

preposition At his age he might not find another job. 

(personal) pronoun Welfare benefits are paid out on Wednesday. 

relative pronoun You need this form to complain. 

Exam Tip: In the dictation, it is often difficult to hear these small grammar words. If 

you know your sentence grammar you can often work out the correct word. 

B Which of the above highlighted words can contain a schwa when said in a sentence at 

normal speaking speed? (A schwa sound is the sound at the start of the word about and 

at the end of the word better.) 

Exam Tip: The dictation task requires you to reproduce every word. Often in connected 

speech short grammar words change their pronunciation and have a schwa sound. 

C Look at the text below and for each gap work out the class of the missing word. Then 

find a suitable word for each gap. 

Maria has _1_ long form to fill _2_ before she _3_ get invalidity _4_ unemployment 

benefit. She picked up the form yesterday and needs to return _5_ to the social 

welfare office _6_ the town centre tomorrow. 

D Don’t look at your book. Tell your partner all you can remember about Maria. Now fill 

in the gaps. 

Maria is i__ her flat alone with her s__. She w___ a job, but she can’t find o__. She 

needs to claim b___ to buy food and p___ the loan on her flat. There are different 

types of b___ she can claim. She is en___ to inv___ and unem___ payments. She 

receives a sup___ because of her s___. 

Exam Tip: In the dictation look at the title and picture and think about all you know on 

the topic. It will help you to predict and guess words. 

What’s the Exam Task? 

You will hear a tape recording of a text read in separate pieces (or ‘chunks’). You must write it 

word-for-word with the correct spelling. 



Exam Practice: No Hope for Ellen 

A How do people’s lives change when they lose their 

jobs? The woman in the picture is unemployed. How 

do you think that she is feeling? 

B You will hear a short text about Mandy Gibbons, an 

office cleaner. Write down the text as closely to the 

original as you can. Nearly all of the grammar words 

are missing. Check what you have written with a 

partner. 

C Listen again to make sure that you have written down the text correctly. Insert suitable 

grammar words to make the sentences grammatically accurate and meaningful. 

Compare your answers with a partner. 

D Now listen to the complete text. Discuss any differences between your answer and the 

text on the tape. 

E What do the following mean? 

a short-term contract, promotion, redundancies, benefits, employment agencies, evicted, 

alternative accommodation 

F The dictation is about the misfortune of someone called Ellen. What do think her story 

is? Do the dictation. Now listen and write down every word you hear. 

G Read Facts about dictation below. 

Facts about the dictation 

Length: the dictation is between 85 and 100 words. 

The text is divided into parts (or chunks) in two ways: reading chunks and marking chunks. 

There are between twelve and eighteen reading chunks. (Each of these is divided into one or 

more marking chunks). 

Each marking chunk which is ‘correct’ (see below) gains a point. What is necessary in order 

to get the point? 

• You must include all the words. 

• You must spell every word (except names) correctly. 

What is not important: 

• punctuation, i.e. capital letters and any punctuation marks 

• spelling proper nouns: e.g. Mr Smith, Budapest 

• whether you use British or American spelling 

• whether you abbreviate or not (e.g. I have or I’ve, do not or don’t) but slang 

abbreviations (e.g. gonna, wanna) are not acceptable 

H Now mark the four marking chunks in the box below. Check what you have done with a 

partner. 

Look at the four following marking chunks in a dictation. Which of them would gain would gain points in 

the examination. Why? 

danny noble lives in the small town of 

Meckjham 

which is now a suberb of the 

Neighboring Town of Grenberg. since leaving school the begining of the 1990s 

I Now finish writing the dictation about Danny Noble. There is no right answer. How you 

finish the story is up to you. Make sure you only have twenty marking chunks. Practise 

your dictation with someone else in the class. 



Unit 10: Social Welfare 

(p. 1) D 1. lone parent, 2. supplement, 3. benefit, 4. maternity benefit, 5. mortgage 

payments, 6. invalidity 

(p. 1) E A magazine for the unemployed, a community paper – perhaps any magazine 

written for people on low incomes. It could be an official magazine published 

by a social welfare office. 

(p. 1) F People with no income and with savings of under EUR 3,000 who are pregnant 

or have children under five, or have rent/mortgages to pay, or have many 

children, or are caring for elderly relatives. 

(p. 1) G Martin: not entitled to benefits. 

Joan: possibly, if earning less than EUR 500 a month and with savings of 

under EUR 3,000. 

Rachel: not entitled to benefit 

Colin: if he is not supported by anybody else, then he is probably entitled to 

benefit. 

(p. 3) A adverbial particle (out), article (a), auxiliary verb (has), conjunction (and), 

(demonstrative) pronoun (this), modal auxiliary (might), preposition (on), 

personal pronoun (us), relative pronoun (that) 

(p. 3) B has, us, and, that, on (possibly), a 

(p. 3) C 1. Article / determiner (a), 2. adverbial particle (in), 3. auxiliary/modal auxiliary 

(e.g. can), 

4. conjunction (or), 5. object pronoun referring back ( anaphoric reference) (it), 

6. preposition (in). 

(p. 3) D Maria is in her flat alone with her son. She wants a job, but she can’t find one. 

She needs to claim benefit to buy food and pay the loan on her flat. There are 

different types of benefit she can claim. She is entitled to invalidity and 

unemployment payments. She receives a supplement because of her son. 

(p. 4) D For ten years Mandy Gibbons was directly employed by a firm of management 

consultants to clean the main offices. Last week, however, poor Mandy was 

made unemployed when the cleaning was transferred to a private cleaning 

company. 

(p. 4) F 


Ellen was employed on a short-term contract by a firm of management 

consultants. Initially, she had hoped for promotion and a comfortable life, 

but poor profits led to redundancies and unemployment for Ellen. She 

received benefits for sixth months, but despite going to several employment 

agencies, failed to find work. ‘I now have no income, and I was evicted 

from my flat this morning,’ said a deflated Ellen. When asked whether she 

had found alternative accommodation, she replied, ‘Yes, I’ve found a place 

under a bridge for tonight’. (88 words)


(p. 4) H 

1 1 Ellen was employed 2 on a short-term contract 

2 3 by a firm of 4 management consultants. 

3 5 Initially, she had hoped 6 for promotion 

4 7 and a comfortable life, 

5 8 but poor profits 9 led to redundancies 

6 10 and unemployment for Ellen. 

7 11 She received benefits 12 for sixth months, 

8 13 but despite going to several 14 employment agencies, 

9 15 failed to find work. 

10 16 ‘I now have no income, 

11 17 and I was evicted 18 from my flat this morning,’ 

12 19 said a deflated Ellen. 

13 20 When asked whether 21 she had found 

14 22 alternative accommodation, 

15 23 she replied, ‘Yes, I’ve found a place 

16 24 under a bridge 25 for tonight’. 

(This dictation has 25 marking chunks. The exam dictation has only 20 marking 

chunks) 

First Chunk: This chunk gains a point. The lack of capital letters in the name 

Danny Noble, and the misspelling of Meckham, a proper noun, are ignored. 

Second Chunk: This chunk does not gain a point. The misspelling of suburb, a 

common noun, loses the point. 

Third Chunk: This chunk gains a point. The unnecessary capitalisation of 

neighbouring and town are ignored, as is the American spelling of 

neighbouring. 

Fourth Chunk: This chunk does not gain a point. Both the omission of the 

preposition at and the misspelling of beginning cause the point to be lost. 

Unit 10: Social Welfare: tapescript 

(p. 4) B/C First and second reading 

For ten years Mandy Gibbons * directly employed ** firm ** 

management consultants * clean * main offices. Last week, however, 

poor Mandy * made unemployed * * cleaning * transferred * * private 

cleaning company 

(p. 4) D Third Reading 

For ten years Mandy Gibbons was directly employed by a firm of 

management consultants to clean the main offices. Last week, however, 

poor Mandy was made unemployed when the cleaning was transferred to 

a private cleaning company. 

(p. 4) F Grammar and vocabulary – dictation 



Ellen was employed on a short-term contract by a firm of management 

consultants. Initially, she had hoped for promotion and a comfortable life, but 

poor profits led to redundancies and unemployment for Ellen. She received 

benefits for sixth months, but despite going to several employment agencies 

failed to find work. ‘I now have no income, and I was evicted from my flat this 

morning,’ said a defeated Ellen. When asked whether she had found alternative 

accommodation, she replied, ‘Yes, I’ve found a place under a bridge for 

tonight.’ (88 words) 

1 Ellen was employed on a short-term contract 

2 by a firm of management consultants. 

3 Initially, she had hoped for promotion 

4 and a comfortable life, 

5 but poor profits led to redundancies 

6 and unemployment for Ellen. 

7 She received benefits for sixth months, 

8 but despite going to several employment agencies 

9 failed to find work. 

10 ‘I now have no income, 

11 and I was evicted from my flat this morning,’ 

12 said a defeated Ellen. 

13 When asked whether she had found 

14 alternative accommodation, 

15 she replied, ‘Yes, I’ve found a place 

16 under a bridge for tonight.’ 

Repeated reading chunk by reading chunk 


Unit 11 - Grammar & Vocabulary: Muliple choice gap-fill Page 1 

11 Job Satisfaction 


• meet words and expressions about experiences at work 

• read an article about job satisfaction 

• find out more about ‘words that go together.’ 

A Do you enjoy your job? What gives you satisfaction at work? What is boring or 

irritating? 

B Thinking about job satisfaction, what is good and bad 

about these jobs? 

• a teacher 

• a factory worker 

• a call-centre operator 

• a painter 

• a management consultant 

C Which of the words below are connected to work? Which can be used to describe a 

person? 

the service sector, an assembly line, the common good, deprivation, to invest, to 

manipulate, consciousness, narcissistic, isolated, hostile, a letter of resignation, 

discrimination, an appraisal, job enrichment, the dole 

D Put an appropriate word or phrase from the vocabulary box into each gap. You may 

need to adapt the word. 

Danny Noble was looking for _1_, so he moved from a job in _2_ (He did 

photocopying in an office), to work nights on an _3_. ‘We can’t talk for eight hours 

because of the noise, so I feel _4_. Management has a very negative and _5_ attitude 

towards us. I went to a job _6_ meeting last week, but no promotion for me. I feel 

that I’m a victim of 7 , so I decided to send them 8 . I’m back on 9 again. 

E Look quickly at the article on the next page. In what kind of magazine would you find 

this article? Who would read it? 

F Look at the article again quickly. What is the main point made in (i) the first three 

paragraphs, and (ii) the last four paragraphs? 

G Form two groups. Group A should list the problems identified in the first three 

paragraphs and suggest solutions. Group B should list the problems identified in last 

four paragraphs and suggest solutions. 

H Half the members of each group should swap groups. Discuss the problems and 

solutions with the members of your new group. 

Job satisfaction – real-life phrases 

I’ve got a dead end job. (a job with no prospects) 

It’s a drag. (slang – very boring) 

She got a 9-to-5 job. (regular office work) 



‘I hate my job!’ 

Levels of job satisfaction are falling, particularly among women, says Sara 

Liebermann 

As more workers enter the service sector, 

increasing numbers are complaining about 

jobs that provide them with little 

satisfaction. I don’t want to romanticise 

work on assembly lines, but people had a 

sense that they were creating products that 

served some higher purpose other than 

making money. They thought they were 

serving ‘the common good’. Most working 

people have a deep desire to serve some 

higher purpose or goal other than their own 

financial needs, and the deprivation of this 

vital need is an important source of their 

stress. 

These days more and more people spend 

their working days trying to get others to 

want their products or services, which 

means investing a great deal of effort in 

manipulating and controlling the 

consciousness of others. Sometimes we are 

selling a product for others to make a profit 

with, but at other times we are selling 

ourselves, particularly if we work in the 

professions. 

We need others to see us as desirable 

‘products’, so that they will buy us, our 

services, our product, our way of doing 

things. We go to seminars to become the 

right person to sell. This creates selfcentred 

human beings who know how to 

treat others as objects, but rarely as 

subjects. People tend to feel lonely and 

isolated, surrounded by a hostile world. 

They find it increasingly difficult to trust 

others. They hate being part of that kind of 

a world, yet to be realistic they feel they 

must be part of it, and that there is little they 

can do to change it, so they had better 

protect themselves as best they can. 

Women suffer particularly, and have a 

higher turnover in employment than men. 

The reason is not because they are less 

committed workers, a new study finds. It's 


because they're given far 

less meaningful work 

than men. 

A lack of overall job 

satisfaction, particularly 

the chance to do meaningful work and the 

opportunity for promotion, compels more 

women than men to hand in a letter of 

resignation. In a survey of 595 male and 

female workers in the civil service and 

higher education, researchers measured the 

workers’ intentions to leave and then 

examined thirteen possible motives for 

resignation. Among them were job security, 

wages, working conditions, benefits and 

paid holiday. 

Women were approximately twice as likely 

as men to admit that they would ‘definitely’ 

or ‘probably’ leave their employment 

within two years. Only 12.2% of the men 

indicated an intention to quit, while 22.2% 

of the women said they were ready to 

resign. Female workers were far less 

content than their male counterparts with 

their chances for advancement and the 

meaningfulness of their everyday duties. In 

addition, the researchers found that the 

longer women had worked at their jobs, the 

more they wanted to leave; for them this 

was an ‘alarming’ finding, which 

contradicted previous studies. 

Studies suggest that discrimination, high 

expectations, underlying performance 

problems, or differential treatment in the 

appraisal process may account for women's 

dissatisfaction with advancement 

opportunities. All this means that 

companies that want to have a solid core of 

workers at the end of the decade may want 

to consider starting programmes in career 

development and job enrichment, for their 

female workers in particular.


Exam Skills 

A Celeste Stein is an interior designer. Give her short text a title. 

‘I simply love my job. To be honest, it’s my hobby as well. Most of the day I’m 

thinking or writing about how to design the insides of people’s houses or offices. 

What I think I like most is the challenge of every room being different. Just think 

about it for a moment: every room has a different shape, a different height and a 

different purpose, because no two people have the same needs. Never forget that we 

live most of our lives in rooms, so when I design a room I’m doing something really 

important.’ 

B Look again at the text above and find the correct option for the gap in Celeste’s 

sentence below. 

‘In the evenings I’m often tired, but I can look back on a day full of _1_’ 

A. boredom B. variety C. predictability D. stress 

N.B. Without reading the text we could probably discount the negative options ‘A’ and 

‘D’ because she says ‘I’m often tired (a negative feature), but…’ (we expect a positive 

feature). Determining between options ‘B’ and ‘C’, however, can only be done by 

understanding the overall meaning of the text. 

Exam tip: before you start looking at the gaps and options, read the text for gist. 

C Collocation is about words that can and can’t go together, e.g. Let’s begin/start the 

lesson but only Let’s start the car. Read what Celeste says below and choose an option. 

The correct option forms a partnership with of living to produce a collocation. 

Celeste says, ‘Although money is not the main thing in my life, my fees give a high 

_1_ of living’. 

A. level B. degree C. standard D. measure 

D Phrasal verbs consist of a verb and one or two adverbial particles. The adverbial particle 

often changes the meaning of the verb; e.g. with the verb to break. I broke the vase 

(non-phrasal) and War broke out. (phrasal). Read what Celeste says below and choose 

an option. The correct option completes a phrasal verb. 

Celeste says, ‘Every day I wake up really excited and I _1_ forward to the day 

ahead.’ 

A. view B. see C. glance D. look 



E Look at the passage below. Which is the correct alternative? In each case decide 

whether the correct answer involves meaning in context, collocation and/or phrasal 

verbs. 

‘Being an interior designer involves/avoids keeping in contact with a large/big 

number of people. There are of course the furniture makers, from whom each item is 

individually/ collectively ordered according to my design specifications. The 

curtains are all tailor/ individual made, and the type and colour of the fabric 

involves several types of experts. Carpet specialists and manufacturers are also 

involved/ignored. Lighting also makes/constitutes up an important/irrelevant 

element/part of room design; there is the design of the fittings themselves as well as 

the technical questions/issues of organising the wiring and the switches. People 

often don’t realise/take in the complexities of designing and putting/making 

together even one room, but all these specialists have to communicate/get on well 

together.’ 

F Look at the four options for the word that is gapped in Celeste’s sentence below. Find 

the correct answer and then state why the distractors are incorrect, and how the 

distractor was intending to distract you. 

‘Once I’ve designed a room I can’t _1_ up with clients changing their minds.’ 

A. put B. take C. tolerate D. stand 

Exam tip: Don’t just choose what you think is the correct answer, but work out why the 

distractors are wrong. 

G Work out the part of speech for the gap in Celeste’s sentence below, and then fill it in. 

_1_ by the door of the room, Celeste surveys the beauty she has created. 

Exam tip: Before looking at the options, try to work out the part of speech for the gap 

and what the word might be. If your guess is indeed among the options, it is probably 

correct. 



Exam Practice: Caught in a dead-end Job 

A What does the title of the newspaper article mean? 

B Read the text quickly and find out what John Pizzy and Hector 

Jenner enjoy in their jobs. 

C Do the task. Give reasons for why the distractors are wrong. 

Job satisfaction: the modern oxymoron 

What makes people happy at work? It’s very difficult to find an answer that _0_ to everybody. 

Saul Denman called in at a couple of workplaces in Grenberg to _1_ out. 

John Pizzy has been packing ice cream into boxes for twenty-three years now. Is there any job 

satisfaction in his work? ‘Well, there’s satisfaction being at _2_ when all the lads are together. We 

often tell _3_ all day, and that really keeps us going. Sometimes I am _4_ on taping up the boxes and 

that makes a bit of a change. If the assembly _5_ breaks down for a few hours, that can give us a 

laugh.’ And what is unsatisfying about the job? ‘Well, what do you think? Wasting eight hours a _6_ 

in this place doing the same thing, year in _7_ out.’ 

I then went to ask Hector Jenner, a successful management consultant. He was ready with his 

answers. ‘Work satisfaction for me is pretty simple. Work becomes satisfying when it _8_ in financial 

gain. For me, work is never a(n) _9_ in itself. It’s always about money.’ Is there such a thing as job 

dissatisfaction in his lexicon? ‘Yes, when a muddle or inefficiency _10_ to financial loss. I call that a 

tragedy.’ 

Ex. A. fits B. applies C. joins D. affects (‘B’ is correct) 

1 A. find B. discover C. locate D. investigate 

2 A. job B. work C. workplace D. labour 

3 A. humours B. funs C. amusements D. jokes 

4 A. asked B. ordered C. given D. put 

5 A. line B. process C. row D. job 

6 A. day B. week C. job D. work 

7 A. day B. week C. month D. year 

8 A. causes B. results C. develops D. makes 

9 A. finish B. end C. ending D. affect 

10 A. causes B. signals C. points D. leads 



Unit 11: Job Satisfaction 

(p. 1) C Connected to work: the service sector, an assembly line, the common 

good, to invest, a letter of resignation, discrimination, an appraisal, job 

enrichment, the dole 

Connected to a person: deprivation, to manipulate, consciousness, 

narcissistic, isolated, hostile, discrimination, 

(p. 1) D 1. job enrichment, 2. the service sector, 3. an assembly line, 4. isolated, 5. 

hostile, 6. appraisal, 7. discrimination, 8. letter of resignation, 9. the dole. 

(p. 1) E a general or women’s magazine 

(p. 1) F 1. In the service sector today many people feel that they are doing useless and 

stressful jobs. 2. Women feel under more stress than men, and many want to 

leave their jobs. 

(p. 3) A Why Celeste likes her job 

(p. 3) B The answer is B. 

(p. 3) C The answer is C. 

(p. 3) D The answer is D. 

(p. 3) E involves (avoids makes no sense in context), large (big does not collocate with number 

of), individually (collectively makes no sense in context), tailor (individual does not 

collocate with made), involved (ignored makes no sense in context), makes (makes up 

is a phrasal verb), important part (collocates with makes up a(n)), technical issues 

(collocates better) putting together (is a phrasal verb and makes sense in context), get 

on (a phrasal verb). 

(p. 4) F The correct answer is A. 

DISTRACTORS: B take up with s.b is a phrasal verb, but it means to form a 

relationship with, and is therefore inappropriate here. C The verb tolerate 

cannot be followed with the particle up. D The verbal phrase to stand up with 

s.b is possible, but has no idiomatic meaning and is meaningless in the context. 

(p. 4) G It is a participle, probably a present particle, e.g. Standing, Sitting; Seated (third 

form). 

(p. 4) A An oxymoron is the putting together of two words that contradict each other, 

e.g. a square circle. The title of the article suggest at satisfaction and 

employment cannot go together. 

(p. 4) B John Pizzy – when work stops for some reason. Hector Jenner – making money. 

(p. 4) C 1.A, 2.B, 3.D, 4.D, 5.A, 6.A, 7.D, 8.B, 9.B, 10.D 


Unit 12 - Grammar & Vocabulary Modified cloze Page 1 

12 Business Etiquette 


• meet words and expressions about professional associations 

• read an article about dinner parties 

• role play a dinner party 

A How do you feel in business meetings with people you don’t 

know? 

B How important are the following in doing business? 

• knowing the language of your business associate 

• knowing how to dress for a meeting 

• knowing how to make appropriate conversation with business associates 

• knowing the format of a business meeting 

• knowing what to do at a formal business dinner 

C What do the following words or expressions mean? 

to negotiate, discourteous, a course, a hostess, conspicuous, an honoured guest, to 

cultivate contacts. 

D Put one of the words or expressions from the vocabulary box above into the gaps. 

When you are abroad and an _1_, should you give flowers to your _2_ when you are 

invited to a five- _3_ dinner. Nobody wants to be _4_, and formal dinners are a good 

time to _5_. You can _6_ the details later. 

E Look quickly at the article on the following page. In what kind of publication would 

you find it? Who would read it? 

F Look again quickly at the article. Find three pieces of advice which would not be 

appropriate at McDonald’s. 

G Wayne Shatner, who runs a catering firm, has read Mr Bibby’s article and has written 

the following letter to the magazine. 

Dear Sir, 

What Mr Bibby has written is total rubbish. I am a millionaire and have never gone 

to a dinner like that, nor would any of my business associates. If Bibby enjoys that 

kind of nonsense, then let him enjoy it, but it has nothing to do with running a profitmaking 

business. 

W. Shatner (Shatner Catering PLC) 

How much do you agree with Mr Bibby? How much do you agree with Mr Shatner? 

Discuss in groups. 

Being polite on social occasions – real-life phrases 

May I introduce…to you? 

I think we’ve met before. 

It’s been a pleasure meeting you. 



Does success in business come from creating a good 

impression at dinner? 

Management consultant Ralph Bibby thinks it does 

There are few people who reach the top of 

the business world without having to face a 

formal dinner. Observing the correct 

etiquette can only enhance your status and, 

indirectly, your profits. 

A formal business dinner never begins 

before seven o'clock, though the time is 

usually eight or eight-thirty. It is very 

discourteous for a guest to be late. You 

should arrive at least five minutes before 

the hour set for the dinner. If you are late 

for some unavoidable reason, offer 

apologies, and take your place at the table 

as quickly as possible. The late guest begins 

with the course that is then being served. 

At the start of the dinner, the hostess leads 

the women guests into the dining room, 

followed by the host and the male guests. 

The hostess then tells her guests where to 

sit. She must always have the seating 

planned in advance, in order to avoid 

confusion and delay. These days guests are 

seated wherever the hostess thinks they will 

be happiest. The host and hostess sit at 

opposite ends of the table. 

Each person stands behind his or her chair 

until the hostess starts to take her seat. Each 

person moves to the left of the chair in 

order to sit. Step close to the table and – 

still standing – pull the chair toward you by 

taking hold of each side of the seat. Don't 

sit down, then move the chair to the table 

with two or three jerks. Neither lean back in 

the chair, nor sit too close to the table. Keep 

your feet on the floor. Your feet may be 

crossed if you wish, but not your knees. 

The speaker's table is placed in a 

conspicuous part of the room. The guest 

speaker sits in the middle seat on the side 

facing the room. On the 

speaker's right sits the 

honoured guest, the 

principal speaker of the 

evening. On the speaker's left sits the 

second most important guest. All those at 

the speaker's table, of course, sit on the side 

of the table facing the room. Guests other 

than the speakers may be honoured by 

being placed at the speaker's table. 

Who should be served first is a muchdebated 

question, but in any event the 

waiter moves around the table to the right, 

serving each guest in turn. When the waiter 

holds a dish so that you may serve yourself, 

he presents it at your left. Treat the waiter 

impersonally while you are being served. 

‘Thank you,’ ‘No, thank you,’ or ‘If you 

please,’ in low tones is sufficient. 

And a very important point about drinking: 

do not look around the room while you are 

drinking; look into the glass. Use the 

napkin for the fingers or mouth whenever 

necessary, so that you will not dirty the 

glass. Do not drink while you have food in 

your mouth. 

When it is time to stand, push your chair 

from the table by taking hold of each side 

of the seat of the chair. Don't rest your 

hands or arms on the table, then push 

yourself up. Remember to rise from the 

chair from the left side. 

It is not necessary to remain longer than 

thirty minutes after a dinner if the invitation 

does not include the whole evening. You 

should avoid seeming in a hurry to depart, 

however. But remember: use the dinner, the 

time before it and the time after it to 

cultivate useful business contacts. 

Dinner party role -play 

The tables in the classroom are laid out for a formal dinner: a host, hostess, waiter, speaker, etc. 

are appointed; the remainder of the class are guests. Once it has been decided who everybody is, 

the students should work together to write role cards of what everyone has to do. 

What happens 

The guests arrive and are greeted. Everybody has ‘dinner,’ and talks politely. At the end of the 

party, the class should discuss how many of Mr Bibby’s rules were broken. An award should be 

given to the best and worst guest. 



Exam Skills 

A Working in groups of three or four, try to define the following terms. Give examples of 

each in a sentence. 

adverbial particle, article, auxiliary, conjunction, demonstrative, pronoun, modal 

auxiliary, preposition, pronoun, relative pronoun. 

B Which are the ‘grammatical’ words in the following sentence? What parts of speech are 

they? 

Mr Bibby is a successful businessman who has made a lot of money. 

Exam Tip: In the modified cloze task only grammatical words are gapped. 

C Look at the short comment by Wayne Shatner below. Which part of speech goes in each 

gap? Fill each gap with a suitable word. 

‘I will _1_ business with anyone, and matters of formality are unimportant for me. 

I’m _2_ the catering business and _3_ met this fellow who was selling cooked 

beans. He couldn’t speak _4_ write properly, but his cans of beans were good value 

_5_ money, so we did business. To _6_ honest, I keep business and pleasure _7_.’ 

Exam Tip: You need to know the grammatical structure of sentences to do this task 

well. 

D Read the short article by Wayne Shatner below and give it a title. You will need 

information from this text for Exercise E. 

‘Working in the catering business means that I need to have many meetings, and a 

large number of those meetings occur over a meal. Of course you feel better talking 

about business when you have a full stomach. What we mostly do is leave the office 

around midday and go to a fast food outlet. In most cases I have a burger and a fizzy 

drink. There is nothing formal in it because we are always on first name terms and 

just talk to sort out our contractual arrangements.’ 

E Fill in the gap in the following sentence: 

In his business affairs Wayne Shatner is _1_ formal than Mr Bibby. 

Exam Tip: To do this exam task you need to understand the meaning of the text, so read 

the task quickly before you start filling in the gaps. 



E Get into groups of two or three. Your teacher will give each group either Text A or Text 

B. When your teacher tells you to do so, do the following. (Your teacher will give you a 

text of 100-150 words, probably from the internet.) 

• Give the text three possible titles; none of them should be silly or irrelevant, but 

only one of them should be a good title. 

• Underline all the grammatical words. 

• ‘Tippex out’ as many of the grammatical words as you can, but remember to leave 

six words between each blanked-out word. Make a 

record of the blanked-out words. 

• Swap your text with one from a group which has the 

other text. Choose the best title. Try to fill in the gaps. 

• Hand back your test to the other group for marking. 

Exam Practice: Honouring Mr Reninson? 

A What can successful business people expect to receive in 

their lives, apart from money? Do business people like 

publicity? 

B Read the text, Honouring Mr Reninson. How does Mr 

Reninson feel about the event and why? 

C What part of speech can fit into each gap? 

D Do the task. Write a short news item on what happened to 

Mr Reninson. 

Fill each gap with ONE appropriate word. The first has been done for you as an example. 

‘Well, I left my hometown some twenty years EXAMPLE … ago … to pursue a 

career in business management in a provincial city. _1_ several years I already had 

my _2_ company and the profits were pouring _3_. I married, bought a big house 

and car _4_ started a family. 

‘A month ago I received an invitation _5_ my hometown to receive an 

honour, which _6_ to be presented to me in the town’s arts’ centre. _7_ I had very 

little time, I decided to go, particularly as a big show was to be put on for me. 

‘The auditorium was packed. A full orchestra played a classical piece and 

then the lights went out. In complete darkness the stage curtains were pulled back 

and there I was, standing alone on the stage. Suddenly, _8_ single beam of light was 

projected onto me and the audience burst _9_ applause. I waved, but what was I to 

do after the applause had died down? I had no microphone, _10_ I just walked off 

the stage and drove home. It was all very poorly organised.’ 


Pigs 

A fat, wealthy, self-made businessman decided to move his family from the town to the 

country, so he bought a large farmhouse, had it renovated, and then moved in. 

One day, after a business lunch, he was arriving home in his new BMW when he 

caught sight of his three-year-old son rolling around in the mud in the yard. He pulled up in 

his car. 

‘Ho, what a dirty little boy you are!’ His young son looked at his father, but said 

nothing. So his father moved a little closer. 

‘You are a piglet my son.’ But still his son just stared in silence. The businessman 

thought his son had not understood. 

‘Do you know what a piglet is, son?’ he asked. 

‘Yes, Dad,’ his son replied, ‘A piglet is the son of a pig.’


Unit 12: Business Etiquette 

(p. 1) D 1. honoured guest, 2. hostess, 3. course, 4. conspicuous / discourteous, 5. 

cultivate contacts, 6. negotiate 

(p. 1) E a magazine for wealthy/pretentious/affected/snobbish people 

(p. 1) F The text is full of examples. 

(p. 3) A 

adverbial particle In form often similar to a preposition: qualifies 

and sometimes changes the meaning of a verb, 

e.g. to put up with s.th. 

article The determiners (which come before nouns) 

the a and an. 

auxiliary verb A word (used either alone or with another 

auxiliary) which qualifies the main verb, either 

to form a question or negative, or to form 

continuous, perfect or passive verb forms , e.g. 

have, do 

conjunction Joins words, phrases and clauses, e.g. and, but 

demonstrative pronoun A pronoun which ‘points’: this, that, these, 

those 

modal auxiliary Expresses the speaker’s judgment or opinion 

related to the main verb, in terms of obligation, 

possibility, etc. E.g. must, can, would, might 

preposition Establishes the relationship of a noun phrase to 

other elements, esp. in terms of time and place, 

e.g. on, after 

pronoun Substitutes for a noun, e.g. he, them 

relative pronoun Substitutes for an item in a subordinate relative 

clause, and refers to the main clause, e.g. who, 

which 

(p. 3) B The following words are grammar words: is (an empty meaning linking verb 

called a copular), a (indefinite article) who (relative pronoun), has (auxiliary), 

a, of (preposition). 

(p. 3) C 1. verb – do; 2. preposition – in; 3. pronoun – I, or adverb – once; 

4. conjunction – or; 5. preposition – for; 6. verb – be; 7. adverb – apart/ or 

adjective separate/ distinct 

(p. 3) D Talking business over a quick meal 

(p. 3) E 1. less 

(p. 4) C/D 1. preposition – For/After; 2. adjective – own; 3. adverbial particle – in; 

4. conjunction – and 5. preposition – from/to; 6. auxiliary verb – had; 

7. (subordinating) conjunction – Although/Though; 8. article – a 

/quantifier(one; 

9. preposition – into; 10. sentence conjunct /adverbial – so/therefore/and. 


Unit 13 – Mediation: Dialogue Page 1 

13 Doing Business Abroad (incomplete) 

A What possible problems might arise with a company doing business in Albania? 

Have you ever done business abroad? 

B What do the words and phrases in the vocabulary box mean? 

to impede, macro-economic policy, to cite, 

a constraint, to shoulder, a deregulated market, 

on the ground, a follow-up, field investigations, 

to designate, an executing agency, persistence, 

to pinpoint 

C Put one item from the vocabulary box into each gap. You may have to adapt the words. 

In some countries the __1__ of the government has led to high inflation. A __2__ 

has removed all __3__and restrictions on firms. Nothing __4__ business. People on 

fixed salaries and pensioners have had to __5__cuts in government expenditure. An 

economic study has __6__many specific problems __7__ but a __8__ is required to 

provide even greater detail. 

D Look at the article quickly. Find two things that Mr Jenner believes impede business 

development in the new market economies. 

E In which paragraph can you find the following: 

• quantified evidence of slow moving bureaucracy 

• being able to rely on state institutions is important 

• the importance of local implementation 

• discussion of the amount of state involvement 

F Look the context of the following. Translate them into Hungarian. 

• At the head of the list is concern for… ..................................(paragraph 2) 

• You may find yourself in a complete mess............................(paragraph 2) 

• Business friendly....................................................................(paragraph 3) 

• To uphold property rights ......................................................(paragraph 3) 

• The policy-related costs shouldered by the firm....................(paragraph 4) 

• The time management has to waste dealing with… ..............(paragraph 6) 

• Governments should focus on…............................................(paragraph 7) 

• …addressing important constraints that face firms…............(paragraph 9) 

G Translate paragraph 8 into Hungarian. 

H Mr Jenner’s article is written entirely from the point of view of business. 

Would workers in the new market economy have a different opinion? 

Write a review of Mr Jenner’s article from a workers’ perspective. 



Doing business in Albania 

Management consultant, Hector 

Jenner, examines the issue. 

(1) I think I can safely say that most 

countries these days see success of their 

businesses as a precondition for the success 

of their countries. But that does not mean 

that overseas there aren’t often all sorts of 

problems that impede investment and 

business. Albania is a particularly difficult 

case. 

(2) There are a number of factors which 

might worry a company investing overseas. 

At the head of the list is concern for the 

stability of government policies. Sudden 

changes in macro-economic policy can be 

disastrous for companies. You may find 

yourself in a complete mess if suddenly the 

currency is devalued by fifty per cent, for 

instance. In a recent study by Professor 

Otto Slovo of Grenberg University, only 12 

per cent of firms in Slovenia and Estonia 

cited changes in government policy as a 

major constraint, while 60 per cent did so in 

Belarus. 48 per cent of the Albanian firms 

mentioned it as a major constraint. 

(3) A closely related issue is the question of 

confidence in state institutions. For us to 

make profits they need to be reliable and 

business friendly. Confidence in the courts 

to uphold property rights is vital. Professor 

Slovo showed that such confidence varies 

from less than 30 per cent of firms in 

Moldova, to 70 per cent in Estonia. In 

Albania 50 per cent of firms lack 

confidence in the courts to uphold property 

rights. 

(4) The policy-related costs shouldered by 

firms can also be substantial, making many 

potential investment opportunities 

unprofitable. The study highlighted the 

heavy burden imposed by outmoded or illconceived 

regulation and argued that 

regulation is part of a larger problem. 

Obviously we would like a completely 

deregulated market everywhere, but in 

reality we have to settle for minimal 

regulation. 

(5) While improvements in the investment 

climate require changes to laws and 

policies, I believe business is often more 

concerned with how local officials behave 


on the ground. The law may say 

something, but in many new market 

economies, you find the local officials 

apply yesterday’s laws or simply decide 

things without reference to laws. Progress 

requires more than changes to formal 

policies. 

(6) The study has highlighted some 

bureaucratic problems businesses face. The 

time managers have to waste dealing with 

officials of various kinds ranges from 5.5 

per cent in the Czech Republic to about 15 

per cent in Ukraine, Georgia, Serbia, 

Montenegro and Albania. Registering 

property takes over 950 days in Bosnia and 

Herzegovina, only 3 days in Lithuania and 

47 days in Albania. Enforcing a contract 

can take over 1000 days in Poland, Serbia, 

Montenegro and Slovenia and 189 in 

Latvia. In Albania it’s 390 days. 

(7) Governments should focus on 

improving the basic foundations of a good 

investment climate to benefit all firms and 

activities in the economy. The study 

reviews four core areas: stability and 

security; regulation and taxation; finance 

and infrastructure; workers and labour 

markets. 

(8) The Slovo study attempted to improve 

the investment climate for the private 

sector. This was in response to a request 

from the Albanian Government to pinpoint 

the administrative barriers to investment as 

part of the country’s programme of change. 

The study covered 500 firms and follow-up 

field investigations by specialists identified 

the most problematic areas. The study led 

to detailed policy and institutional 

recommendations. The Albanian 

Government acted on the study and asked 

for continued assistance in establishing the 

necessary institutions and in action 

planning. The Plan specifies reform targets 

against a timetable, and designates specific 

responsibilities to the relevant ministries 

and executing agencies. 

(9) The report emphasises that persistence, 

not perfection, is the key. Everything does 

not have to be done at once. Rather, 

significant progress can be made by 

addressing the problems and constraints 

that firms face, and by sustaining a process 

of ongoing improvements.


Answers: 

C. page 1 

1, macro-economic policy. 2, de-regulated market. 3, constraints. 4, impedes. 

5, shoulder. 6, pinpointed. 7, on the ground. 8, follow up/ field investigation. 

D. page 1 

possible answers- unstable government, 

changes in government policies, 

confidence in state institutions, eg. courts 

too many regulations, 

local officials being difficult or ill-informed 

the slowness of bureaucracy 

poor investment and finances 

E. page 1 

in order- Paragraph 6, Paragraph 3, Paragraph 5, Paragraph 4. 


Unit 14 - Mediation: Summary Page 1 

14 Professional Associations and Trade Unions 

(incomplete) 

A What is a professional association? What kinds of things do they do? 

Do all professions have associations? 

B What do trade unions do? How are they different from professional associations? 

C What do the words and phrases in the vocabulary box mean? 

a guild, peer support, endorsement, a misleading 

claim a code of professional conduct, to abide by 

something, a provision, on behalf of somebody, 

in contravention of, discredit, in breach of, a 

subsequent revision, confidential, to disclose, 

thorough, cutting corners, impartial, to represent. 

D Put one item from the vocabulary box into each gap. 

You may have to adapt the words 

Arnie Fischer speaks __1__ several thousand trade union members. He often has 

__2__ discussions with business and government officials. He must not__3__ the 

information. Often business leaders try to __4__ him by making __5__ about what 

he said in private. Sometimes Mr Fisher makes an audio-recording of meetings so 

there can be no __6__ about what happened. Mr Fischer is not __7__ because 

he__8__ the workers but he agrees __9__ a code of professional conduct for 

negotiators. Mr Fischer works hard and doesn’t 10 . 

E Look at the article quickly. What kind of person does Mr Bibby see as a typical reader 

of his article? 

F Look at the article again quickly. Find three things that the Guild of Management 

Consultants does. 

G Are the following statement about the article true or false. 

1. Mr Bibby thinks that most people already understand the professional status of 

management consultants 

2. The Guild of Management Consultants can confirm a consultants professional 

ability 

3. The Code of Conduct binds all members 

4. All the members of the Guild have to vote to change the code. 

5. Only members of the Guild are affected by the Code of Conduct 

6. The Guild can punish members who break the code of conduct 

7. Members of the Guild can accept any work they want 

8. Once a contract has been signed with a client it cannot be changed. 

9. Management consultants need to keep secrets 

10. The Guild is not concerned with consultants working methods 

H A close friend who runs a small perfume business has written to you asking for advice 

on whether to hire a management consultant. In the letter inform her of what she can 

expect. Remember you are writing to a close friend. 



Maintaining High Standards 

Good management consultancy is about maintaining high 

standards, argues senior management consultant, Ralph Bibby. 

Nothing is more irritating than when people ask, 

‘Oh, are management consultants professionals? 

Do you have ethical standards?’ Of course we 

do, and I hope this article fills a gap in people’s 

knowledge which has long needed to be filled. 

Our professional association, the Guild of 

Management Consultants – organised at 

national and regional level - promotes 

excellence in the profession by supporting, 

qualifying, and regulating individual 

management consultants. Membership of the 

Guild brings many benefits including peer 

support and the ability to display an 

independent endorsement of a management 

consultant’s skills. 

In their work members of the Guild give advice 

to all levels of management and with this comes 

the obligation to maintain the highest standards 

of honesty and competence. The Guild, as the 

professional body for management consultants, 

has a Code of Professional Conduct which lays 

out duties and obligations which are required of 

all members. 

The Guild Council may, from time to time, 

issue further principles, rules or notes which 

will be published in our Gazette The 

Management Consultant. Members are expected 

to abide by all such new provisions from the 

date of their publication. 

The principles, rules and notes of the Code 

apply not only to the members personally, but 

also to acts carried out through a partner, codirector, 

employee or other agent acting on 

behalf of, or under the control of, the member. 

Guild members may face action by the 

Disciplinary Committee of the Guild if they act 

in contravention of the Code, or if they discredit 

the profession by their conduct. Members may 

be required to make a declaration in answer to 

enquiries from the Guild Council concerning 

their professional conduct. A member failing to 

make such a declaration may be found in breach 

of the Code of Conduct. 


One of the most important 

rules is that a member will 

only accept work that they 

are qualified to perform and 

can provide the client with an effective service. 

Guild members must not make any misleading 

claims and will provide references from other 

clients if requested. That means, for example, if 

our firm were asked for advice in business 

management in Chad, we would not accept as 

we have no experience of working there. 

Money and fees are also important. A member 

must agree formally with the client the scope 

and nature of the services to be provided and the 

cost before the start of the work. Any 

subsequent revisions to the agreement must be 

discussed and agreed with the client. 

All clients expect management consultants to 

keep the affairs of the client companies 

confidential. Management consultants must 

hold all information concerning the affairs of 

clients in the strictest confidence and in no 

circumstance may disclose information obtained 

during the course of their work. 

And finally it goes with saying that 

management consultants must act to the highest 

professional standards in their work. We must 

always make certain that our advice, solutions 

and recommendations are based on a thorough 

and impartial consideration of all the 

information available. There can be no room for 

cutting corners or laziness. 

Everybody should now understand that 

management consultants are not only members 

of one of the higher professions, but also that 

our professional association ensures that we 

provide the highest standards of service. 

Ralf Bibby is senior partner in the firm Bibby 

and Jenner and was chairman of the Guild of 

Management Consultants 2003-04.


Answers 

Page 1 

D. 

G. 

1. on behalf of 2. confidential 3. disclose 

4. discredit 5. misleading claims 6. subsequent revision 

7. impartial 8. represents 9. to abide by 

10. cut corners 

1 F 

2 T 

3 T 

4 F 

5 F (employees too) 

6 T 

7 F 

8 F (it can be changed if both parties agree) 

9 T 

10 F 


Unit 15 - Mediation: Letter Page 1 

15 Work Experience (incomplete) 

A Is it important for students and unemployed people to get work experience? Why? 

Have you every done work experience or voluntary work? 


an employment agency, the dole office, to be on somebody’s back, 

the long-term unemployed, probation work, a caseload, criminology, 

a learning curve, under-resourced, to feel at home, to enhance, 

tantamount. 

C Put one item from the vocabulary box into each gap. 

You may have to adapt the words. 

Arnie Fischer is very concerned about the large number of __1__ in the town. 

People go to the __2__ to collect their benefits and then go to __3__ in the hope of 

finding work. 

Mr Fischer feels that the social security department in the town is __4__ and social 

security officers have too big a __5__. Mr Fischer wants to see the level of social 

security services in the town __6__ and he believes the current situation is __7__ to 

social neglect. 

D Look quickly at the interview with Danny Noble. 

Who would be interested in the article and why? 

E Look again at the article quickly. 

Why did Danny Noble do work experience? Has there been any change in his attitude? 

F Look at the following letter written by Danny Noble. 

Find the differences between what he says in the letter and what he says in the interview. 

Dear Greta, 

How are you, Greta? There have been plenty of changes in my life. You know I have been 

working full time running a widow cleaning business. Well I decided to give all that up and 

work for social services and to help people who have been recently released from prison. 

My motive for taking up community work is purely altruistic. 

When I went into the social services office they nearly begged me to start immediately; 

they have so many vacancies. I was given a permanent post immediately. After a couple 

of weeks they were so impressed with my work that I also got an opportunity to do some 

teaching of criminology and rehabilitation in evening classes. 

You may wonder why I left that field of work. The reason was that I felt the social 

services department was not doing enough to give me support in my projects to help 

people recently released from prison. I am now in the process of writing a book on my 

experience. 

As you know in the past I have had several of my poems published, and my plan now is 

devote myself full time to my poetry. 

Let me know when you are next in Meckham and we can go out for burger at McDonalds. 

Best wishes, 

Danny 



H You are a friend of Greta’s. Write her an email explaining how Danny has lied to her. 

Getting Your Foot in the Door 

Sara Liebermann interviews Danny Noble who has recently finished 

a work experience scheme 

How old are you Danny? 

Well, I’m 34. I know I look 

younger, but I’m 34. 

What qualifications do you 

have? 

Not many. I left school at 16 

and didn’t pass any exams. 

I’ve mostly been unemployed 

since then. Well, I occasionally help a friend 

window cleaning. Oh, and I did a few weeks 

work through an employment agency once, 

Why did you decide to do a work experience 

placement? 

It’s a good question. Apart from the window 

cleaning, my plan was to become a professional 

poet. You know I wrote over six hundred poems 

but couldn’t get any of them published. Then I 

had the dole office on my back. They were 

saying, “Now, Mr Noble, if you don’t do some 

work experience, we’ll cut your benefits. Well 

that didn’t leave me with much choice.” 

What kind of work experience did you do? 

I though long and hard about it, but in the end I 

decided to work with the social services 

department. I wanted to work with people who 

had recently been released from prison and to 

help them re-integrate back into the community. 

What was the process for you to get your 

placement? 

There were various placement opportunities 

organised by the Job Centre. Each long-term 

unemployed person applied for his or her first 

and second choice and allocation was dependent 

on availability and demand. 

What did the placement work experience 

involve? Do you feel you had enough tasks to 

complete and responsibility in your role? It 

was a six month opportunity for me to develop 

an awareness of criminal justice social work 

such as probation work, writing up reports etc. I 

had my own caseload and clients to work with, 

and it was very much a case of learning ‘on the 

job’. Alongside the placement work I also 

studied criminal justice and 

criminology one day per 

week at an evening class 

What did the work experience make you feel 

about the job? 

It was two-fold learning curve for me; I realised 

just how stressful, under-resourced, and 

undervalued by the public, social work is as a 

profession, but also that it is a very good career 

choice as it puts something back into the 

community that is so desperately needed. 

Was the placement enjoyable aside from the 

work? Were there any problems during the 

placement? 

It was a very enjoyable, developmental 

experience with no significant problems. I felt at 

home meeting many of people just out of 

prison, and I felt I was able to advise and help 

them. 

What kind of skills did you develop in your 

work experience placement? 

I realised that being social worker it is crucial to 

be able to communicate effectively and 

coherently at a variety of levels to perform the 

role properly. My interpersonal and 

communication skills were greatly enhanced, 

and I have found this useful in all aspects of 

everyday life, as communication is crucial to 

success. 

Do you feel that your work experience was 

valuable, why? 

It has proven to be of fundamental value, as the 

experiences and knowledge I gained on 

placement should help me get a get a good job 

in social work. I now do voluntary work 

whereby I take food to old people – and I need 

to talk to them. 

Have you been looking for a permanent job? 

Well, yes I have applied for about twenty jobs, 

but so far I haven’t been successful. Maybe I’ll 

go back as a volunteer, but there are problems 

with that too – or so they tell me. 

“All my life as poet, social work assistant and as a window cleaner, I have 

felt the need to help the community with advice and support” ” 

- Danny NNoble 

- 



Answers 

Page 1 

C 

1. long-term unemployed 2. dole office 3. an employment agency 

4. under resourced 5. caseload 6. enhanced 7. tantamount 


Unit 16 - Speaking: Interview Page 1 

16 Interviews at Work 


• meet words and expressions about job interviews 

• read an article written by an employer 

• role-play a job interview 

A How do you think you would feel at a job interview? 

Tell your partner about one particular event. 

What advice would you give to people going to job interviews? Tell the class. 


Which items are connected to job interviews? 

a curriculum vitae, management consultancy, to apply for, to evaluate, an 

asset, to accomplish, to substantiate, prior to, a brochure, well-groomed, 

a social misfit, in a nutshell. 

C Put one item from the vocabulary box into each gap. You may have to adapt the words. 

Fiona Fletcher sent off for a __1__ and other materials 

from a __2__firm. She decided to __3__ the job and 

wrote a new __4__ just for this interview, because she 

knew she would have to __5__ every detail she wrote. 

__6__ the interview she bought a new business suit 

and went to the interview looking __7__. She tried to 

look happy, intelligent and normal because she did not 

want her interviewer to think she was some kind of 

__8__. 

D You are going to read the article on the next page, ‘Interviews Matter’. 

Look quickly at the article and decide who ‘I’ and ‘we’ are in the text. 

E What attitude does Mr Jenner show in his article - confidence, arrogance or confusion? 

F Make notes about what Mr Jenner says on the following topics: 

the purposes of the job interview 

preparation 

difficult questions 

research into the consultancy 

dressing for an interview 

“small talk” 

Compare your notes with those of a partner. 

G Write five questions which Mr Jenner might ask at an interview. 

Role-play the interview with a partner. 

Job interviews – real life phrases 

What really interests me about this job is… 

I’ve had a great deal of experience in… 

I’d be interested to know… 



Interviews matter 

Management consultant Hector Jenner tells us what he expects from 

job seekers at interviews 

Sitting behind this desk, I see an endless queue 

of youngsters coming in front of me hoping to 

get a job in our management consultancy. So 

what should be said about the job interview? 

The interview is a mutual exchange of 

information between an employer and a 

candidate for a position. This interview process 

serves several purposes. We want information 

about the candidate that is not contained in the 

curriculum vitae. We need to check that the job 

seeker understands what he or she is applying 

for and has a sense of direction in his or her 

career. We need to evaluate the candidate’s 

personality and attitudes in terms of the 

demands of the consultancy and the possible 

position. We are also working out whether or 

not it is in our interest to look further into the 

candidate with a view to employing him or her. 

To impress an employer such as myself the 

candidate must be well prepared and let me 

know clearly what he or she has to offer. The 

candidate should also be able to relate his or her 

assets to the position and the consultancy. To 

accomplish this, a certain level of maturity and 

self-knowledge on the part of the candidate is 

required. 

Before the interview the candidate should have 

reviewed their curriculum vitae and be prepared 

to answer questions about its contents. I want to 

see any point the candidate has made 

substantiated by detailed information. What we 

want to see in particular is not just the level at 

which the candidate is currently functioning, but 

how the candidate has grown over time in the 

business world. We are focusing on areas 

related to his or her position(s), e.g., 

interpersonal/work skills, motivation. 

An interview isn’t meant to be easy, and we will 

force candidates to address their failures and 

mistakes to find out what they have learned or 

would now do differently. 

When a candidate comes before me he or she 

must be familiar with the position they want in 

the consultancy. Full information is available 

on our website, so the candidate has no excuse 

for not being fully informed. A candidate needs 


to demonstrate how 

and why he or she will 

be an effective 

employee. 

At the very least I expect a candidate to find out 

as much as possible about the consultancy prior 

to the interview. The candidate should have 

asked us to send a variety of materials, for 

example our annual report, brochures, in-house 

newsletter and the firm’s magazine. This 

knowledge will also help the candidate decide 

whether he or she is suitable for employment 

here. 

Candidates should recognise that their success 

or failure in the interview can depend on 

appearance and first impressions. If these are 

not good, it will be much harder during the rest 

of the interview for them to change our opinion 

of them. The candidate should look neat, clean 

and well-groomed. He or she should always 

select suitable clothing for the type of 

organisation. In our case that means 

conservative business dress. 

I don’t particularly worry about candidates who 

are nervous during the interview – this is normal 

and will be expected. And obviously the 

candidate will have worked hard and have 

prepared for days to get an interview in the first 

place. 

We begin the interview with some "small talk" 

to help the candidate relax. This may seem 

irrelevant to the position, but the candidate is 

already being evaluated. The last thing we want 

in the office is a social misfit. The candidate 

should use these opening moments to show a 

positive and business-like attitude, e.g., showing 

pleasure at speaking with me, and 

demonstrating a knowledge of interesting facts 

about the consultancy which he or she has found 

during research. 

Candidates should not forget the facts of 

economic life. We will employ people who will 

work hard in the firm and make the consultancy 

money. Put in a nutshell: if we can make 

money out of you, we want you. If we can’t, we 

don’t.


Exam skills 

A Look at the questions below. 

Write a one or two-sentence reply to any five of the questions below on separate pieces 

of paper. Ask your partner to find the question for each answer. 

• Tell me about yourself. 

• What are your short-term goals? What about in 2 and 5 years from now? 

• What is your own vision, or mission statement? 

• What do you think you will be looking for in this job? 

• Why do you feel you will be successful in this job? 

• What other types of job are you looking for in addition to this one? 

• What supervisory or leadership roles have you had? 

• What experience have you had working in a team? 

• What have been your most satisfying/disappointing experiences? 

• What are your strengths/weaknesses? 

• What kinds of problem do you handle the best? 

• How do you reduce stress and try to achieve balance in your life? 

• How did you handle a request to do something contrary to your moral code 

or business ethics? 

• What was the result the last time you tried to sell one of your ideas to 

others? 

• Why did you apply to our organisation, and what do you know about us? 

• What are the advantages/disadvantages of joining our organisation? 

• What is the most important thing you are looking for in an employer? 

• What were some of the common characteristics of your past supervisors? 

• What characteristics do you think a person would need to have to work 

effectively in our company with its policy of staying ahead of the 

competition? 

• What courses that you have been on did you like the best/least? Why? 

Exam Tip: in the exam you will be asked a question about your personal work or study 

experience. It is important to have the language to answer it briefly and effectively. 

B Look at the list of issues below. Choose one. 

You should note the arguments in favour of the propositions and your partner should 

note arguments against. 

Have the discussion. 

“There is more conflict at work these days.” 

“People work harder now than they used to” 

“Computers are making work less interesting” 

Exam tip: in the exam you will be asked an ‘issue’ question. It is important that you 

have something to say, and that you say it clearly and accurately. 

Giving your opinion – real life phrases 

I have always felt that… 

In my view… 

In my opinion… 



Exam Practice: ‘Are you a student or do you work?’ 

A Prepare a forty-five second speech about you and the world of 

work, e.g. previous jobs, promotion, things you like, etc. 

Write it down. Give your speech to your partner. 

B Your partner will ask you the following questions. 

Answer each one in about two sentences. 

• Are you a student or do you work? 

• What do you like about your work/college? 

• How long will you stay there? 

• Will you take any further exams? 

C Now take it in turns to role-play the dialogue below. 

The interlocutor asks one ‘A’ question and one ‘B’ question. 

THE EXAM SCRIPT 

First we’d like to find out some information about you. Are you a student or do you 

work? 

(The candidate speaks) 

Now I’d like to ask about a different topic. (Ask either about exams or pay) 

Exams 

A How do you feel before an exam? 

A Does anybody in your family like doing exams more than you? 

A What was the worst exam you have ever done? 

B Exams are becoming more important these days. Do you agree? 

B People worry too much about exams. Do you agree? 

B The worst exam is the driving test. Do you agree? 

Pay 

A How important is money in your life? 

A Which is more important for you; qualifications or money? 

A Are you (or will you be) paid enough? 

B What determines how much people get paid? 

B What kinds of people earn too much? 

B What kinds of people earn too little? 

D Write your own set of three “A” type questions and three “B” type questions on another 

topic (e.g. taxation, management systems, fringe benefits). 

Role-play them in pairs. 



Unit 16: Interviews at Work 

Answers 

page 1 

C (suggested answers) 

D 

E 

1. brochure 2. management consultancy 3. apply for 4. curriculum vitae 

5. substantiate 6. prior to 7. well-groomed 8. social-misfit 

‘We’ is the management consultancy. ‘I’ is Hector Jenner, the management consultant. 

Mr Jenner has a superior, overbearing, insensitive and ‘one-sided’ (i.e. employer-centred) 

attitude. 

F (only the key points are mentioned below) 

The purpose of the job interview: a mutual exchange of information, for information 

not in the CV, understands the position applied for, evaluation of candidate’s 

personality. 

Preparation: candidate should review CV, ready to answer questions on it, find out 

about the position. 

Difficult questions: because Jenner needs to find out candidate’s failures and weak 

points. 

Research into the consultancy: study the firm from its website and write off for 

brochures, reports, newsletters. 

Dressing for an interview: clean, well-groomed, conservative business clothes. 

“Small talk”: tells Jenner about the personality of the candidate. 


Unit 17 - Speaking: Presentation Page 1 

17 Business Profits 


• meet words and phrases about microeconomics 

• read an article about profit maximisation 

• get practice in preparing a presentation 

A How important is money to you? Do businesses have any 

goals other than maximising their profits? 

B What is ‘legal personality’? 

Match each word with a definition. 

1 business A an organisation which has legal personality 

2 company B A sole trader or partnership, usually with no legal personality 

3 firm C any profit-based organisation 

C What do the words and expressions in the vocabulary box mean? 

Are all the highlighted words specifically related to economics? 

neo-classical, to pursue, an implication, profit maximisation, to identify, 

marginal revenue, marginal cost, a behavioural economist, a shareholder, 

an emphasis, an equity and bond market, a takeover bid, a rival, to sustain 

industrial action, to be divorced from, a perk, a predatory pricing strategy, 

D Put one of the items highlighted above into each gap. 

You may need to adapt the word. Where necessary, change singular nouns to plural. 

One school of economics is the __1__, which believes companies always __2__ 

strategies for __3__. Such economists look at marginal __4__ and __5__. 

__6__ economists look at what groups of people, such as __7__ do. Managers have 

day-to-day control, but if a company’s __8__ and __9__prices fall, a __10__ 

company may put in a __11__ to buy the company. In these circumstances the 

behaviour of shareholders becomes more important. Some large firms adopt 

__12__ to drive smaller firms out of the market. 

E Look quickly at the article on the next page. 

What is Professor Slovo’s attitude to making profit – favourable, unfavourable or 

neutral? 

F Read the article again and give the most complete explanations you can for the 

following: 

• Profit maximisation 

• Behavioural economists 

• Satisficing 

• Sales revenue maximisation 

• Predatory pricing strategies 

G Arnie Fischer, a trade unionist, has said, ‘Businesses know the price of everything and 

Presentations – real life phrases 

Some people have argued that… 

My personal view is… 

The key point here is… 


the value of nothing.’ How far do you agree 

with Mr Fischer? 

Discuss the issue with a partner, and then write 

a joint statement on your opinions. (200 

words)


Is it all just about profit? 

Professor Otto Slovo looks at the role of profit in the economy 

The standard neo-classical assumption is 

that a business seeks profit maximisation 

from producing and selling an output in a 

market. However, there are other objectives 

firms might decide to pursue – at least in 

the short run – and these have implications 

for price, output and economic welfare. 

Although profit maximisation might be the 

motive, other strategies have to be pursued 

to that end. It is often difficult for firms to 

identify their profit maximising output, if 

they cannot accurately calculate marginal 

revenue and marginal costs. 

While traditional economic theory assumes 

there is a single goal (profit maximization), 

behavioural economists argue differently. 

They point out that any business is an 

organisation with various groups: 

employees, managers, 

shareholders, and customers. Each of these 

groups, behaviourists argue, is likely to 

have different objectives and goals. The 

dominant group at any moment in time can 

give greater emphasis to their own 

objectives; for example, the main price and 

output decisions may be taken at local level 

by managers, with shareholders taking only 

a distant view of the company's 

performance and strategy. 

‘Maximising’ behaviour may be replaced 

by satisficing – i.e. setting minimum 

acceptable levels of achievement. For 

instance, the equity and bond markets may 

play an important role in monitoring the 

performance of managers in a company 

when companies are under-performing. 

Such a situation could arise if there is 

downward pressure on the share price and 

there is the prospect of a takeover bid by a 

rival firm. In other circumstances a firm 

may be under pressure to reduce prices to 

consumers if it has made large profits, and 

may choose to do this in order to stop an 

investigation by the Competition 

Commission, or to improve its image with 

customers. A third example is that a firm 

may reward workers through higher wages 


in order to stop or 

prevent industrial 

action. Any number of 

sub-strategies is 

possible. 

The economist 

William Baumol has 

argued that managers 

may follow a strategy 

of sales revenue maximisation. His research 

focused on the behaviour of managercontrolled 

businesses – where the day-today 

decisions taken by managers are 

divorced from the actions of shareholders 

(the owners of the business). Baumol 

argued that annual salaries and other perks 

might in fact be more closely connected to 

total sales revenue rather than profits 

On the other hand, larger firms may adopt 

predatory pricing strategies by lowering 

prices to a level that would force any new 

firms entering the industry to operate at a 

loss, and be driven out of the market. This 

would allow larger firms to sustain a 

monopoly position in a market. 

There can be little doubt that the long-term 

ambition of any firm is profit maximisation, 

but in a complex market- place including 

large corporations, any number of different 

sub-strategies might be followed. 

Behavioural economics is beginning to cast 

light on some of this complexity. 

Professor O. Slovo, 

Head of the Economics Department at the 

University of Grenberg. 

Maul Ring 34. 3462 Grenberg.


Exam skills 

A PLZ Engineering PLC wants to accept a new contract (worth EUR 2 million), but it has 

problems. 

Look at each problem and think of three pieces of advice to give Mr Grice, the 

managing director. 

• The company has rent arrears on its premises of EUR 71 000 

• The workers are threatening a strike if they do not receive a 5 per cent pay 

increase. 

• PLZ Engineering sold a machine to a company which has not paid for it and has 

recently gone bankrupt. 

Exam tip: when you see the input data you will need to brainstorm to give yourself 

something to say. 

B Write a plan for a presentation outlining your solutions to Mr Grice’s problems. 

Consider the following: 

• An introduction of yourself and the topic of your presentation. 

• Three or four points. For each point describe: what the problem is, what you 

want to achieve, and how you will achieve this. 

• Your conclusion. 

Do not write in full sentences. Write in notes and in ‘parts of sentences’ of not more 

than about five words. 

Exam tip: you have ten minutes to plan your presentation. You should plan in note 

form, and not write out your entire presentation. 

C Look at the following presentation ( which is on another topic). 

The ‘signposting’ language is in bold. Add some or all of this language to your 

presentation notes. 

Exam tip: to give order and meaning to your presentation, you need to use 

‘signposting’ language. 

My name is Rebecca Klein. I’m the catering manager for PLZ Engineering. Today I want 

to address the problem of our troubled canteen. 

First of all, there have been complaints that the canteen meals are always cold and are 

covered in fat. Of all the complaints, this is the one made most often. We believe as a 

company that our workers should have good food. We have, therefore, changed the catering 

company that runs the canteen. The new company will start work in the New Year. 

Second, several workers have complained that there is little or no vegetarian food on the 

menu. We should recognise that tastes are changing. As a result, there is a clause in our 

agreement with the new caterer, stating that there must be a vegetarian option every day. 

Finally, some workers have complained that the seating in the canteen is uncomfortable. We 

would like to improve the furnishing, but feel that in the current financial situation this is not 

a priority. 

In conclusion, I would emphasise the steps we have taken to improve catering in the 

company. 



D Give your presentation to a partner. Your partner should take notes, and prepare 

three questions to ask you about your presentation 

Exam tip: to give a good presentation you need to practise aloud many times. 

Exam Practice: ‘Now, I’d like to start off by saying…’ 

A The following are all examples of signposting 

language. Put them in pairs. 

first, however, therefore, second 

moreover, additionally, consequently, 

on the other hand, 

B Plan a one-minute presentation on one of the following topics, and give it to your 

partner. Use the signposting language presented in A: 

• ‘Business is organised greed.’ Do you agree? 

• ‘Free enterprise is always best.’ Do you agree? 

C You have ten minutes to prepare for the following presentation. 

You may use your dictionary. 

As a management consultant you have been asked to give advice in the form of a presentation to 

Mr Jack Kenning, the managing director of Kenning Ice Cream PLC. Some details of the firm’s 

performance over a thirty-year period are presented below. All prices are in euros and have 

been adjusted for inflation. 

Sales 

1970 EUR 345m 

1980 EUR 290m 

1990 EUR 150m 

2000 EUR 72m 

Cost of maintaining plant 

1970 EUR 34m 

1980 EUR 52m 

1990 EUR 134m 

2000 EUR 190m 

Variety of ice cream manufactured 

1970 6 types 

1980 7 types 

1990 5 types 

2000 4 types 

Problem – where is the missing 10 Euro? 

Three businessmen go out for a business lunch. The joint bill for their meal comes to EUR 

300. Satisfied, they pay the waiter and walk outside. After they have left, the manager 

checks their bill and finds that the businessmen have overpaid by EUR 50. He quickly hands 

the waiter five EUR 10 notes, telling him to find the men and repay them. The waiter catches 

up with the three men, hands each of them EUR 10, and keeps EUR 20 himself. 

Now as I see it, the men have each paid EUR 90 for their meal, which is EUR 270 in total. 

The waiter has kept EUR 20, which comes to EUR 290. Where is the missing EUR 10? 



Unit 17: Business Profits 

(p. 1) B 

Business; this refers to any person or group of persons who carry out commercial activity. 

Company: this is a business which has a separate legal identity; i.e. the company is 

different legally from the people who own it. 

Firm: a commercial organisation which may or may not be a company. 

(p. 1) C 

The technical economic terms have been underlined in the text of the article 

(p. 1) D 

1. neo-classical, 2. pursue, 3. maximise profits, 4. costs, 5 revenue, 

6 behavioural, 7. shareholders, 8. equity, 9. bond, 10. rival, 

11. take-over bid, 12. predatory-pricing strategies. 

(p. 1) E. 

neutral 

(p. 1) F 

Profit maximisation: this means getting as much profit as you can. In the article profit 

maximisation refers to the ideal of this being the motivation of everybody in the firm. 

Behavioural economics: this branch of economics looks at what people actually do rather 

than predict from economic models. 

Satisficing: people look to minimum levels and only reaction if the minimum is not 

reached. 

Sales revenue maximisation: basically trying to get as much money as possible from 

selling your product or service. 

Predatory Pricing Strategies: when a business lowers its prices in order to prevent other 

businesses selling and driving them out of the market 

(p. 4) A 

first/second, however/on the other hand, therefore/consequently, 

moreover/additionally. 


Unit 18 - Speaking: Transactional dialogues Page 1 

18 Status at work 


• meet words and expressions about status 

• read an article about power relations at work 

• practise short conversational replies 

A Do people talk differently to their boss than to their colleagues? 

At work or at college, how do you speak differently to different people? 

B What do the following words and expressions mean? 

sensitive, emotional, task-oriented, submissiveness, 

to share the back seat, to perceive, a power move, 

an emotionally-loaded question, to be socialised to, 

to suppress, conversation turn-taking, to gaze, to reassure, 

docility, a scatterbrain. 

C Put one item from the vocabulary box into each gap. 

You may need to adapt the word. 

Ruby is not a dominant person and often __1__ with other 

unassertive people. She has strong feelings and is __2__ and 

__3__. Her boss likes her __4__ and he calls her a __5__. 

She believes she was __6__ to be passive, and she has never 

been able to __7__ her feelings. Every day in the office she 

__8__ her boss that he is the best boss in the world. 

D Look quickly at Sara Liebermann’s article on the next page. 

What type of inequality is she most concerned with? 

E Give each of the paragraphs a title. 

F Answer the following questions: 

1. How many types of power relation are mentioned in the article? 

2. When the researchers videoed the same speech given by men and women, what 

did they find? 

3. What did the researchers find out about revealing emotions? 

4. What is ‘conversation turn-taking’? What did the researchers find out about it? 

5. What does the article say about eye contact? 

6. How do bosses label subordinates, and what does this cause? 

G You are a member of a trade union which finds such inequalities of power at work 

unacceptable. 

Write a report on the situation and make suggestions for dealing with the problem. 

Reports – real life phrases 

This report was commissioned by… 

The author was asked to… 

We discovered that…. 

We recommend that ….should… 


Headings for a simple report 

Introduction (the report’s audience 

and scope) 

Findings 

Recommendations


Language and power at work 

Sara Liebermann looks at the language of power and inequality at work 

(1) Warm, sensitive, dependent, passive, 

emotional, co-operative, supportive and 

subjective. These adjectives are often used to 

describe women, but they also describe all those 

people who don’t have power at work. On the 

other hand, the opposite adjectives – aggressive, 

dynamic, cold, task-oriented, competitive, 

intellectual, objective, independent – are used to 

describe men and those people who have power. 

(2) Women of course are not the only people 

who lack power, psychologically or socially. 

Children and the poor play subordinate roles 

everywhere, while in America, blacks and 

certain other ethnic groups have long shared the 

back seat. Not to be forgotten either are the old, 

the sick, the unattractive, and the uneducated. 

(3) The powerful speak a special language and 

subordinate people listen to them in a different 

way. Men and women who were judged by 

testers to be equally articulate were videoed 

making the same factual speeches. The tapes 

were shown to groups of male and female 

students, who were instructed to listen carefully. 

The students were then questioned on the facts 

delivered by the speakers. Researchers 

discovered that the students remembered more 

of, and could answer questions better on, the 

speeches given by the men than those by the 

women. The researchers concluded that more 

attention was paid to what the men were saying 

simply because our society perceives males as 

more powerful. The powerless, no matter how 

well they speak, are often ignored. 

(4) In a recent study, eighteen women and 

eighteen men answered ten questions each. Five 

questions had little emotional content, but the 

other five were emotionally loaded. In 

answering the ten questions, women 

consistently used facial expressions indicating 

emotion. Yet the women were not any more 

expressive answering the emotional questions 

than they were in response to the factual 

questions – they were simply showing emotion 

while responding to the questioners. The men, 

on the other hand, were controlling their 

emotions. This was shown by the fact that they 

revealed some slight facial movement when 

responding to the factual questions, but when 

the questions focused on emotional areas, the 

men's faces became blank. Women are 

socialised to express emotion (whether it's there 

or not), while men are ‘conditioned’ not to do so 

(even when they feel like it). 


(5) Researchers have found 

that dominant people 

suppress emotion, and 

subordinates express it. A 

successful poker player 

doesn’t want to show the 

weakness in his hand. The 

same is true for the politician and the business 

executive. They can't afford to let people know 

that they are scared or confused. 

(6) It is an interesting question to consider who 

will be the more dominant when two business 

people meet. Researchers asked fifty male and 

fifty female business people to hold a sevenminute 

conversation with a stranger of the same 

sex, and another with a stranger of the opposite 

sex. They found that each pair maintained 

conversation turn- taking, but that the men 

talked longer than the women, because ‘holding 

the floor’ is considered a power move, and the 

men assumed they were dominant in the male– 

female pairs. When facing another male, men 

talked at even greater length – trying to 

establish themselves as dominant. 

(7) If you gaze at someone while that person is 

talking, you reassure the speaker. Researchers 

found that the women performed this 

reassurance ‘service’ for the men far more than 

the men did for the women. The women also 

looked at the men while they themselves talked, 

revealing a need for feedback. Similar tests 

show the same thing happening in all power 

relations: conversations between workers and 

management, patients and doctors, and students 

and teachers. 

(8) Power corrupts, and bosses often encourage 

employees to believe that they are stupid, 

clumsy, inefficient and inferior, in order to 

make it easier to maintain discipline. A boss 

may even reward employees for 

submissiveness, passivity, docility, dependence, 

lack of initiative and lack of mental sharpness 

(‘She's so cute – such a scatterbrain!’). 

Employees will often come to accept their 

subordinate role. 

(9) We can say with confidence that power 

relations exist between people in society, and 

that these power relations are reflected in 

behaviour and language. There is no place 

where these power relations are stronger than at 

work. Perhaps it is time we started to address 

them.


Exam skills 

A Who says each of the following lines – the candidate (Ado) or the interlocutor? 

Put the following dialogue in order. Remember the student speaks first. 

You meet an old work colleague in the street. Greet him/her and ask about 

his/her new job. 

• In this part of the test you must say something that is appropriate to say in a 

situation. Read each card and follow the instructions. Ado, here is your first 

card. 

I am your ex-business colleague. 

• I’m OK. I’m sorry to hear about your problems. Can I help at all? 

• Well, actually, I’m not feeling too good. I lost my job last week, and I have 

loads of debts. How are you? 

• Oh, hi, Ben! I haven’t seen you for ages. How are you? How’s the new job 

going? 

Exam Tip: in the transactional dialogues you need to know exactly who says what and 

when. 

B Look at following conversation starters. Match them with the replies. 

1. I’m sorry, would you mind if I opened a window? It’s a bit stuffy in here. 

2. Could I use your stapler for a second? 

3. I’d be really grateful if you could close the door after you. 

4. I’m really not too happy about you smoking right next to the window. 

5. Excuse me, do you know the way out of the building? 

6. I’m looking for Mr Jenner. You wouldn’t by any chance know where his office 

is, would you? 

7. Let me hold the door open for you. 

8. Do you want a hand sorting out your computer? 

a It’s all right thank you. Wheelchair users like to be as independent as possible. 

b I wish I did. I’m looking for the exit too. 

c I would, if I weren’t carrying so much all the time. 

d Sorry, but I’d be in a terrible draught. 

e You can, but it’s empty. 

f Well, shut it then. Sorry, but I’m in a foul mood today. 

g Well, you’ve found me/ him. What can I do to help you? 

h Thanks, but do you really know what you’re doing? 

Exam tip: in the transactional dialogues you need to be ready to give an answer to 

something unexpected. 

C Look at the above transactional dialogues. Which are- 

(1) making complaints, (2) requesting information, (3) offering help, (4) asking 

permission? 

D Underline the functional language for- 

(1) making complaints, (2) requesting information, (3) offering help, (4) asking 

permission. 



Exam Practice: ‘I am the person you meet in the lift…’ 

A List as many possible business interactions as you can think of in three 

minutes; e.g. manager/secretary, shop assistant/customer. 

B Mark the relationships to show those between people of equal status 

(e.g. colleagues) and those of unequal status (boss / worker). 

Discuss doubtful cases. 

C In pairs, role-play the transactional dialogues on the cards below. 

The ‘interlocutor’ should think of an appropriate response to the candidate’s reply and 

write it down. 

For example: 

YOU SEE A COLLEAGUE DROP A PEN 

Candidate Excuse me, but here’s your pen. You just dropped it. 

Interlocutor Sorry, but I’ve never seen that pen in my life. 

D In the same pairs, check the ‘interlocutor’s’ responses. 

Then get into new pairs and practise the three-turn conversation. 

For example: 

YOU SEE A COLLEAGUE DROP A PEN 

Candidate Excuse me, but here’s your pen. You just dropped it. 

Interlocutor Sorry, but I’ve never seen that pen in my life. 

Candidate But, I thought you just dropped it. 

E Write your own set of six transactional dialogues and act them out. 

Card 1 

You go into the reception of a management consultancy. Ask to speak to Mr 

Piper. 

Card 2 

You are in the lift. You are not sure where in the building the Bibby and 

Jenner management consultancy is. Ask someone. 

Card 3 

You visit your business associate Mr Piper at his office. Greet him and ask 

about the health of his wife, who has been ill recently. 

Card 4 

You are in the office of a business associate. Ask the secretary for either tea or 

coffee. 

Card 5 

You have just left the office of a business associate. You now realise you have 

left your hat in the office. Explain your problem to the secretary. 

Card 6 

You are lost in a large office building and can’t find the way out. Ask someone 

in the corridor for help. 



Unit 18: Status at Work 

(p. 1) C (suggested answers) 1. shares the back seat, 2. sensitive, 3. emotional, 

4. submissiveness, 5. scatterbrain, 6. socialised, 7. suppress, 8. reassures. 

(p. 1) D gender inequality 

(p.1) E (suggested answers) 1. Adjectives to describe power relations, 

2. Different types of power relations, 3. The powerful and the powerless 

speak and are heard differently, 4. Men and women express different levels 

of emotion in speech, 5. Dominant people suppress emotion, 6. Power 

and the length of speaking turns, 

7. Power, gaze and a reassurance ‘service’, 8. Power corrupts, 

9. Power relations at work are reflected in behaviour and language 

(p. 1) F 1. men/women, adults/children, richer/poorer people, ethnic 

majorities/minorities, not old/the old, the healthy/the sick, the 

educated/the uneducated, 

attractive/unattractive people, employers/employees, managers/workers, 

doctors/patients, teachers/students 

2. That people tend to listen more carefully to men than to women, 

3. Men, irrespective of topic, suppress emotions; dominant people suppress 

emotions, 

4. Taking turns to speak; that generally men and those who want to be dominant 

take longer 

turns, 

5. Maintaining eye contact during speech reassures the speaker; those in a 

subordinate role do this for those in a dominant role, 

6. Bosses label them according to the adjectives and nouns in paragraph (8), i.e. 

as inferior; 

employees tend to accept this, and their subordinate role. 

(p. 3) A I=interlocutor, C=candidate 

I: In this part of the test… 

CC: Oh, hi, Ben!… 

I: Well, actually… 

CC: I’m Ok. I’m sorry… 

I: Thank you. 

(p. 3) B 1.d, 2. e, 3. c, 4. f, 5. b, 6. g, 7. a, 8. h. 

(p. 3) C Complaints: 3, 4. Requesting information: 5, 6. Offering help: 7, 

8. 

Asking permission: 1, 2 

(p.3) D Complaints: I’d be really grateful if you could …, I’m really not too happy 

about… 

Requesting information: Excuse me, do you know… You wouldn’t by any 

chance know… 

Offering help: Let me… Do you want a hand… 

Asking Permission: I’m sorry, would you mind if I… Could I… 


Speaking – Unite 19: Collaborative speaking Page 1 

19 Expanding a Company 


• meet words and expressions about building up a business 

• read an article about a company moving into a depressed area 

• participate in a discussion aimed at achieving an outcome 

A When a company expands, what are the advantages? 

Are there any disadvantages? Is your company (or a 

company you know about) expanding, contracting or standing 

still? 


an aspiration, a grant, run-down, a drop in the ocean, a commitment, to secure, 

to sustain, a qualification, a link, innovative, collaborative, to gather, cutting 

edge, knowledge-based industry sector, extensive, prospective customers, to 

launch, commercial viability 

C Put one item from the vocabulary box into each gap, changing the form where 

necessary: 

The once __1__ town of Meckham is now developing fast. The municipal council 

has __2__ EUR 30 million through a government __3__ so that the town’s growth 

can be __4__. The council maintains __5__ with __6__ local businesses providing 

they are __7__. Mayor Edgar Grice is enthusiastic, ‘We want __8__ industry in the 

town. Our __9__ is to build a dynamic local economy with all workers having 

__10__.’ 

D Fill in the gaps in box. Underline the stressed syllable in the words. 

NOUN ADJECTIVE VERB 

aspiration 

commitment 

sustain 

qualification 

innovative 

collaborative 

E Look quickly at the article on the next page, ‘Upwards for TKN Software’. 

What is the good news for Grenberg? 

F Read the article more thoroughly. 

What are the quoted opinions of Arnie Fischer and Mayor Landau? 

Rewrite their opinions in indirect speech. 

G Make notes on what you know about the following, and then compare them with a 

partner. 

David Kantor – ZSZ - ROMBOLO 

H You have just been employed by TKN Software. 

Write a short letter (100 – 150 words) to a friend about your new job. 

Talking to achieve a goal – real-life phrases 

• Would you agree that…. 

• Another factor that we need to consider is… 

• Is there anything more you want to add to… 



Upwards for TKN Software 

Saul Denman looks at the expansion of the TKN Software 

Up to ten more jobs could be created in 

Grenberg with the further development of a 

local IT company that has aspirations to 

market software products around the world. 

This follows the decision of Grenberg 

Municipal Council to give the company a 

grant of EUR 3million if it invests in the rundown 

eastern area of the city. Local 

councillor Arnie Fischer commented, ‘Of 

course we welcome any new investment in 

the area, but ten jobs in a town with 8 500 

unemployed – well, it’s a drop in the ocean.’ 

TKN Software already employs a team of 

five in Grenberg and a further six in the 

regional capital, and is intending to focus its 

product development and headquarters staff 

in Grenberg. It aims to make full use of the 

fact that the internet enables staff to work 

globally. 

The total expansion project is worth almost 

EUR 7 million, with ZSZ involvement 

totalling EUR 2 million. ZSZ's commitment 

includes buying EUR 70,000 of shares in the 

growing company, as well as providing a 

substantial loan secured on the company’s 

property. 

Two of TKN Software’s founders are David 

Kantor and Ben Sanders, who are both from 

Grenberg. Both David and Ben are former 

students of the town’s Business Institute. 

They were later at university together, and 

also worked for the internet company, Straba 

PLC, when it was creating and running the 

Kranon Internet Service Provider – situated in 

the Torgut Business Park, also in Grenberg. 

David Kantor, who is TKN’s technical 

director, said: ‘We are delighted to have 

received this investment from ZSZ, which 

will help secure the future of the business and 

sustain its growth over the next twelve 

months.’ 

The existing staff are all educated to graduate 

level or equivalent, and the new posts will 

demand similar qualifications. TKN Software 

has built up strong links with Grenberg 


College, and aims to 

build on successful 

use of the Graduate 

Placement Scheme, 

which last year 

enabled the firm to 

take on a graduate of 

the college's BSc 

Computing course. 

TKN Software was set up in 2001 to provide 

consultancy services to organisations looking 

for IT and internet solutions. It also wanted to 

provide management services and develop 

innovative software that would provide 

collaborative, team-workspace solutions, and 

lead to the development of software products 

that could be used widely, both at home and 

abroad. 

TKN Software’s main product is called 

ROMBOLO, a program which will allow 

enterprise agencies across the region to use 

identical approaches to companies looking for 

assistance. It will systematically gather 

information about them and will also allow 

regular updates as the businesses develop. It 

is designed to assist business and 

management consultants. 

David Kantor, managing director of TKN 

Software, said he wanted to find development 

partners for the projects so that they could 

jointly finance the research. The aim was to 

find individual solutions which could then 

have a general application; if successful, the 

system could be applied to any number of 

companies in the area. 

Harold Landau, Mayor of Grenberg, said the 

development of TKN Software would create 

good quality, well-paid employment in a 

cutting edge, knowledge-based industry 

sector. ‘The company has developed an 

extensive list of prospective customers and 

has a tested product to launch in the 

healthcare sector. I believe there are 

reasonable prospects for commercial viability 

and additional growth in a sector which has 

grown gradually in the town over several 

years,’ Mr Landau said.


Exam Skills 

A Look at the following conversation and decide what the students are talking about. 

Andreo Well, I think having low taxes is very important, don’t you? 

Maria Yes, I agree, but nothing can happen unless there is customer 

demand, right? 

Andreo True, well to that I would add advertising. That’s important too. 

Maria Well we’re assuming the labour is there and is flexible, aren’t we? 

Andreo And, I would add, properly trained, with the right qualifications. 

Maria But aren’t we forgetting the most important thing of all – start-up 

capital? 

Exam tip: in the collaborative task it is important in the first minute to mention things 

to talk about. 

B Underline all the devices used above (a) to agree with a speaking partner, before we 

make a new point, and (b) to give a speaking partner an opportunity to speak. 

Exam tip: taking your turn to speak, responding to what your partner has said and 

giving your partner an opportunity to speak are important to do well in this task. 

C Look at the following dialogue and note how the speakers disagree. 

How polite are they? Highlight phrases showing different degrees of politeness. 

Andreo The management needs a low-paid workforce who will work long 

hours when needed. 

Maria Yes, but the management needs commitment from its workers. 

Adreo Does it? Many cleaning firms have a high turnover, so commitment 

just isn’t that important. 

Maria Come on, Andreo. When we are talking about industrial expansion, 

we are not mainly talking about cleaning firms. 

Andreo The fact of the matter is, Maria, that the economy of Grenberg is 

driven by low wages and flexibility. 

Maria That’s rubbish, … 

Exam tip: in the exam task, you need to know how agree, disagree respond and change 

the topic. 

D What is the problem with the following dialogue? 

Andreo I think advertising is very important. 

Maria I think investing in people is important 

Andreo When you advertise properly, you can sell your product. 

Maria If your workers aren’t happy, they won’t work hard. 

Andreo Advertising can be over half of all expenditure. 

Maria I agree 

Andreo You’re right. 

Exam tip: your discussion needs to be cohesive; it needs to be ‘linked together’. 

F What are some of the advantages that business expansion offers to the community ? 

In discussion with a partner, list four or five things, then discuss the question and try to 

agree on the most important. 



Exam practice: ‘Oh, so you think that, do you?’ 

A Look at the following expressions. Match them with the functionsin the second box. 

Find more than one expression for each function. 

a Let me get a word in here…, b Just to add to that…, c Well, if we could move on 

from that now…, d What is your reaction to the idea that…, e I don’t quite go along 

with that, f Yes, you’re right 

1. agreeing 

2. disagreeing with somebody 

3. expanding on what someone has said 

4. interrupting 

5. inviting an opinion 

6. changing the subject 

B Look at the three topics in the box below. 

By yourself, quickly make a list of things you would say about each topic. 

Underline the one you think is most important, and think of a reason why. 

What are some of the things that stop a company from expanding? 

E.g., shortage of skilled labour 

What qualities do you need to be a good secretary? 

E.g., to be polite at all times 

What factors are important in deciding where to locate a new office? 

E.g., the rent you must pay 

C Get into groups of three. 

One person is the examiner, and the other two will do one of the collaborative tasks 

chosen by the examiner. 

At the end, the examiner will give feedback. Then switch roles. 

THE EXAM SCRIPT 

• For the final part of the test, you are going to talk to each other about a 

topic I will give you. I’m just going to listen. 

< Pick up the Topic Card but do not give it to the candidates yet. > 

< Read the topic and any instructions out loud to them > 

• First make a spoken list of four or five things. 

• Then, when you have done that, discuss which one is the best/ most 

important. Remember to give reasons for what you say. 

• You have 3 minutes altogether to try and agree. All right? 

< Place the topic card in front of the candidates. > 



Unit 19: Expanding a Company 

(p. 1) C 1. run-down, 2. secured, 3. grant, 4. Sustained/secured, 5. links, 

6. innovative, 7. collaborative, 8. knowledge-based, 

9. aspiration/commitment, 10. qualifications.(other answers are possible) 

(p.1) D – stress is shown where it does not fall on the first syllable 

NOUN ADJECTIVE VERB 

aspiration ooOo aspiring oOo 

aspirational ooOoo 

Aspire (to) oO 

commitment oOo committed oOo commit (to) oO 

sustainability oooOoo sustained oO sustain oO 

qualification oooOo qualifying/qualified qualify 

innovation ooOo innovative innovate 

collaboration oooOo collaborative oOooo collaborate (with) oOoo 

(p. 1) E Up to ten new jobs in the town 

(p.1) F Arnie Fischer welcomed any new investment in the area, but thought that ten 

new jobs in a town with 8,500 unemployed would be just a drop in the ocean. 

Mayor Harold Landau said that the company had developed an extensive list of 

prospective customers and had tested a product for launching in the healthcare 

sector. He further said he believed there were reasonable prospects for 

commercial viability and additional growth in a sector which had grown 

gradually in the town for several years. 

(p. 1) G David Kantor: TKN Software founder/ from Grenberg/ with Ben Sanders, 

went to Grenberg Business Institute and University/ worked for Straba PLC 

/wants to expand his business 

ZSZ: contributed EUR 2 million to TKN Software/ has EUR 70,000 in shares 

in TKN/ has made a loan to TKN secured on the property of the company 

ROMBOLO: a software program which will gather information designed to 

help management consultants 

(p. 3) A How to start up or expand a business. 

(p. 3) B (a) Yes, I agree/ True/ And I would add… 

(b) I think…don’t you? (and other question tags)/ 

…right?/ framing the whole of the turn in the form of a question 

(p. 3) C Yes, but… (polite)/ Does it? (neutral)/ Come on. (informal)/ 

The fact of the matter is…(quite formal)/ That’s rubbish (rude) 

(p. 3) D The participants do not seem to be listening to each other, nor are they building 

on each other’s contributions. 

Also, there is repetition of ‘I think…’ It is not clear exactly what they have 

agreed at the end. 

(p. 4) A a4, b3, c6, d5, e2, f1 


Unite 20: Extra Activities Page 1 

20 EuroPro the CEFR and Extra Activities 

1 Reading at B2 Vantage Level 

A Make a list of all the things that you can read, e.g. newspapers, 

novels, railway timetables, instructions. Which do you enjoy most 

and least? Why? Compare your opinions with a partner, then tell 

the class about it. 


an idiom, contextual clues, to grasp, a stance 

C Match the words with the comments. 

1 An idiom A Information which helps you understand something 

2 A contextual clue B E.g., ‘That’s not my cup of tea.’ 

3 To grasp C A way of standing or (metaphorically)– an opinion 

4 A stance D Hold tightly or (metaphorically)– understand 

D Read the standards expected at B2 level in the box below. Shut the book. 

In groups of three, try to remember as much as you can. 

When you have finished compare your notes with the text. 

At B2 level (vantage) a business reader… 

can read with a large degree of …., adapting style and speed of reading to 

different texts and purposes, and using appropriate reference sources selectively. 

Has a broad active reading vocabulary, but may experience some difficulty with 

low frequency idioms. 

can use a variety of strategies to achieve comprehension, including checking 

comprehension by using contextual clues. 

In the short texts task, a business reader… 

can understand correspondence relating to his/her field of interest, and readily 

grasp the essential meaning. 

In the paragraph headings task, a business reader… 

can quickly identify the content and relevance of news items, articles and 

reports on a wide range of professional topics, deciding whether closer study is 

worthwhile. 

In the multiple-choice reading task a business reader… 

can understand articles and reports concerned with contemporary problems in 

which the writers adopt particular stances or viewpoints. 



Communicative Activity – Running Dictation 

Your teacher will attach to the walls of the room four or five 

(slightly enlarged) copies of an English text concerned with 

business. 

The text will be about 150 words long, and the copies will be 

attached to the wall around the room so that they can easily be read. 

Students should form pairs, and all the pairs should be (more or 

less) the same distance from the nearest copy. 

One member of the pair is the runner and the other is the writer. 

The aim of the activity is for the writer to write down the text as accurately as possible. 

The runner needs to go to the text, read a chunk of it, return to where the ‘writer’ is sitting, and 

dictate that chunk to the writer. When the writer has written it down, the runner should go back to 

the text and repeat the process for the next chunk. 

The activity has the following rules: 

• The runner may not shout but must dictate next to the writer. 

• The runner may not write anything. 

• The writer must remain seated. 

• Once or twice during the dictation, the teacher will tell the runner and the writer to exchange 

roles. 

Your teacher will note the order in which pairs finish. 

The original version of the text is then handed out, and each pair checks the work of another pair. 

The winner is the pair which has made the fewest errors. 

In the event of a tie the pair which finished earlier is the winner. 

Communicative Activity – Business Articles 

Your teacher will collect five articles of between 150 and 250 words each. 

Students form groups of five, and each student in the group will receive a different article. 

(The articles can be edited from the internet, e.g. from ‘BBC Online’ business pages) 

Stage 1: 

Read the article individually, and extract the main points. 

Then write a summary of about 50 words. 

Then compare your work with a student in another group who has the same article. 

At this stage, agree to insert three or four things which are untrue – or are not in the article. 

Stage 2: 

Return to your original group of five, present your article and answers questions from the other four 

students. 

The other students will take notes. In your presentation remember to include the false or invented 

information. 

Stage 3: 

Your article will now be given to the other members of your group, and, using their notes, they will 

try to find the ‘lies’ and invented information. 



2 Listening at B2 Vantage Level 

A What do the words and phrases in the vocabulary box mean? 

a proposition, a concrete subject, a standard dialect, 

extended speech, contextual clues 

B Put one item from the vocabulary box into each gap. 

♦ He is very easy to understand because he speaks __1__ 

♦ Talking about how to get to work in a traffic jam is __2__; moral philosophy is not. 

♦ ‘All businessmen are nice people,’ is __3__ many people don’t accept as true. 

♦ Giving a lecture is an example of __4__ ; a single sentence is not. 

♦ You can’t understand, ‘He picked it up and put it there,’ without __5__. 

C Read the standards expected at B2 level in the box below. Shut the book. 


When you have finished compare your notes with the text 

At B2 level (Vantage), somebody listening in a business context… 

can understand the main ideas of propositionally and linguistically complex 

speech on both concrete and abstract topics delivered in a standard dialect, 

including technical discussions in his/her field of specialisation. 

can follow extended speech and complex lines of argument, provided the 

topic is reasonably familiar, and the direction of the talk is sign-posted by 

explicit markers. 

can with some effort catch much of what is said around him/her. 

can use a variety of strategies to achieve comprehension, including listening 

for main points and checking comprehension by using contextual clues. 

In the short conversations task, somebody listening in a business context… 

can understand messages on concrete and abstract topics spoken in standard 

dialect at normal speed 

In the making notes task, somebody listening in a business context… 

can follow the essentials of lectures, talks and reports and other forms of 

academic/professional presentation which are propositionally and linguistically 

complex. 

In the meeting task, somebody listening in a business context… 

can understand most radio documentaries and most other recorded or 

broadcast audio material delivered in standard dialect, and can identity the 

speaker’s mood, tone, etc. 



Communicative Activity – Just a Minute 

You are going to speak on a business topic You are going to try to talk non-stop for one minute 

Get into groups of four or five. 

Make a list of business topics suitable for a one-minute (slightly humorous) 

speech, e.g. Money makes the world go round, Look after the cents and the 

euros look after themselves, Time is money, etc. 

The rules of the activity are: 

• the student who starts chooses one of the topics and becomes the speaker 

• the aim of the speaker is to speak for a minute on the topic without : 

hesitation (i.e. pausing for more than a couple of seconds), 

deviation (going off the topic) or 

repetition (saying a content word not in the topic title more than once). 

• anybody can challenge if the rules are broken. If the challenge is correct, then the challenger 

gets a point; if the challenger is wrong, then the speaker gets a point. 

• a student who makes a correct challenge takes over the speaking. 

• the ‘stop-watch’ is stopped during a challenge, and is only started again when the same, or a 

new speaker, starts to speak. 

• the student speaking at the end of the minute receives an extra point. 

Communicative Activity – Business Stories 

You are going to tell a story about the history of a business. The story is imaginary. Get into groups 

of four or five. 

Individually, think of a story and make some notes, (e.g. a business started by a street seller 

becomes a multinational, or a wealthy man becomes bankrupt). Your story should take about two 

minutes to tell. Leave your story unfinished. 

Each student tells his/her story in turn to the group. The other members of the group listen and 

make notes. When the storyteller has finished, the other members should ask questions. When the 

details of the unfinished story have been established, the other members of the group should agree 

an end to the story. 

As a final stage, each group of students should present the story to the full class, who may ask 

questions in order to find out extra details about the story. 

Three very wealthy businessmen are sitting together in an elite business club in Berlin. 

Suddenly, one of them notices that they are all wearing the same tie. 

‘Do you know, chaps, we are all wearing the same tie,’ says the first man. ‘Where did you get 

yours? I got mine here in Berlin and paid EUR 300 for it’ 

‘Ah,’ says the second, ‘I got mine in Rome and I paid EUR 500 for it.’ 

‘Well,’ says the third, ‘you two were cheated. I bought mine in Paris and paid EUR 1000 for it!’ 

In economics, the tie is an example of a Giffen Good: as the price rises, demand increases – in 

this case because its value is measured in terms of its cost. 



3 Writing at B2 Vantage Level 

A Match up the words with the definitions: 

synthesise to say indirectly, by describing 

evaluate obstruct (make something difficult) 

circumlocution observable 

conspicuous assess 

hinder put together 

B How many syllables do the words above have? Which is the stressed syllable? 

(E.g. synthesise Ooo) 

C Read the standards expected at B2 level in the box below. Shut the book. 


When you have finished, compare your notes with the text 

At B2 level (vantage) a writer in a business context… 

can write clear, detailed texts on a variety of subjects related to his/her field of interest, synthesising and 

evaluating information and arguments form a number of sources. 

can plan what is to be written and the means to write it, considering the effect on the recipient/s. 

can use circumlocution and paraphrase to cover gaps in vocabulary and structure. 

can correct slips and errors if he/she becomes conscious of them, or if they have led to 

misunderstandings. 

can give clear descriptions, express viewpoints and develop arguments without much conspicuous 

searching for words, using some complex sentence structures to do so. 

can vary formulation to avoid frequent repetition. 

can use accurate and correct lexis, though some confusion and incorrect word choice does occur, 

without hindering communication. 

can show a relatively high degree of grammatical control, and does not make mistakes which lead to 

misunderstanding. 

can produce clearly intelligible continuous writing which follows standard layout and paragraphing 

conventions 

can spell and punctuate reasonably accurately, but may show signs of mother tongue influence. 

In the extensive writing task, a writer in a business context… 

can write clear, detailed descriptions on a variety of subjects related to his/her field of interest. 

can write a review of a film, book or play. 

can write an essay or report which develops an argument, giving reasons in support of or against a 

particular point of view, and explaining the advantages and disadvantages of various options. 

can synthesise information and arguments from a number of sources. 

can express news and views effectively in writing. 

can write letters conveying degrees of emotion and highlighting the personal significance of events and 

experiences, and can comment on the correspondent’s news and views. 



Communicative Activity – Business Letters 

Write three short e-mails, each on a separate piece of paper, 

and address them to three other members of the class, (your 

teacher will tell you to whom, so that a few students don’t 

receive all the letters). The subjects of the e-mails are: 

• an offer to sell something 

• a complaint about services received 

• a request for information about the other’s product or 

service 

The e-mails should be short, no more than 60 words. 

They should be in the style of an email. 

Your teacher will act as a postal worker and will ‘deliver’ 

your e-mails to their recipients. 

The recipient should write a reply – no longer than 70 words – on the back of the sheet of paper, 

and your teacher will then deliver it back to you. 

Your teacher will give you e-mails you haven’t seen. Try to improve the content and the English. 

Discuss your changes with the original writer of the e-mails. 

Communicative Activity – Improving the Office 

Everyone in the class is a member of a team of management consultants, who have been asked to 

find solutions for some problems in a badly run company office. 

(e.g. lateness, untidiness, money being stolen, etc.). 

In pairs, make a list of other problems which you can think of for the office. 

The whole class should now sit in a circle; each of you should have a pen and a hard surface to 

write on. The teacher will then give you a sheet of paper. You should write recommendations in the 

following way: 

We have noted that…. 

We believe that…. is necessary for the proper functioning of the office. 

We therefore recommend that…. (at least two things) 

Obviously, as you have noted a large number of problems in the office, your list of 

recommendations will be long. The full report will need hundreds of words. However, every 

minute, or minute and a half, the teacher will stop you writing. You should stop writing 

immediately and hand the paper to the person on your right. You will receive a sheet of paper from 

the student on your left, and should continue writing at the point where s/he stopped. You should 

not write exactly the same thing on any two reports. You should try to make the report as sensible 

as possible. 

The activity continues until everybody has contributed to every report. 



4 Grammar & Vocabulary at B2 Vantage Level 

A Put the following into two lists. What is the difference between your two lists? 

reading, pronunciation, listening, writing, grammar, 

vocabulary, speaking 

B Think back to the dictation unit (Unit 14). 

Which of the following are important if you want to do well in the dictation task? Why? 

spelling, pronunciation, reading, listening for detail, listening for gist, 

C What is the difference between what is being tested in the multiple-choice gap fill and the 

modified cloze? 

D Read the standards expected at B2 level in the box below. Shut the book. 


When you have finished, compare your notes with the text. 

At B2 level (Vantage) a business language user… 

can use a wide variety of strategies to achieve comprehension, including checking 

comprehension by using contextual clues 

can spell reasonably accurately (but for the specially selected vocabulary which you need to 

write for these tasks in the Euro Exam there is NO allowance for error) 

In the dictation, the business language user… 

can produce clearly intelligible continuous writing, which follows a standard layout 

can follow extended speech and complex lines of argument, provided the topic is reasonably 

familiar, and the direction of the talk is sign-posted by explicit markers. 

can understand broadcast audio material delivered in standard dialect 

can take messages 

can understand a clearly structured lecture on a familiar subject 

In the non-dictation tasks the business language user… 

can read with a large degree of independence 

can deploy a broad active reading vocabulary 

In the multiple-choice gap fill, the business language user… 

can deploy a good range of vocabulary for matters connected to his/her field and most general 

topics. 

In the modified cloze, the business language user… 

can show a relatively high degree of grammatical control 



Communicative Activity – Dictogloss 

• Your teacher will give you the title to a text. 

What do you think the text will contain? Tell a partner 

• The text will be about 100 words long. 

• Your teacher will read the text at normal reading speed. 

Note down key words and phrases, either during the 

reading or afterwards. Exchange ideas with other 

students near you. 

• Your teacher will read the text through again at normal 

reading speed. Try to add to your notes. 

• Now get into groups of three or four students. 

Together you should try to re-write the text as closely to the original as possible. 

• Your teacher will now read the original text slowly, or give you a printed copy of the text. You 

should note differences between your version and the original, and discuss these in the lesson. 

Communicative Activity – Grammar Auction 

• Look at the grammar items in the box below. Write sentences of at least twelve words which 

start with the following. 

He’d have… 

Although it had been… 

But for… 

Never before had… 

Rarely… 

Not wanting… 

Having opened… 

AND THREE OTHER SENTENCES OF YOUR CHOICE 

• When you have written several sentences (your teacher will tell you how many), hand them in. 

At this stage don’t discuss them with other people. 

• Your teacher may have some sentences which s/he has written. 

• Everybody in the class (or every pair) will get the same amount of imaginary ‘money’. 

You are going to use this as you would in an auction. 

• The teacher will write a selection of the sentences on the whiteboard and then ‘auction’ them. 

Some of these will be grammatically correct, and others not. 

Your aim is to buy as many grammatically correct sentences as possible for as little ‘money’ 

as possible, and ungrammatical ones for even less. 

You should take care not to use up all your money at the beginning of the auction. 

• When everybody’s money has gone, or when the sentences have run out, discuss in class, with 

your teacher’s help, which sentences are grammatically correct. 

• For a grammatically correct sentence which you have bought you receive 10 points, 

for a sentence which is grammatically incorrect you receive 1 point. 

• The winner is the person (or pair) with the most points. 



6 Speaking at B2 Vantage Level 

A What do the words and phrases in the vocabulary box mean? 

subsidiary, a stretch of language, to impose a strain, to prod, a concession 

B Put one item from the vocabulary box into each gap. 

♦ He produced a very long _1_. 

♦ She has such a strong foreign accent that listening to her _2_ . 

♦ You have to _3_ her to get her to say anything. 

♦ We will have to make a _4_ if we want them to sign the contract. 

♦ The main office is in Berlin, but they have a _5_ in Paris. 

C Read the standards expected at B2 level in the box below. Shut the book. In groups of three, 

try to remember as much as you can. When you have finished, compare your notes with the 

text. 

At B2 level (Vantage) a business speaker… 

can give clear, systematically developed descriptions within a wide range of subjects 

related to his/her field of interest, expanding and supporting ideas with subsidiary points and 

relevant examples 

can produce stretches of language with a fairly even tempo; although s/he can be hesitant 

as s/he searches for patterns and expressions, there are few noticeable long pauses 

can interact with a degree of fluency and spontaneity that makes regular interaction with 

native speakers quite possible without imposing a strain on either party 

In the interview, a business speaker… 

can expand and develop ideas with little help or prodding from an interviewer 

In a presentation, a business speaker… 

can develop a clear argument, expanding and supporting his/her points of view at some 

length with subsidiary points and relevant examples 

can construct a chain of reasoned argument 

can expand a viewpoint on a topical issue, giving the advantages and disadvantages of 

various options 

In real life situations, a business speaker… 

can explain a problem which has arisen, and make it clear that the provider of the service 

or customer must make a concession. 

In a collaborative task, a business speaker… 

can help along the progress of work by inviting others to join in, say what they think, etc. 

can outline an issue or a problem clearly, speculating about causes or consequences, and 

weighing advantages and disadvantages of different proposals 



Communicative activity – The businessperson’s mingle 

Take a piece of paper and write a name 

(if you are male write a female name; if you are female write a male name) 

NOW YOU ARE THIS IMAGINARY PERSON. 

ON YOUR PAPER, WRITE BRIEF NOTES ON THE FOLLOWING: 

• the name of your business 

• how many years you’ve been in business 

• where your business is 

• what your business is 

• how many people you employ 

• three problems your business has 

• two hopes you have for expansion 

• your last business trip 

• your last holiday 

• your family 

Now try to remember as much as you can about your new self – but keep your piece of paper to 

remind you. 

Your teacher will invite you to a party. 

Move around the room, talk to all the other ‘business people’ and find out as much information 

about them as you can. Do not write it down, but try to remember it. Introduce yourself and 

‘mingle’, as you would in a real party. 

AT THE END OF THE PARTY 

Sit down and tell your partner about the most interesting person you met. 

Communicative activity – Selling your product 

Imagine that you are in business, and have a new product to sell (e.g. a new type of glue, a new 

insurance policy). What is the product? Make a few brief notes. 

Now explain your product – and how you will market it – to your partner. 

Your partner should ask you questions, and you should give answers. 

Move around the room, and talk to all the other ‘business people’. 

Ask and answer questions about your business, and about selling your product. 

When you have finished, sit down. As a class, discuss each of the businesses in turn. 

Consider: 

• is the product one which would sell? 

• how much would it cost to set up the business? 

• who would buy it? 

• what is the best way to market it? 



Answers 

1 Reading at B2 Vantage Level 

(p. 1) C 1B, 2A, 3D, 4C 

2 Listening at B2 Vantage Level 

(p. 1) 1. a standard dialect, 2. a concrete subject, 3. a proposition, 

4. extended speech, 5. contextual clues 

3 Writing at B2 Vantage Level 

(p. 1) A synthesise: put together; evaluate: assess; circumlocution: to say indirectly, 

conspicuous: observable; hinder: obstruct (make something difficult) 

(p. 1) B 

evaluate oOoo 

circumlocution oooOo 

conspicuous oOoo 

hinder Oo 

4 Grammar & Vocabulary at B2 Vantage Level 

(p. 1) A language skills: reading, listening, writing and speaking 

language knowledge: pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary 

(p. 1) B listening for detail – absolutely crucial, as the dictation needs to be reproduced 

word for word 

spelling – all the words in the chunk must be correctly spelt to get the point. 

listening for gist – in the first reading through you need to listen for gist to work 

out the topic of the dictation which then helps you to understand the details. 

pronunciation – need to listen to the recording, and work out written text from 

the speech. Many sounds are reduced or elided. 

reading – just need to read the instructions and the title, minimal role 

(p. 1) C In the multiple-choice gap fill your vocabulary is being tested: do you know the 

right word? Can a particular word fit into the sentence here? 

In the modified cloze your grammar is being tested, i.e. which grammar words go 

into a gap so the sentence is grammatically correct and makes sense? 

Speaking at B2 Vantage Level 

(p. 1) B 1. stretch of language, 2. imposed a strain, 3. prod, 4. concession, 5. subsidiary.

can - Euroexam

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