BUSINESS ENGLISH 7

LESSON B1Let’s Brainstorm

I. WARM-UPVocabulary

Choose the letter that gives the meanings of the underlined words.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.

a group of people in charge of executing duties within a company or office
to run or operate by using machines instead of people to do the worksomething that may be or is chosenscheduled period of worka systematic series of actions
to hire the services of a person

1. The agency employed 300 production workers from Japan.
2. The marketing department is re-organizing their staff to make the work efficient.
3. The customers have several options to choose from on the list of services offered by thecompany.
4. Employees must follow the process when applying for work leave.
5. A lot of employees complained about the new work shift because it starts at midnight.
6. The production staff agreed to automate the packaging of the products.
II. DIALOGUE BOX
Jane		 :Mike :
Rosie :
Mike :
Jane		 :Carl		 :Rosie :		Carl		 :Mike :Have we considered running a second shift?
I agree to that, but it means we have to employ more staff.
Not if we staffed it ourselves.
That is not possible. I can’t imagine myself working all day and through the night.
Let’s just consider it as one of the options. The greater number of options, the better.
We could look at making the process ourselves rather than running it for longer.
How about automating the packing? In the long run it might be cheaper because we’dneed fewer staff.
We could also buy a bigger oven.
I think that’s a good idea.

Comprehension Check
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

What has the team considered?
How are they going to manage the new schedule?
Does Mike agree with the suggestion of Rosie? Why or why not?
What is Carl’s other option?
Which suggestion do you think is better, employing new staff or automating the process?

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Let’s Brainstorm
III. LANGUAGE BOX
Advance ways of using comparatives and superlatives:
Comparative degree involves comparison in showing something that is continually increasing
and decreasing.
We can use two comparatives joined with ‘and’ .
• We’re receiving fewer and fewer customer’s recommendations.
• Investors are complaining more and more often.
In showing that one event depends on another, we can use ‘the + comparative’.
• The better you play, the greater chance you have of winning.
We can use ‘one of’ and a plural noun to refer to one amongst a superlative group.
• It’s one of our biggest investors.
• This is one of our greatest achievements.
We use ‘as + adjective/adverb + as’ to show that two things or people are the same.
• You are as good as your manager.
• Our idea is as effective as before.
‘Not as/so + adjective/adverb + as‘ shows difference:• Joshua doesn’t interact as actively as Michael• Their ideas aren’t as competitive as ours.
IV. SAY IT! Make a role-play as a recruitment head with your teacher using the following scenario.
The company you’re working for is having a problem recruiting enough quality trainees
to work in bank branches. You’ll be hiring again this year. Last year, you only got few
applicants because of the negative reports from the previous workers. How will you
gather ideas on how you could attract more applicants?

BUSINESS ENGLISH 7

LESSON B2

Who Do You Think Would Be a Good Leader?

I. WARM-UPVocabulary

Read the following sentences. Choose the letter that gives the meanings of the underlined
words.
a. adviceb. thankfulc. attendance

d. a general explanation on description of somethinge. the process of making something in large quantities
f. a list of issues to be acted upon

1. The company president was grateful to all his employees for working hard.
2. All committee members were present during the meeting. Their presence made the activity
successful.
3. One thing on the agenda that was discussed in the meeting was employee’s attendance.
4. The factory had to make a new system to increase production.
5. The manager asked the secretary to make the outline of the report short and complete.
6. A lot of the employees made suggestions to change the old computers.
II. DIALOGUE BOX
Jason :

Jake
Kat
Jake
Kat
Jake
Jason::::::

Good afternoon everyone! I’m grateful for your presence today but I’m afraid we’realready running behind schedule. So, do you mind if we start right away? Let’s stick tothe agenda as best as we can. Agreed? Okay. Jake, can you give the outline of theproduction schedule for this month? Could you give it in 15 minutes?
Thanks, Jason. I don’t think I’ll need that long.
So Jake, that’s the final outline you made for the production schedule?
Yes, do you want to make changes to it?
I think we could make it to 6 times a week instead of 5.
That could be possible! What do you think Jason?
Well, I agree to your suggestions. I think that would be all for today.

Comprehension Check
1.
2.
3.
4.

What does Jason want to happen in the meeting?
What is the report of Jake about?
What does Kat suggest to do about the scheduling?
How does the meeting end?

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Who Do You Think Would Be a Good Leader?
III. LANGUAGE BOX
The quantifiers ‘much’ and ‘many’ are used before nouns.
We use ‘many’ for count nouns and ‘much’ for mass nouns.		 • Many cell phone manufacturers are developing hi-tech models.		 • Much of the funds are wasted by inefficient activities.
Both quantifiers can be used:
a. with ‘not’		 • Not many applicants came to the interview.		 • There’s not much more I can say about it.
b. with ‘of’		 • I disagree with much of what you suggest.		 • I think that many of their problems are due to their own management.
c. with ‘so’ or ‘that’		 • I didn’t expect so much speculation about it.		 • Tokyo City has a population of over 12 million. It’s that many!
d. with ‘as... as that!’		 • We have 150 people attending the seminar. I never thought we’d get as many as that!		 • I didn’t consider the production would be as much as that!
IV. SAY IT! The agenda of the meeting is to come up with a good solution about tardiness, but
it seems like most of the head staff are coming late to work. How will you start andlead the meeting?
1. How will you gather different suggestions from each different person’s point of view?
2. What could be the best way to lead a meeting?

BUSINESS ENGLISH 7

LESSON B3

The Best Thing to Do

I. WARM-UP

Vocabulary

Look at the words written in boldface in the Dialogue Box. Guess their meanings throughthe sentences.
II. DIALOGUE BOX
Meeting Chairman: Good morning, everyone. The main agenda today is sales improvement in ruralmarket areas. Matt?

Matt: Thank you, Mr Chairman. Ms Mia will give us the report on the matter at hand.
Kindly look at your copies. Let’s hear from Mia, now.

Mia

: Before I begin the report, I’d like to get some ideas from you all. How do you feel
about rural sales in your sales districts? I suggest we go round the table first to
get all of your input.

Allan: In my opinion, we have been focusing too much on urban customers and theirneeds. The way I see things, we need to return on our rural base by developing
an advertising campaign to focus on their particular needs.

Jane: I’m afraid I can’t agree to that. I think our customers in the cities want to feel asimportant as those living in the small towns. I suggest we give our rural sales
teams more help with advanced customer information reporting.

Arnold: Excuse me, I didn’t catch that. Could you repeat that please?

Jane: I just stated that we need to give our rural sales teams better customer
information reporting.

Arnold: I don’t quite follow you. What exactly do you mean?

Jane: Well, we provide our city sales staff with database information on all of ourlarger clients. We should be providing the same information through our sales
staff there.

Meeting Chairman: Unfortunately, we’re running short of time. We’ll have to leave that till anothertime.

Mia: Before we close, let me just summarize the main points: First, rural customers
need specific help to feel more valued. Second, our sales teams need moreaccurate information on our customers. Then, a survey will be completed tocollect data on spending habits in these areas. Next, the results of this survey
will be delivered to our sales teams. Lastly, we are considering specific data
mining procedures to help deepen our understanding.

Meeting Chairman: Thank you very much, Mia. Right, it looks as though we’ve covered the main
items. The meeting is adjourned.

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The Best Thing to Do
Comprehension Check
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

What is the main issue of the meeting?
Which market area needs more improvement on sales?
How does Allan feel about the situations in his sales district?
What is the suggestion of Jane on the matter?
What do you think of Arnold’s behavior in the meeting?
Do you think the meeting was successful? Why or why not?

III. LANGUAGE BOX
The definite article ‘the’
1. ‘The’ is used to make a general statement using a singular noun as an example of many others.
• The computer has revolutionized our lives.
• The purpose of the advertisement is to raise cash flow.
2. Emphasizing something special uses the pattern ‘the + an adjective + noun’.
• The first main factor is the price.
• The last important thing on the agenda is how to improve the market sales.
3. ‘The + noun’ is used when referring to something which will be identified later.
• The research they’ve done is quite impressive. (Here, the research is a specific reference)• The study they’ve made proves that market sales in cities are higher than in rural areas.
(Here, the study is a specific reference.)
4. ‘The + adjective’ is also used to identify a group of people who share the same characteristics.
• The government has announced special conditions to help the unemployed citizens.
• The English teachers have helped the students in speaking the language.
IV. SAY IT! With your teacher, brainstorm as many pros and cons as you can concerning thefollowing:a. Companies should be strict with employees in order to achieve goals.
b. Companies should encourage staff to only take leave after seven years of work.
c. Employees should follow company policies at all times.

BUSINESS ENGLISH 7

LESSON B4

Highlighting Key Information

I. WARM-UP

Vocabulary

Match the underlined words with their meanings.
a.
b.
c.
d.

(of a business) having the authority to sell goods and services from another company
a single page of a presentationa shop which sells the goods of a manufacturer
to concentrate and to think on something

1. The new businessman didn’t focus on the problems. As a result, the business failed.
2. The company planned to put another outlet in the city to increase sales.
3. A franchised business is better than putting up a new one because the business nameis already known.
4. The presentation was very nice because of its slide shows.
II. DIALOGUE BOX
Alvin : Now, focus on the next slide. As you can see the chart on the right shows that we		 currently have around 550 car rental outlets in 20 countries.
Nel: Does the total number include both national companies and franchised operations?
Alvin : Yes, it does. As demonstrated on the following slide shows, the best part of the 300		 outlets are in the United States. You can also see that there are just short 20 offices in		Canada.
Mike : Where is the 230 to complete the total of 550?
Alvin : The 230 are in the Western Europe. Do you have anymore questions?
Mike : I think that’s enough for me! How about you, Nel?
Nel: No, I don’t have any. Thank you.

Comprehension Check
1. What kind of presentation does Alvin give?
2. Which country has the largest number of outlets?
3. How many offices are there in Canada? Western Europe?

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Highlighting Key Information
III. LANGUAGE BOX
ADVERBS about, around, roughly or the phrase ‘in the region of’ are used to show
approximate figures.
• About 100 companies joined in the annual product exhibit.
• It’ll cost in the region of a billion dollars.
• There were roughly 300 people in the conference hall.

Some colloquial noun phrases can indicate that a figure is an approximate of something:• I can only give you a ballpark figure of the sales this year.
• I am not so sure about the exact amount because this is just a guesstimate.
*colloquial - informal

IV. SAY IT! You are tasked to guide a very important client in your company. If you are tohighlight the key information in your company in order to close the deal, what
would it be? How are you going to present them to the client?

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LESSON B5Linking Ideas

I. WARM-UPVocabulary

Guess the meaning of the underlined words.
a. responsibility		
b. money matters		
c. a person who earns money for 		the needs of one’s family
d. to tell workers to leave their job
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

e. the general expenses of running a businessf. decreaseg. greatly worried

The secretary was anxious to go home.
The company did not make a sale for a month and had to lay off workers.
To minimize the cost on paper, all files were saved on discs.
The company couldn’t operate anymore because it was having financial difficulties.
Sarah had to work hard because she was the breadwinner in the family.
We had to regularly check the overhead costs to keep the business growing.
The onus is on the business owner to give quality goods and services to customers.

II. DIALOGUE BOX
Company President : I am anxious about the cash flow right now. We are not receiving
a lot of orders.
Manager: Yeah. I understand the situation, sir. I guess the best thing we can do		 is to lay off workers. This way we could also minimize the overhead costs.
Company President : Yeah. That could be an option but it seems like we are putting the onus		 on them just because we don’t get orders from our clients.
Manager: Yes, I understand that sir. But this is the only way we can take the onus		 off the company since we are suffering financial crises. We can explain		 that we will hire them the moment we get orders, rather than letting		 them work when we are not sure we can give them a salary.
Company President : However, we have to consider that these people have worked hard		 for a long time in this company. I believe that these people are the		 breadwinners in most families. I think we need to reconsider your idea		 on this. I would like to call for another meeting regarding this matter.

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Linking Ideas
Comprehension Check
1. What is the company president anxious about?
2. What is the manager’s suggestion to fix the problem?
3. How does the company president react to the suggestion?
4. If you were the company president, how would you address the problem?
III. LANGUAGE BOX
If you are giving a persuasive presentation, the following steps can be an effective way ofpresenting a counter-argument.
1. Make a point
2. Introduce a counter-argument
3. Oppose the counter-argument
4. Give reasons/results/consequences
In presenting your ideas smoothly and clearly, use connectors and sequence markers tosignal relationships between ideas.
Example of using connectors and signal words in a persuasive presentation:• It is true that our salary has not increased over the past three years. However, anumber of other benefits have been introduced. As a result, the overall package issignificantly more attractive.
• When giving presentations, it’s certainly important to answer questions. But you
must stay focused. In short, listen to questions, but move one, and don’t get sidetracked.

IV. SAY IT! Explain the following topics about driving distractions using the steps inpresenting a counter-argument. Make use of connectors and signal words to give
clear and organized ideas.
Top Driving Distractions
1.
2.
3.
4.

Changing the radio station/CD
Talking on the phone
Eating or drinking
Checking maps