LESSON B1 BUSINESS ENGLISH 7

Let’s Brainstorm

I. WARM-UP
Vocabulary
Choose the letter that gives the meanings of the underlined words.
a. a group of people in charge of executing duties within a company or office
b. to run or operate by using machines instead of people to do the work
c. something that may be or is chosen
d. scheduled period of work
e. a systematic series of actions
f. 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 the
company.
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 : Have we considered running a second shift?
Mike : I agree to that, but it means we have to employ more staff.
Rosie : Not if we staffed it ourselves.
Mike : That is not possible. I can’t imagine myself working all day and through the night.
Jane : Let’s just consider it as one of the options. The greater number of options, the better.
Carl : We could look at making the process ourselves rather than running it for longer.
Rosie : How about automating the packing? In the long run it might be cheaper because we’d
need fewer staff.
Carl : We could also buy a bigger oven.
Mike : I think that’s a good idea.

Comprehension Check
1. What has the team considered?
2. How are they going to manage the new schedule?
3. Does Mike agree with the suggestion of Rosie? Why or why not?
4. What is Carl’s other option?
5. Which suggestion do you think is better, employing new staff or automating the process?
 BUSINESS ENGLISH 7

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?
LESSON B2 BUSINESS ENGLISH 7

Who Do You Think Would Be a Good Leader?

I. WARM-UP
Vocabulary
Read the following sentences. Choose the letter that gives the meanings of the underlined
words.
a. advice d. a general explanation on description of something
b. thankful e. the process of making something in large quantities
c. attendance 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 : Good afternoon everyone! I’m grateful for your presence today but I’m afraid we’re
already running behind schedule. So, do you mind if we start right away? Let’s stick to
the agenda as best as we can. Agreed? Okay. Jake, can you give the outline of the
production schedule for this month? Could you give it in 15 minutes?
Jake : Thanks, Jason. I don’t think I’ll need that long.
Kat : So Jake, that’s the final outline you made for the production schedule?
Jake : Yes, do you want to make changes to it?
Kat : I think we could make it to 6 times a week instead of 5.
Jake : That could be possible! What do you think Jason?
Jason : Well, I agree to your suggestions. I think that would be all for today.

Comprehension Check
1. What does Jason want to happen in the meeting?
2. What is the report of Jake about?
3. What does Kat suggest to do about the scheduling?
4. How does the meeting end?
 BUSINESS ENGLISH 7

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 and
lead 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?
LESSON B3 BUSINESS ENGLISH 7

The Best Thing to Do

I. WARM-UP
Vocabulary
Look at the words written in boldface in the Dialogue Box. Guess their meanings through
the sentences.
II. DIALOGUE BOX
Meeting Chairman : Good morning, everyone. The main agenda today is sales improvement in rural
market 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 their
needs. 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 as
important 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 our
larger 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 another
time.
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 more
accurate information on our customers. Then, a survey will be completed to
collect 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.
 BUSINESS ENGLISH 7

The Best Thing to Do

Comprehension Check
1. What is the main issue of the meeting?
2. Which market area needs more improvement on sales?
3. How does Allan feel about the situations in his sales district?
4. What is the suggestion of Jane on the matter?
5. What do you think of Arnold’s behavior in the meeting?
6. 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 the
following:
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.
LESSON B4 BUSINESS ENGLISH 7

Highlighting Key Information

I. WARM-UP
Vocabulary
Match the underlined words with their meanings.

a. (of a business) having the authority to sell goods and services from another company
b. a single page of a presentation
c. a shop which sells the goods of a manufacturer
d. 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 name
is 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?
 BUSINESS ENGLISH 7

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 to
highlight 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?
LESSON B5 BUSINESS ENGLISH 7

Linking Ideas

I. WARM-UP
Vocabulary
Guess the meaning of the underlined words.
a. responsibility e. the general expenses of running a business
b. money matters f. decrease
c. a person who earns money for g. greatly worried
the needs of one’s family
d. to tell workers to leave their job

1. The secretary was anxious to go home.

2. The company did not make a sale for a month and had to lay off workers.
3. To minimize the cost on paper, all files were saved on discs.
4. The company couldn’t operate anymore because it was having financial difficulties.
5. Sarah had to work hard because she was the breadwinner in the family.
6. We had to regularly check the overhead costs to keep the business growing.
7. 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.
 BUSINESS ENGLISH 7

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 of
presenting 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 to
signal 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, a
number of other benefits have been introduced. As a result, the overall package is
significantly 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 in
presenting a counter-argument. Make use of connectors and signal words to give
clear and organized ideas.
Top Driving Distractions
1. Changing the radio station/CD
2. Talking on the phone
3. Eating or drinking
4. Checking maps