Business Fluency

Worksheet

The Trump-China Trade War?

Compiled and Prepared by

ESLSCA‘s Language Unit

(2019)
 I. READING PASSAGE

BEFORE YOU READ

Discuss this question with your colleagues.

“Can trade wars between countries boost national production?”

Read the passage below. Then answer the questions that follow.

Source: http://money.cnn.com/2018/06/16/news/economy/china-tariffs-business-impact/index.html

Is it a Trade War?

Paragraph 1 – President Donald Trump's tariffs on Chinese goods are intended to help
American companies that have been hurt by Beijing's industrial policies. But in the short term, at
least, many American businesses may be the ones feeling pain. Deals are in limbo. Companies
say critical supplies they need to make products could jump in price. And multinational
corporations worry about their future ability to do business in China -- a massive market.

Paragraph 2 – On Friday, the Trump administration said it will impose a 25% tariff on $50
billion of Chinese exports. China retaliated almost immediately and said the United States
had "launched a trade war." The Trump tariffs, which the US government says are punishment
for intellectual property theft, will be enacted in two waves. More than 800 exports, about $34
billion worth, will be subject to tariffs starting July 6. Another 280 or so still need to undergo a
public comment period, and will take effect later. In return, China said it would respond with
retaliatory tariffs on American goods worth $34 billion, including agricultural products, cars and
seafood. They will also be enacted on July 6.

Paragraph 3 – The announcements immediately sent businesses and industry groups scrambling
to figure out if items in their supply chains would be targeted, and how higher costs from tariffs
could affect their bottom lines. A wide range of companies could be affected, from chipmakers
to aviation giants like Boeing.

Paragraph 4 – The Semiconductor Industry Association, which represents major American

chipmakers including Intel (INTC) and Qualcomm (QCOM), said it was alarmed to find the US
government was now considering tariffs on computer chips imported from China. US companies
often send mostly finished chips to China for assembly, testing and packaging. They could then
face tariffs when these chips are shipped back in to the country. "While the US semiconductor

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industry shares the Trump administration's concerns about China's forced technology transfer
and intellectual property practices, the proposed imposition of tariffs on semiconductors from
China, most of which are actually researched, designed, and manufactured in the US, is
counterproductive," the group said in a statement.

Paragraph 5 – An immediate result of the escalatory tone of the Trump administration against
China is that the deal for merger between Qualcomm and ZTE, the Chinese phone and telecom
equipment maker is pending for China's
approval on its $44 billion purchase of NXP
Semiconductors. The concerned Chinese
authority has held up the deal, first
announced in October 2016, for months
amid trade talks between the United States
and China. Qualcomm has already a green
light from regulators in eight other
jurisdictions, including the European Union
and South Korea, and is just waiting on
Beijing. The deal is likely to be stuck on
regulatory hold a bit longer, according to
Paul Triolo, who specializes in global
technology policy at Eurasia Group.

Paragraph 6 – Approval for the merger has been linked to US relief for ZTE (ZTCOF), the
Chinese phone and telecom equipment maker that was crippled by a US export ban issued earlier
this spring. The Trump administration earlier this month cut a deal with ZTE, but the agreement
to save the company has faced resistance from lawmakers in Congress, who argue the ban should
stay in place because ZTE poses a security threat. "There is still a desire on both sides to remove
both the ZTE and Qualcomm [deals] from the already complex equation, but political pressures
on both sides, and a serious escalatory spiral in the relationship, could spell trouble for both
deals," Triolo said.

Paragraph 7 – Other multinational companies that do a lot of business in China could also be
caught in the crosshairs of the trade fight. Shares in Boeing (BA) closed down 1% Friday,
while Caterpillar (CAT) ended the day down 2%.Boeing is the nation's single largest exporter,
and China is a critical market for the company. It said last September that it expects China to
spend nearly $1.1 trillion over the next 20 years buying more than 7,200 new airplanes. To make
this worse, China has previously threatened to buy Airbusplanes , a major competitor to Boeing,
instead of Boeing jets if the US steps out of line ontrade. Boeing did not respond to a request for
comment.

Paragraph 8 – So far, companies with business in China have mostly kept low profiles, hoping
the US and China would strike a deal, according to Samm Sacks, a senior fellow in the
Technology Policy Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "Multinational
companies [have been] doing their best to put their heads out and wait out the storm," Sacks
said. Now that the storm has hit, companies should be extra careful, especially when it comes to

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complying with Chinese regulations, she added, noting concerns that Beijing could punish an
errant company in order to send a message to Washington.

Paragraph 9 – The situation could get worse for the business community before it gets better.
The White House has said it will announce restrictions on Chinese investment in the United
States by June 30. So far, details have been scant — but Corporate America would be shaken by
changes to the US investment regime could cut off foreign capital. "These restrictions have
drawn as much attention as tariffs, but are serious and likely a longer-lasting part of the US
pushback on China," Michael Hirson, head of Eurasia Group's China unit, said in a note to
clients. "Beijing will treat them seriously." American companies operating in China have already
"been put on notice that things are going to get much worse from a regulatory and policy
perspective," Triolo added.

-- CNNMoney'sTalibVisram contributed to this report.

CNNMoney (New York)First published June 16, 2018: 1:40 PM ET

A. Answer the following questions.

1. What is the main idea in this passage?
2. How do American companies view tariffs on Chinese imports?
3. Would the imposition of tariffs on imported Chinese chips and semiconductors be
considered counterproductive for American companies?
4. What is the retaliatory action that China has declared against the Trump
administration?
5. What is the challenge that Qualcomm faces?
6. What does the phrase ―complex equation‖ refer to?
7. How is Boeing affected by the tension between China and the Trump administration?

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 B. The expressions below were mentioned in the passage. In pairs, consult your
dictionary and look up their meanings.

Expression Meaning

Critical (Para. 1) Adjective –

Intellectual Property Noun Phrase –

Theft (Para. 2)

Tariffs (Para. 2) Plural Noun –

Scrambling (Para. 3) Present Participle –

Imposition (Para. 4) Noun –

To have a green light Verb Phrase –

(Para. 5)

Spiral (Para. 6) Noun –

To be/ be caught in the Verb Phrase –

crosshairs of (Para. 7)

To step out of line on Verb Phrase –

something (Para. 7)

To keep a low profile Verb Phrase –

(Para. 8)

To strike a deal

(Para. 8)

To wait out something Verb Phrase –

(Para. 8)

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 Errant (Para. 8) Adjective –

Scant (Para. 9) Adjective –

Investment Regime Noun Phrase –

(Para. 9)

Pushback (Para. 9) Noun –

To be put on notice Verb Phrase –

(Para. 9)

C. Discussion
1. What do you think the future of this trade war would be?
2. Who else would be affected by this trade war? Why?
3. In your opinion, what other ways could the U.S. implement to control the imports
from China?
4. (Group Presentation)
Make a presentation on the practical solution for this escalating that the group has
brainstormed; the solution needs to be accepted by both sides.

D. Writing

Write a newspaper article offering a solution to this escalation between the Trump administration
and the Chinese government.

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 II. ACCENT TRAINING

Orientation

This section on accent training in your Business Fluency course is meant to help you:

 heighten your awareness of problematic English sounds for speakers of the Egyptian
dialect
 enhance your pronunciation of English sounds
 improve your speech music and rhythm

After every speaking activity, your language coach is going to share with you feedback on your
pronunciation. Combined with this section on accent training, you should be able to master those
difficult sounds of the English language that are either not present in our Egyptian Arabic or
commonly confused with Arabic words.

Introduction

As you can see, the phonemic chart (Fig. 1) has three main sections. The vowels are shown in the
upper half, monophthongs on the left, and diphthongs or on the
right. The consonants are shown in the lower half. The colon by five of the vowel
symbols indicates length. The box in the top right-hand corner contains stress and intonation
symbols.

Sounds are all produced in the vocal tract. The vocal tract refers to the parts of the body that
contribute to the production of vocal sounds: the lungs, larynx, oral cavity (mouth), lips and
nose.

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To facilitate the learning of the phonemes of standard English, we need to know
 how each sound is produced within the vocal tract (referred to as manner of articulation);
 wherein the vocal tract each sound is produced (referred to as place of articulation).
The phonemic chart is arranged to convey much of this information visually.

The sounds of the English language are divided into three groups:

WHERE HOW
Consonants The restrictions to the air flow Restrictions to the air flow can be
that make the characteristic made in various ways, each giving a
consonant sounds are made at different characteristic sound.
one of the points of contact Restrictions can be produced by
between the various speech friction applied to the air flow, or by a
organs such as tongue, teeth, momentary blocking of the air flow
lips, roof of mouth, etc. All followed by a sudden release, or by
consonants involve some sort of diverting the air flow through
restriction to the air flow except
the nose. The use of voicing and
/w/ and /j/. unvoicing also characterizes consonant
sounds.
Monophthongs The distinguishing quality of There is no obstruction to the escape
each vowel is of air through the mouth, and they are
produced by the shape and size all voiced, ie the vocal cords vibrate in
of the resonant space in the the air flow.
mouth. This is controlled by the
position and shape of the
tongue, lips and jaw
Diphthongs As for monophthongs the As with monophthongs there is no
distinguishing quality is obstruction to the escape of air through
produced by the tongue, lips the mouth, and they are all voiced, ie
and jaw. The difference is that the vocal cords vibrate in the air flow.
there is one mouth posture at
the beginning of the vowel
sound, and another at the end.
The resulting glide between

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 these two tongue and lip
positions gives the diphthong its
characteristic ‗two – sound‘
quality.

CONSONANT SOUNDS

PLOSIVES

Plosive consonants are produced by stopping the airflow using the lips, teeth, or palate, followed
by a sudden release of air. We only cover those consonant sounds that seem to be challenging for
speakers of Arabic.

(Bilabial Plosives)

/p/ and /b/ are bilabial plosives. Say the words pie and by. Where in your mouth do you block
and release the air flow? You‘ll find that your two lips come together to block the air stream,
hence the technical term bilabial (bi + labial = two + lips) to describe this place of articulation. If
we include manner of articulation, then the pair are called bilabial plosives, and to distinguish
between them we can use the full description:

unvoiced bilabial plosive = /p/ voiced bilabial plosive = /b/ Both /p/ and /b/ can occur in both
initial and final position, eg. and

(Alveolar Plosives)

/t/ and /d/ are alveolar plosives. Say the words too and do. Where in your mouth do you block
and release the air flow? Contrast this place with /p/ and /b/ as in pie and by. Notice that /t/ and
/d/ are formed a little further back, when the front part of your tongue (the ‗blade‘) makes contact
with the bony ridge immediately behind your upper front teeth.

At this point the block to the air stream is both made and released. The technical term to describe
this manner of articulation is alveolar (alveolum being the Latin name for this ridge). If we
include manner of articulation then this pair are called alveolar plosives, and to distinguish
between them we can use the full description:

unvoiced alveolar plosive = /t/

voiced alveolar plosive = /d/

Both /t/ and /d/ can occur in both initial and final position, e.g. and
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FRICATIVES

Fricative consonants are the sounds produced by restricting the flow of air to an extent; fricative
sounds are produced when there is an audible friction happening as the air flows out through the
relevant speech organ.

Variable 1: voice and breath

Here is a diagrammatic summary of the second row in terms of voice and breath force variables.

Variable 2: manner of articulation

The air flow is restricted to make the characteristic sound of a consonant.

For these eight consonant sounds the air flow through the mouth is not completely blocked,
though it is restricted. (If it were blocked a plosive sound would be produced.) Even before the
sound begins there may be a slight ‗air leak‘ through this restriction.

At the beginning of the sound you‘ll notice an increase in the pressure of air behind the
restriction, producing an audible friction which provides the characteristic sound of that
consonant. Sounds produced by this kind of friction are called fricatives, and, unlike plosives,
fricatives can be sustained and given longer or shorter duration.

Variable 3: place of articulation

Although there are eight phonemes in this row, there are only four places in the mouth where the
restriction to the air flow is made, each place yielding two phonemes, one voiced and one
unvoiced. These four places give four different and characteristic sound qualities, and the
voiced/unvoiced contrast in each place gives a total of eight sounds.

(Labio-dental Fricatives)

/f/ and /v/. Say the words fire and via aloud. Where in your mouth do you make the restriction
that causes the friction?

You produce these two consonants his consonant by pressing your bottom lip lightly against the
edge of your top front teeth. The technical term for this place of articulation is labio-dental

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(labio= lip, dental = teeth). This pair are therefore labio-dental fricatives, and to distinguish
between them we can include the voicing variable:

unvoicedlabio-dental fricative = /f/

voicedlabio-dental fricative = /v/

/f/ and /v/ can occur in both initial and final position, eg / (fluff) and (valve).

(Dental Fricatives)

and are dental fricatives. Say thanks and this. Where do you make the restriction?

Notice that the posture is the same for both sounds, and all you do is turn your voice on and off.
The friction here is produced by pressing the tip of your tongue lightly against the inside edge of
your top front teeth, so that the air stream is just able to flow in between tongue and teeth,
producing friction.

These two sounds are referred to as dental fricatives, so the full description of each is:

unvoiced dental fricative =

voiced dental fricative =

and can occur in both initial and final position, eg (third), (fourth), (thistle),
(smooth).

(Alveolar Fricatives)

and are alveolar fricatives. Say Sue and zoo.Where do you make the restriction to the air
flow and the resulting friction?

Notice that the posture is the same for both sounds; all you have to do is turn your voice on and
off. Notice how you do this, how voicing may in turn also affect the breath force.
The friction is produced by pressing the blade of your tongue lightly against the alveolar ridge,
and so these two are referred to as alveolar fricatives, Islis unvoiced and fortis, while /z/ is
voiced and lenis, so:

unvoiced alveolar fricative = /s/

voiced alveolar fricative = /z/

and can occur in both initial and final position, eg (zoo), (prize), (sigh),
(eyes).

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 (Palato-alveolar Fricatives)

and . Say fashion and fusion. Where do you produce the friction?

Both sounds have the same mouth and tongue posture, and you make the difference by turning
your voice on or off. The friction here is produced with the tongue at a point slightly further back
from /s/ and /z/, so that the blade of the tongue is roughly opposite the join between the alveolar
ridge and the palate. In addition, the centre of the tongue is raised towards the hard palate, the air
flowing with some friction between the raised tongue and the hard palate.
The term used for this place of articulation is palato-alveolar, and these two sounds are known
as palato-alveolar fricatives:

unvoicedpalato-alveolar fricative=
voicedpalato-alveolar fricative=

can occur in both initial and final position, eg (ship), and (fetch).

does not occur initially, and very rarely finally, eg/gær 3/, but is frequent intervocalically, ie
in the middle of words, eg (evasion), and (pleasure).

AFFRICATES

Affricate consonants are sounds that are produced when a consonant sound precedes a fricative.

(Palato-alveolar Affricates)

and are palato-alveolar affricates. Say the words cheer and jeer. Where in your mouth
do you block and release the air flow? Contrast this position with the position for /p/ and /b/ and
/t/ and /d/. Notice that and are formed a little further back, when the blade of your tongue
makes contact with the junction between the alveolar ridge and the hard palate, and the body of
the tongue is slightly raised towards the hard palate.

The technical term for this place of articulation is palato-alveolar, and so we can call this pair
palato-alveolar affricates. We can distinguish between the pair by including voicing:

unvoicedpalato-alveolar affricate =
voicedpalato-alveolar affricate =

Both and / can occur in initial and final position, (church) and (judge).

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