UNIT I

SPELLING AND PRONUNCIATION. THE BASICS

‘I don’t think there are easy ways to learn languages - I don’t think people who promise
sudden quick fix methods are to be believed. We learn slowly, and we learn by working hard.
As far as pronunciation is concerned, the most important thing is listening! I think, often we
try and pronounce things correctly before we can really hear what the differences are. How do we
check out whether we’re doing that?
Record ourselves
I think we need to record ourselves and we need to record what it is we’re repeating and
listening to. So, the most useful thing perhaps is to listen to the radio with a tape recorder, to record
a little bit of the radio, and then to say it ourselves, and to compare how we’ve said it, with the way
it was said on the radio, in the language we’re learning.
It’s a slow process. We need to spend a lot of time rehearsing.
I remember when I was learning French: for instance, for hours and hours as I was walking
or cycling, or whatever - I was trying to produce those sounds, difficult sounds that I was learning.
The more we do that, the more we pick up when we hear them. And of course the other
thing about pronunciation is, as we improve our pronunciation that also improves our
comprehension. As we learn to make these distinctions between similar sounds, we start hearing
them - and that makes understanding easier.

Spelling is a problem
One of the biggest problems in English is that the spelling gets in the way because there are
so many ways of spelling the same sound: because letters may be written and not pronounced and
because letters may be written and pronounced in an unexpected way.
Is there a difference between pronunciation and fluency?
They’re quite different. Pronunciation is getting the sounds right, and of course it’s also
getting the intonation and the rhythm right - it’s not just individual sounds, it’s pushing them all
together.
Fluency perhaps overlaps there a little bit. Fluency is saying things easily. Being fluent is
more a question of being confident in the vocabulary, and how to put the words together in the
grammar - being confident in that - and just being confident in your ability to express yourself and
having a go’.
(Source: Martin Parrott at bbclearningenglish.com)

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 ***
Phonemic transcription is to a language learner what musical notation is to a musician. For
all its limitations, it is the best tool we have to show to the eye what is addressed to the ear alone,
thereby enabling us to separate our perception of sounds from their orthographic representation.
One of the most striking characteristics of English is the lack of correspondence between
spelling and pronunciation. In ordinary orthography, the same letter can represent a variety of
sounds, and different letters, alone or in combination, can represent the same sound. Take, for
instance, the sequence ough, which can convey at least nine different sounds, as in dough /dəʊ/,
bough /baʊ/, lough /lɒk/, cough /kɒf/, ought /ɔːt/, hiccough /ˈhɪk.ʌp/, rough /rʌf/, through /θruː/
and thorough /ˈθʌr.ə/.
To highlight the absurdities of English spelling, the famous Irish playwright George Bernard
Shaw was reportedly fond of pointing out that fish might just as well be spelt ghoti. The rationale
was very simple: gh as in tough, o as in women, and ti as in nation.
Among the major reasons for this inconsistency is that the English spelling system has
remained relatively static since printing was introduced in the 15th-century England, while
pronunciation has changed a great deal since then. As a result, most English words carry, as it were,
remnants of their original pronunciation in their spellings. Another reason is to be found in the
plethora of loanwords that have entered English, and which have, in turn, carried with them
unconventional phoneme combinations and exotic letter sequences.

English, a Living Language

Perhaps one of the first things to understand as you begin a study of the English language is
that it is constantly changing. It is a living language, adapting to an ever-changing world which, in
its turn, requires new and varied means of communication. The English language has embraced
industrial, technological and social changes, and we as its users decide what will and what will not
survive.
There are always people who yearn for the English language of the past. They believe that
English now exists in a corrupted form, simplified and less subtle than its sophisticated antecedent.
Their argument suggests that change is a new phenomenon running parallel to the breakdown of
society. Taking this to its logical conclusion, we must therefore expect the English language to
continue to deteriorate until it exists in a form no longer recognizable or comprehensible. The
linguistics pessimists who view the English language in this way are concerned about several
factors: supposedly decreasing standards of literacy marked by poor spelling and grammatically
incomplete or ‘incorrect’ sentences; the use of informal spoken language in written contexts;

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allegedly inaccurate pronunciation; and the way in which international forms of English may affect
British English in the future. The list of their complaints could be endless.
However, the debate is two-sided: while the critics bewail the lost glory of English, others
see in the adaptability of the English language a flexibility and vitality. The people who believe in
language as a democratic process see current linguistic developments as broadening our world
view: new words reflect new experiences, more liberal attitudes and a greater understanding of the
world. Language cannot exist on its own since it is a product of the people who speak and write it
daily, and therefore it develops to meet their needs. Certainly the English language is changing and
certainly the rate of change is rapid, but that is merely a reflection of the society we live in. It does
not automatically imply a downward spiral towards an impure and ineffective form of English.
A study of the English language should be based on an awareness of these two crucial
attitudes. In linguistic terms, the two views can be summarised as the prescriptive and the
descriptive approaches to language.
Language change can be considered in either of two ways. If viewed from a historical
perspective, the focus is on language as a constantly changing form. Linguists study the ways in
which English has evolved from its early form (Old English) to its current form (Late Modern).
This is called a diachronic approach. If instead change is considered at a particular moment in time,
a ‘snapshot’ is taken of English during a specific stage of its development. Linguists analyse a
clearly defined period in order to identify characteristic features of English at that time. This is
called a synchronic approach.
(Source: Advanced English Language, 109-10)

A. PHONEMIC TRANSCRIPTION SYMBOLS

Vowels Examples Consonants Examples

ʌ cup, luck b bad, lab

ɑ: arm,
d did, lady
father
æ cat, black f find, if
e met, bed g give, flag
away,
ə h how, hello
cinema
turn,
ɜ:ʳ j yes, yellow
learn
ɪ hit, sitting k cat, back
i: see, heat l leg, little
ɒ hot, rock m man, lemon

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 ɔ: call, four n no, ten
ʊ put, could ŋ sing, finger
u: blue, food p pet, map
r red, try
s sun, miss
ʃ she, clash
t tea, getting
tʃ check, church
θ think, both
ð this, mother
v voice, five
w wet, window
z zoo, lazy
ʒ vision
dʒ just, large

B. PRACTICE

I. Match the following transcriptions with the appropriate spelling:

PHONEMIC
TRANSCRIPTION SPELLING
/pəˈsjuːt/
/ˈʃed.juːl/
/ɪnˈkriːs/
/ˈtem.pleɪt/
/rɪˌspɒn t  .sɪˈbɪl.ɪ.ti/
/ˌnev.ə.ðəˈles/
/ˈfɪg.ə.hed/
/bredθ/
/ˌfiː.zəˈbɪl.ɪ.ti/
/ˌek.spɜːˈtiːz/
/əˈbaɪd/
/ˈkɒl.iːg/
/səkˈses.f ə l/
/əˈtʃiːv/
/ˈpɜː.pəs/
/ˈpær.ə.maʊnt/
/ˈkeə.f ə l.i/
/ˈlaɪ.kli.hʊd/
/ˈtæk.l ̩/
/ɪnˈvaɪ ə  .rə n  .mənt/

4
II. Transcribe the words below:

PHONEMIC
SPELLING TRANSCRIPTION
advantageous
bankruptcy
to compartmentalize
competitiveness
conscientious
consequently
consumption
currency
to deteriorate
equilibrium
hierarchy
indebtedness
to jeopardize
merchandise
to mesmerize
miscellaneous
mischievous
mispronunciation
mortgage
subpoena

III. Identify the words represented by the following phonemic transcriptions:

1. /əˈnæl.ə.sɪs/ ------------------------- 2. /ænˈtɪθ.ə.sɪs/ --------------------

3. /əˌpɒθ.iˈəʊ.sɪs/ ----------------------- 4. /ˈkraɪ.sɪs/ ------------------------

5. /ˌdaɪ.əgˈnəʊ.sɪs/ ---------------------- 6. /ˈem p  .fə.sɪs/ -------------------

7. /haɪˈpɒθ.ə.sɪs/ ------------------------ 8. /ˌmet.əˈmɔː.fə.sɪs/ --------------

9. /əʊˈeɪ.sɪs/ ----------------------------- 10. /pəˈren t  .θə.sɪs/ ---------------

11. /sɪˈnɒp.sɪs/ --------------------------- 12. /ˈθiː.sɪs/ -------------------------

13. /kraɪˈtɪə.ri.ən/ ------------------------ 14. /fəˈnɒm.ɪ.nən/ -----------------

15. /əˈkweə.ri.əm/ ----------------------- 16. /bækˈtɪə.ri.əm/ ----------------

17. /sɪmˈpəʊ.zi.əm/ ---------------------- 18. /bəˈsɪl.əs/ -----------------------

19. /guːs/ ---------------------------------- 20. /laʊs/ ---------------------------

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21. /mæn/ --------------------------------- 22. /tuːθ/ ----------------------------

23. /ˈwʊm.ən/ ---------------------------- 24. /ˈhæŋ.kə.tʃiːf/ ------------------

25. /bæg/ ---------------------------------- 26. /ɪgˈzɑːm.pl ̩/ --------------------

27. /ɪkˈspɪə.ri. ə n t  s/ -------------------- 28. /bʌz/ ----------------------------

29. /tʃɜːtʃ/ ---------------------------------- 30. /glɑːs/ ---------------------------

31. /ˈhɪə.rəʊ/ ------------------------------ 32. /məˈskiː.təʊ/ -------------------

33. /pəˈteɪ.təʊ/ ---------------------------- 34. /təˈmɑː.təʊ/ --------------------

35./vɒlˈkeɪ.nəʊ/ --------------------------- 36. /kəˈsiː.nəʊ/ ---------------------

37./ˈkʊk.uː/ --------------------------------- 38. /ˌkæŋ.g ə rˈuː/ ----------------

39./kɑːf/ ------------------------------------- 40. /hɑːf/ ---------------------------

41. /naɪf/ ------------------------------------- 42. /liːf/ ----------------------------

43. /ləʊf/ ------------------------------------- 44. /ʃiːf/ ----------------------------

45. /θiːf/ ------------------------------------- 46. /prəˌnʌn t  .siˈeɪ.ʃ ə n/ -------

47. /ɔːlˈðəʊ/ -------------------------------- 48. /ˈɒb.stɪ.kl ̩/ -------------------

49. /ˈhəʊl.seɪl/ ------------------------------ 50. /ˌʌn.əˈkʌs.təmd/ ------------

51. /ˈrʌf.li/ ---------------------------------- 52. /ˌwaɪdˈspred/ ----------------

53./ˈɪn.trəst/ -------------------------------- 54. /ɔːˈθɒr.ɪ.ti/ -------------------

55. /praɪm/ ---------------------------------- 56. /fʊlˈfɪl/ -----------------------

57. /prəˈdʌk.tɪv.li/ ------------------------- 58. /ɪˈnɪʃ.ə.tɪv/ -------------------

59. /stɑːf/ ----------------------------------- 60. /streŋθ/ -----------------------

61. /ˌæs.əˈteɪn/ ---------------------------- 62. /ˈmæn.ɪdʒ.mənt/ ------------

63. /ɪnˈveə.ri.ə.bli/ ------------------------ 64. /ˌɔː.g ə n. a  ɪˈzeɪ.ʃ ə n/ -----

65. /əˈtʃiːv/ --------------------------------- 66. /ˈæt.mə.sfɪə r / ---------------

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67. /ˈrek.wɪ.zɪt/ --------------------------- 68. /ɪnˈʃɔːr/ ----------------------

69. /kənˈstrʌk.tɪv.li/ --------------------- 70. /ðeəz/ -------------------------

UNIT II

BUDGET SPEECH

As we can all testify, this country’s economy is strong and getting stronger. Our measures to
curb inflation have proved highly successful. The rampant inflation of the previous government is a
thing of the past. Inflation currently stands at 2 per cent. The strength of the current economic
climate suggests that interest rates are unlikely to be raised again this year. This should help us to
build up a culture of investing for the long-term.
This Government has steered the economy through seven years of uninterrupted economic
growth; a trend which is set to continue with our major success in stimulating growth. And in the
latest quarter, the economy has been growing at an annual rate of 2.5 per cent.
All indicators show that industry is thriving. But we are particularly proud of the steady
growth, experienced by small businesses. We have made it our aim to safeguard their interests
and the healthy economy we have created has enabled them to increase output. The plummeting
profits caused by the previous government’s misguided policies are now safely behind them.
Our goal is to establish world-class public services through investment and reform in order
to ensure that taxpayers receive real value for money. Public spending goes to provide strong and
dependable public services. These are vital to extend opportunity, tackle social exclusion and
improve people’s life chances.
The taxes that we levy allow us to allocate resources to achieve that goal. And we have met
with considerable success. In particular, we must now build on the success of the climate-change
levy we introduced last year.
Another of our goals is to win the battle against the black economy. If left unchecked, the
black economy - I think here particularly of the loss to our economy of undeclared earnings and
other tax evasion practices- will push up costs and lead to rising unemployment. This government is
committed to its eradication.
(Source: English Collocations in Use. Advanced, p. 72)

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 A. BUILDING YOUR VOCABULARY

I. Consider the idiomatic phrases below:

BUSINESS IDIOMS MEANING EXAMPLES

A discussion among a
group of people, who try e.g. A blamestorming session took
Blamestorming to determine who or what place following the unfavourable
is to blame for a particular reviews in the press.
mistake, failure or
wrongdoing, is called
‘blamestorming’.
This term refers to a
company with a solid e.g. It’s usually safe to invest in a
Blue chip company reputation for the quality blue–chip company.
of its products and the
stability of its growth and
earnings.

People who get down to e.g. It was decided to get down to

Get down to brass tacks brass tacks start to discuss brass tacks and discuss the cost of
and deal with the practical the project.
details of something.

A person or company that

carves out a niche focuses e.g. In today’s competitive market
Carve out a niche on a particular segment of it’s better to carve out a niche and
the market, to which they try to become the best in that area.
supply a product or
service, and develop their
expertise in that area.

This expression refers to a e.g. The business wasn’t successful.

Too many chiefs and not situation where there are There were too many chiefs and not
enough Indians. too many people giving enough Indians.
instructions and not
enough people doing the
work.

8
 B. STRUCTURING A DISCUSSION

II. Use these expressions to enhance discourse cohesion:

INTRODUCE A SUMMARY
• To put it briefly
• In a few words
• In a nutshell
• To summarise
• It all comes down to
(e.g. In a nutshell, we have a problem with sales.)

PRESENT THE FIRST ITEM

• Let’s start by the beginning!
• First things first
• Item one
• Point A
• The opening issue
(e.g. Item one in our agenda will be corporate responsibility.)

III. Do you agree with the sayings?

1. Actions speak louder than words.
2. All good things come to those who wait.

C. GRAMMAR OVERVIEW. THE NOUN (I)

Regular Plurals
1) The plural of regular nouns is made up by adding an –s to the singular:
Singular Plural (-s)
Book books
Bag bags
Chin chins
Discussion discussions
Dog dogs
Door doors
Example examples
Experience experiences
House houses

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 Reporter reporters
Waiter waiters

2) Nouns ending in a sibilant, i.e. –s, -ss, -z, -zz, -sh, (t)ch, -x, form their plural by adding –es
[iz]:
Singular Plural (-es)
Box boxes
Bus buses
Bush bushes
Buzz buzzes
Church churches
Glass glasses

3) A number of nouns ending in –o form their plural by adding -es:

Singular Plural (-es)
Hero heroes
Mosquito mosquitoes
Negro negroes
Potato potatoes
Tomato tomatoes
Volcano volcanoes

But:

Singular Plural (-s)

Casino casinos
Cuckoo cuckoos
Embryo embryos
Kangaroo kangaroos
Kilo kilos
Photo photos
Piano pianos
Radio radios
Soprano sopranos
Studio studios

4) Nouns ending in –y following a consonant (consonant + -y) form their plural by dropping the
–y and adding -ies, e.g.:

Singular (consonant + -y) Plural (-ies)

Baby babies
City cities
Country countries
Cry cries

10
 Lady ladies

But the nouns ending in –y following a vowel (vowel + - y) form their

plural by adding –s, e.g.:

Singular (vowel + -y) Plural (-ys)

Boy boys
Day days
Donkey donkeys
Guy guys
Play plays
Toy toys

D. PRACTICE

IV. Fill in the gaps with the appropriate missing words: employ, take on, hire, apply, interview.

Dear Ms Smith,
Thank you for your enquiry about job vacancies. We are a small company and ….. just six people
on a full-time basis. However, we always..... extra staff during our busy summer months and so we
are ….. at the moment. If you would like to ….. for one of these temporary positions, please call
me, so that we can arrange a time to ….. you.
Yours sincerely,
Peter Hirsch

V. Are the following nouns countable (C), uncountable (U) or both?

thought; conduct; crystal; orange; essay; defense; luggage; nature; tea; mouse; shelf; paper time;
noise; tool; cotton; air; lamb; coffee; music; peace; man; cake; lady; potato; advice; grass;
knowledge; communication; fish; statistics; painting; flour; address; idea; village; behaviour;
onion; stone; glass; iron; wood; song; hope; drawing; source; phenomenon; weather; land;
latitude.

VI. Complete the sentences with any, few, little, many, more, much, several and the singular or
plural form of the noun in brackets:

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A. 1. There is not………………….available for a new football field. (land)
2. I wanted to buy……………………, but I did not have enough money, so I bought only one.
(book)
3. There is ………….to do in a village in winter. (work)
4. You have made………………………….since we last met, so I cannot say I am content with
your work. (progress)
5. …………………….will be enough for this cake. (orange)
6. I do not need too…………………………………….for this project, as I already know what to
write. (information)
7. There is……………………………left in my account after I bought a new car. (money)
8. You do not need too……………………….to be a mechanic. (knowledge)
9. I want …………………………for the coffee, I like it sweet. (sugar)
10. I cannot believe you have received so…………………………from your family, especially from
your mother. (advice)

B. 1. Give John………………………….. I know he likes it. (tea)

2. The doctors recommended him……………….and……….as he is in the post operation period.
(work; rest)
3. Our country was affected by floods last year, because of too ………………………….(rain)
4. Could somebody help me with my luggage? I have too …………………………with me.
5. Maria cannot afford to keep …………..,…………. so she decided to sell at least one. (car)
6. I had too………………in the refrigerator and a part of it cannot be eaten any longer. (food)
7. …………………..do not like mathematics, but they are good at linguistics instead. (pupil)
8. …………………………………..of piano per day made him a great musician. (hour)
9. I don’t have………………..what he is talking about. (idea)

UNIT III

A MANAGER’S PROFILE

The ability to raise the performance of your staff and seek long-term goals for them to work
towards is an important element of being a good manager. Through coaching, you can develop staff to
take on more responsibilities and give yourself more time to get on with the job of managing.
Managers have to identify and set the objectives for their company. They are involved in
long-term, strategic planning, as well as in the drawing up of short-term, tactical plans. Managers

12
must organize the company, decide on allocation and use of the company’s resources. They select
and train the staff that should be able to suitably carry out the tasks of the organization. In the
implementation of their programme, they must command, delegate, motivate and communicate
effectively with all the levels of their company. It has been pointed out that good relations at work,
among workers and between workers and management favourably influence output, the quality of
work and motivation. The feeling of belonging to a group has a positive impact on the behaviour of
employees. Successful managers always involve their staff in performing important tasks, delegate
them some activities, this leading to improved results of the company. The control activity means
measuring the performance of their staff, setting obtained results against objectives–the
management by objectives-technique is but one example in this respect. Managers also have to
establish and make contacts with the outside world; they represent their organization in its relation
with customers and suppliers, government and other parties.
(Source: Test Your Business English Vocabulary, p. 16)

***

Creating New Perspectives

In the search to perceive new possibilities, focus on, or ‘frame’ a situation to look at an issue
from a different viewpoint. Use as much creativity as you can to help individuals to develop frames
that foster creativity and solve problems. Look at problems from every angle, in order to find
possible solutions. Always listen to opposing points of view.
Framing Perspectives
One way to think about perspectives is a series of frames. Each time we adopt a particular
point of view, we frame the things around us so that we can categorize them, understand them, and
respond to them. When listening to the coachee’s opinions, always bear in mind that the description
is created from one particular viewpoint. This is especially true when an individual is stuck with
what seems like an irredeemable problem.
Considering Different Views
A sales person has a customer who has problems with a product. Her coach encourages her
to consider the points of view of her colleagues before taking discussions with the customer further.
The manager focuses on how to improve the service. The salesperson focuses on the
problem with the product. The coach encourages her to talk to her colleagues for their points of
view. As a result of the salesperson’s consultations with her colleagues, the team presents the issue
in a constructive way to the customer. The sales team focuses on how to keep the customer happy.

13
 Creating Frames
Creative people use frames to look at things from fresh angles. Leonardo da Vinci framed
paint blots on the wall as landscapes, to get ideas for his drawings. Similarly, an advertising agent
might frame a new toy from a child’s point of view to note product features that can be emphasized
in an advertisement. Develop frames by asking how things look from the point of view of an
existing customer in a year’s time or five years’ time, or from the point of view of two very
different customers. Use imaginative frames to get new ideas on a project.

Defining Frames
Type of Frame Definition
Problem Frame When everything is seen as a problem.
Learning Frame When everything is seen as a learning opportunity.
Detail Frame When the focus is on one element of an issue.
Big-Picture Frame When the focus is on the whole issue.
Personal Frame When you focus only on what is happening to you.
Team Frame When you notice how events affect the team.
Conflict Frame When the focus is on disagreement.

Negotiation Frame When the focus is on resolving conflict.

Frame Switching
An issue can appear to be an insurmountable problem. Encourage your team to view issues
through another ‘frame’, so they can be seen instead as a challenging goal, or as part of a bigger
picture. Here are some useful questions to encourage ‘frame switching’:

-problem frame to learning frame: ‘What can we do about that?’

-personal frame to team frame: ‘What is best for the team?’
-detail frame to big picture: ‘Can we step back from this for a moment?’
-conflict frame to negotiation frame: ‘What do you think would motivate them?

(Source: Managing for Excellence, ‘Coaching Successfully’, pp. 254-5)

A. BUILDING YOUR VOCABULARY

I. Study the following key economic concepts:

apprenticeship: a system by which firms take on workers, typically young ones, for an initial
period of employment during which they are supposed to spend part of their time training. Training

14
for apprentices may be provided by formal instructional courses, either within the firm or at outside
institutions, by learning on the job working under the supervision of experienced workers, or in
both ways. At the end of their training, apprentices receive some form of formal vocational
qualification. Apprentices are frequently paid less than fully qualified workers, and are not
guaranteed a job at the end of their training.

Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC): an association of nations around the Pacific rim
aiming at the creation of a Pacific free trade area. APEC was set up in 1990; its members include
Australia, Canada, Chile, China, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Singapore,
and the US. It has aimed at creating a free trade area for its industrialized members by 2010, and
its less-developed members by 2020. When complete, this will cover a large percentage of world
trade.

asset prices: the prices of assets, including land and buildings, productive equipment and
securities. As assets can be sold again, their present prices are strongly influenced by expectations
about their future prices, and by the interest rate at which future values are discounted. As stocks of
assets are very large compared to any one period’s new asset creation, asset prices are anchored
much less firmly than goods prices to costs of production. It is common for asset prices to vary
widely over quite short time periods; see for example the large differences between the maximum
and minimum prices of individual shares reported within any one year.

II. Consider the idiomatic phrases below:

BUSINESS IDIOMS MEANING EXAMPLES

If a company dominates
Corner a market an area of business, and e.g. By importing large
leaves no room for quantities and selling at low
competition, it is said to prices, they have cornered the
have cornered the market. market.

Someone who does the

Do the spadework spadework does the e.g. Although I did all the
preparatory work or the spadework, my name was
preliminary research for never mentioned.
something.
To say that a person, a
business or the economy,

15
 In the doldrums in general, is in the e.g. Despite the recent
doldrums means that the measures, the economy
situation is gloomy and remains in the doldrums.
that nothing new is
happening.
To say that money, time e.g. His years of research went
Down the drain or effort has gone down down the drain when the
the drain means that it company went bankrupt.
has been wasted or lost.
If a person does
something which is above e.g. The fire-fighter received a
Above and beyond the and beyond the call of medal for his action which
call of duty duty, they show a greater went above and beyond the
degree of courage or call of duty.
effort than is usually
required or expected in
their job.

B. STRUCTURING A DISCUSSION

III. Use these expressions to enhance discourse cohesion:

PRESENT EVIDENCE FORMALLY

• I’d like you to see
• Let me show you
• Please observe
• If you watch
• Have a look
(e.g. Let me show you our new product line.)

PRESENT DATA IN ORDER

a) Firstly
• To start with
• Initially
• In first place
• Let us begin by
b) Secondly
• Then
• Next
• Following on from
16
• Afterwards

c) To end
• To conclude
• Finally
• To finish
• Last but not least
• Firstly, secondly and to end
(e.g. Firstly, we’ll tackle costs; secondly, we’ll view the balance sheet, and to end, we’ll discuss this
year’s sales.)

IV. Do you agree with the sayings?

1. All days are short to Industry and long to Idleness.
2. All things are difficult before they are easy.

C. GRAMMAR OVERVIEW. THE NOUN (II)

5) Several nouns ending in –f or -fe drop the – f or – fe and add -ves. These nouns are:

Singular (-f/ -fe) Plural (-ves)

Calf calves
Elf elves
Half halves
Knife knives
Leaf leaves
Life lives
Loaf loaves
Self selves
Sheaf sheaves
Shelf shelves
Thief thieves
Wife wives
Wolf wolves

Other nouns ending in -f or -fe add -s in the ordinary way:

Singular Plural (-s)

Cliff cliffs
Handkerchief handkerchiefs

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 Roof roofs
Safe safes

Irregular Plurals

1) Greek Plurals
a)
Singular (-is) Plural (-es)

Acropolis acropoles
Analysis analyses
Antithesis antitheses
Apotheosis apotheoses
Axis axes
Basis bases
Crisis crises
Diagnosis diagnoses
Ellipsis ellipses
Emphasis emphases
Hypothesis hypotheses
Metamorphosis metamorphoses
Oasis oases
Parenthesis parentheses
Synopsis synopses
Thesis theses

b)
Singular (-on) Plural (-a)

Criterion criteria
Phenomenon phenomena

2) Latin Plurals

a)
Singular (-um) Plural (-a)
Addendum addenda
Agendum agenda
Aquarium aquaria
Bacterium bacteria
Datum data
Erratum errata
Memorandum memoranda
Sanatorium sanatoria
Spectrum spectra

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 Stadium stadia
Symposium symposia

b)
Singular (-us) Plural (-i)
Bacillus bacilli
Bronchus bronchi
Cactus cacti
Fungus fungi
Nucleus nuclei
Radius radii
Terminus termini

c)
Singular (-a) Plural (-ae)
Alga algae
Formula formulae
Larva larvae

3) Nouns that form their plural by vowel change

Singular Plural
Child children
Foot feet
Goose geese
Louse lice
Man men
Mouse mice
Ox oxen
Tooth teeth
Woman women

D. PRACTICE

V. Fill in the gaps with the appropriate missing words: appraise, train, promote, pass over,
perform, demote.

Every year we ….. you – in other words, we talk to you about your work over the past year. If
you’re having problems, we ….. you to deal with them. If you’ve done well, we try to ….. you,
although competition for the top jobs is tough so you could be ….. for promotion even if you have
done well. And, of course, if you haven’t ….. well enough, we’ll probably ….. you, because in this
company only the best is good enough.

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 VI. Form nouns from the following verbs or adjectives: to approve, to exaggerate, to
participate, to refuse, dark; to launch; to commercialize; to open; to train; to grow; to injure; to
feel; sick; to diverse; warm; deep; to build; to think; to explain; to adjust; to drive; sad; angry;
wise; recognize; strong; patient; to know; happy; to apply.

UNIT IV
THE AMERICAN NEGOTIATOR

The USA is a complex multi-ethnic, multiracial, multicultural society. Because of this

diversity it is not possible to predict in detail the negotiating behaviour of any individual American.
That said, there is such a thing as a mainstream U.S. business culture. For example, most American
negotiators tend to be time-conscious (‘Time is money’), deal-focused (‘Let’s get down to
business’) and informal (‘What’s your first name?’).
1. The Language of Business. It is the American English. Very few Americans speak a
foreign language well enough to handle a complex business negotiation. In order to avoid any
misunderstandings, consider hiring an interpreter or ask the counterpart to do so.
2. Making Contact. Perhaps because the USA is an immigrant society with a high degree of
geographical mobility, most Americans are used to doing business with strangers. That means that,
while a referral or introduction is always helpful, in most cases a prospective counterpart can be
approached directly, without going through an intermediary.
The initial contact should be made through a letter, a fax or e-mail with the basic
information about the company and the product, also stating the interest in a future appointment.
The meeting should be requested two or three weeks in advance, eventually by phone. The
counterpart will suggest a time and a place.
3. Deal- Focused. Americans are usually ready to ‘get down to brass tacks’ shortly after
meeting a potential business partner for the first time. It is not that US negotiators are unaware of
the importance of getting to know their counterpart, of building relationship. It’s simply that the
deal-focused American prefers to build trust while the business discussions are proceeding. They
tend to regard extended small talk and preliminaries as a waste of precious time.
4. Orientation on Time. Americans are as obsessed with time as many other cultures are
with relationship-building. They treat time as a tangible asset that can be saved, spent, lost, found,
invested and wasted. If US business people have an appointment in someone’s office at 9:00, they
expect their counterpart to see them right on the dot. They regard a person who keeps them waiting
for longer than 10 minutes as either hopelessly undisciplined, intolerably rude or both.

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 Similarly, once the meeting starts, Americans expect discussions to proceed to conclusion
without interruption. They become easily upset when discussions are interrupted by phone calls,
drop-in visitors or secretaries bringing in papers to be signed. This means that visiting negotiators
should take care to be on time for all meetings in the USA and can expect an apology if they are
kept waiting for more than a few minutes.
(Source: International Business, pp. 210-12)

A. BUILDING YOUR VOCABULARY

I. Study the following key economic concepts:

assets: possessions of value, both real and financial. Real assets include land, buildings or
machinery owned. Financial assets include cash and securities, and credit extended to customers.
The assets side of a company’s balance-sheet includes both real and financial assets. Asset
management is managing for others, for a fee, their portfolios of real or financial assets. Asset-
stripping is selling off the assets of companies. ‘Assets’ is also used in a metaphorical and usually
favourable sense to describe things that cannot actually be owned, as in the phrase ‘a company’s
best assets are the skill and loyalty of its employees.’

asymmetric information: a situation where economic agents do not all have the same information.
This is of course the actual situation in any real economy. No economic agent has access to full
information; each has some information that others do not. Information is available to some agents
and not to others for various reasons. Some information is private, concerning the state of the
agent’s own mind; for example, the maximum amount someone would be willing to bid in an
auction. Other information is objectively measurable, for example the level of a firm’s stocks, but
only the firm and not its rivals can measure it. Even if private information is passed to others, if
they cannot check it independently, they may not believe it. Equally, for any agent there will be
many things which others know but they do not. Every agent thus has to decide what strategies to
follow, knowing that others know things that they do not, and that they cannot be sure how far their
own information is shared by other people.

auction: a sale where the price is fixed by an auctioneer who invites bids, and awards the article
being auctioned to the highest bidder. In an English auction, the highest bid is publicly announced
at each stage, and other parties are given a chance to make higher bids. In a sealed-bid auction, the
bids are not publicly announced: each bid is submitted sealed, and a time limit is set at which the

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auctioneer opens the bids and awards the article to the highest bidder, without further bids being
invited. In a Dutch auction, the auctioneer announces a decreasing series of prices, and the article
is awarded to the first bidder. In any of these types of auction, there may or may not be a reserve
price, which is the lowest bid the seller will accept; this may or may not be published. The
auctioneer normally charges the seller and possibly also the buyer a fee calculated as a percentage
of the realised price.

II. Consider the idiomatic phrases below:

BUSINESS IDIOMS MEANING EXAMPLES

If you say that somebody

is fiddling while Rome e.g.. His visit to the trade fair was
Fiddling while Rome burns, you mean that they ‘fiddling while Rome burns’
burns are doing unimportant according to the strikers.
things while there are
serious problems to be
dealt with.
A person who thinks on
Think on one’s feet his feet is capable of e.g. Good lawyers need to be able to
making good decisions think on their feet when pleading a
without previous thinking case.
or planning.

If someone has a finger in e.g. For information about the town

A finger in every pie every pie, they are development project, you should talk
involved in many to him. He has a finger in every pie.
activities.

Work your fingers to the A person who works their e.g. He deserves his success; he
bone fingers to the bone is worked his fingers to the bone when
extremely hard-working. he started the business.

Get the hang of When you get the hang of e.g. Be patient, enrol in a
something an activity, you now management course, and eventually
know how to do it you will get the hang of it.
correctly.

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 B. STRUCTURING A DISCUSSION

III. Use these expressions to enhance discourse cohesion:

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

• May we have?
• Could you elaborate on?
• Is there any additional?
• We need more…
• Could you provide…?
(e.g. Could you elaborate on how you intend to make this work?)

ASK SOMEONE TO SPEAK

• Would you like to come to the stand?
• Allow me to give the floor to
• I would like to invite
• I’d like to call on
• I believe someone would like to make a point
(e.g. Allow me to give the floor to our next speaker.)

IV. Do you agree with the sayings?

1. An Englishman's home is his castle.
2. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

C. GRAMMAR OVERVIEW. CASE OF NOUNS.

NUMBER OF NOUNS

1) The Nominative: nouns in the nominative have the syntactic function of subject, predicative or
apposition:

The cook has been away for two days.

She is a very good cook.
Jones, the cook, is old now.

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2) The Genitive:

- the analytical genitive with the preposition of is used mainly with neuter nouns or with long noun
phrases: the legs of the chair; the roof of the house; the responsibilities of the person in charge;

- the synthetical genitive with ’s or (’) is used with:

a) nouns denoting persons or other beings: John’s books; my parents’ car; Keats’ poems;
b) nouns denoting time, space, quantity, value: a week’s vacation; today’s post; a three miles’ walk;
two pounds’ worth of roses;
c) collective nouns: the company’s difficulties;
d) inanimate nouns that can be personified: France’s history; the earth’s surface; the plane’s crew;
winter’s cold;
- in the elliptic genitive the head noun is not expressed:

The glasses are Mary’s (glasses).

You must go to the baker’s (shop) to buy some bread.
Let’s go to Harridge’s (shop).

-the double genitive combines the synthetical genitive with the analytical genitive: a cousin of
Tom’s; a colleague of my mother’s.

3) The Dative:

-the dative with the preposition to or for is used when the accusative precedes the dative:

They gave the prize to a foreigner.

They have bought the flowers for their grandmother.

or after certain verbs like to announce, to belong, to communicate, to dictate, to explain, to

introduce, to translate, to suggest.

Can the Parliament dictate to the government?

-the dative without preposition is used when the dative precedes the accusative: He told his wife a
lot of lies.

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4) The Accusative: nouns in the accusative have the syntactic function of direct and prepositional
object, adverbial or attribute:

She lay the fork on the table.

He is friendly towards beginners.
There is nobody at home.
The man at the gate is a stranger.

Number of Nouns

a) Some nouns take a verb in the singular: concrete uncountable nouns -furniture, luggage, meat,
money; abstract uncountable nouns - advice, homework, information, income, knowledge, progress;
proper nouns – George, the Thames, the United States; nouns ending in –s like measles (and other
names of diseases), linguistics (and other names of sciences), cards (and other names of games),
news; substantivized adjectives denoting abstractions: (the) good, (the) evil.

His luggage was lost.

How much money was stolen?
e.g. The United States is a great power.
The news was sent by email.
Good is stronger than evil.

b) Some nouns take a verb in the plural: wardrobe articles like jeans, pyjamas, trousers; tools and
instruments – glasses, scales, scissors; proper nouns – the Alps, the Highlands; other pluralia
tantum – belongings, clothes, contents, surroundings, wages; substantivized adjectives – chemicals,
goods, the rich; unmarked plurals – cattle, people, police.

c) Collective nouns take a verb in the singular, if we refer to them as a whole, and in the plural, if
we refer to their component elements: crew, family, government, jury.

D. PRACTICE

V. Fill in the gaps with the appropriate missing words: negotiate, represent, warn, suspend, go
on strike, walk out.

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These discussions have taken far too long and I’m not going to ….. any more. As the trade union
spokesman, I ….. over half the workers in this factory and I’m ….. you –if the workers that you’ve
….. aren’t allowed back to work by the end of the day, we’ll all …..That’s right – we’ll …..

VI. Fill in the blanks with one of the following words: bar, bit, item, piece, fit, lump, slice:

1. I was scared when he had a…………………….of cough.

2. Do not forget to buy a ……………………….of chocolate; I would really like to eat some.
3. Although the ……………………………………of news were bad I was not too scared.
4. Horses like to be spoilt with some …………………………. of sugar.
5. Give me the butter and then cut some………………………..of bread.
6. With a………………………………of luck, everything will go on well.
7. They have bought a new……………………..of furniture for the bedroom.
8. This is a………………………………………of good advice, why don’t you take it?
9. We can eat that……………………………… of beef later.
10. Each passenger is allowed to take three…………………….of luggage.

UNIT V

PLANNING A STRATEGY

An effective strategic plan is developed methodically, drawing on the in-depth analysis that
has been carried out. Now is the time to make a series of choices that will form the basis for change.

1.1.Staging the process

A strategic plan is formulated in stages, involving the team and any stakeholders you may
wish to include. The decisions you make at each step will give your strategy direction, while a final
test will check that the focus is right prior to implementation.

1.2.Setting out the stages

The first stage in building a strategy is to define your aims. Once you have a clear direction,
you will be able to determine where your competitive advantage lies, or what your team or
organization has that is unique and that customers want. You will then need to set boundaries and
choose areas on which you wish to consult as you go through the process, and work out a timescale.

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As a guideline, a simple plan can probably be worked out within a couple of days, while a complex
one could take up to three months.

1.3.Planning strategy in stages

STAGES FACTORS TO CONSIDER

DEFINE PURPOSE
Create a definitive statement of future
goals, agreed with superiors, team
members, and stakeholders.
DETERMINE ADVANTAGE
Compose a brief statement identifying why
customers will buy from you rather than
anyone else.
SET BOUNDARIES
List the products and markets you will deal
in and those you definitely will not,
approved by the entire team.
CHOOSE AREAS OF EMPHASIS
Identify products and markets that are
considered worthwhile areas for more time
and resources.
- Your purpose must fit in with the
strategic aims of other departments and
teams in the organization.
- The statement should be kept brief and
clear, concentrating on simple definitions
of intent.
- Other stakeholders, such as the marketing
team, may help in deciding on your
competitive advantage.
- The advantages must be enduring, since
strategy focuses on the long run.
- Too many boundaries will make the team
inflexible; too few will prevent the team
from focusing clearly.
- If team members have pet schemes for
products or services, they should air them
when setting boundaries.
- Dividing products, services, markets, and
customers into groups, will help with
choosing priorities.
- Emphasis will need to be reviewed on a
regular basis as circumstances change.

ESTIMATE A BUDGET - In organizations with a standard

Examine the costs of allocating resources budgeting process, an expert in this field
to product markets and forecast expected should be involved.
profits. - Other stakeholders may be needed to
supply information for cost estimates.

1.4. Checking the strategy

At the end of the strategic planning process, you will list the key criteria of the new strategy in
a template, known as a ‘business case template’. This is used to test both current activities and
future ideas, or business scenarios, to ascertain whether or not they will fit in with your strategy. If,
for example, a criterion is to keep service staff to a minimum, an idea for new, high-maintenance

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product would fail to measure up against the template. You could either discard the idea, or make it
fit the template by altering the product or service, or putting more resources into that market.
(Source: Managing for Excellence. ‘Thinking Strategically’, pp. 380-1)

A. BUILDING YOUR VOCABULARY

I. Study the following key economic concepts:

audit: the process of checking accounts. Auditors check whether the accounts of a company, private
trader, or association are complete and consistent, whether they agree with other records of
purchases, sales and inventories, and whether they comply with legal requirements and
professional standards. Companies are legally required to have their accounts externally audited,
and many other bodies are required to do so by their own constitutions. Many companies and other
organizations employ internal auditors, to check the accuracy and completeness of their internal
bookkeeping. The audit provides a safeguard against both fraud and incompetence in accounting.

autarky: an economy with no external trade. The term is also applied to the policy aim of reducing
a country’s dependence on foreign trade, for example by tariffs and quotas, even if foreign trade
cannot be entirely eliminated.

bad debt: debt whose repayment is known to be impossible or unlikely. Failure of the borrower to
make payments of principal or interest on the due dates is prima facie evidence that a debt should
be suspect, but a debt can become bad even before the payments are actually due if the debtor is
known or believed to be insolvent. If payments are delayed, creditors who think that ultimate
payment is likely may be willing to formally reschedule debts, or merely to wait for payment without
any formal agreement. At what stage bad debts should be ‘written off’, that is, the creditors should
cease to record them as assets in their accounts, is a matter of judgement. Institutions with
numerous debts owing to them may make provision for losses without specifying which particular
debts they regard as being uncollectable.

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II. Consider the idiomatic phrases below:

BUSINESS IDIOMS MEANING EXAMPLES

Get something off the If you get something off e.g. After a lot of hard work, we
ground the ground, you put it into finally got the campaign off the
operation after having ground.
organized it.

This expression refers to e.g. They opened a coffee shop that

Going concern a business or activity that is a going concern today.
is dynamic and
successful.

A place where there are e.g. When I arrived at the office, it

Hive of activity lots of things happening, was already a hive of activity.
and everyone is very
busy, is called a hive of
activity.
If someone knuckles e.g. If you want to succeed, you’ll
Knuckle down to down to something, they have to knuckle down to some
something start to work on it serious work.
seriously.
You say this when you
present an idea or plan to
Let me bounce this off someone in order to test e.g. I think I’ve found a way of
you. their reaction or obtain making money. Let me bounce this
feedback. off you.

B. STRUCTURING A DISCUSSION

III. Use these expressions to enhance discourse cohesion:

ASK SOMEONE TO ANSWER QUESTIONS

• Could you reply to that?
• Would you care to question?
• I’d rather she answered to that
• Why don’t we ask?
• Let’s address this query to
(e.g. Would you care to question Mr Jones? He’s better qualified.)

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ASK FOR OPINION
• Can we get your input?
• How do you feel about?
• What’s your opinion?
• What do you think?
• Do you have any suggestions?
(e.g. How do you feel about lengthening the contract?)

IV. Do you agree with the sayings?

1. A good example is the best sermon.
2. A good beginning makes a good end.

C. GRAMMAR OVERVIEW. THE ADJECTIVE (I)

There are several kinds of adjectives: a) demonstrative - this, these, that, those; b) distributive –
each, every, either, neither; c) quantitative-some, any, no, little, few, many, much; d) interrogative-
which, what, whose;
e) possessive- my, your, his, her, its, our, your, their; f) of quality- good, red, simple, political,
medical, remarkable, easy.

Adjectives of quality
According to form, adjectives can be:

- simple: good, red, simple, nice, early, positive, negative, sober, modern, wide, fresh, late;
- compound. The compound adjectives can be divided into many categories like:

a) adjective+ adjective: light blue, icy-cold, deaf-mute etc.

b) adjective+ present participle: good-looking, easy-going, hard-working etc.
c) adjective+ past participle: far-fetched, modern-built, widespread, soft-spoken, ready-made etc.
d) noun+ adjective: carefree, waterproof, colour-blind etc.
e) noun+ present participle: heart-breaking, awe-inspiring, breath-taking etc.
f) pronoun (self/all) + adjective/noun: self-assertive, self-conscious, self-evident, self-important,
self-sufficient, all-complete, all-wool etc.

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g) well+ past participle/adverb: well-acquainted, well-adjusted, well-advised, well-balanced, well-
behaved, well-chosen, well-connected, well-defined, well-grounded, well-informed, well-mannered
etc.

The most productive adjective-forming suffixes are:

-able/ible –attach to noun and verb bases: comfortable, fashionable, honourable, knowledgeable,
valuable, hospitable, reasonable, acceptable, admirable, advisable, noticeable, remarkable;
comprehensible, divisible, permissible etc

-al - attaches to nouns: additional, classical, continental, emotional, experimental, historical,

musical, statistical, traditional etc.

-an/ian/n – attach to names of places to describe someone or something that comes from that place:
African, American, Arabian, Austrian, Brazilian, Chilean, Cuban, Egyptian, European, Indian,
Korean, Scandinavian etc.

-ary – attaches mainly to nouns: complementary, customary, disciplinary, legendary, momentary,

secondary etc.

- ful- attaches to nouns: boastful, cheerful, deceitful, delightful, graceful, helpful, peaceful, playful
etc.

-less- attaches to nouns: endless, flawless, helpless, hopeless, meaningless, speechless, tactless etc.

-ous- attaches to nouns: adventurous, ambiguous, ambitious, anonymous, contemptuous,

courageous, famous, gracious, mysterious, obvious, previous, serious etc.

D. PRACTICE

V. Fill in the gaps with the appropriate missing words: dismiss, sack, fire, lay off, make
redundant, resign, retire.

These are the only ways that you can lose your job at this company. Employees who steal will be
…..Anyone who contradicts the boss will be …..Salespeople who don’t meet their targets will be
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….. When business is bad, the laziest workers will be ….. And if the company goes bankrupt,
everyone will be ….. If you don’t like any of these rules, you’re free to ….. and find another job.
But if nothing goes wrong, you have a job for life and you can ….. happily at the age of sixty-five.

VI. Add the appropriate negative prefixes to the adjectives below. Write them in the
corresponding column. Pay attention to the spelling.

mature, destructible, agreeable, real, regular, reverse, convenient, honest, logical, attractive, legal,
dispensable, pleased, friendly, mortal, rational, patient, separable, proportionate, literate,
interesting, explicable, legible, polite, perfect, responsible, justified.

1) dis-: 4) in-:
2) il-: 5) ir-:
3) im-: 6) un-:

VII. Use the correct form of the adjectives in the letter below:
Re: your letter November the 6th, 2018
Dear Sir,
We all realize that unfortunately our products have been (1)…..(reliable) lately. What is even
(2)…..(disappointing) is that we still have (3)…..(high) prices on the market. But being your (4)
…..(old) suppliers, we would ask you to be (5) …..(patient) you proved to be for just a little longer
and we promise to do (6)…..(good) we can in order to become (7)…..(efficient) company on the
market again.
One reason for our (8)…..(low) sales figures this year is our (9)…..and….. (little) competitive
technology due to the equipment that has grown (10)…..and…..(old) along the years. This will be
changed starting with the month of December. The demands of the trade unions have also become
(11)…..and…..(critical) but once the new machines are installed, people will work for (12)…..(low)
costs and (13)…..(high) wages.
We are bound to reestablish (14)…..(high) reputation in the business. It’s just a question of a single
month.
Thank you for your understanding.
Faithfully yours,
Andrew Jones, Vice President

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VIII. Translate into English:

1) Căutăm un director comercial.

2) Cinci ani de experiență în această funcție sau într-un post similar ar fi un avantaj.

3) Candidații trebuie să vorbească fluent franceza și engleza.

4) Inspectorul pe probleme de export va răspunde și de îndeplinirea obiectivelor comerciale pentru

un grup de țări.

5) Postul cere un dezvoltat simț comercial.

6) Trimiteți o scrisoare de intenție, scrisă de mână, care să conțină un memoriu detaliat de

activitate.

7) Salariul inițial va fi în concordanță cu competența solicitantului.

8) Dosarele de candidatură vor fi tratate strict confidențial.

9) Reale posibilități de promovare pentru un candidat dinamic.

10) După un stagiu de pregătire, acest inginer va răspunde de negocierea contractelor.

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