Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Advanced Level:
Unit Objectives
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Business English Study
Read this short text and discuss whether or not you think iPod can help Apple sell
more computers.
During the last three months of 2005 Apple sold 14m iPods, compared with 4.5m in the
same period in 2004. In many ways the digital music player defines a product category,
as the Sony Walkman once did ... and with Apple's iTunes Music Store accounting for
80% of legal music downloads, the company now has a super brand, but can Apple
also use this power to sell more of its computers?
3. Why did millions of people want an iPod for Christmas when other MP3
players have more features and are cheaper?
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Business English Study
EXERCISE 2: Complete the table below with the correct definitions and conjugation
of the verb.
1. To put up, make higher, cause to increase e.g. that the costs a lot.
2. To reach a higher rank or position e.g. she to be director.
3. To bring up, mention, put forward e.g. Can I a question about rights
4. To generate, obtain, acquire, collect e.g. we 25% of the finance in 3 days
5. To go up, increase, reach a higher level e.g. the price with demand.
6. To come into being, occur, appear e.g. the problem when we tested it.
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UP surge
DOWN dip
DOWN and then UP rebound
NO CHANGE plateau
AT THE TOP peak
AT THE BOTTOM hit rock bottom
Role-Play:
With a partner use the vocabulary of MOVEMENT to describe the predicted
sales in these graphs.
450
250
400
350 200
300 Asia 150 CD
250
USA
200 100 MP3
150 Europe
50
100
50 0
0 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
7
08
09
10
11
0
20
20
20
20
20
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Business English Study
Exercise 4:
Read the article out loud (a paragraph per student), and practice pronunciation.
As you read fill the gaps with word(s) from the vocabulary of movement and trends
above (more than one option is possible) and out them into the correct tense.
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Business English Study
The inspector was only interested in the ideas that the Italian created,
and not the information decided by the Institute for International
Intelligence, in the tiny state of Vatican City.
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Business English Study
Role-Play 2:
The Meeting: Management board discuss whether to concentrate on music
or computers.
Computer Team:
You feel that the real growth market is in computer development and should
stick to what you know. Music is a fad. Prepare a presentation on why
APPLE should stay in computers
Music Team:
You feel that the real growth market is in i-Tunes and that APPLE needs to
develop in this area as it is extremely profitable. Prepare a presentation on
why APPLE should concentrate on music.
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Business English Study
Bold indicates examples of the grammar and business vocabulary introduced in the module
Apple was on the brink of bankruptcy in the 1990’s and only a risky strategy of
investment enabled them to recover.
All the investment Apple makes in developing new technologies, both in terms of
money and human resources, is the single most reason why they are such a
successful company.
The reality is their innovative products, such as the iMac and iPod, are exactly what
saved Apple and pulled them out of the slump that could have easily resulted in
bankruptcy in the 1990’s. Although the costs of developing those products have hurt
Apple's short term profits, they made long term profits rise where others in the
industry made losses.
Even more important is the fact that Apple's R&D investment is money that no other
PC vendor is spending. Dell spends a bit of R&D on figuring out how to use 2 or 3
fewer screws in each machine (something at which Dell is the absolute master), but
the company is not developing new classes of products, or even any new products.
Apple produces new, innovative and cool products, but is this enough to beat the
competition? As their chairman, Steve Jobs, said, it’s not only about finding the
opportunities, you then have to exploit them before others do it for you.
So how can you exploit the iPod? Can iPod sell more computers?
The “halo effect” remains Apple's most effective means of raising its profile and
boosting sales of its computers. Surveys suggest that some 10 to 20% of PC users
who buy an iPod then go on to buy a Mac. In 2005 the iPod helped the company to
increase its share of the personal-computer market from 3% to 4%. This doesn’t
sound much but it is significant in an extremely competitive market. By getting people
to buy an iPod, a new type of device, it is a step towards getting them to switch
loyalties with their computer supplier.
But how do you get them to buy an iPod in the first place?
The most powerful factor working in Apple's favour is peer pressure: what friends and
relatives have to say about products is now the most trusted form of consumer
advice, and to be seen with something different is un-cool. That is why millions of
people said they wanted an iPod for Christmas, and not an MP3 player from another
manufacturer—even though rival players are often cheaper than iPods, and generally
have more features.
Then there are the new, high profile Apple Stores where opportunities for cross-over
sales have arisen and profits have soared. Apple's stores are a huge success and
another vindication of Jobs' marketing genius.
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Business English Study
Not many people have heard of Jonathan Ive, but he is one of the most influential
product designers of our generation.
Jonathan Ive has risen to become vice president of industrial design at Apple in a
matter of a few years. He was raised in Chingford, England, the son of a silversmith.
As a child, he was always interested in making things. When he left school he
wanted to design cars and took a course at Central St Martins Art School in London
but found that the other students were, as he puts it, 'too weird.' So he went to
Newcastle to study product design. There he met Clive Grinyer, who is now director
of innovation at the Design Council. He recalls Ive was more focussed than anyone
I'd ever met by what he was trying to achieve. He built 100 models for his final project
when most students did six.'
But how does Ive come up with the new? And why do computers fascinate him when
most designers prefer cars or clothes? The man himself says that there's no other
product that changes function like the computer. The iMac can be a jukebox, a tool
for editing video, you can design on it, write on it. The possibilities are endless and I
love that.'
Friends say the roots of his success lie in his lateral thinking and Apple’s motto is
‘think differently.’ Ive finds the true appeal of an object, often ignoring the traditional
approach to design. Inspiration comes from almost anywhere. The original pastel-
coloured iMac had its roots in coloured sweets. The iPod is like a cigarette pack in
the shirt pocket for those addicted to music instead of tobacco.
His designs have revived the company to such an extent that in all probability Apple,
whose share price was plummeting, would have been taken over or gone bust
without him.
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Business English Study
INTRODUCTION: Start by asking students if they have an iPod, or a Mac. Get them
to say what they think of the brand. Ask them about the Halo Effect. Read short text
and discuss question about selling more computers.
Teacher (T) - Students (SS) 5 mins
LISTENING 1: Next tell students they are going to hear a consultant talking about
APPLE. They need to answer the questions at the end. Play the listening and ask
students the questions. (T) - (SS) 10 mins
GRAMMAR: Elicit the verbs RAISE, RISE, ARISE. E.G. What would you do if
demand for your product was high and prices were low? You would …
Ask students to read through the rules and check they understand them. Then
complete the exercise. Get them to read out loud. (T) – (SS) 5 mins
CULTURAL AWARENESS: read through the style of greetings in the UK and then
go through the speaking practice that follows
(SS) – (SS) 5 mins
ROLE-PLAY 1: Move onto the role-play about graphs and ask students to work
together to describe the figures.
(SS) – (SS) 5 mins
READING: Ask students what they know of the corporate history of APPLE. Go
through reading text instructions and ask students to read out loud and fill in the gaps
with appropriate words for the gaps. (S) – (T) 10 mins
PRONUNCIATION: Student says the words and sentence and correct any mistakes.
(SS) – (SS) 3 mins
ROLE PLAY 2: Split students into groups and get them to read their role cards and
prepare to discuss the situation. Make sure they practice the grammar and
vocabulary learnt in the lesson and to try and use the case study material in their
argument. (SS) - (SS) 10 mins
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Business English Study
Exercise Answers
Listening 1 Exercise 1
1. 10-20%
2. First get consumers to buy an iPod
3. They are cool
4. 17%
5. Jobs’ marketing genius
Grammar: Exercise 2:
Infinitive Transitive or Simple Past Definition (choose from
intransitive past participle the list below)
To RAISE Transitive raised raised *1
*3
*4
To RISE Intransitive rose arisen *2
*5
To ARISE Intransitive arose arisen *6
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