PIELE BOGDAN - GABRIEL

323CC
Revision I
Reading

Task 1
Read the text below, then mark the statements that follow as True (T), False (F) or Not Given
(NG).

‘I’m sorry, mamma, I’ve never meant to hurt you’ , say the lyrics of a popular song.
Although they refer to personal relationships, ‘Sorry’ is a word that should be used in
professional relationships and customer service, too. However, the easiness to apologise when
something initiated by one party goes wrong differs from one culture to another, and so do the
ways of dealing with incoming complaints. Many Germans for example, seem to believe that by
saying sorry’ they are admitting personal responsibility for some awful catastrophe - which is
going to get them sacked or worse. On the other hand, in Britain and America, saying ‘sorry’ is
the most natural thing in the world. Therefore, when dealing with English-speaking customers, it
is best to apologise clearly and unequivocally. The simplest ways of apologising are: ‘I’m sorry’,
I’m so sorry’, and ‘I’m terribly sorry’. For example, you could say: ‘I’m sorry for the delay in your
order’, ‘I’m very/terribly sorry that your order was delayed’ or more formally, ‘I regret to inform
you that the goods you ordered are no longer available”. When apologizing on behalf of a
company, you could say; ‘Please accept our (sincere) apologies for the/any inconvenience that
you have been caused’.
The Japanese, Russians and Arabs are considered very polite and subtle people.
Therefore, when dealing with them, you should be very careful about the language you use and
make sure that you understand what they are trying to communicate to you.
No matter the country they were born in, most customers are satisfied if they get a sincere
apology, a simple explanation of what went wrong showing the willingness to assume
responsibility. Nevertheless, this must be followed by a promise of immediate action and
l makesureyourorderisprocessedimmediately. I’ll ge
personal involvement (‘I’l t right onit
myself’), a new tight deadline to be strictly met, besides some form of compensation.
In English it is common to add ‘softeners ’ to complaints, to make them less direct
and confrontational. For example, rather than saying “There is a problem with my order’, you
could say ‘there seems to be a problem…’, ‘There appears to be an error…’, or ‘I think there
must have been a mistake’. The aim of your complaint should be to find a solution and
have your problem solved in an amiable way rather than to attack or threaten the person you
are speaking to. If you are not getting a satisfactory answer, you could ask to speak to someone
in authority: ’I’d like to speak to the manager/your boss/your supervisor, please’.
 REVISION I

It is also very important to know that an apology from your international contact is not
necessarily their admission of guilt. Apologising is often a diplomatic way of accepting 50 per
cent of the responsibility, taking the first step in mending relations. Just as the phrase ‘How are
you’ is often mirrored back with the reply ‘Fine, how are you’, so, too, the statement ‘I’m sorry’
can be diplomatically ‘refused’ with ‘No, no, I’m sorry’.
And remember that contrary to what some people might think, to apologise is definitely a
sign of strength.
(based on www.jungekarriere.com;
the author, Dr. Ian McMaster is editor-in-chief of BusinessSpotlight
www.business-spotlight.de)

a) In many countries the way customer complaints are dealt with causes a lot of
dissatisfaction. NOT GIVEN
b) In most cultures the attitude towards apologising is basically the same. FALSE
c) Germans interpret an apology as leading to unpleasant personal consequences. TRUE
d) The Japanese, Russians and Arabs are straightforward and outspoken people. FALSE
e) A sincere apology is not enough to make up for any inconvenience caused by
unsatisfactory service/goods. TRUE
f) Phrasing your complaint in courteous terms lessens your chances of getting satisfaction. TRUE
g) In international business apologising may mean assuming full responsibility when
something goes wrong. FALSE
h) Making an apology is as difficult as accepting it. NOT GIVEN

Task 2
Match the following words from the text with their nearest equivalents in the opposite column.
Careful: there are two equivalent phrases/words too many!
1. sacked a) unambiguous / clear
2. delay b) however
3. unequivocal c) menace
4. on behalf of d) merchandise
5. nevertheless e) restore
6. goods f) put off / postpone
7. complaint g) as the representative of
8. threaten h) acknowledgement of
9. admission i) according to
10. mending relations j) fired/dismissed from a job
k) expression of annoyance or
dissatisfaction
l) recognition

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 REVISION I

Task 3
Choose the best heading for each of the paragraphs (1) to (5). Careful: there are two headings
too many!

a) Disadvantages of oral communication

b) Oral Communication before TV
c) Effective Communication
d) Re-evaluation of oral communication in recent years
e) The Typewriter – a useful business tool
f) The Advantages of Oral Communication
g) Communication As Cooperation

As individuals and as a species, we have far more experience with nonverbal and oral
communication than we do with reading and writing. For this reason, reading and writing seem
more difficult for us, and we typically spend a lot more time studying them than we do nonverbal
communication, speaking, and listening.
1.b) Oral Communication before TV
As long as oral communication was the primary means of sending and receiving information,
people were careful/considerate (1) to develop their speaking and listening skills. Even as
late as the turn of the twentieth century, the oral communication skills of the educated were
excellent. Because people still relied on/based on (2) oral communication to
convey/speak (3) complex messages, conversation was a well-developed art. Reading
aloud, dinnertime discussions, and conversations about current events, politics, and religion
occupied people’s attention in the same way television does today.
2. e) The Typewriter – a useful business tool
The one thing that is primarily responsible for the reliance of modern organizations on
written communication is the invention of a miraculous writing machine that changed man’s
attitude towards verbal deals. At the turn/turning (4)of the century, oral agreements
constituted the only contracts in a wide variety of business transactions because written
contracts were too much trouble to bother with unless the situation was very complex and
the sums of money involved/implied (5) were large. Using oral communication, however,
put/posed (6) problems.
3. a) Disadvantages of oral communication
Because people tend/tempt (7) to hear what they want to hear regardless of their
intentions, individual recollections of what was said may change over time. Also, because
most oral communication occurs spontaneously, people have less time to consider the
impact of what they are saying before they actually say it. People usually associate the

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 REVISION I

message and the messenger, so that those who deliver bad news orally may be forever
associated with that news. Conversely, appearance, mannerisms, and other forms of
nonverbal behaviour of the presenter may influence a message that needs to be evaluated
objectively. The need for records in modern organizations, the increasing ease/facilitation
(8) with which records could be created and stored, and the fact that no two people ever
remember a conversation the same way have combined to reduce the perceived/realized
(9) importance of oral communication; thus, organizations became overprotective and
increasingly legalistic. Everything was put in writing.
4. d) Re-evaluation of oral communication in recent years

However, organizations have been rediscovering the importance of oral communication

lately. Written contracts may be the legal instruments that finally determine who
performs/makes (10) what action for what compensation, but the quality—and meaning—of
relationships between people (and ultimately between organizations) will be determined by
what they say to each other and how they say it. Written communication, in spite/despite
(11) of its abilities to provide a relatively permanent record and transmit complex
information, remains/stays (12) essentially a substitute for oral communication.
5. f) The Advantages of Oral Communication
When handled/handed (13) skilfully, oral communication can provide a clearer insight into
the meaning of a message because message transmission and feedback are immediate.
The give and take of a discussion, for example, can achieve/accomplish (14) consensus
much more readily—and quickly—than a written exchange of the same information. Another
advantage of oral communication is that as we speak and listen to one another, we have the
opportunity to explore/investigate (15) each other and our personal relationships to the
message more fully than we do in writing. We can watch and listen for congruence between
the verbal and nonverbal components of the message.
(based on Joel P. Bowman,
“Business Communication: Managing Information and Relationships”
http://homepages.wmich.edu/~bowman/mir.html)

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