Business English

I. READING
UNIT 1
1. How many human-resource managers admitted to rejecting a candidate because of their online
behavior?
2. What could help job hunters to get their dream job?
3. What do the Facebook faux pas include?
4. What should jobseekers be aware of according to Mr. Yasin?
5. Which social-networking sites are mentioned in the reading?
6. What have jobseekers been warned about?
7. Who does Peter Cullen work for?
8. What is essential for web users according to Mr. Cullen?
9. What kind of reputation should jobseekers cultivate online?
10. How many employers fired staff for content found on their social-networking profile?
11. Who does Farhan Yasin work for?
12. What is the good thing of Social networking according to Mr. Yasin?
13. Why did 28% of employers fire staff according to the research by Mr. Yasin’s company?
14. How many employers research candidates online now according to the study?
15. What does Peter advise jobseekers do with their online reputation?

UNIT 2
I. TATA
1. Who is Mr. Tata?
2. What is the duty of the group’s special committee?
3. Why is the idea of an outsider, particularly a foreigner, controlling the Tata Group revolutionary?
4. Is the Tata Group important to national economy?
5. Who will the Tata Group consider for India’s biggest corporate job?
6. How many subsidiaries does the Tata Group have?
7. What is the question by analysts?
8. What did a banker say about Tata Group?
9. Is the Tata group a family-run company?
10. Why is the Tata Group important to national economy?
II. LEWIS
1. What is the article about?
2. How many employees work for John Lewis?
3. What is said about products in John Lewis stores?
4. Do the workers have a say in how the company is run?
5. What is the main business activity of John Lewis?
6. What is said about the employees in John Lewis stores?
7. Who owns the company?
8. What is the purpose of the company?
9. Why is John Lewis unlike other high-street names?
10. Where do the "passion and commitment" of the employees come from according to Kirsty Reilly?

UNIT 5
1. How do leaders of private businesses feel about their stress level?
2. How many business owners in 36 countries were covered their opinions in the survey by IBR in
2000?
3. Which country tops the league for the most stressed leaders?
4. How many percent of business owners in China said their stress levels had increased?
5. Which countries have the highest stress levels in the world?
6. Which countries have the lowest stress levels in the world?
7. Is there a link between stress levels and GDP?
8. What is said about business owners in mainland China, Vietnam, Mexico, India and Turkey?
9. What is said about the environments in which business owners in mainland China, Vietnam, Mexico,
India and Turkey working?
10. What is the pressure on business owners in mainland China?
11. What are business owners in Ireland worried about?
12. What were business owners asked about?
13. What were the major causes of workplace stress in 2009?
14. What was the most common cause of workplace stress in 2009?
15. How many percent of respondents said that economic climate was the most common cause of
workplace stress?
16. How many groups can the causes of workplace stress be put into?
17. Is there a link between stress levels and the number of days off in a year taken by an employee?
18. Do business owners in countries which have high stress levels have more or fewer holidays each
year?

UNIT 7
GROUPON
1. What is the main idea of the text?
2. What did he study at university?
3. What will happen to Mr. Mason if Google buys Groupon?
4. What does his Internet business offer?
5. When did Andrew Mason set up his company?
6. Where can the vouchers offered by Groupon be spent?
7. Why did he turn down a $2 billion offer from Yahoo?
8. What do users get when they use vouchers offered by Groupon?
9. What did Forbes describe Groupon as?
10. At what price is Google believed to have started its bidding?
11. What helps Andrew’s company grow at the rate of 10% a week?
DINKA
1. What is the main idea of the text?
2. What does her business offer/do? / What does Dinka do?
3. How old is Dinka now?
4. What have Argentinian companies agreed to let Dinka do?
5. Do most ‘micro-manufacturers' of craft items in Argentina know how to sell their products in
international markets?
6. What did Sandra do before she started her business - Dinka?
7. How many people are working for Dinka?
8. What will Dinka have to do under the deal with Argentinian companies?
9. What will Dinka get under the deal with the Argentinian companies?
UNIT 8
1. What is Adidas’ plan in China?
2. Why does Adidas want to expand its sales network?
3. What will Adidas do to to regain market share?
4. To whom did Adidas lose its market share?
5. Why has Adidas recently decided to shirt their focus from cities like Shanghai and Beijing?
6. What is Adidas’ plan to reach far into the Chinese interior?
7. Why do they target smaller cities?
8. Who are target consumers of Adidas in China?
9. In which cities will Adidas open new stores?
10. In how many cities does Adidas have stores now?
11. How will the product mix be chosen in smaller cities?
12. How did Li Ning get its name?
13. What do you know about Li Ning?
14. What is Li Ning’s plan?
15. Who gets the number-two market position in sportswear in China?
16. What do retail analysts see Li Ning's move up to second position as?
17. What is the strong point of Li Ning?
18. What were Adidas's recent problems in China related to?

UNIT 10
1. How many situations does John Smythe offer to illustrate employee engagement in practice?
2. What was the name of the meeting to which Ruby is invited to attend?
3. What was stated in the invitation regarding the perfomance of Ruby’s company?
4. What must be done to stabilse the situation in Ruby’s company?
5. What were Ruby and her cooleagues asked to do?
6. How did Ruby feel when attending the meeting?
7. What were Ruby and her cooleagues invited to do for two months?
8. According to Mr Smythe, what questions should employees be asked in this process?
9. What is the advantage of asking employees such questions?
10. What was said about the second situation?
11. What was the second situation described as?
12. Could emplyees communicate with the directors to discuss the rumours speaded in the company in
the second situation?
13. What wass revealed in the presentation for the first time?
14. What wass the focus of the detailed management plans for restructuring?
15. How did Geraldine feel at the meeting?
16. How did her colleagues feel when leaving the meeting?
17. In which company was communication better?
18. In general, how do employees feel when sharing the power with the management of their company?
II. TRANSLATION
1. 28% of employers have fired staff for content found on their social-networking profile.
2. A clean, quiet, comfortable and friendly working environment can actively reduce levels of stress.
3. A company’s advertising budget is the amount of money available for advertising during a
particular period.
4. A flexitime system can help to reduce stress levels of employees by giving them more control
over their working hours.
5. A good manager needs flexibility, patience, sense of humour, optimism and tolerance.
6. A good manager should respond to employees' concerns promptly and invest in regular training
courses for employees.
7. A good manager should listen to all suggestions from staff, deal with problems quickly, believe in
their employees’ abilities and be good at judging people’s abilities.
8. A lot of micro manufacturers have little ideas of how to sell their product in international markets.
9. A lower level of stress at work may increase job satisfaction.
10. A skilled labour force means there could be attractive investment opportunities.
11. According to a recent survey, 12 per cent of the labour force is earning less than the minimum
wage.
12. Adidas expands its sales network to regain market share lost to foreign and domestic competitors.
13. Advertising budget is an amount of money available for advertising during a particular period.
14. Ambitious people often decide on a career plan while they are still at university.
15. An advertising campaign includes advertising activities over a period, with particular aims.
16. Andrew studied music at university and dreamt about making his riches as a rock star.
17. Anita Roddick, the founder of the Body Shop displayed a genuine caring attitude towards staff.
18. Balance of trade is the difference in value between a country’s imports and exports.
19. Being stuck in a traffic jam is very stressful for many people.
20. Business people say that government bureaucracy makes makes it difficult to start a new business
difficult.
21. By following a tight monetary policy, the government has reduced the inflation rate to 2%.
22. By some estimates, China is now the world’s biggest luxury market.
23. Coca-Cola decided to rebrand Diet Fanta in the UK, to fit in with the rest of Europe.
24. Companies are worried about paying pensions as the work force grows older.
25. Companies can also develop new products for existing customers.
26. Companies can help their staff to achieve a work-life balance by being flexible in how they expect
staff to work.
27. Companies sometimes promote their products by giving free gifts to customers.
28. Detailed management plans for restructuring and efficiencies were revealed yesterday.
29. Dinka will find buyers for their products and handle shipments and customs formalities in
exchange for a proportion of sales revenues.
30. Disposable income is the money that available to spend after paying for essentials like taxes, food
and housing.
31. Drunken photographs and bad language are bad images on social networking pages.
32. During the economic crisis, people had less disposable income.
33. Each new wave of technology is accepted very quickly. Things used to evolve much more
gradually in the past.
34. Employees in large multinationals have excellent career opportunities if they are willing to travel
on business.
35. Employers had fired staff for content found on their social networking profile.
36. Every young company now uses social networking as one of its marketing tools.
37. Exchange rate is the price at which one currency can buy another.
38. Exports have increased recently, which makes the balance of trade much healthier.
39. Football still have the Chinese and Indian markets to penetrate.
40. Good marketing should increase the volume of sales.
41. Groupon is now growing at the rate of 10 per cent a week by adding new users through Facebook
and Twitter.
42. Having to make a presentation to senior executives can cause stress, especially the first time.
43. He created a climate of mutual consideration, respect and trust with his staff.
44. He is a successful manager because he emphasises quality control, profits and staff-welfare.
45. He was famous for combining a true entrepreneurial spirit with a genuine concern for people.
46. I agreed with her that we need to change our marketing strategy
47. I am looking for a company to supply high-quality carpets for my store.
48. I am very sorry I can’t make the training course.
49. I apologised to Paula for giving her the wrong figures.
50. I did a summer internship with one of the big accounting firms.
51. I have learned a lot of lessons from the companies I have worked for.
52. I work six days a week and never have a holiday. My girlfriend says I'm a workaholic.
53. I worked until 11 o'clock at night to meet the deadline for presenting the report.
54. If you are managing people from different cultures, you should be aware of your own cultural
assumptions and expectations.
55. If you have children, working from home may help improve your work-life balance.
56. I'll explain why we've been so successful in the fashion industry.
57. In countries where the unemployment rate is high, young people tend to study more.
58. In Ireland the economy is shrinking, and business owners are worried about how they will keep
their business alive.
59. In mainland China, the pressure is on to keep up with the speed of expansion.
60. In order to attract foreign investment, the government is making effort to reduce government
bureaucracy.
61. In some industries, it can take a long time to climb the career ladder.
62. Increased production and strong demand have had a positive effect on our cashflow.
63. It’s not easy to tell people that they aren’t doing well at all.
64. Karl has a heavy workload at the moment because several colleagues are off sick.
65. Li Ning has strong sales and distribution networks in the lower-tier cities.
66. Lord Siefe was the first manager that impressed me. He emphasises quality control, profits and
staff-welfare.
67. Make sure you understand the marketplace and who your customers are going to be.
68. Many people find it the most stressful to ask their boss for a pay rise.
69. Many people find it the most stressful to negotiate a very valuable contract.
70. Market research is looking for information about what customers want and need.
71. Mr Mason turned down a $2 billion offer from Yahoo in April, because the valuation was too low.
72. My company is more than 50% owned by a Japanese company.
73. One way to make a career move is to join a small but rapidly growing company.
74. Our company is a drinks-manufacturing company based on the east coast of Ireland.
75. Our manager really believes in her employees and has invested a lot in our professional
development.
76. Over half of business owners have felt increasingly stressed because of economic climate,
pressure on cashflow, competitor activities and heavy workload.
77. People should do a lot of research on the companies that they have applied to.
78. Pharmaceutical companies are starting to look at using technology such as the iPad when
presenting data to doctors.
79. Prices increased again last month so the inflation rate rose to 5.3 %.
80. Research and Development (R&D) dept. is responsible for investigating and testing new products.
81. Rising Chinese and Indian shoes maker are putting Italian companies out of business.
82. Ruby was invited to attend a morning meeting titled "Help our recovery".
83. Sales figures are numbers showing how much a company has sold in a period.
84. Sales target is how much a company wants to sell in a period.
85. She found high-quality manufacturers in Argentina and linked them with shops and distribution
companies in other countries.
86. She gave up a highly-paid job to join a meditation group in India. She's completely changed her
lifestyle.
87. She told her boss that the new job was challenging.
88. Small banks are struggling to compete in an already saturated market.
89. Some companies offer career opportunities to the long-term unemployed or to people without
formal qualifications.
90. Some people take a career break to do something adventurous like sailing round the world.
91. Subsidy is the money that government pays to make something cheaper to buy.
92. The biggest challenge for pharmaceutical companies is the relulatory environment.
93. The company would be targeting consumers with an average disposable income of $750 a month.
94. The country was able to repay some of its loan from abroad and so it has reduced its foreign debt.
95. The fact is that their productivity is too low and costly.
96. The Finance Director argued with our Managing Director over profit sharing.
97. The finance sector has changed dramatically over the past five years.
98. The higher the gross domestic product of a country, the richer its people are.
99. The interest rate has dropped to 1%, thanks to the government’s monetary policy.
100. The level of absenteeism has gone up over the month and we need to monitor sickness level more
closely.
101. The life cycle of a product is the length of time people continue to buy it.
102. The parent company is unable to provide more cash for investment.
103. The risk factors for stress have risen significantly since 2009.
104. The Sales Manager reported on last month’s sales figures to the Board of directors.
105. The survey also found a link between stress levels and the number of days taken off by an
individual in a year.
106. The three managers have a genuine belief in creating a climate of mutual consideration, respect
and trust with their staff.
107. The three managers have a genuine belief in effective communication and employee involvement.
108. There could be attractive investment opportunities over the next five years.
109. They apologized to everyone for their failure to deal with the crisis.
110. They can not make enough shoes to keep up with demand from the Chinese.
111. They carry out market research to get information about what buyers need and want.
112. To attract foreign investment from abroad, the government is offering new tax incentives.
113. To get ahead in your career you should be energetic and enthusiastic at all times and study for
extra qualifications in your free time.
114. To get ahead in your career you should find an experienced person to give you help and advice.
115. To help farmers, the European Union has given out millions of euros in agricultural subsidies.
116. Trade deficit is the situation when a country pays more money for imports than it gets from
exports.
117. Trade surplus is the situation when a country sells more goods to other countries than it buys from
other countries.
118. Travellers from Britain to the Eurozone are enjoying a good exchange rate this year.
119. Understanding the market and the customer is important to our success.
120. We are planning to start full production at the recently opened Spanish plant in October.
121. We are trying to lose our cheap image and move upmarket with more expensive products.
122. We are willing to reward staff with attractive performance-based bonuses.
123. We can’t invest in that country until their economy will be stable.
124. We have seen a slight improvement in the exchange rate against the dollar recently.
125. We look for people who are reliable, confident and enthusiastic.
126. We need experienced people who want to work for an expanding company.
127. We should remember to praise our employees for their good work.
128. We talked about our financial problems for a long time.
129. We want you and your colleagues to take ownership with management to solve the crisis.
130. We won't buy anything new until we've paid off all our debts.
131. We would like to thank our loyal and dedicated workforce/ employees.
132. We’ll deal with insurance after they tell us about their special discount.
133. When we discuss the contract, we must remember to ask about transport cost.
134. When your employees are satisfied, they work more effectively.
135. With their existing products, companies can find different types of new customers.
136. Women are more open about their feelings and therefore feel more comfortable in reporting
feeling under pressure or feeling stressed.
137. Women entrepreneurs are much more common than in the past, with almost one in three UK start-
ups in 2009 founded by a woman.
138. Women report higher levels of stress than men because women tend to have more responsibility
in the home.
139. Work-life balance is the ability to give a good amount of time to your work and to outside
interests
140. Your staff will often have good ideas and suggestion, so listen to them.
III. TOPICS
1. Your career
1. How ambitious are you? / Do you have a career plan?
2. What are you planning to do after graduating from university?
3. Do you want to work for one company during your career? Why? Why not?
4. Do you want to work for several different companies? Why? Why not?
5. Do you want to work for yourself? Why? Why not?
6. What kind of job would you like to do in the future?
7. What’s your career plan?
8. What should people do to get ahead in their career?

2. Companies
1. What kind of company do you want to work for? Why?
2. Do you want to work for a big or small company? Why?
3. Do you want to work for a foreign company? Why? Why not?
4. Would you like to work for a family-owned company? Why? Why not?
5. Would you like to work for a multinational company? Why? Why not?
6. Would you like to work for your own company (be self-employed)? Why? Why not?
7. Would you like to run your own company? Why/Why not?
8. What is your ideal/dream company?

3. Stress
1. What are some common stressful situations?
2. Which situations are the most stressful for you at work?
3. What do you do to relax when you are stressed? Why do you like doing it?
4. Do you like working under pressure? Why/ why not?
5. What are some examples of things that make people feel under pressure at work?
6. What should the companies do to reduce stress at work?
7. What is a good work-life balance for you?
8. Is it easier for a man than for a woman to be a manager? Why/ why not?

4. New business
1. Would you like to start your own business? Why?/ Why not?
2. What kind of business would you like to set up?
3. What do you need to start a new business?
4. What sort of problem do new businesses face?
5. What advice would you give to some one starting their own business in your country?
6. What conditions are the most important for people starting new businesses? (taxes, transport links,
skilled staff, interest rates, unemployment, cheap rents, a strong currency, a healthy economy,
government grants)

5. Marketing
1. What are the four Ps in the ‘marketing mix’?
2. What do you know about the ‘marketing mix’?
3. Think of some products you have bought recently.Why did you buy them?
4. Which of the four Ps influenced your decision to buy?
5. What is a typical consumer profile for the brand? (Include age, gender, job/profession, income,
interests/hobbies…)

6. Managing people
1. What qualities and skills should a good manager have?
2. What other personal skills and qualities do you need if you are managing people from different
cultures?
3. Do you think that you can become a good manager? Why/ Why not?
4. What should a manager do to become a good manager?
5. What are some ways to manage people more successfully?