Business English Study

Bold indicates some examples of the grammar and business vocabulary introduced in the module

Audio-script 1 – Apple - intermediate

Apple – Intermediate level.

Apple is a globally recognized brand, and highly successful, but in the 1990s it was
nearly bankrupt.
Steve Jobs founded the company in a garage in 1976 and then Apple left in 1985
and the company went into trouble.
Jobs returned and he reorganized Apple, energized the workers, and in 1998
launched the iMac computer. This was followed in 2001 by the iPod music player. It
was a huge success.
Apple had sold more than 220 million iPods by 2009.
Next came the iPhone with its touch screen and Apps. Apple sold more than 33
million iPhones in 2009.
Steve Jobs knew that the way to make profit was to invest in new products, and not
cut costs. Apple spends a lot of its revenue on developing new innovative and cool
products and then exploiting the concepts.
To exploit the iPod the company set up iTunes, an on-line music download store that
dominates the music industry.
In addition the success of the iPod has made an impression on Apple’s computer
sales.
This is called the “halo effect”. The success of one product has an effect on the
sales of other products in the company. 20% of PC users who have an iPod will buy
other Apple products such as the iPad and Apple TV.

Audio-script 2 – Apple - intermediate

Steve Jobs saved Apple from bankruptcy and made it into one of the world’s biggest
brands.
His business philosophy and the way he communicates it is very important to the
success of Apple.
Here are some of his ideas about innovation.
• It's not about how much money you spend; it's about the people you have. The
team must be motivated
• Great innovation is all about saying no to 1,000 things to make sure we don't try
to do too much. You have to concentrate on the "really important" creations.
• Design is not just what it looks like and what it feels like. Design is how well it
works.
When he returned to Apple in 1996 he told the innovation team that the company
products were bad, that they were not sexy.
He decided that the way to save Apple was to innovate, not to cut costs.
Jobs said that the computer mouse, the iPod and the iPhone are all great Apple
innovations and their influence on our lives is incredible.
But you must remember, innovation is not as important as exploiting the innovation.
With the iPod you need iTunes and with the iPhone you need Apps to really make a
difference.

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Lesson Plan - Apple – Intermediate Level

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 MAKE and DO.

E.g. do you make a mistake or do a mistake?
Ask students to complete the exercise. Get them to read out loud. (T) – (SS) 5 mins

VOCABULARY TO DESCRIBE MOVEMENT:

Write down on the whiteboard ‘soar’ and ask students for the meaning. Relate it back
to the speaking practice. Go to the exercise (T) - (SS) 5 mins

ROLE-PLAY: Move onto the role-play about graphs and ask students to work
together to describe the figures … and then introduce examples of ways of
describing what falls. (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

CULTURAL AWARENESS: read through the style of greetings in the UK and then
go through the speaking practice that follows (SS) – (SS) 5 mins

PRONUNCIATION: Student says the words and sentences and you drill and correct
any mistakes. (SS) – (SS) 3 mins

LISTENING 2: Ask students if they have heard of Steve Jobs? Do they

understand the word ‘Innovation’ = invention. Go on to
Tell students they are going to hear some of the ideas Steve Jobs has on
innovation. They need to answer the questions at the end. Play the listening
(SS) – (T) 10 mins

ROLE PLAY: 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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Exercise Answers
Listening 1
1. 1976
2. Reorganized apple, energized the workers, and in 1998 launched the iMac computer.
This was followed in 2001 by the iPod music player.
3. Over 220 million
4. The success of one product has an effect on the sales of other products in the company.
E.g. iPod effects sales of iMac, iPhone, iPad, Apple TV
5. 20%

Grammar 1:
Make: friends - enemies - contact - decision - appointment - offer - impression - profit - loss -
mistake - phone call
Do: nothing - deal - business - damage - research

Grammar 2:
1. You have to make an appointment.
2. The iPhone made a good impression at the conference last week.
3. Let’s do a deal and then we can all make some profit.
4. I made a serious mistake yesterday, but they did nothing to stop me.
5. Please wait a minute; I need to make a phone call.

Vocabulary:
Rise quickly - surge – boom –soar – shoot up – rocket -
Go down quickly - drop – shrink – slump – plummet – bomb - plunge
Go down and then up - rebound – recover
No change - plateau
At the top - peak
At the bottom - hit rock bottom

Reading: exercise 5: different answers possible

1. Boom
2. Dramatic rise
3. Slumped
4. Reached a low point
5. Shrink
6. Revives
7. Rockets
8. Rise

Listening 2.
1. It's not about how much money you spend; it's about the people you have. The team
must be motivated
2. Saying no to 1,000 things to make sure we don't try to do too much. You have to
concentrate on the "really important" creations.
3. Design is not just what it looks like and what it feels like. Design is how well it works.
4. The company products were bad, that they were not sexy.
5. Exploiting the innovation e.g. iTunes and Apps.

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