Market Leader Extra

DVD Worksheet 9: Intermediate

2.1 SMALL TALK

Business Skills

Intermediate DVD Clip 9

Objective: Speaking
Can use a basic repertoire of conversation strategies to maintain a discussion.

Tim and Sarah from Healthy Earth Solutions are having a teleconference with Rebecca and Ravi from Swanson
Global Management. They are experiencing some technical difficulties.

Keeping the conversation going

1 Watch the video clip and answer the questions.
1 What is the first problem during the teleconference?

2 Who is trying to fix the problem?

3 The problem isn’t fixed perfectly first time round. What problem remains with Tim
and Sarah’s connection?

4 What mistake do Rebecca and particularly Ravi make?

5 What does the expression ‘IM’ stand for?

6 Is it a noun or verb phrase, or both?

2 Watch the video clip again. Complete the sentences with the words you hear.
Tim and Sarah
1 What happened? Did we from the meeting?
2 There’s Steve from sales. I’ll just quickly.
3 OK, it looks like we now.
Rebecca
4 Hi there. for the delay.
5 Let me some more .
6 It looks like it’s a .
3 The following IM acronyms were used in the video clip. What do they mean?
1 BRB
2 FYI
3 NP
4 TTYL

1 © Pearson Education Limited 2016

 Market Leader Extra
DVD Worksheet 9: Intermediate

4 Choose one of the following tasks. If you have Work in groups of three. Role-play the following
time, do both tasks. situation. Use expressions from Exercise 2 where
Business Skills

Work in pairs. Play this game with IM acronyms. appropriate.

Look at your list of acronyms only. You don’t have If you have time, swap roles and role-play the
to use all the acronyms. situation again.

Task
Take turns to choose an IM acronym from your list.
Dictate the letters to your partner.
If your partner knows the phrase, he/she gets
three points.
If your partner doesn’t know the phrase, play
hangman in English with the acronym.
If your partner guesses the phrase before he/she
gets four wrong letters, he/she gets one point.
For example:
Student A has the acronym GMTA. It means
‘Great minds think alike’ but Student B doesn’t
know that.
Student A writes the number of spaces for the
words:
_____/_____/_____/_____
Task
You are having a teleconference. Student A is
in his/her office with a colleague. Student B
is leading the meeting. Student C works with
Student B but is in a different office.
A Show surprise when the meeting connection
breaks.
A You receive an IM from another colleague. Tell
the colleague with you that you are going to
answer the message.
A You see the connection restore. Tell the
colleague with you.
B You get the meeting going again. Apologise.
C Tell B you can’t see A.
B Explain and say you’ll try to fix it.

Student B suggests the letter A. So student A C Tell them you can see now.
writes the letter A in the correct places in the B Apologise again.
phrase.
___A_/_____/_____/A____
If Student B guesses a letter that doesn’t appear
in the phrase, it is written at the side of the page.
You’re welcome YW Please PLS
Thanks in advance TIA On the phone OTP
To be honest TBH No way NW
Thanks THX Just kidding JK
I see IC I’m sorry IMS
Hope this helps HTH See you later CUL
Have a nice day HAND By the way BTW
Go right ahead GRA Be my guest BMG
Good luck GL At the moment ATM
Student B Student A

Talk to you later 4

No problem 3
For your information 2
6 Both. An IM / To IM.
(I’ll) Be right back 3 1
5 Instant message
bad connection 6 hear them!
do; troubleshooting 5 4 They assume that Tim and Sarah can’t see or
My apologies 4 and Sarah.
can rejoin 3 3 Rebecca and Ravi still can’t see or hear Tim
ping him back 2 2 Rebecca, the teleconference host
get dropped 2 1 1 1 The teleconference connection drops.
Answer key

2 © Pearson Education Limited 2016