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General Education Office

BUSINESS ENGLISH
LA.231/LA.331/LA.3501

Unit 9: Companies
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Objectives
By the end of this class you will be able to

Use the present continuous tense and present simple

Describe companies and their operations
Use common terms for presentations
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Company brands
1 2 3 4

5 6 7 8
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Companies Quiz
Work with a partner to answer the following questions:
Which company:
1 Began in 1865 as a forestry and power business?
a) Ericsson b) Nokia c) Motorola
2 Produces the most successful toy in history
a) Disney b) Fisher-Price c) Mattel
3 Has its head office in San Francisco
a) Levi-Strauss b) Nike c) Calvin Klein
4 Buys more sugar than any other company in the world?
a) Nestle b) Coca-Cola c) Suchard
5 Employs more people than any other company?
a) Wal-Mart b) Siemens c) General Motors
6 Has the largest factory in the world?
a) Boeing b) Ford c) Sony
7 Was started by Ray A. Kroc in 1955?
a) Burger King b) Kentucky Fried Chicken c) McDonalds

What famous companies come from your country? What do they do or make?
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Listening
The Unipart Group of Companies (UGC) is a service provider for clients like
Vodafone, Jaguar, Airbus and HP. It is one of the largest private companies in
the UK.

A) John M. Neill CBE is Group Chief Executive of UGC. Listen to the first
part of the interview and complete these notes about the companys values.
The companys values are:
a clear guiding philosophy: to understand the real and perceived _______ of our
customers better than anyone else, and __________ them better than anyone else;
a corporate _______ that requires us to deliver outstanding personal customer
________ to all of our customers;
a very strong _________ which demands that we, as individuals at every level of
the company work very hard to inspire all our stakeholders, to want to have
a lifetime ______ with our company.
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Listening
B) Now listen to the second part of the interview and answer these questions.

1 What was Peter Druckers warning?

2 When did UGC build its own company university?
3 What is the universitys mission?
4 Why does UGC to help employees reskill themselves?
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Language Focus
Language Focus Present Continuous Tense
We use the present continuous tense to talk about temporary actions
and situations that are happening now.
The factory is working seven days a week.
We are selling in 72 different countries.
What is Jackie doing? She is talking to a customer.

The present continuous tense is formed with be and ing form of the verb.
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Language Focus
Language Focus Present Continuous Tense
a) Complete these sentences with the present continuous form of the
verbs in brackets.
1. BMW is selling (sell) Minis in China now.
2. People _________ (work) in the factory 51 weeks a year.
3. I _________ (call) about a problem.
4. Many Chinese people _________ (learn) English.
5. She is _________ (attend) a course on presentations.
6. He _________ (not work) in the office today.
7. They _________ (entertain) some foreign guests.
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Language Focus
Language Focus Present Continuous Tense
b) Complete the article below about the food group Pret A Manager.
Use the present continuous form of the verbs in the box.
The number of Pret A Manager (PAM) shops _________1 not only in
London, but also in other parts of th UK. At present, PAM _________2 its
overseas business, particularly in China. Currently it _________ 3 its
Advertising material into Chinese. PAM _________4 its winning formula
o Hong Kong and Japan. PAM _________ 5 to open new shops in New York.

increase
increase export
export plan
plan expand
expand translate
translate
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Describing Companies
A) These sentences describe two companies. Autotech and Green
Fingers. Choose pairs of sentences which describe similar things and
match them with the correct company.
AUTOTECH GREEN FINGERS
A large car-parts company A small garden-products company

John Smith started Autotech George and James Hawkins

in 1960. began Green Fingers in the
1.
2.
John Smith started Autotech in 1960.
It has a workforce of 2500.
1920s
7. Green Fingers sells some of its products abroad.
8. It makes garden products.
3. Autotech exports to over 12 countries. 9. George and James Hawkings began GF in the 1920s
4. It manufactures car parts. 10. It makes garden products.
5. It introduces one or two new components 11. It launches 12 new products a year.
each year. 12. Autotech provides components for the car industry.
6. It employs about 35 people.

B) Now underline the verbs which mean the same thing in each pair of sentences.
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Describing Companies
C) Use verbs from Exercise A which you underline to complete this
company profile.
GKS
GKS Services
Services

GKS
GKS Services
Services _______
_______ 11 inin 1989
1989 when
when Dieter
Dieter Norland
Norland left
left his
his job
job as
as an
an engineer
engineer
an
an the
the computer
computer industry.
industry. The
The company
company __________
__________ 22 high-tech
high-tech security
security alarms
alarms
and
and __________3 its produces all over the world. It __________ 4 150 people at
__________3 its produces all over the world. It __________ 4 150 people at
its
its factory
factory near
near Rotterdam,
Rotterdam, although
although the
the companys
companys head
head office
office and
and __________5
__________5
aa staff
staff of
of 20.
20. The
The company
company __________
__________ 66 aa number
number ofof new
new products
products each
each year.
year.
GKS
GKS Services __________ 7 products to the security industry and __________ 88
Services __________ 7 products to the security industry and __________
domestic
domestic alarms
alarms for
for the
the general
general public.
public.
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Reading - Natura
A) In small groups, discuss these questions.
1. What kind of products are often described as natural?
2. In your country, what is important for people when they buy
cosmetics and things like soap, shampoo or toothpaste?
3. Nowadays, many companies want to be ethical i.e., to behave
in a morally right way. What do you think that means in practice?
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Reading - Natura
B) Before you read the article, match the words (1-6) to their
meaning (a-f).
1 toiletries a a group of products of the same type
that a company makes
2 sophisticated b The money a company has after paying
tax and other costs
3 revenues c who know a lot about fashion and the
modern world
4 a range d that you can destroy without making the
environment dirty
5 biodegradable e Things like toothpaste, soap, shampoo,
etc.
6 net income f Money that a business gets from selling
goods over a period of time
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Reading - Natura
C) Look through the article and complete this fact file.
Name: Type of products:

Location: Number of products:

Chief Executive: Revenues:

D) Answer these questions.

1. Where does Natura sell its products?
2. What is the companys target for the next five years?
3. Where does the company get the ingredients for its
products?
4. What makes Natura an ethical company?
5. Why did Natura choose France to find out how successful it
could expand abroad?
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Reading - Natura
E) Match the words (1-5) to the nouns (a-e) to make word
partnerships used in the article.

1 a fast growing a) values

2 chief b) ingredients
3 corporate c) lotion
4 skin-care d) executive
5 natural e) company
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Language Focus Present simple

or continuous
Complete the rules with present simple or present continuous.

We use the __________ to describe permanent situations, one which

wont change.
I work in Paris.

We use the ____________ to describe temporary situations, ones which

happen for a short time.
Im working in Paris.
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Language Focus Present simple

or continuous
A) Underline the present simple or the present continuous form of
the verb to complete these sentences.
A) I stay / am staying at the Ritz every time Im in New York. I
stay / am staying at the Ritz at the moment.
B) She works / is working at home today. She works / is working
at home every day.
C) She often calls / is calling Russia. At the moment she calls /
is calling a customer in Moscow.
D) I dont usually deal /dealing with the paperwork. I deal / am
dealing with all the paperwork while Susan is away.
E) It normally takes / is taking about two months. But this
delivery takes / is taking longer than usual.
F) We normally use / are using a London firm. This time, we use
/ are using a different company.
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Language Focus Present simple

or continuous
B) Complete this article with the present simple or the present
continuous form of the verbs in brackets.

The
The Inditex
Inditex group
group owns
owns 11 (own)
(own) six
six fashion
fashion chains
chains including
including
Zara.
Zara. ItIt __________
__________ 22 (have)(have) around
around 1500
1500 stores
stores worldwide.
worldwide. ItIt
__________
__________ 33 (operate)
(operate) in in 44
44 countries.
countries. Inditex
Inditex __________
__________ 44
(employ)
(employ) 27000
27000 people
people and and __________
__________ 55 (have)
(have) more
more than
than
200
200 fashion
fashion designers.
designers.
Currently,
Currently, thethe fashion
fashion designers
designers __________
__________66 (work)
(work) on
on next
next
years
years designs.
designs. TheThe Inditex
Inditex group
group __________
__________ 77(do) (do) very
very well
well at
at
the
the moment,
moment, and and itit __________
__________88 (try)(try) to
to become
become aa global
global
fashion
fashion leader.
leader.
Amancio
Amancio Ortega,
Ortega, the
the founder
founder of of Inditex,
Inditex, also
also __________
__________ 99
(invest)
(invest) inin property
property and and hotels.
hotels. Most
Most of of this
this years
years investment
investment
__________
__________10 10 (stay)
(stay) inin Spain.
Spain.
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Pairwork Describe your

company
C) Work in pairs. Role play this situation. Student A works at the EBB Bank.
Student B works at the Goldcrest Hotel. Take it in turns to show each
other around your company. Say what happens in each area and what
is happening now.

Use the company information on Page 83 of your text book.

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Skills Starting a Presentation

A) Listen to the start of a presentation. Number these items (a-e)
in the order you hear them.
a) There are three parts to my presentation. Firstly
b) By the end of my presentation you will understand
clearly our future plans.
d) Good afternoon, everyone. My names Richard Valdes. 1

e) Id like to talk to about our new marketing strategy.
f) Finally the details of the costs.

B) Listen again. Match the heading (1-4) to the items (a e) in Exercise A.

1 Topic of the talk 3 Greeting the audience
2 Aim 4 Plan of the talk
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Skills Starting a Presentation

Useful language
Greeting Plan
Good morning / afternoon. Im There are three parts to my presentation.
Hello, everyone. Nice to see you again. My presentation is in three section.
Hi, Im. Good to see you all. Firstly,
Secondly,.
Topic Aims
My subject today is.. By the end of my presentation, you
Id like to talk to you about. Will have a clear idea of
Im going to talk about. By the end of my talk, you will
The subject of my presentation is understand how / why..
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Summary
During this class you have

Used the present continuous tense and present simple

Described companies and their operations
Used common terms for presentations