-

MODULE

10

BUSINESS

TOPIC

10.1

Travel and entertainment

VOCABULARY

Business travel

1

Do you agree with this view?

‘

I can see a trend, executives want to save costs on business

travel ,and connecting people virtually is becoming more

affordable.

’

2

Study the phrases in the does each one

mean?How is it pronounced?

commute

subsidised transport

congestion

give a lift to someone

rush hour

teleconferencing

car share scheme

travel expenses

3

Which of these statements do you sympathise with?

1

Spending two hours each day commuting to and from

work really affects people

’

s quality of life.

2

It

’

s fair that the company should subsidise travel for

people who commute a long way to work.

Learning Tip

3

If more people worked flexibly we could avoid

congestion and rush hours.

Try to use idiomatic

4

I don

’

t mind giving a colleague a lift to work now and

phrases when

then but I couldn

’

t take part in a car share scheme. I

expressing opinions:

enjoy that hour to myself in the mornings.

eg I couldn

’

t agree

5

Air travel is too and

more ;I

’

d go along

teleconferencing is the only way forward.

with that;Actually,

6

It

’

s the duty of every employee to manage their business

that

’

s not the way I

travel expenses as if it were their own money.

see it,etc.

4

Discuss the following questions.

1

How do you get to work / college each day?

2

Why do you use this from of transport ?

3

Do you pay for your own travel?

5

As the new manager of the support services at

Sterrman, Engineering firm, you have been asked to

reduce spending on travel and entertainment .

Suggest a policy to tackle each of the problems below.

Current situation

1

The company owns and maintains a fleet of 35

company cars for the sales team.

2

The company pays for business class tickets on both

long and short flights.

3

The use of expensive restaurants to entertain guests

and clients is very common.

4

The company spends a lot on hiring outside rooms for

meetings and conferences.

Compare your answers with a partner.

LISTENING

A team-building day

6

A lot of companies use team-building events ,such as

canoeing events,treasure hunts,company role plays,etc.

______.

But what should their aim be?Prioritise(1-7)the

following aims.

A

generally getting to know each other better

B

breaking down formal barriers between management

and employees

C

bringing out the best qualities in each individual

D

helping people to feel better about themselves

E

distinguishing leaders from followers

F

increasing loyalty to the company

G

helping to remember that there

’

s more to life than just

work

7

Is there some other benefit that hasn

’

t been mentioned

Above?

8

10.1

Your company has organised a team-building day

at Silverstone Motor Racing Circuit. You have been

asked to attend a short presentation of the programme

for the day. Listen and complete your notes. Use up to

three words for each space.

Team-building day

The aims

0

The aim is not only to

have a good time .

1

To

learn

how

each

individual

think,functions

and

2

This new understanding will make us_______________.

The schedule

3

Meet at the office at ___________________.

4

The journey will take ___________________.

5

For the activities we will be divided into_____________.

6

At lunch there will be a surprise _________________.

7

After the afternoon

’

s activities there will be a ________.

Preparation

8

Dress__________________.

9

In case of cold bring a jumper or___________________.

10

No mobile phones, laptops, but can bring ____________.

The home of British Motor Racing

9

What do you think the activities at the circuit will be exactly?

GRAMMAR

Future forms

1

Look at the verb forms in these sentences(1-6).What

Form is used to express the following about the future?

Future forms

a

an offer

Learning Tip

Note the use of the

present when two

Clauses about the

future are connected

with when or another

time phrase.

I will see him.I will

give him your

message

._

_

When

I

see

him, I

’

ll give him

your message.

b

a decision already taken

c

an arrangement

d

a schedule

e

a general prediction

f

a confident prediction

1

The day

will begin

with a working breakfast at eight

o

’

clock after which delegates will have 30 minutes of

free time before the first seminar at 10 o

’

clock.

2

We

’

re not going to have

a Christmas party this year;

instead we are going to give the money we would have

spent to a charity.

3

She

’

s not easy to convince,is she?I can see this

is going

to be

a very long discussion.

4

Don

’

t worry, I

’

ll take

the laptop with

’

s one less

thing for you to remember.

5

I

’

m meeting

him at his office at 6.30 and then we

’

re

eating at a Greek restaurant in the city center.

6

I think he

’

ll find

it difficult to adapt to his new role,

because he

’

s used to being independent.

2

You colleague has written this email for an agent in

you send it, she has asked you to put

verbs she

’

s not sure about in the most natural form.

Dear Jim

Thank you for your email, asking about our plans for

next year.

I (0) will do my best to explain the situation.

I agree that this year has been disappointing,but we

expect that sales (1)________(pick up)next

result of our marketing meeting last week is that we (2)

__________(launch) the new version of the DCT10 in

Asia next spring. From the feedback we

’

ve had in Europe,

I

’

m sure it (3) _______(be) a great success.

The International Gas Industry Trade Fair (4)_______

(take place)

in Singapore next March.I (5)______(fly)

out there with Jane on 16 March and I hope to have a

couple of days extra to see some agents, but I (6)_____

(call) you when I (7)_______(have) my exact schedule,

so that we can arrange to meet.

In the meantime,let me know if you(8)_______(visit) the

UK any time soon. Then we can arrange to meet for a

meal and a chat.

Best wishes

Sarah

READING

Events management

3

Do you think being responsible for organising corporate events,

Sponsorship,parties and team-building events in a dream job?

Why?/Why not?

4

Read the article from a business magazine about organising

corporate events.

●

Choose the best sentence from those below

(A-H)

to fill each of

the gaps in the test.

●

Do not use any letter more than once.

●

There is an example at the beginning

(0

)

HOW TO MANAGE AN EVENT

How would be an events organiser?On the face of it ,playing

‘

my genial host

’

to

a

group

of

freeloading

clients

doesn

’

t

seem

too

arduous

a

task.

But

the

amount

of

stress

experienced

in

getting

ready

for

it

and

the

real

and

ever-present

danger

of

something going horribly wrong make it a job only for those with nerves of steel.

(0)E

The list is endless.

Corporate

hospitality

events

should

be

an

opportunity

to

relax

with

your

customers and get away from business,but instead they actually expose a company to

close

scrutiny

by

its

most

valued

audience

and

leave

a

lasting

impression

in

their

minds .Done well ,the client is left with the image of a creative ,fun and professional

organisation.

(1)______

Worse

still

,you

might

offend:the

company

who

arranged

a

James

Bond

theme

night

that

started

with

a

group

of

international

guests

being

greeted by bikini-clad

‘

Bond girls

’

should have known better.

The

first

consideration

is

what

the

aim

of

the

event

is

:to

launch

a

new

product ,to develop awareness of the company

’

s mission, to build relationships with

new clients or just to thank existing ones for their continued custom .

(2)_____

__For

the latter you won

’

t necessarily have to spend excessively to get it right ,but you will