102 1 | Practice file Working with words 1 Complete these sentences with the verbs from the lis. Change the form of the verb if necessary. build (x2) process form manage take read keep (x2) give weigh up work 1 Jens found it very difficult to the situation at MMK ~ he couldn't understand what was going on at al 2 Ifyou want to __ good relationships with clients from other cultures, you need to inform yourself about their customs and ways of doing things. 3. Before relocation, we the pros and cons of staying in our own country or moving to a new location ‘with lower costs 4. Lean't give you a final decision until 've all the information you sent me, 5 ru ‘my eyes open when I goto that meeting in ‘Tokyo so I can learn more about office etiquette there 6 Here in the south, we like to our time to get to know people before we do business with them, 7 Some people an opinion of a company based on first impressions, so the attitude and behaviour of reception staffis very important, 8 My six-month placement with ACI____ me an Insight into how business is conducted in India 9 Erik will be managing @ multicultural team so he'll need 0 his intercultural skills 10 Sanjt’s move to the European office will_____ both ‘ways he'lllearn about our culture and we'll get extra, help with the project. 11. Forme, the hardest part of doing business in a different culture is ‘unknowns ~ I dont like dealing with unfamiliar situations 12 Petra ‘an open mind while she was investigating the cause of the communication breakdown - she wanted to talk to everyone before she reported to the CEO. 2 Replace the words / phrases in italics with the adjectives from the list. Make any changes that are necessary. out-ofthe-way outspoken run-of-the-mill downtoearth unexpected low-key up-and-coming time-consuming easy-going open-minded — tedious 1 Samis very practical and sensible which helps us keep things in perspective when there are problems in the office. 2 DDM'snew office buildingis attractive, but it's quite dificult togetto ‘and doesn't have good transport links 3 Iwas open and honest plan and this offended my hosts. in my criticism ofthe 4 dont like to attract alot of attention so my retirement party was simple and not extravagant 5 The position they offered was not particularly interesting in fact it was rather ordinary 6 One of the most surprising things was the number of times meetings were rescheduled at the last 7. My manager has a relaxed attitude towards timekeeping so I don't have to worry if 'm late for work. 8 This project is taking a lot of time the results will pay of so hopefully 9 We prefer to do business with companies that are willing to listen to different ideas ‘and not afraid ta take risks, 410 Sometimes the fact that he isso confident in himself does come across as arrogance. 11. They've just opened a new branch in an area of town that is growing in popularity 12 Data entry is one of the more boring and repetitive aspects ofthe job. es Business communication skills 1. Sonia and Luis are discussing Luis’ visit toa potential site for the company. Choose the best answer from the words in italics. Sonia How did you feel about the beach site? Luis I've got to say that I'm not 100% lagreed / convinced / decided. | mean, it’s beautiful. But i's more ofa holiday resort than a business centre. There's too much of a holiday feeling -and its not even especially close to the airport Allin al, it’s going to be a bit more complicated than we “anticipated / considered / proposed. Sonia I see. What about the potential pitfalls? What's your impression of the local workforce, for instance? Luis Well, shouldn't / wouldn't / didn't go so far as to say that they don't speak English at all, but [did run into @ couple of problems. ‘I'm saying not / I'm not 0 say / I'm rot saying it’s abad thing that their French is better than their English, it's just that English will be a major factor as well,s0 'm abit Saware / careful / wary ofthat. ' do ‘more research if you want, but I can't promise Snothing / something / anything. I'm abit reluctant to recommend the site at this stage. Sonia What about the city-centre site?Luis 1 Tought to / ‘ve goto / shal say that I've never seen ‘anywhere quite like it, I'm totally convinced by its potential, as it's really got everything you could ask for ’m sure you'll agree thatthe loca facilities are first class. ‘There's also an old factory which 'm fully °confident / assured / insured we can acquire and refit Sonia I'm not sure whether the budget will stretch Luis That's not San explanation / a reason / a rationale to delay. As youll see from my projected figures, the price of the disused factory is a bargain! We “can't / mustn't / don't go wrong! Sonia Then that shouldn't be a problem. Correct the mistake in each sentence 1 I'm not just 100% convinced good idea, but Tmean, theoretically it's a 2. I'm fully sure that you'll agree to the proposal 3 Tobe just, the whole matter could have been worse 4 [collected from your report that he would not be coming. 5 I wouldnt go so much as to say that I think itis fantastic, but it certainly has potential, 6 From how I could see, there are already several established retail outlets. Report these statements as indicated in brackets, 1 The meeting went much better than expected. (reporting 2 personal observation) 2 The trip did not go as planned and [had a lot of problems, (avoiding being negative) Language at work 1. Choose the correct answer from the words in italics to complete these extracts from a company’s strategy statement, 1. We are growing / grow our business by adapting what ‘makes / has made our business @ success in the UK in recent years to our other international markets, 2. We have expanded / will have expanded our Dutch ‘operations with a move into retail banking, Initial figures have been / were very promising. 3 The fall in our share price reflects /is reflecting problems in the markets, and in the last year we have continued / continue to outperform the stock market overall 4 Ian Opie takes / will have taken over as CEO on 1 March 2011, when Rita Flagstad is stepping / has stepped down after eight years in the job. 2_ Read Xavier's notes for his conference presentation. Correct his use of tenses where necessary. 1 We are completing the second phase by the end of April next year. 2 We have originally hoped to commission Meyer for the redesign, but their books are full until 2012. 3 As the project nears completion, I'd lke to thank all those who had been working on it and are here today. 4. Itake questions at the end of this presentation, if you don't mind waitin tll then, 2 3 3 = ® a » ° 8 = 2 a 2 a 5. Iwanted to show a short video now, but there's seeming tobe some kind of technica fault, so bear with me. 6 We will have sent these figures to you by email after the presentation, so don't worry about them now. 3 The proposed site would be perfect for the company. (being persuasive) 4 The project is going fairly well. (reporting from another source) 7 Til now be handing over to Carla. She worked on this area ofthe project for the last six months 8 Our sales have levelled off for some years, but now they're growing rapidly agai, 9 That's a very good question, Actually, I thought about this in the tax! from the airport. 103126 Language reference Unit 1 | Tenses Present simple Use the present simple 1 to talk abou general facts, states, and situations ‘The purpose of busines i to make a prot 2 to talk about regular or repeated actions, or permanent situations Jack works for Nissan 3 to talk about timetabled future events The meeting starts at 10.00, Present continuous Use the present continuous 1 to talk about an action in progress at the time of speaking / writing Tm trying o et through to Jon Berks. 2 to tak about a very current activity, taking place around the time of speaking They are pushing the area for development 3 to talk about fixed plans or arrangements in the future 1am meeting the management committee on Friday. Watch outt Don't forget that stative verbs are not commonly used inthe continuous form, Here are some examples: ike, lave, hate, ‘want, need, know, suppose, understand, remember, seem. Present perfect simple Use the present perfect simple 1 to talk about actions which finished recently and for which there is a present result Recent action: The IT guys have changed al he PCs and access codes. Result: New PCs and access codes. 2 to talk about actions that started in the past and are still going on ‘Sivio has worked for us since he left school 3 to talk about experiences in your life or events in history ve never been to Bahrain Present perfect continuous Use the present perfect continuous to talk about a recently ccampleted action. The focus is on the activity, not the result. The IT guys have been changing ll te PCs and access coe. (lmplication: There ar sill wires an tools lying around showing that they have only ust finished) Past simple Use the past simple 1 to talk about past actions which are over atthe time of speaking heard from the locals that thee were several interesting sites 2 to talk about past states [lived in Haringey when I worked in the City Past continuous Use the past continuous to talk about being in the middle of a past action ~ there is ikely tobe an interruption (in the past simple) in the sentence, Everything was going really smoothly, when Wu took ove the project. Past perfect Use the past perfect to put events in the past in sequence. The past perfect indicates that the action it refers to happened before a reference to the past simple. ‘Thad heard from the locals that there were several interesting sites Past perfect continuous Use the past perfect continuous to refer to an action in progress before something else happened, “He was the one who had been working on the projet, but his boss was the one who got al the credit Should 1 Use should + infinitive to recommend something strongly. You should try that vegetarian restaurant on the river 2 Use should + perfect infinitive to talk about a lost opportunity You should have gone this morning —it was uite an interesting meeting, 3 Use could / should + infinitive to predict ‘It eould / should turn out be quite an interesting conference. Future forms 1 Use will+ infinitive to make on-the-spot decisions, Well have to point out the traning need tothe client. 2 Use be going to+ infinitive when we are talking about an action wwe have already given some thought to. We're going to have to point out the taining need othe client 3 Use the future continuous to talk about something that will be in progress ata particular time in the future, 1 willbe writing everything up later tis week 4 Use the future perfect to refer to events which finish before a ven time, wl have fhe by the nd of he net rani yea ) For more on the future, see Language reference Unit 3 ‘on page 127, Unit 2 | Expressing attitudes to the past Third conditional 1 Use the thied conditional to talk about past situations that did not happen. [you had chased up the reference, you would have known not 10 employ him. 2 Note that only the situation in the clause with had (the ifclause) ‘must be inthe past. The other situation can be past, present, or future: something that did not happen, or is not happening, or will not happen, but whichis seen to be linked with the situation inthe if-clause. If Thad got te job at Cheeo, I would have been made redundant ‘when the company folded. (pas situation, past esl) If Thad got that job, I would have been able to afford to buy property by now. (past situation, present resul) 1f Thad got tha ob, I would have been able to retire in two years’ time, (past situation, future result)