1、English for Business Studies Key to Unit 01: The three sectors of the economyThis unit covers a lot of basic vocabulary concerning developed economies much of it in an extract from a well-known British novel. It also discusses the evolution of the economy of most of the older industrialized countrie
2、s, with the decline of manufacturing industry and its replacement by services. There is an extract from a magazine interview with an economist and an interview with a British Member of Parliament on this issue. 1a Vocabulary p09Identify the most prominent features in this photograph, which illustrat
3、es various important elements of the infrastructure of a modern industrialized country.The photo clearly shows a large factory (the Unilever factory in Warrington, England) in the center, with more factories, industrial units, or warehouses in the top right-hand corner. The large factory seems to in
4、clude some office buildings. Also visible are agricultural land (in the background; the land in the foreground doesnt appear to be cultivated), a river, a railway and several roads, and housing, perhaps with a school in the center of the housing estate top left.1b Reading p10What is the key point th
5、at this extract is making about economies?The text suggests that most people take for granted the amazing complexity of the economic infrastructure.1c Comprehension p111.In lines 4-7, Robyn sees examples of all three. What are they?Tiny fields (the primary sector), factories (the secondary sector),
6、and railways, motorways, shops, offices, and schools (the tertiary sector).2.The long sentence from lines 12-28 lists a large number of operations belonging to the different sectors of the economy. Classify the 18 activities from the passagePrimary sector: digging iron ore, mining coal.Secondary sec
7、tor: assembling, building, cutting metal, laying cables, milling metal, smelting iron, welding metal.Tertiary sector: advertising products, calculating prices, distributing added value, maintenance, marketing products, packaging products, pumping oil, transportation.3.Can you think of three importan
8、t activities to add to each list (not necessarily in relation to the kettle)?Primary sector: farming (agriculture), fishing and forestrySecondary sector: manufacturing, transforming and processingTertiary sector: financing, designing, retailing2a Reading p121.Why do people worry about the decline of
9、 manufacturing?Because they think it will lead to unemployment.2.Which activities are as important as the production of goods?Designing goods, persuading people to buy them; arts and entertainment.3.Should people worry about this state of affairs?No, because it is a natural, progressive and inevitab
10、le development.2b Listening p13Listen to a short interview with Denis MacShane, a British Member of Parliament for the Labor Party. Does he hold the same view as J. K. Galbraith?Denis MacShane quite clearly disagrees with Galbraith.1.Why does MacShane think that manufacturing has a future?Because th
11、ere are many new products that have to be invented to serve new needs.2.Why does MacShane think that manufacturing has a future in the advanced countries?Because these countries have production technology that requires very little labor input.3.Why, however, is this manufacturing unlikely to solve t
12、he problem of unemployment?Precisely because it requires very little labor input.4.What does MacShane mean by in theory there should be no more manufacturing in Switzerland? (It is this theory that makes many people argue that manufacturing must move to less-developed countries.)The conventional the
13、ory is that the most important cost in manufacturing is labor, and wages and salaries in Switzerland are the highest in the world. (As is the cost of living!)5.Why does he say it is surprising for a British company to be buying Swiss goods?Because the pound sterling has, over the years, lost a great
14、 deal of value against foreign currencies, especially the Swiss franc.6.What is the reason he gives for the United States still being the richest nation in the world?It has a successful manufacturing economy, including its computer and car (automobile) industries.7.Match up the following expressions
15、 and definitions:1.to convert itself. B/ to change from one thing to another2.to serve needs D/ to satisfy peoples desires or requirements3.Labor input A/ manual work4.to stumble on E/ to discover something by accident5.to be dubious C/ to be uncertain, disbelieving2c Writing p13Summarize both Gallb
16、raiths and MacShanes arguments in a short paragraph of fewer then 50 words.A POSSIBLE SUMMARY Galbraith says that manufacturing industry will inevitably decline in the advanced industrial countries, and be replaced by design, advertising, entertainment, and so on. MaShane says that manufacturing wil
17、l change, and make new products with new technology.New words in this unit 01agriculture, business, company, consumer, economic, economy, employment, goods, industry, infrastructure, labour, manufacturing, primary sector, product, raw materials, secondary sector, tertiary sector, unemploymentUnit 2
18、ManagementManagement is important. The success or failure of business organizations, government institutions and public sector services, voluntary and non-profit organizations, sports teams, and so on, often depends on the quality of their management. This unit includes a discussion of the qualities
19、 required by managers, a definition of management, consideration of the role of the meetings in management, a critical view of the management of one large American multinational company, and an interview with the manager of a British department store, who discusses his job.Before the discussion on t
20、he qualities required by managers and the definition of management, maybe we can discuss the cartoon. Whats the joke? We can assume that Mr. Farvis runs this company (his name is on the door). What can we say about his managerial skills, or his apparent lack of them? Discuss in pairs for two minutes
21、 what exactly managers do, concerning organizing, setting objectives, allocating tasks and resources, communicating, motivating, and so on.1a DiscussionWhat is management? Is it an art or a science? An instinct or a set of skills and techniques that can be taught?Management is a mixture of innate qu
22、alities and learnable skills and techniques.What do you think makes a good manager? Which four of the following qualities do you think are the most important?Being decisive: able to make quick decisionsBeing efficient: doing things quickly, not leaving tasks unfinished, having a tidy desk, and so on
23、Being friendly and sociableBeing able to communicate with people -Being logical, rational and analyticalBeing able to motivate and inspire and lead people -Being authoritative: able to give ordersBeing competent: knowing ones job perfectly, as well as the work of ones subordinates -Being persuasive:
24、 able to convince people to do thingsHaving good ideas -Are there any qualities that you think should be added to this list?Which of these qualities can be acquired? Which must you be born with?There are clearly no definitive answers as to which of these skills can be acquired.1b ReadingPeter Drucke
25、r, the (Austrian-born) American management professor and consultant, is the author of many books about business. This text summarizes some of Peter Druckers views on management. It paraphrases the extended definition of management he gives in one of his management textbooks. As you read about his de
26、scription of the work of a manager, decide whether the five different functions he mentions require the four qualities you selected in your discussion, or others you did not choose. What is management?Druckers first point (setting objectives and developing strategies) presumably requires qualities J
27、, H, E and A (not necessarily in that order). The second point (organizing) presumably also requires H, E and J. The third point (motivation and communication) embraces F, D, I and probably C. The fourth point (measuring performance) probably requires H and E. The fifth point (developing people) mig
28、ht require H, F, D and J. But all this is clearly open to discussion.1c VocabularyComplete the following sentences with these words.Achieved; board of directors; communicate; innovations; manageable; performance; resources; setting; supervise1.managers have to decide how best to allocate the human,
29、physical and capital resources available to them.2.Managers - logically have to make sure that the jobs and tasks given to their subordinates are manageable.3.There is no point in setting objectives if you dont communicate them to your staff.4.Managers have to supervise their subordinates, and to me
30、asure, and try to improve, their performance.5.Managers have to check whether objectives and targets are being achieved.6.A top manager whose performance is unsatisfactory can be dismissed by the companys board of directors.7.Top managers are responsible for the innovations that will allow a company
31、 to adapt to a changing world.1d VocabularyThe text contains a number of common verb-noun partnerships (e.g. achieve objectives, deal with crises, and so on). Match up these verbs and nouns to make common collocations.Allocate resources (or people)Communicate information (or decisions)Develop strate
32、gies (or people or subordinates)Make decisions Measure performanceMotivate peoplePerform jobsSet objectives Supervise subordinates2 MeetingsOne can either work or meet. One cannot do both at the same time. (Peter Drucker: An Introductory View of Management)What do you think Peter Drucker means by th
33、is comment?Drucker obviously believes that work is largely something that is done individually, and that meetings are not work, but merely preparation for it, or consolidation after it.2a Reading p18Read the computer journalist Robert X. Cringelys description of the management style at IBM. Is he po
34、sitive or negative about IBMs working culture?Robert Cringelys history of the personal computer industry is very informative, in places very critical, and also very funny. In this extract, he is extremely negative about IBM, saying that they put much too much effort into management and worrying abou
35、t the possibility of making bad decisions, and not enough into producing good, competitively-priced products.2b ComprehensionExplain in your own words exactly what Robert Cringely means in the following sentences.1.Every IBM employees ambition is apparently to become a manager.It seems as if the peo
36、ple who work for IBM are more interested in being regarded as a manager than as a computer designer or technician2.IBM makes management the companys single biggest business.IBMs corporate culture seems to place more emphasis on management than on developing and selling the companys products.3.IBM ex
37、ecutives manage the design and writing of software.IBMs managers dont actually do the work of designing and writing software themselves, but organize and supervise the people who do it.4.IBM products arent often very competitive.IBM products are rarely as good or as dheap as similar products made by
38、 their competitors5.The safety net at IBM is so big it is hard to make a bad decision.There is an extensive hierarchy and a system of checks and controls which ensures that bad decisions are generally avoided (but good decisions also take a very long time to make).6.This will be the source of the co
39、mpanys ultimate downfall.The slowness of IBMs decision-making process (and the consequent lack of competitiveness of their products) will eventually destroy the company.2c Vocabulary p18Find word in the text that mean the same as the words or expressions below.1.seemingly puter programs software3.wo
40、rk, time and energy puters (and other machines) hardware5.young workers still learning their jobs trainees6.knowledge and skill expertise7.levels or strata layers8.to make certain that something is true verify9.corrected or slightly changed amended10. collapse or failure downfall3 The retail sectorY
41、ou will hear part of an interview with Steve Moody, the manager of the Marks others may envisage more specialized careers in a particular function such as marketing, finance, computing, accounting, and so on, which will not involve managing and coordinating a large number of people and operations.Ne
42、w words in this unit 02Allocate, banker, board of directors, chairman, competitive, customer, director, distributor, function, hardware, innovation, investor, logistics, manageable, management, manager, measure, meeting, merchandise, motivate, objective, organization, pay, performance, promotion, re
43、sources, software, staff, strategy, subordinate, supervise, supplier, tactics, team, top manager, trainee.Unit 3 Company structureOne of the most important tasks for the management of any organization employing more than a few people is to determine its organizational structure, and to change this w
44、hen and where necessary. This unit contains a text which outlines the most common organizational systems and exercise which focuses on the potential conflicts among the different departments of a manufacturing organization, an example of an organization chart, and a critical look at the flexible org
45、anizational structure of an American computer company.1a DiscussionThis discussion activity follows on naturally from activity 3d in the previous unit, about managing companies or having more limited responsibilities in a particular department.1b Vocabulary1. Autonomous: C independent, able to take
46、decisions without consulting a higher authority2. Decentralization: E dividing an organization into decision-making units that are not centrally controlled.3. Function: B a specific activity in a company, e.g. production, marketing, finance4. Hierarchy: A system of authority with different levels, o
47、ne above the other.5. Line authority: F the power to give instructions to people at the level below in the chain of command6. Report to: G to be responsible to someone and to take instructions from him or her7. Subordinates: D people working under someone else in a hierarchy1c ReadingThe text summar
48、izes the most common ways in which companies and other organizations are structured, and mentions the people usually credited with inventing functional organization and decentralization. It mentions the more recent development of matrix management, and a well-known objection to it. How arte most org
49、anizations structured?Most companies are too large to be organized as a single hierarchy. The hierarchy is usually divided up. In what way?What are the obvious disadvantages of functional structure?(Discuss briefly in pairs) give some examples of standard conflicts in companies between departments with different objectivesAre there any other ways of organizing companies that might solve these problems?A. Functional structureB. Matrix structureC. Line structureD. Staff structureBritish: personnel department = American:
