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Unit 5 Big Business
Listening
Audio
Track 4-5-1
Talk 1
Our company employs 100 people from the
local area. It develops and produces wooden
artware
which
it
sells
in
one
of
its
five
city
stores.
Even
without
advertisement,
the
products
are
very
popular
and
the
stores
are
always
busy.
Customers
often
come
directly
to
the
stores
to
make
purchases.
*Talk 2
I’m the Product
Marketing Manager of our company. We are working
on a marketing plan at the
moment.
Before
any
contracts
are
signed,
there
are
a
lot
of
things
we have
to
take
into
careful
consideration.
We
should
know,
for
instance,
the
needs
and
preferences
of
consumers,
the
best
distribution channel,
the governing rules and regulations concerning the
distribution of products,
and the price
at which products can be sold.
**Talk 3
My
employer
is
a
world-leading
information
and
communications
technology
(ICT)
solutions
provider.
The
company
supplies
networking
and
telecommunications
equipment
to
45
of
the
world’s 50 largest
telecom operators. In such a
compet
itive market, the company has to
innovate
to stay ahead. That’s why it
invests heavily in research and development, the
department I work in.
I’m a senior
analyst in the R&D division.
Audio Track 4-5-2/Audio
Track 4-5-3
He may have
been your typical teenager in most ways. But he
was different in one particular way:
he
started his own magazine. At the age of 15 he
managed the magazine called Student. It was
written for and about young people in
school. He was very busy, but it was a satisfying
job.
His
next
business
venture
was
completely
different.
He
and
some
friends
started
a
mail
order
record company. It was
also the same year, 1970, when his music discount
store was opened in
England. It made a
lot of money.
In the early 1990s, he
sold his successful music business and used the
money for another business
idea: an
airline company. And so, Virgin Airways Ltd. was
born. To compete with other airlines,
his company offered good prices to
customers. Today Virgin is known for its excellent
service.
Richard
Branson
now
runs
the
Virgin
Group,
Ltd.
He
employs
50,000
people
and
in
many
different
fields, such as book publishing, financial
services, modeling, and even bridal services!
Not bad for a teenager from the UK who
dreamed of editing his own magazine!
Audio Track 4-5-4/Audio Track 4-5-5
Host: Welcome back to “You
Snooze, You Lose!” the best game show on
television! This is our
final round.
Let me remind you of the rules. We will show an
object for a couple of seconds. It’s
your job to guess what it is. Michael?
Linda? Are you ready to play?
Michael &
Linda: Yes!!
Host: OK, then, let’s play
”You Snooze, You Lose!” Show us item number
one.
Host: Yes, Michael?
Michael: I know what they are. They’re
called “cams” and they’re used in mountain
climbing.
Host: That’s right
for one point! They’re used to hold climbing
ropes. All right then, here’s our
second object. Yes, Linda?
Linda: Is it some kind of tool?
Host: Can you be more specific?
Linda: I don’t know ... a tool used to
fix some kind of machine?
Host: No, I’m
sorry. It’s a nose and ear hair
trimmer. Next … item number three. Do you have any
idea? Time is up. Since no one guessed,
I’ll tell you the answer. Those are called Hopi
ear candles.
Linda: You
stick them in your ears?
Host: That’s
right. They are used to clean out your ears. They
also help to relax you. Let’s move
on
to item number four. Here it is.
Michael: That’s obvious. It’s a
corkscrew. You use it to open bottles.
Host: Yes, that’s correct! It’s a
mini
-travel corkscrew. You can pack it
in your suitcase. Oh, no!
You know what
that means! We’re out of time. Michael, with two
correct answers, you are today’s
winner! Congratulations! And before we
leave, let me show the remaining objects. Item
number
five is an egg slicer. Item
number six is a tongue scraper
—
make sure to
use it so that you don’t
have bad
breath! That’s all the time we have for today. See
you next time on “You Snooze, You
Lose!” Goodbye everybody!
Audio Track 4-5-6/Audio
Track 4-5-7
Microsoft
Corporation
Microsoft
Corporation
is
a
multinational
computer
technology
corporation
that
develops,
manufactures,
licenses,
and
supports
a
wide
range
of
software
products
for
computing
devices.
Headquartered in
Redmond, Washington, USA, its best selling
flagship products are the Microsoft
Windows
operating
system
and
the
Microsoft
Office
suite.
Microsoft
ships
products
to
Europe,
Asia, and Latin
America.
Microsoft was founded by Bill
Gates and Paul Allen on April 4, 1975. In the
mid-1980s, it rose to
dominate the home
computer operating system market with MS-DOS.
Since 1985, Microsoft has
released an
upgrading line of Windows operating systems
featuring a friendly user interface. The
latest one, Windows 7, was released in
October 2009 and has sold 600 million copies to
date. A
more powerful one, Windows 8,
is to be released in late 2012. It is reported
that this product can
deliver a fast
and fluid experience, along with a new user
interface that responds equally well to
touch as it does to keyboard and mouse.
As one commentator notes, Microsoft’s
original mission was “a computer on every
desk and in
every
home,
running
Microsoft
software,”
and
now
it
is
a
goal
near
fulfillment.
Microsoft
also
makes
profits
in
other
markets
such
as
computer
hardware
products
and
home
entertainment
products.
Audio Track 4-5-8/Audio
Track 4-5-9
A different
kind of holiday: Shop less, live more!
Advertising is everywhere. It’s on race
cars and subway trains, on T
-shirts and
billboards. Every
day, you see hundreds
of ads, and each advertiser wants you to buy their
product. But do we really
need all
these products? A group in Canada says “No.” In
1991, they started an event called Buy
Nothing
Day,
to
protest
against
consumerism
and
waste.
Every
year,
on
the
last
Friday
in
November,
no
one
should
spend
any
money
for
24
hours.
The
event
has
spread
to
over
15
countries
around the world, including Japan, Australia, and
the United Kingdom.
In the United
States, Buy Nothing Day takes place on the Friday
after the Thanksgiving holiday.
This is
usually the busiest day of the year in department
stores and shopping malls. Traditionally,
it’s the first day of the Christmas
shopping season, when Americans buy gifts for
family and close
friends.
However,
this
“season”
has
grown
longer
every
year.
Now
some
stores
put
up
their
Christmas
window displays in
the middle of October, and Americans are pressured
to buy gifts for every one
of their
relatives, for all of their coworkers, and for
everyone they do business with. Many people
feel
that
they
are
forgetting
the
real
significance
of
the
holidays,
because
companies
just
want
them to
spend more money.
Of course, Buy
Nothing Day supporters don’t want to change just
one day. They want the change
to
continue all year. But if we take a break from
shopping on one day, we can start thinking about
wh
at
we
really
need
in
life.
Michael
Smith,
British
organizer
of
Buy
Nothing
Day,
says:
“Our
message is clear: Shop less, live
more!”
Audio
Track 4-5-10/Audio Track 4-5-11
Ad or no ad?
Is
advertising
really
necessary?
Billions
of
dollars
are
spent
on
it
every
year,
so
it
must
be
important. After all, it’s a busy
world. You have to advertise, sell products, and
make money!
Not every
company thinks that way. The NO-
AD
company (“no
-
ad” stands for
“not advertised”)
avoids big
advertising campaigns. The company was started in
1960 and is successful today. Their
products are still affordable because
the company saves money on advertising. They also
use their
savings to support a drug and
alcohol awareness program to educate high school
students.
NO-AD
sells
by
wor
d
of
mouth.
“Word
-of-
mouth
advertising”
happens
when
a
person
tells
another person about a
good experience with a product or service. That
second person then tells
another
friend, family member, or colleague. And so a
chain of information is created.
Typic
ally, advertisers talk
about how good their product is. Although they say
things like, “Studies
show
that
our
product
is
the
best,”
or
“Everyone
loves
this
product,”
it
can
sound
insincere
or
unconvincing. It’s much
more believable to hear about a product
from someone who did not make
it.
Our
friends’
opinions
are
very
important
to
us,
so
we
often
listen
to
their
advice
about
a
product.
Word-
of-
mouth advertising has other
advantages, too. It’s
cost
-
effective (after all,
it’s free) and a
company doesn’t
have
to create a complex business plan
to do it. Here is some advice for small
business about word-of-mouth
advertising:
?
Be
prepared
to
talk
about
your
company
at
any
time.
You
never
know
who
you
will
meet.
Always
carry business cards.
? Only say
positive things about your company. Don’t say
negative things about your company.
? Help other
companies by
referring
people
to
them.
The
more
you
help
others,
the
more
good
fortune will come back
to you.
Speaking &
Communication
Audio Track
4-5-12
Noun: He gave me a
beautiful present.
Verb: Tomorrow I
will present my ideas to the board of directors.
Audio Track 4-5-13
1. a. I buy my produce at
the market.
b. We produce stereos and
CD players.
2. a. No one buys records
anymore.
b. I like to record my voice
and listen to it.
3. a. I can’t deliver
it without an address.
b.
You need to address the envelope.
Audio Track 4-5-14
Host: So, welcome to our show. Why
don’t you tell our listeners who you are and what
you do.
Woman: My name is
Beverly Smith. I’m the CEO for
TalkBack
Communications.
Host: Can you tell us
about your company?
Woman: Certainly.
Our company was founded in 1995. We’re based in
New York City. We have
about 10,000
employees worldwide.
Host: What does
your company do?
Woman: We do business
in a large number of fields, such as
telecommunications and computers.
Our
main area of business is new cell phone
technology.
Host: I hear your company
is doing quite well.
Woman: Well, we
made over five million dollars profit last year.
Experts say our company will