UNIT 1

BUSINESS AND BUSINESSMAN

A. Warming up Activities

s n
B s e
U i S

g N N T E

A M E A M

Try to make words from the above letters.

Read the text below!

There are many activities suitable for people in the world today. Some people like to be
employers while some people don’t. In fact, all activities are commercial activities, but now if
someone talks about commercial activities, it must be economic activities related to profit and
loss.

Some people define business as an activity or adventure that provides profit. People make
profits when they engage in economic activities such as trading, production, negotiation, and
exploration.

When people do business, we can call him a businessman. To become a businessman, people
must do many things. Before running a business, he must be prepared. The following
questions may help him:
a. What is a good business for us?
b. How much money should be invested?
c. Where the business will be done?
d. What kinds of people do we need?
 B. Language Focus

Language Focus 1: Simple Present Tense

Formula
S + V(-s/es)
V1

Subject Verb The Rest of the sentence

I / you / we / they speak / learn English at home

he / she / it speaks / learns English at home

Function

For repeated or regular actions in the present time period.

I take the train to the office.

The train to Berlin leaves every hour.

For fact

The President of The USA lives in The White House.

A dog has four legs.

Notes:

The spelling for the verb in the third person differs depending on the ending of that verb:

1. For verbs that end in -O, -CH, -SH, -SS, -X, or -Z we add -ES in the third person.

go – goes
catch – catches
wash – washes
kiss – kisses
fix – fixes
buzz – buzzes

2. For verbs that end in a consonant + Y, we remove the Y and add -IES.

marry – marries
study – studies
3. For verbs that end in a vowel + Y, we just add -S.

play – plays
enjoy – enjoys

Task 1
Complete the sentences!

1. Denise (work/always)...........hard. She (be,not)......lazy

2. Mary and Jonathan (want).............to buy a car, but they (have,not)................enough
money
3. Granada Film, part of the Granada Media Group, (produce)............and.............(co-
finance)
a broad range of films for the UK and international markets
4. Due to Expansion, we (recruit).........a Finance Manager with film finance experience,
good communication skills and the ability to work under pressure
5. A pharmaceuticals company (develop)....... and......(manufacture) a wide range of
medicines and it’s currently developing a new drug against asthma.
6. The cable operator companies (provide)....... cable television to thousands and
thousands of homes and they (want).................to expand and they’re developing a new
high-speed internet service
Language Focus 2: Future Will

Formula
S + will + V1

Subject Verb The Rest of the sentence

I / you / we / they Will learn English at home

he / she / it English at home

Function

For expressing future activities

Tono will be a great musician

She will live in UK

Task 2

Put the verbs into the correct form (simple future). Use will

1. You (earn) ………. a lot of money

2. You (travel) ...........around the world
3. You (meet) ...........lots of interesting people
4. I promise I (be/not)......late
5. He (believe/not).........us
6. I (do).......this later
 C. Writing

Read the text below before making your own paragraph!

My name is Rivozanov. I have a lot of dreams. When I was a kid, my dream was to be a pilot,
and as the time goes by, I have other dreams. Sometimes, I want to be a president, an army,
a doctor and other interesting dreams. However, I have grown up. Now, I know what I want
to be.
At this moment, I almost finish my study in a university. I will obtain Bachelor of Science
Information. After I graduate, I want to work in one of the biggest oil companies such as
Chevron, Petronas, Exxon, and etc. I want to be the staff manager or manager at least. I prefer
working offshore to work in the office because it gives me challenge and good salary.

That is just the beginning of my dreams. After I work for 4 or 5 years, I will have a lot of
money. Then, I will quit my job and start a business. I will buy 3 or 4 shops and run my shops.
Further, I will have another business such as futsal court or restaurant. After I run my
business, I will marry a beautiful woman. I will start to have a family and have 2 children. I
will live in a big house with a garden or a pool inside so that my children can play inside my
yard. Finally, I want to take my family to Makkah for ‘umrah’ or ‘hajji’. I think that is all I can
say about my dreams. It is just a simple dream for a simple man like me.

Task 3
Compose similar paragraphs about your dreams. Use tenses written in the Language Focus.
Then, try to speak up in front of the class for telling what you have written!
 D. Reading

The Bank and the Government

Most of the Bank’s day-to-day operations are carried out quite independently of the
government. Its role is quite distinct from that of the Treasury. In general terms, the
Treasury, under the Chancellor of the Exchequer, is responsible for setting the overall
framework of economic and monetary policy, while the Bank is responsible for seeing
that those policies are carried out in the City’s financial markets. Obviously the two
needs to coordinate their activities very closely, and the Treasury frequently looks to the
Bank for advice on monetary and market matters.

In the main, government expenditure is financed by revenues raised from

taxation and other sources. All such receipts are paid into the Bank, which in turn
arranges for the government’s expenditure commitments to be met.

From day to day, the flow of government revenue and expenditure are large and
unpredictable. It is rare for the government’s spending the receipts to balance exactly
on any day. An important part of the Bank’s function therefore is to balance these short
term fluctuations in government finances.

It does this partly from its own resources but mainly by short term borrowing
from and lending to City institutions known as discount houses, who in turn deal with
the banks and other financial institutions. This is done by buying and selling
commercial bills of exchange and Treasury Bills. These are both types of short term
debt, repayable within typically three or six months, and which may be traded on the
money markets many times during their life. This influence over the amount of money
made available to the banking system enables the Bank to influence short term interest
rates.

The Bank also has to carry out regular operations in the foreign exchange
markets. This is because a good many of the government’s transactions are with
overseas governments, suppliers or customers and are hence dominated in foreign
currency. This also involves responsibility for managing the government’s L20 billion
gold and foreign exchange reserves.

The Bank is thus a very significant participant in both the domestic money
markets and the foreign exchange markets. This means it is able to influence interest
rate domestically and, in certain circumstances, to carry out operations in the foreign
exchange markets to smooth fluctuations in the level of sterling. This in turn enables it
to use its market operations to put into effect the government’s policies for interest
rates and the exchange rate, which are the major elements of monetary policy. The
bank and the Treasury therefore, keep in constant and close touch to ensure that they
act together for the benefit of the financial system.
 Quite separately from the management of short-term fluctuations in the flow of its
finances, however, the government also issues longer-term debt, known as ‘gilt-edged
stock.’ This helps to finance the difference between the government revenue and
expenditure. These stocks involve borrowing over anything from five to forty years,
paying interest twice a year. They are bought and sold by a wide range of investors who
include individuals and institutions like pension funds and insurance companies. In
years when the government’s expenditure exceeds its revenue, new issues will be made
to increase the outstanding stock of lending. But in years when revenue exceeds
expenditure – like 1988-89 and 1989-90 – some of these stocks can be repaid early.
Again, it is the responsibility of the Bank of England to arrange and manage this
program of borrowing.

Question

1) What is the function of the Treasury?

2) What is the function of the Bank of England?

3) How is the Government’s expenditure financed?

4) Who handles the government money when it is received, and it is used to pay the
government’s bills?

5) Suppose the government is short of money one day. How is the shortage made up?

6) How much money is there in the gold and foreign exchange reserves?

7) Suppose the bank influences interest rates on the domestic money market to raise the
rate being charged. What effect do you think that will have on business?

8) Suppose the pound is weak on the foreign exchange market. What could the Bank of
England do to strengthen the pound?

9) What is “gilt-edged stock?”

10)Explain the term ‘revenue exceeds expenditure.’ If revenue exceeds expenditure what will
the Bank of England do to use up the money available?
 E. Speaking

Describe a successful businessman that you know. Here, you can choose one of the successful
businessman below, if you want.

Function :

Describing people
Here, you should say :
Grammar :
Who is the person
How you know this person Simple present tense,
How s/he becomes successful Past tense, present
perfect tense, simple,
And explain why you consider him/her as a successful
compound, and complex
business person
sentences

Sample Answer

Mr. Alexander Smith (.../or say a name you prefer...) is a successful businessman I know
about. He is from my hometown and he now owns two groups of industries and the
products line of his companies are famous in our country.
Since he is from the same town where I spent my childhood and teenage time, I have heard a
lot about him and few times i met him as well. He was a son of a successful local
businessman and he inherited his father’s electronic industry many years back. That was just
the starting and over time he has worked really hard and built his empire in the local
business market. In few years he took some giant leapt in his business and lately has been
awarded as one of the business enterpreneur in the country. From the local electronic
business, he had inherited from his father, he gradually and successfully amassed the fortune
and business success and thus has become one of the enviable businessmen in the country.
Taking great decision and gradually enhancing the business was his success mantra.
Everyone in our locality agree that he was an honest, hardworking and wise person who
knew when to take risk and when not to. His timely decision, investment in promising sectors
and hard work have rewarded him well and his industries have made the opportunity for
others to earn their daily bread.