Speaking

Task 22. a) Read and translate the text.

TEACAKE WRANGLE

The European Court of Justice has ruled that British retailer, Marks & Spencer, can claim back £3.5m in overpaid VAT on teacakes.

For years, the British tax authorities defined a chocolate teacake as a biscuit - which attracts a sales tax - rather than a cake, which does not. So when is a cake not a biscuit?

Teacakes are not made out of tea but many British people enjoy eating them while drinking a cup of tea. The chocolate teacake, which has been discussed by international lawyers for more than a decade now, is made by a leading supermarket chain, Marks & Spencer. It’s got a shortbread base, a marshmallow type filling and a chocolate shell. So the key question has been - does that make it a cake or a biscuit? Long ago the British tax authorities decided it was a biscuit, a luxury food eligible for sales tax. The supermarket insisted it was a cake, a basic food which is exempt from tax.

The argument has been through many courts and the latest ruling from the European Court of Justice seems to come down on the cake side of the argument. Marks & Spencer should get a tax refund, said the judges. But it’s not over yet. The European Court says - “Ultimately, it’s for the British authorities to decide the matter…”

Marks & Spencer gave the decision a cautious welcome; in the meantime it continues to sell the teacakes and its customers can go on enjoying them regardless of the bitter legal argument that they have caused.(from the British press)

b) Answer the questions:

1. What is a teacake? What is it made of?

2. How do British authorities define the teacake?

3. How is it classified by the producer?

4. What is VAT?

5. How much VAT do Marks & Spencer claim back?

6. What is the latest decision of the court?

7. Do you agree with the decision of the court?

8. Do you think it is a common or a rare case?

c) Comment on the problem. Say which side you support in this dispute and why?

Task 23. Get ready to speak on the topic. Use the vocabulary of the unit.

Communication activities.

Task 24. Sometimes products don’t sell well in a new market. Work in groups. Suggest what went wrong in these cases.

1. Western companies had problems selling refrigerators in Japan until they changed the design to make them quieter.

2. In Saudi Arabia, newspaper adverts for an airline showed an attractive flight attendant serving champagne to happy passengers. A lot of passengers cancelled their flight reservations.

3. A soap powder advertisement had a picture of dirty clothes on the left, a box of soap in the middle and clean clothes on the right. The soap didn’t sell well in the Middle East.

4. Several European and American firms couldn’t sell their products in Dubai when they ran their advertising campaign in Arabic.

5. An airline company called itself Emu, after the Australian bird. But Australians didn’t want to use the airline.

6. A TV commercial for a cleaning product showed a little girl cleaning up the mess her brother made. The commercial caused problems in Canada.

7. A toothpaste manufacturer couldn’t sell its product in parts of South East Asia.

8. An American golf ball manufacturer launched its products in Japan packed in boxes of four. It had to change the pack size.

Here are the reasons for the problems, but they are in the wrong order. Number them from 1 to 8.

• In Japanese the word for ‘four’ sounds like the word for ‘death’. Things don’t sell well packed in fours.

• People thought the commercial was too sexist and reinforced old male/female stereotypes.

• Unveiled women don’t mix with men in Saudi Arabica and alcohol is illegal.

• 90% of the population of United Arab Emirates came from Pakistan, India, Iran, and elsewhere, so Arabic was the wrong language.

• The advertisers forgot that in that part of the world, people usually read from right to left.

• The people in this area didn’t want white teeth. They thought darkly-stained teeth were beautiful and they tried to blacken them.

• Japanese homes were small and sometimes walls were made of paper. It was important for the refrigerators to be quiet.

• The emu can’t fly.