Business news The end for Sycamore?
Sycamore Stores ………. with just one shop in a small town. The owner was ambitious and wanted to ………., so he ………. a small chain of shops in the nearest city. After a few years he ………. another company by buying over 50% of their shares. Over the next few years he ………. several other companies, but he never succeeded in buying them. Then last year a huge multinational decided to buy Sycamore Stores and so they just ………..
c).
1- go out of business, 2- break up, 3- split up, 4- divide, 5- divide, 6- strip |
In the 1990s the Red River Corporation was one of the world's great multinationals, before it was ………. into smaller parts. First it was ………. in two. One half was ………. into a number of smaller companies. The other half was bought by a bank which ………. its assets- including valuable city centre properties, which were sold to a supermarket chain- and then allowed the rest to ………..
d).
1-issue shares, 2-invest, 3-go bankrupt, 4-raise money, 5-fund |
INTERNAL MEMO The truth is that our factories are much too old-fashioned -this company needs to ………. in new machinery, But where's the money going to come from- how are we going to ………. this? In our position, the only practical way to ………. is to ………. more ……….. And let's hope that people buy them, because if they don't we're almost certain to ………..
|
e).
1-manufacturer, 2-retail outlet, 3-multinational, 4-factory, 5-merger |
Andrew Dass started Dass Corporation in the early seventies. He put together computers in his garage and sold them to friends and neighbours. Two years later, he opened his first shop. Within five years, he owned ………. throughout North America.
In 1980, Dass merged with Gill plc. The ………. made Dass the sixth biggest ………. of compute] in the USA. In the next ten years, they opened ………. in Europe, Asia and South America.
Dass is now one of the largest ………. in the world, with offices in over 130 countries. The garage is now part of the Andrew Dass Museum.
17. Phrasal verbs.
Read the letter and match the words in bold to the definitions below.
Dear Mike,
I thought of you this morning when I came into work,
because things have changed so much since you were here.
Hazel Watson has 1) taken over as boss, and the whole
office has been 2) shaken up. I'm second-in-command now,
so work 3) takes up a lot more of my time. I still have to
4) draw up plans for every department, of course, but I also
have to 5) sit In on endless management meetings as an
adviser. These meetings sometimes go on for hours,
because we have to 6) go through all the other
departments' plans one by one
Anyway, I like Hazel. I mean, it's a shame old Dave Jarvis
was 7) kicked out — or, as the official story has it, "decided to
8) step down" — but I think he was just too old for the job.
I'll miss Dave, of course, but at least I won't have to
9) put up with that disgusting pipe smoke in the office any more.
Hazel doesn't smoke, and she doesn't 10) go on and on about
how things used to be in her day, either.
Anyway, I've got to go now. if you're passing the office,
do drop in and see us!
All the best,
Tina
attend sth (e.g. meeting) as an observer
read/check sth carefully
be in charge/responsible when sb else stops
force sb to leave a job/club/etc
accept/endure sth unwillingly
voluntarily retire/resign from a job/position
radically reorganise sth
talk about sth repeatedly
use/occupy sth (time I space I attention)
prepare/design/write sth (suggestion/plan)
b. Replace each word/phrase in bold with a suitable expression from the list, using the correct tense/form.
draw up, go through, go on, kick out, step down
1. Please make sure you read these papers carefully before you do anything.
2. He retired as Chief Executive after 45 years with the company.
3. The management forced him to leave after his mishandling of the banking scandal.
4. We've been making plans for next month's big meeting.
5. Will you please stop complaining about the weather all the time?
c. Fill in each gap with a suitable preposition from the list.
in, over, up
1. The new boss has made a lot of changes since he took ……… three weeks ago.
2. I can't put ……… with her arrogance any longer.
3. Installing the new computer program was more time-consuming than we expected. It took ……… most of Monday morning.
4. We'd like you to sit ……… on a couple of meetings straight away, to see how things are done here at Milto Incorporated.
5. The new boss has really shaken things ……… since he arrived — virtually everything has been changed.
d. Use each word in bold to make a new sentence similar in meaning to the original. Do not change the word in bold.
1. The Chancellor is making plans for the new budget right now.
.(up) ……… .
2. He was forced to leave the club for being rude to the other members.
(out) ……… .
3. Lots of new staff have been employed at the garden centre recently.
(taken) ……… .
4. Several factory workers were made redundant as a result of a drop in sales.
(laid) ……… .
5. When Mr Ross finally retired, Susan became the managing director.
(down) ……… .
6. The new management has completely reorganised things.
(shaken) ……… .
7. Jenny liked playing the piano from her very first lesson.
(took) ……… .
18.a. Business idioms.
Read the dialogue and match the idioms in bold with their definitions.
-Well, I'm not 1) taking it lying down! The management's proposal to increase our working hours without increasing our pay is unacceptable. We must protest. We've got to do something about it!
-Oh, don't worry. I'm sure they'll back down. The management's full of 2) hot air - they never do what they say they're going to do.
-No, no, I believe they're serious and we can't let that happen. I think we've got to 3) dig our heels in over this one, and I reckon most of the staff will feel the same.
-Just a minute! 4) Taking the law into your own hands is not a solution. Organising something like that could 5) seal your fate in this company. You could lose your job.
-No, I'm 6) sticking to my guns. We've got to do something radical - we've been quiet for too long. It's people like you who 7) sit on the fence that encourage management to treat us with no respect.
-I'm 8) up in arms about the proposal too! But can't we talk the management round to our point of view? I reckon we could explain that the workforce will 9) vote with their feet and get jobs elsewhere -that should 10) do the trick.
to ensure the death/ failure of sth/sb
to accept sth harmful/ unpleasant without complaint/a struggle
false promises/claims
to do sth to combat injustice without abid ing by the rules/law
to refuse to have an opinion or take sides on an issue
angry because one is opposed to sth
to show one's opinion by (not) participating in sth/(not) going somewhere
to keep supporting a particular belief/ course of action, etc
to show firmness over sth. especially ones own desires
to achieve what is wanted
b. Fill in the gaps with phrases from the list:
sealed his fate, hoi air, voting with their feet, the law into their own hands, stuck to his guns
1. Ralph is so full of ……… that I never take what he says seriously.
2. When the mob take ……… the outcome is disastrous.
3. Although he was heavily criticized, the Minister
4. Hastings ……… when he contradicted his boss in public.
5. By ……… and opening on Sundays shopkeepers were able to change the law on opening hours.
c. Rewrite the following sentences using the words in bold. Do not change these words in any way.
1. My mother is not someone who takes poor service without complaint.
lying ……… .
2. Citizens are furious over the council's decision to knock down the old library.
arms ……… .
3. The little boy was adamant and refused to go to summer camp.
heels ……… .
4. Changing the spark plugs should sort it out; the car will start more easily.
trick ……… .
5. If Barker's Butchers don't improve the quality of their meat, housewives will show their preference by shopping at Phipp's.
feet ……… .
IV. WRITING
Write a short company profile of ABB using the information below. Show how the company is organized and how it has performed in its different markets. Use the MoDo and Virgin Group profiles as models(Unit 2).
