2. Which preposition do we use with:

1. dates? 6. religious festivals?

2. month? 7. hours of the clock?

3. days of the week? 8. parts of the day?

4. years? 9. points in time?

5. seasons?

a) put the right preposition with these times.

1. _______ 1979

2. _______ Thursday

3. _______ 19 January

4. _______ January

5. _______ midnight

6. _______ the morning

7. _______ Christmas

8. _______ Christmas Day

9. _______ the autumn

10. _______ the weekend.

3. Answer the questions before reading the text.

1. What information can company history contain?

2. Are disposable products popular in Russia?

3. What disposable products do you use and why?

4. Read the text paying the attention to the words in bold and do the task after it. Company’s History1

Companies often include details about their history in their marketing literature, their annual reports and company presentations, in order to show that they are established, and have experience in their field. This can include information about the founder or person who started the company, and key dates and events in the company history.

Few companies can say that they are responsible for changing the everyday habits of billions of people throughout the world, but the French company Bic, founded in 1950, is one that can.

The ballpoint pen came first. The original biros - named after Lazlo Biro, their Hungarian inventor – were expensive and difficult to use. Baron Marcel Bich, the owner of a small office supplier company, brought together French and British scientists to refine and modify the design. He negotiated the rights to produce and sell the pen with Biro. Production of the Bic “Crystal” began in 1953. The “Crystal” had a clear blue plastic tube and a visible inc supply which was sufficient to draw a line three kilometers long.

Sales rose from around 50, 000 a week in the first year to a quarter of a million a day by 1956. Today sales of Bic writing instruments total more than 20 million a day in 160 countries.

Marcel Bich was not content with a one-product business and wanted to find other throwaway ideas. In 1972 came the disposable lighter. It’s another success story which made Bic world leaders in the sector, with daily sales of disposable lighters now numbering almost 4 million.

Bic’s winning formula was a combination of simplicity of production and reliability; the company claims that its lighters will work 3, 000 times compared with competing brands’1, 000.

The company used healthy profits to invest in its third major product range – the throwaway razor – in 1975. It now contests market leadership with Gillette. Bic subsequently diversified further – into windsurfing boards and fashion – but the three original throwaway ideas remain its success stories.

5. Match the words with their definitions.

annual report product range inventor disposables sufficient

a) a person who invents, esp as a profession b) a report presented by the directors of a company to its shareholders each year c) enough to meet a need or purpose d) non-durable goods e) product assortment