2. Listen and speak Organising the relaunch of a product

A In pairs, discuss the following questions.

1 What do you think a good press kit should contain?

2 When might a company choose to use a press kit?

3 Why is the role of the public relations department so important in the organization of events?

B 0.4 Shortly before the relaunch of Sparkle, the head of PR and the press office manager meet to discuss the progress of the relaunch. Listen to their conversation and tick (√) the points that they discuss.

□ Having just a few more deadlines to meet

□ Proofs (sample pages) for the press kit

□ Sample designs for the cover

□ The hard work of everyone on the team

□ The difficulty in getting testimonials from celebrities

□ Their next project after the relaunch of Sparkle

□ A slogan for invitation cards

C 0.4 Listen to the meeting again and tick (√) the phrases that you hear.

Expressing encouragement

I’d like to thank everybody for their hard work and dedication. That’s good. I’m sure you’re doing an excellent job with the press kit. It’s great. Excellent! Keep up the good job. Great job! Well done to you and all of your team. I’m really impressed with the way you’ve organized the event. That’s brilliant work. Good stuff. You’ve done really well so far.

D In pairs, discuss the following questions.

1 What did they say about the photo chosen for the September issue of Sparkle? Do you agree with them?

2 In pairs, discuss whether you would use this cover to relaunch Sparkle or not. Discuss the font used in the title and the overall visual impact that this combination may have on readers.

3. Focus on reading

1. Read the text and divide it into logical paragraphs. European Union Background

The evolution of the European Union (EU) from a regional economic agreement among six neighboring states in 1951 to today's supranational organization of 25 countries across the European continent stands as an unprecedented pheomenon in the annals of history. Dynastic unions for territorial consolidation were long the norm in Europe. On a few occasions even country-level unions were arranged - the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Austro-Hungarian Empire were examples - but for such a large number of nation-states to cede some of their sovereignty to an overarching entity is truly unique. Although the EU is not a federation, it has many of the attributes associated with independent nations: its own flag, anthem, founding date, and currency, as well as an incipient common foreign and security policy in its dealings with other nations. Background: Following the two devastating World Wars of the first half of the 20th century, a number of European leaders in the late 1940s became convinced that the only way to establish a lasting peace was to unite the two chief belligerent nations - France and Germany - both economically and politically. In 1950, the French Foreign Minister Robert SCHUMAN proposed an eventual union of all Europe, the first step of which would be the integration of the coal and steel industries of Western Europe. The following year the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) was set up when six members, Belgium, France, West Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands, signed the Treaty of Paris. The ECSC was so successful that within a few years the decision was made to integrate other parts of the countries' economies. In 1957, the Treaties of Rome created the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom), and the six member states undertook to eliminate trade barriers among themselves by forming a common market. In 1967, the institutions of all three communities were formally merged into the European Community (EC), creating a single Commission, a single Council of Ministers, and the European Parliament. Members of the European Parliament were initially selected by national parliaments, but in 1979 the first direct elections were undertaken and they have been held every five years since. In 1973, the first enlargement of the EC took place with the addition of Denmark, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. The 1980s saw further membership expansion with Greece joining in 1981 and Spain and Portugal in 1986. The 1992 Treaty of Maastricht laid the basis for further forms of cooperation in foreign and defense policy, in judicial and internal affairs, and in the creation of an economic and monetary union - including a common currency. This further integration created the European Union (EU). In 1995, Austria, Finland, and Sweden joined the EU, raising the membership total to 15. A new currency, the euro, was launched in world money markets on 1 January 1999; it become the unit of exchange for all of the EU states except the United Kingdom, Sweden, and Denmark. In 2002, citizens of the 12 euro-area countries began using the euro banknotes and coins. Ten new countries joined the EU in 2004 - Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia - bringing the current membership to 25. In order to ensure that the EU can continue to function efficiently with an expanded membership, the 2003 Treaty of Nice set forth rules streamlining the size and procedures of EU institutions. An EU Constitutional Treaty, signed in Rome on 29 October 2004, gave member states two years to ratify the document before it was scheduled to take effect on 1 November 2006. Referenda held in France and the Netherlands in May-June 2005 that rejected the constitution suspended the ratification effort. Despite the expansion of membership and functions, "Eurosceptics" in various countries have raised questions about the erosion of national cultures and the imposition of a flood of regulations from the EU capital in Brussels. Failure by all member states to ratify the constitution or the inability of newcomer countries to meet euro currency standards might force a loosening of some EU agreements and perhaps lead to several levels of EU participation.