Listening Comprehension I

Ex. 1. In the recording a customer, Mr. Rusconi, and a supplier, Mr. Garcia, are talking on the phone. You’ll hear TWO versions of this conversation. Decide which of these words describe the IMPRESSION the two men give in each version of the conversation.

friendly, informal, helpful, aggressive, formal, hostile, polite, impatient

Ex. 2. Listen once again and say which of the following statements are “True” or “False”.

1. The consignment will arrive late Tuesday or early Wednesday.

2. It will take about an hour to unload each truck.

3. Five trucks from Alpha will be delivering the goods.

4. If the truck arrives on Saturday, they will be able to unload it.

5. They can start unloading as early as 8.30.

Ex. 3. Listen to the two phone calls again. How does each speaker make himself sound more friendly and helpful in the second call?

Highlight the expressions that you think are most useful in a telephone conversation. What other similar expressions can you add to each balloon?

If you require some

information

you can say:

O

We require the following information …

Please let us know whether/when/how much …

r you can write:

When someone gives you some information

you can comment or reply:

If someone asks you for information you can reply:

If you want to give someone some

i nformation you can say:

O

We should like to inform you that …

Here is the information you requested …

r you can write:

If someone hasn’t given you enough information you can say:

Ex. 4. Work in pairs. Imagine that you’re on the phone. You each have a copy of the same price list – but both copies are partially illegible! You’ll need to ask questions to find out the missing information. Before you make the call, look again at the phrases above.

Imagine that you work for the same company, but you don’t know each other well. So you should speak politely to each other.

Listening Comprehension II

You will hear Ajit Singh, Professor of Economics at Cambridge University, talking about free trade and unemployment.

Ex. 1. Listen to Part One of the interview, and then listen a second time and complete the following sentences.

1. Formerly, the less developed countries were against free trade because ….

2. Countries like South Korea and Malasia are competitive today because they’ve been able to….

3. Free trade is disruptive; in other words ….

4. The advantage of free trade is that …

5. People in industrialized countries can only put up with the disruption caused by free trade if….

Ex. 2. Listen to Part Two of the interview and answer these questions.

1. What would African countries need to do if they wanted to develop a car industry?

2. What does Ajit Singh say could lead to full employment in the rich countries?

3. What does he say will be the consequences if mass unemployment continues?

4. Does he foresee an end to mass unemployment?

DISCUSSION

Discuss:

• the reasons for opposing protectionism by many economists

• the reasons for imposing tariffs and quotas

• the attitude of many developing countries to GATT until the 1980s

• the increase of international trade of the Third World Governments

• the notion and definition of a market

• different types of markets

• the advantages and disadvantages of free trade

• free trade and dumping

• the problem of international debt

• the advantages and disadvantages of import and export for a country's economy. For the customer