Practice Listening Business English Exercises for A2 – Changes

A

1   The company hired ten new employees and needs to move to a bigger office.

2   A party. / There is a party to celebrate the move to the new offices.

B

1 10/ten   2 new, bigger   3 9.00   4 office

5 12.30   6 1.00 p.m.   7 change   8 6.00 p.m.

Audioscript

A = Andrew   C = Claudia

A:   OK, Claudia. So, the­ first item on today’s meeting agenda is the office move. Do you have the plans for the office move next Thursday?

C:   Yes, I do. Finally!

A:   Oh, that’s great! The ten new employees we hired, well, they all start on Monday. And this office is really small. We de­finitely need new, bigger offices …

C:   We do! And I think the new location is great for us. There are lots of good restaurants nearby, and the new office has much better facilities.

A:   Oh, that’s good to know as well! Anyway, I need to write to all staff before I leave work later. So, what’s the plan?

C:   OK. Well on Thursday, I need everyone in the office by 9.00 a.m.

A:   OK, no problem.

C:   They need to put all their desk items in boxes. And these boxes need to stay in the office on Thursday.

A:   Right …

C:   At 12.30, you can send staff home. We don’t want any staff in the office after 12.30.

A:   So, there’s no work on Thursday afternoon?

C:   No. There’s no space. And no work on Friday morning either.

A:   Really? OK. That’s great for them!

C:   Yes, it is! OK, so on Friday, please ask them to arrive at 1.00 p.m. When they arrive, they need to find a desk with their name on it and their personal desk items.

A:   OK …

C:   And these desks are permanent. Please tell staff that they can’t change desks.

A:   Of course, no problem.

C:   So, the only thing after that is the office party to celebrate!

A:   OK. So, what are the plans for that?

C:   Well, I arranged for food and drinks to arrive at the new office for 6.00 p.m. The party can start then!

A:   That sounds great! I’m looking forward to it.

A

1   How did it go, generally?

2   What went well, in particular?

3   What didn’t go well?

4   What was the problem?

5   Why did this happen?

6   What did you do?

7   What happened?

8   What was your experience?

9   What do we need to change?

B

a improve   b mistakes   c deadline   d made   e problem

f didn’t communicate   g well

C

a 9   b 4   c 2   d 6   e 3   f 5    g 1   not used: 7, 8

Audioscript

A:   Tell us, how did it go, generally?

B:   It went well, thanks.

A:   Great! So, what went well, in particular?

B:   OK, so, we met the deadline and everybody in the team was very happy. The product is great.

A:   That’s very good. OK … And what didn’t go well?

B:   Well, there was a problem with the design.

A:   Right. What was the problem?

B:   We made some mistakes with the instructions.

A:   Why did this happen?

B:   We didn’t communicate well and we didn’t have regular update meetings.

A:   I see. So, what did you do?

B:   We made the instructions clear and we had a meeting with the team in the factory.

A:   So in the end, what do we need to change?

B:   We need to improve our instructions and our communication, but in the end everybody is really happy with the product.

1 8.30 a.m.   2 kitchen   3 N12   4 desk number   5 Wednesday

Audioscript

F:   OK everyone. Thank you for coming today. As you know, we have colleagues from our Shanghai office in China coming to visit us next week, and they’re staying for a month. We have seven people coming, and want to make them feel very welcome.

They’re arriving on Tuesday morning, and going straight to the hotel. Can you all arrive at the office no later than half past eight on Wednesday? We want to be able to welcome them at nine o’clock.

Before they arrive, we need to clear the office. Please remove any old food and plates from the kitchen before you go home on Tuesday. The cleaners are coming on Tuesday evening.

I know we usually use all 14 desks, but we want to make workspaces for our Chinese visitors available. Can you please look at desks N5 to N12 and any items on the desks or in the desks? Please put these items into boxes.

Because we have new visitors, please don’t change desks this week. If you don’t know your desk number, please see me after the meeting.

Er, I think that’s all. We’re having a welcome lunch in the canteen on Wednesday at 1 p.m. Please join us for that event. We want our colleagues to be happy during their visit and to make new friends when they’re here.