Practice Listening Business English Exercises for B1 – Business sectors

A

Caller 1: speaks too fast

Caller 2: is unclear

Caller 3: sounds annoyed

B

1   Emma Newman

2   Mark Thomas

3   logistics

4   called

5   call him back on his mobile

6   44-7623- 911-129

7   until 4 p.m. today

8   send email

Audioscript

Message 1

Hello, this is a message for Emma Newman in HR. My name’s Mark Thomas, T-H-O-M-A-S and I’m calling about the logistics position you interviewed me for last Thursday. I’d like to discuss the ­financial package in more detail if possible. Could you call me back please on my mobile – that’s 0044-7623-911-129. That’s 0044-7623-911-129. I’m available until 4 p.m. today. If not, then you can send me an email so we can we ­ x a time to speak. I look forward to hearing from you. Thanks. Goodbye.

Message 2

Hi, it’s Carla again. Erm, I hope I’ve got the right number. Erm, my message got cut o‑ last time so I’m calling you back just in case. Er, erm, yeah, I’ve got wall-to-wall meetings all afternoon and then I have to leave early so erm I don’t really have time to send an email, but the internet was down yesterday, anyway, so, er. Anyway, erm, I’m super busy as you can imagine. I wanted to speak to you about the candidates we interviewed last week for the logistics job. Er, what did you think? Not bad, erm…

Message 3

Good morning. This is Zhanna Petrovna in Logistics. Could you ask Emma to call me back? We have a bit of a problem with the references for one of the shortlisted candidates. If she can call me back on extension 4385. It’s pretty urgent now, so I’ll expect her call by the end of the day.

C

1, 3

D

The caller did everything except repeat her contact details.

Audioscript

Message 4

Good morning. I want to leave a message for Emma Newman. This is Daniella Rossi, R-O-S-S-I, returning her call. Emma asked me to contact her to discuss the terms of my new consultant contract. I’m available to talk until 2 p.m. today but then I’m in meetings all afternoon. In case she doesn’t have my mobile number, I’m on 07654 322 187. Otherwise, maybe she can leave a message with my assistant, Elliot Barber. Elliot is on extension 5283, that’s 5-2- 8-3. Sorry, can she also re-send a copy of my new contract? I can’t open the document. I hope to hear from you soon. Many thanks.

1 Investment   2 month   3 open   4 location   5 register

6 permissions   7 site manager   8 flights

Audioscript

A = Alice   M = Matthew   S = Stanley

A:   Morning, Matthew. I’d like you to meet Stanley Dongoran, our Indonesian business partner, who’s helping us set up the factory in Indonesia.

M:   Hi Stanley, nice to meet you.

S:   Nice to meet you, too.

A:   So, Stanley what do we need to do now?

S:   Well, the ­first thing is to get the licence from the Indonesian Investment Board. I’ve already submitted everything for that and it’ll be ready next week.

M:   That’s great, so we’ll be able to visit Indonesia then?

S:   Yes, I think next month would be a good time to go.

A:   What will we have to do ­first when we get there?

S:   We’ll need to open a bank account and then we’ve got to think about the factory – those are the priorities.

M:   You mean we need to ­find one or the land for one?

S:   The land. I’ve found a couple of suitable locations and we’re going to visit them to make a ­final decision. Then we can arrange all the documents we need to register the business premises. All these things take time but we can get the process started.

M:   How long exactly?

S:   Here’s the time schedule for each element.

A:   Thanks.

S:   Then we’ve got to organise all the other permissions we need. That’s all on the schedule, too.

M:   Right. Are we going to interview some local people for jobs while we’re there?

S:   I’ve found three great candidates to be the Site Manager for you to interview. We’re going to meet them and have formal interviews so you can choose someone.

A:   Thanks. Matthew, can you organise the flights and accommodation for the trip tomorrow?

M:   Of course.

•   letter to employees explaining situation – 3

•   get customer feedback

•   meeting with all staff – 2

•   ask staff for their opinions

•   contact with individual customers – 4

•   email inviting staff to meeting – 1

•   press release – 5

Audioscript

K = Kenzo   S = Susan

K:   We need to discuss how we’re going to keep everyone informed about the potential takeover of the company by Bines plc. Firstly, I think we should send a letter to all employees about the situation guaranteeing that no jobs will be lost if Bines takes over.

S:   Why don’t you meet the staff and explain it face to face ­first? I think they’d appreciate that.

K:   Yes, but not yet. Email all staff inviting them to a meeting on Friday 15th in the staff room. I’ll tell them then.

S:   I’ll email them straight after this meeting.

K:   We can send them a letter with all the details after we’ve told them face to face.

S:   OK. Good idea. And what about our customers? We don’t want them to hear about this from the newspapers. Shouldn’t we let them know that it’s business as usual?

K:   Yes, I agree. We can do that after we’ve signed the contract on Wednesday 20th. How do you think they’ll respond?

S:   I think they’ll be concerned about quality. Bines are not known for their quality and customer service, as we are.

K:   They’ll still get the best customer service we’ve always offered and we’ll make sure the quality doesn’t suffer. Bines don’t want us to lose that.

S:   Do you think it would be better to speak to our biggest customers individually?

K:   I think that’d be a good idea, actually – before we announce it to the world.

S:   Exactly. So we won’t send out a press release until we’ve spoken to our biggest customers then.

K:   Exactly.

A

1 T   2 T   3 T   4 F   5 F

B

1 graphite (carbon)   2 steel   3 heat   4 tablet   5 charge

Audioscript

M = Melanie   F = Franco   T = Toni

M:   OK. Shall I start? I looked at the graphite mining industry.

F:   Why that one in particular, Melanie?

M:   Well, although we’ve used graphite in things like pencils for years, there’s a very exciting new material called graphene that can be made from graphite. I think there could be some good investment opportunities with companies using graphene.

T:   I read an article about it recently. Apparently, it’s the new super material. But, what is graphite exactly? And where do you ­find it?

M:   OK, here’s the science bit. It’s a metallic mineral made of carbon but there’s so much more to it than just pencils, and, even better, there’s lots of it all over the world!

F:   Really? Is there enough to meet demand?

M:   It looks like it. I think it’s a great area to invest in. Graphene’s 200 times stronger than steel and very lightweight and flexible. It’s de­finitely the material of the future. And, because it conducts heat and electricity much faster than anything else, we ­find it in the touchscreens on our phones and tablets.

T:   What about sports equipment?

M:   That too. It’s great for things like racing bikes and tennis rackets. And of course it’s also fantastic for electric car batteries because it’s much safer than anything else.

F:   It sounds like a miracle material.

M:   Yeah, it does, doesn’t it? And I haven’t even told you about other potential uses.

T:   Really? Like what?

M:   It could upload data at one terabit per second or charge your phone in just ­five minutes.

T:   Wow, that would be useful!

M:   And you could even use it to clear up nuclear waste, so it’d be good for the environment, too. That’s why I think we should invest in the graphite mining industry.

A

camping, train travel, cooking

B

1 tourism   2 online   3 chains

Audioscript

T = Toni   M = Melanie   F = Franco

T:   I looked at the tourism industry and the main thing to report is that tourism’s very big business especially in some areas where it’s expanding fast.

M:   What, like package holidays?

T:   That’s not the only growth area. I’ve looked at online travel providers, cruise companies, hotel chains and mega-resorts, all of which could be good investments.

M:   What’s a mega-resort?

T:   It’s where companies develop all the hotels, villas, entertainment facilities, restaurants, etc. on one site so guests have everything they want in one place. You know, things like swimming pools, villas, a spa, sports facilities, a golf course.

F:   I went to one in the Caribbean last year. It was amazing.

T:   They are great. But I think we should invest in the cruise industry. More people than ever are going on cruises and pro­fits are high. In fact several companies are building enormous new cruise ships, which are like mega-resorts on the ocean. That’s the industry we should be putting our money into.

1   the food industry

2   healthy snack market

3   companies new to the industry

4   because it is growing faster than other markets in the food industry

Audioscript

M = Melanie   F = Franco   T = Toni

M:   OK, what about you, Franco? Where do you think our money should go?

F:   De­finitely the food industry. I know it’s an industry with tight margins, but everyone has to eat, don’t they?

T:   That’s true.

F:   And people are buying more snacks than ever before because they don’t have time to sit down and eat proper meals, so companies are now focusing on healthy snacks. That’s what we should focus on because companies new to the industry are doing extremely well and making big pro­fits.

M:   So you think the healthy snack market is a good bet?

F:   Yes. Everyone’s health-conscious these days and looking for more free-from products, you know, snacks without sugar, salt, fat, gluten, milk, etc.

M:   It’s true. I’m always checking the packaging to see what’s in a product. I love those healthy breakfast bars. They save me a lot of time in the morning.

F:   Exactly. They’re ideal for today’s busy working person so it won’t surprise you to know then that they’re flying off shelves around the world. Growth in the healthy snack market is the largest in the food industry. And it’s the smaller companies that are beating the big multinationals in the healthy fruit and vegetable-based snack market. That’s the kind of thing we want to invest in.

1 history   2 set, up, when   3 reports   4 worth

5 strengths and weaknesses   6 Management

7 experience   8 employees   9 Future   10 risky

11 social

Audioscript

Welcome to this month’s investment club podcast which today is aimed at new members. I’m going to tell you about the things you should know about a company before you invest in it.

Investment always involves taking a risk. Therefore you have to make sure the risk is as small as possible and that means doing some research. For example what is the company history? Finding out as much company information as possible is vital for assessing risk. Find out who set the company up and when.

Naturally, most investors want to look at the financial performance ­first. You will need to study the figures from the past three years at least. You do this by checking the ­financial reports. Looking at these allows you to see what the company is worth, the trend in sales and revenues and where the strengths and weaknesses of the company are.

Although the ­financials are very important, don’t forget to look at the management team running the company as, ultimately, they’re key to a company’s success. You want to ­find out as much as possible about their experience and skills as well as those of the employees. Ask yourself, is the leadership of the company effective and able to make the best use of the skills of employees?

So you’ve looked at what exists now, but what about the future? You need to know what the company’s future plans are. How are they going to move the company forward and how risky do you think their plans are?

These days another important thing to consider is how environmentally friendly a company is, and what their social responsibilities are. For example, do they help local communities?

A

1 wind   2 on the land   3 economical   4 a lot of

5 cheaper   6 90 kph

B

1 F   2 T   3 T   4 F   5 T   6 F

C

1 energy   2 onshore / on the land   3 companies

4 windy   5 Efficiency   6 strong   7 France

Audioscript

A = Anna   J = John   M = Maria

A:   Good evening. My name’s Anna Barclay. Welcome to Green Business, the business and environment podcast. Today, we’re going to be discussing an important source of energy – wind power. I have two guests – one from the UK and one from New Zealand. John Preston works for a UK company which built and now manages a number of off shore windfarms, that is windfarms where the turbines are located at sea. Good evening, John.

J:   Good evening, Anna.

A:   My second guest is Maria Taupo, from New Zealand. She’s involved with an onshore windfarm, one of the first that was built on a real farm, rather than at sea. Good evening Maria.

M:   Good evening Anna.

A:   So, my first question is simple. John, why do we want to generate power from the wind?

J:   Well, obviously the main advantage of wind power is that it’s completely renewable. Wind comes and goes all the time. In the UK, a number of energy companies are getting into the wind power business.

A:   That sounds interesting. Is it economical?

J:   It’s more economical than it was but you still need regular wind.

A:   And is that why you’re building them in New Zealand, Maria?

M:   Yes, exactly. New Zealand is a very windy country. About twenty years ago, wind power was an obvious idea but we didn’t really have the technology then, but now we have, it’s easy and the benefits are obvious.

A:   I see. So, how efficient is wind power? John?

J:   We’re improving efficiency every year. Our company started building windfarms about ten years ago and at first, they weren’t very efficient. But now, a turbine generates twice as much electricity as it did then. This development means that the price of electricity can go down, which is good for the UK customer.

A:   People say that windfarms are not always active. Is that true?

M:   Not really. Our turbines turn in wind as low as 14 kph and as strong as 90 kph. In any wind stronger than that, they’d turn too fast and become dangerous, so they automatically stop turning.

A:   I see. So, the UK and New Zealand are leaders in this sort of energy business?

M:   Definitely and it’ll continue to grow.

A:   Can you export the knowledge?

J:   Of course. UK companies already have projects in the USA, France and Germany. The Americans are now interested in windfarms at sea, too. Before they were only interested in windfarms onshore – that is great business for us. I think the possibilities for both the onshore and the off shore wind industry are huge.

M:   I agree. New Zealand is now one of the leaders in windfarm technology. Thirty years ago, we were worrying about oil supplies. Now, fossil fuels are less important.

A:   Thanks very much. I’d like to introduce another guest now who disagrees with you …

A

1 Lalaurette   2 Sales department   3 G1964   4 451 644 753

5 time to speak   6 lunchtime

B

1 This is   2 spell   3 This is a message   4 contact

5 Could you   6 mobile   7 my number   8 send

9 get back to   10 look forward

Audioscript

This is Morgane Lalaurette. I’ll spell that for you: L-A-L-A-U-R-E-double T-E. This is a message for Julio Casas in your Sales department. You asked me to contact you to discuss order G1964, which I’m still waiting for. Could you call me back on my mobile? In case you don’t have my number, I’m on 08451 644 753. Or can you send me an email so we can fix another time to speak? I really need this delivery as soon as possible. Could you get back to me by lunchtime tomorrow? Thanks a lot. I look forward to hearing from you.

A

1 pricing   2 slogan   3 May 31st   4 Organise

5 Kathy   6 Book venue   7 April 30th   8 Invite

9 Leona   10 June 10th

Audioscript

L = Leona   J = Jack   K = Kathy

L:   It’s been a great meeting. Thanks for your excellent presentation, Jack.

J:   Thanks, Leona. I’m glad you enjoyed it.

L:   And Kathy, thanks for coming. I know you had to get up early this morning to get here on time.

K:   No problem, Leona.

L:   So, let’s just finish off with the action points. The first point was the new pricing for the range. I think we agreed we needed that by July 1st.

J:   That’s correct. Neither Kathy nor I can do that. That’s one for you, Leona.

L:   OK. New pricing. I’ll need to talk to the Finance Director. Now, the next one was the new slogan. Any thoughts?

J:   I’m happy to do that. I can get the marketing team to help. When do you need it by?

L:   What did we say? We want the final design for the campaign in September so the end of the month for the slogan if that’s OK, Jack?

J:   That’s fi ne. Put May 31st on the action points.

L:   OK. May 31st. Jack. Kathy? Can you organise social media? We want things happening by the end of August so you’ll need everything ready two weeks before. Let’s say August 15th.

K:   That’s OK. Is there anything else to do? What about the launch event?

L:   Oh … yes. We need to have that in September. Somewhere a bit different. How about a museum or an art gallery?

K:   Put my name down for that and I’ll start looking. There are some good possibilities if we book early.

L:   Perfect. Try and book it by April 30th. They all get booked up so quickly. So that’s Kathy. Book venue. April 30th.

J:   Who are we going to invite? It’ll be an important part of the campaign.

L:   I’ll discuss that with the CEO and get invitations out by early June. Say June 10th. Leona. Invitations. June 10th. OK. I think we’ve covered everything. Thanks again for all your hard work. Have we got time for lunch?

1 a   2 b   3 a   4 c   5 b

Audioscript

1   The project in Italy is the first …

      a   Sorry to interrupt …

      b   Please go ahead.

      c   Can I just finish my point?

2   Can I just finish my point?

      a   That’s the point I was making.

      b   Sure, please continue.

      c   So, as I was saying.

3   Excuse me for interrupting, but …

      a   Sorry, I just have one more thing to say.

      b   So, as I was saying …

      c   The point I was making was …

4   Could I just say something here?

      a   Excuse me for interrupting, but …

      b   Sorry to interrupt, but …

      c   What did you want to say?

5   If I could just ask you about the contract …

      a   Going back to what I was saying …

      b   Before you speak, let me just say that …

      c   That’s the point I was making.

1 c   2 a   3 b   4 b   5 b   6 a   7 c   8 c

Audioscript

1   Which industry does the man want to invest in?

A:   I’d like to think about investing in the agricultural sector.

B:   I think a retail company is the best investment.

A:   Really?

B:   Yes, look at this store. It’s a new company, but it’s expanding very quickly.

A:   Retail? You wanted to invest in the agricultural sector last week.

B:   I’ve changed my mind.

A:   Well, I like the look of the retail business, but I prefer this agricultural company.

B:   We’ll have to agree to disagree then.

2   What type of business did the speaker start?

I set up my business ten years ago. To start with, I borrowed some money from the bank and used my credit card as well. I started making healthy snacks at home for my friends. The vegetables came from local farmers. They were throwing them away because they weren’t the right size for the big supermarkets. Then a local shop wanted to sell them. The rest is history.

3   What time did the power cut start?

A:   There was a power cut last night, did you know?

B:   No, I didn’t. What time was it? I was out of town on business and I didn’t get back till half past eight this morning.

A:   Lucky you. It started at around seven thirty last night. And it was really cold last night.

B:   How long did it last?

A:   About 4 hours until half past eleven.

B:   I’m glad I missed it.

4   What was the woman doing when the phone rang?

A:   Hello?

B:   Hi Karen, Jeff here. Are you busy?

A:   Well I am in fact. I’ve got to finish that energy report by tomorrow morning.

B:   Oh, sorry to interrupt.

A:   That’s okay. I was actually emailing my brother in Australia before finishing the report.

B:   What’s he doing these days? He was working for an automotive company, wasn’t he?

A:   Yes, but now he’s setting up his own business.

B:   Good for him!

5   Where is the HR office?

A:   Sorry, did you say the HR office is the second door on the right?

B:   No, not quite. Go straight up this corridor, and just past the second door on the left, turn right and it’s the first one on your left. You can’t miss it.

A:   Oh, thanks. I’m always getting lost.

6   What does the man want to discuss first?

A:   Hello everyone. Let’s look at the plans for the new factory first and …

B:   Excuse me for interrupting, Eloise, but I think we should discuss the schedule changes first.

A:   We’ll look at those afterwards, Nigel. The plans are more urgent. We’ll discuss the schedule last, after we’ve discussed how many new workers we need to employ.

B:   Oh, we’re going to get new staff, are we? That’s good news.

7   Which day does Simon need to be in Panama?

Hello. This is a voicemail message for Simon Hartree. It’s Wendy from Goring Travel about your flight to Panama next week. I know you’ve got a meeting on Wednesday, but the flight we booked for you on Tuesday is cancelled. Shall I book a Monday flight instead or one on Thursday, if you can change your meeting? Please call me back and tell me what you want to do.

8   Which action points is Kendra responsible for?

So here are the key action points. Ivor is going to visit the site tomorrow morning to assess the situation. Philip’s writing a job advertisement for a new Site Manager and Kendra will help him with that. She’s prepared the job descriptions. The interviews will take place in two weeks’ time. Lars and Kendra will do those. Anil will investigate the cause of the accident. Thanks everyone.