REPORTED SPEECH

TASK 1

http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/reported-speech


TASK 2

http://www.english-4u.de/rep_speech_ex1.htm

http://www.english-4u.de/rep_speech_ex2.htm

http://www.english-4u.de/rep_speech_ex3.htm

http://www.english-4u.de/rep_speech_ex4.htm

http://www.english-4u.de/rep_speech_ex5.htm

http://www.english-4u.de/rep_speech_ex6.htm

http://www.english-4u.de/rep_speech_ex7.htm

E-MAIL WRITING 1

Before reading this e-mail, make sure you understand the following espressions. Write a translation on your notebook.

- to show (somebody) around,

- facilities,

- to be shortlisted (for something ),

- a draft outline,

Now go to the website, read the model e-mail and do the esercises;

http://www.better-english-test.com/unit1/index.html

IRREGULAR VERBS PRACTICE

Watch the video and practice. What did you....?

 

TASK 1

http://www.mansioningles.com/gram53.htm
TASK 2

http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/irregular-verbs

TASK 3

http://www.english-grammar-lessons.com/irregularverbs/menu.php


TASK 4. Have a look at the video and do the exercises.

http://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/comment/23848


Have fun watching this video made with films. Then practice.

Tense revision. Present and past tenses.

Present Simple and continuous.

http://www.englishgrammarsecrets.com/presentsimple/menu.php

http://www.englishgrammarsecrets.com/presentsimpleorcontinuous/menu.php

Past Simple and continuous.

http://www.englishgrammarsecrets.com/pastsimple/menu.php

http://www.englishgrammarsecrets.com/pastcontinuous/menu.php

http://www.englishgrammarsecrets.com/pastsimpleorcontinuous/menu.php

Irregular verbs.

http://www.englishgrammarsecrets.com/irregularverbs/menu.php


Present Perfect

http://www.englishgrammarsecrets.com/presentperfect/menu.php

Home Internet Marketing Opportunities.

There are some great business home internet marketing opportunity for the people who are enthusiastic and it has been facilitated by the expansion and the development of the internet technologies. The primary gain, as you may already know, is the power to work over the ease of your own home. Some Americans ,and now some individuals internationally, even opt for online home based work as a business home internet marketing opportunity. It allows them more adjustable schedules and hence may even be a way of additional income, as there can never be too much of some extra spending money.

The internet is now considered the medium of choice particularly in business marketing as many international deals can now be easily managed online. It also offers reaching a significantly vast customer base and is perfect for businesses that seek to pull and cater to such a clientele. There are some websites devoted to ensuring the business home internet marketing opportunity would be addressed with ease and not be a great interest for those pursuing the opportunity, over maintaining extensive online training programs. Such a programme enables the employees to accurately present the customer with what the business designates to portray in terms of product and service, and this is also much critical to the business since the virtual (online) employee will represent the company is businesses.
great businesses with international connections have reached great successes over the utilise of a business home internet marketing opportunity, as they would be able to market its products to customers that adhere to various time-zones and thereby having the business alternatives ready 24 hours a day. Nevertheless, a business home internet marketing opportunity need not be used entirely for functions of multi-national or other such businesses but could also be employed to expand a business that you may want to start at your own home. Since the Internet caters a great audience, it is a great opportunity for the businesses to market their products and services.
If you have some spare time on your hands and have the head of engaging a career of ease or even starting up your own home based business, then pursuing a business home internet marketing opportunity may be the greatest way for you. If there is any uncertainty as to the ease in which you could take reward of the business home internet marketing opportunity, check out the numerous sites committed and be more than capable to answer all your related concerns prior to your interest.

FROM:

http://thesmallbizconsultant.com/

In Praise of slow. Carl Honoré.

BASICS FOR WRITING LETTERS

Dear Personnel Director,
Dear Sir or Madam: (use if you don't know who you are writing to)
Dear Dr, Mr, Mrs, Miss or Ms Smith: (use if you know who you are writing to, and have a formal relationship with - VERY IMPORTANT use Ms for women unless asked to use Mrs or Miss)
Dear Frank: (use if the person is a close business contact or friend)

The Reference

With reference to your advertisement in the Times, your letter of 23 ^rd March,
your phone call today,
Thank you for your letter of March 5 ^th .

The Reason for Writing
 
I am writing to inquire about
apologize for
confirm


Requesting

Could you possibly?
I would be grateful if you could

Agreeing to Requests

I would be delighted to

Giving Bad News

Unfortunately
I am afraid that

Enclosing Documents

I am enclosing
Please find enclosed
Enclosed you will find

Closing Remarks

Thank you for your help Please contact us again if we can help in any way.
there are any problems.
you have any questions.

Reference to Future Contact

I look forward to ...
hearing from you soon.
meeting you next Tuesday.
seeing you next Thursday.

The Finish

Yours faithfully, (If you don't know the name of the person you're writing to)
Yours sincerely, (If you know the name of the person you're writing to)
Best wishes,

MY OFFICE

TASK 1

http://www.carolinebrownlisteninglessons.com/office/menu.php

TELEPHONING

TASK ONE. Listen and rehearse the dialogues with your partner.


http://www.eslfast.com/robot/topics/employment/employment08.htm


TASK TWO.

http://www.business-english.com/telephone/answering/menu.php



TASK THREE.

http://www.eslfast.com/robot/topics/employment/employment14.htm

The collapsing western civilization.

 The greatest threat to the Western Way of Life is the Western Way of Life itself. That human beings seem unable to solve their most pressing problems is  obvious and well known ; that most of the problems that human beings seem unable to solve are caused by human beings themselves deserves mention but rarely is.  But most manmade problems could be avoided by careful and complete analysis of the ideas that, have dire results.

John B. Judis recently published a piece in the New Republic in which he summarized some claims made by Robert Brenner, a UCLA economic historian. Judis writes:

"Brenner’s analysis of the current downturn can be boiled down to a fairly simple point: that the underlying cause of the current downturn lies in the “real” economy of private goods and service production rather than in the financial sector, and that the current remedies—from government spending and tax cuts to financial regulation—will not lead to the kind of robust growth and employment that the United States enjoyed after World War II and  in the late 1990s. These remedies won’t succeed because they won’t get at what has caused the slowdown in the real economy: global overcapacity in tradeable (sic) goods production. Global overcapacity means that the world’s industries are capable of producing far more steel, shoes, cell phones, computer chips, and automobiles (among other things) than the world’s consumers are able and willing to consume."

 Overproduction has always been associated with economic busts, and such busts have happened with such regularity that economists have even incorporated them into theory by euphemistically calling booms and busts the "business cycle." The question that must be asked is, "What causes overproduction?" And the answer is industrialization.

The Industrial Revolution began in England around 1780. It transformed England from a manual labour and draft-animal economy into a machine-based one. But this change in the primary mode of economic activity was not merely economic; it changed the entire culture, not clearly for the better. Almost every aspect of life was changed in some way.

Many cite increased per capita GDP as evidence of the revolution's benefits, but GDP is a poor measure of benefits. It merely measures the sum total of economic transactions in terms of the culture's money, neglecting the effects of economic activity on the quality of human life.

The Industrial Revolution is largely responsible for the rise of modern cities, as large numbers of people migrated to them in search of jobs. These people were mainly housed in slums where diseases, especially cholera, typhoid, tuberculosis, and smallpox, were spread by contaminated water and other means. Respiratory diseases contracted by miners became common. Accidents in factories were regular.  Although life in pre-industrial England was not easy, for many it was better than laboring in factories and coal mines.

Other consequences of the revolution are worse—craft workers lost their jobs. The Industrial Revolution concentrated labour into mills, factories, and mines, but industrial workers could never experience the sense of satisfaction and pride that craftsmen derived from their creations. Working a craft is a mentally stimulating and creative activity; operating a machine is not. The best craftsmen were renowned as artists. Some are still renowned today: Thomas Chippendale and George Hepplewhite, for example. Handmade textiles, Persian rugs, even handcrafted toys are renowned for their artistry. Today that pride and satisfaction accrues only to hobbyists, such as quilters, but never to industrial workers. The Industrial Revolution degraded human life to the status of coal. People became fuel for machines. Bought cheap, people are used until unneeded and then discarded like slag. Individuality, talent, imagination, originality—the best attributes of human beings—are suppressed to the point of extinction. The Industrial Revolution sucked the humanity out of the human race; people became things.

But the revolution gave England a temporary economic advantage as that is measured by economists. Excess production, that is, production not consumed domestically, could be exported, and England's wealth could be increased by buying (importing) cheap and selling (exporting) dear. This worked—for a while, but never smoothly.

The Industrial Revolution quickly spread to Belgium, France, the United States, Japan, the Alpine countries, Italy, and other places. As it spread, the amount of excess products that needed to be exported grew and grew, and the number prospective foreign consumers shrank and shrank. Because there is little economic advantage (as economists measure it) in trading exports for imports of equal value, the international economy necessarily divides into net exporting nations who are enriched and net importing countries who are impoverished and less and less able to afford imports. The system has to be patched or the machines would grind to a halt. Most of the work of economists since the middle of the nineteenth century consists of developing patches for this collapsing system. Comparative advantage, creative destruction, free trade, Keynesian stimuli, and even social programs (which would be unnecessary if the economy provided for the needs of people) are merely attempts to patch the system, to keep the machines running.

Industrialists soon realized that if they reduced the quality of their products, their life cycles would be shortened which would require people to replace them more often thereby increasing consumption. Manufacturers have been steadily reducing the quality of products ever since. An essential part in a device is made of an inferior material so the device fails far before its time and becomes junk, batteries in devices are soldered to their circuit boards so that when the batteries die, the products becomes junk, one fewer olive in every jar means more jars are sold, and the jars become junk. Economists like to claim that the system produces the best products at the lowest cost, but in reality it produces the exact opposite. As more and more products must be discarded and replaced, the discarded junk is hauled to landfills or dumped in oceans. But as landfills grow larger and larger, another patch is required—recycling. But it too is ineffective. Batteries soldered to circuit boards cannot be recycled, every half-filled can of paint cannot be taken to a recycling center, separating useful elements from the useless ones is often a hazardous task. The system produces junk! Humans originated about 200,000 years ago. The Soviet Union launched the first Sputnik into space in 1957. In less than 60 years, less than a mere three tenths of one percent of the time people have inhabited the Earth, the industrial nations have put so much junk into near outer space that the junk now endangers the functionality of operational satellites. Abandoned industrial sites are often highly toxic which often require cleanup—another patch. Often complete cleanup is impossible. Toxic residues are a species of junk. Keeping the machines running necessitates the production of it.

Global industrial capitalism will continue on the gradual downward descent to collapse. The Golden Age of industrial capitalism that lasted from 1945 to 1970 cannot be recreated merely by applying the right mixture of spending, subsidies, re-regulation, and international agreements. Because the economic advantages of industrialization rely on the two ingredients mentioned above, overproduction and profit, balanced trade is impossible if the advantage is to be preserved; it entails no economic profit. Ultimately too many nations will be too poor to be importers, and the machines in the exporting countries will cease to function. Industrialism is a Hegelian synthesis which embodies the forces for its own destruction. The greatest threat to the Western Way of Life is the Western Way of Life itself. Patches may prolong it, but they cannot remove its contradictions.

Chandran Nair writes,

The 20th century’s triumph of consumption-based capitalism has created the crisis of the 21st century: looming catastrophic climate change, massive environmental damage and significant depletion of natural resources. . . . The western economic model, which defines success as consumption-driven growth, must be challenged. . . . Advocates of the western model tend to play down its dramatic effects on natural resources and the environment. They refuse to acknowledge that their advice runs counter to scientific consensus about limits and the need for stringent rules on resource management. Instead, they argue that human ingenuity aided by innovations in the markets will find solutions. This is rooted in an irrational belief that we can have everything: ever-growing material wealth and a healthy natural environment. The stark evidence . . . should be proof enough that this is not possible.

 To use the preferred diction of economists, the system is unsustainable. Since the collapse of the industrial system is inevitable, a fundamental rethinking of the way the economy works is the only alternative. It has always been the only alternative.  When the economic advantages of industrialization have dissipated, humanity will still be stuck in a world filled with bioundegradable junk, hazardous sites, raped environments, the unending consequences of the often accidental importation of alien species, polluted air and water, and numerous other consequences, the costs of which economists have never taken into consideration. And the progeny of both the rich and the poor alike will have to live with them. The pockets full of money that the rich have won't prevent their children and grandchildren from breathing bad air or drinking bad water or dealing with environmental degradation. These children and grandchildren may someday curse the days their fathers and grandfathers were born. Capitalism, as we know it, is reaching its endgame. The meek who inherit the earth will find it to be worthless.

The human brain has enabled mankind to discover and create wondrous things; it has also been used to inflict horrendous suffering and destruction. In fact, it would be difficult to design an economic system more destructive, wasteful, and dehumanizing than the industrial, and much of the destruction it has wrought may be irreparable. Industrialization does not efficiently allocate resources; it squanders them.

So, is mankind smart? Of course, but that is not the question. The ultimate question is, Is mankind smart enough to keep from outsmarting itself? The answer appears to be no!

The Age of Enlightenment was born sometime around the beginning of the eighteenth century. A mere three-quarters of a century later, industrialization ushered in the Age of Endarkenment, and human life has grown more and more perilous ever since. Natural disasters can be catastrophic, but their destructiveness is usually limited, and the really horrendous ones are rare. Manmade disasters are ubiquitous, very extensive, and difficult, perhaps impossible, to repair. Had mank4ind been wise rather than merely smart, most manmade calamities could have been avoided. Qué será, será! Whatever will be will be will be. The future is plain to see, and it's not pretty.

John Kozy is a retired professor of philosophy and logic who blogs on social, political, and economic issues. After serving in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, he spent 20 years as a university professor and another 20 years working as a writer. He has published a textbook in formal logic commercially, in academic journals and a small number of commercial magazines, and has written a number of guest editorials for newspapers. His on-line pieces can be found on http://www.jkozy.com/ and he can be emailed from that site's homepage.

John Kozy is a frequent contributor to Global Research.

Adapted by A.T 

READING COMPREHENSION

1- Comment on the words "collapsing" and "western" in the title. After browsing the text for a few minutes , what would you say it is about?

2- Have a look at the words in bold and make a list in your notebook.
Which of these words mean the same? Which are opposites?
- Then try to guess their meaning from the context before you use a dictionary or ask your teacher.




- Are there more words you don't understand in the text.?


-Some of the words in bold are words used by economy experts. Find out about the concepts described by them and comment them in class.


3- After the vocabulary work, go through the text again and get the main ideas expressed by the author. 


- Would you say he is optimistic or pessimistic about the current situation?

- Make two lists; one with the positive aspects the industrialisation has had, and another one with the negative ones.


4- Write a summary or prepare an oral presentation on the subject. You can collect ideas from other sources.



 

Shopping Spree.

Often the term shopping spree is used in a derogatory sense, to comment on the excess spending of either individuals or companies. For example The Register on 15 December 2003 uses the headline, “Bored Teens Blow 80 m. in E-shopping Spree.” The article goes on to explain how three German teenagers managed to spend about 130 million euros (approximately 166 million US dollars (USD)) in slightly less than two hours, using stolen credit cards. Airplanes and works of art were among their purchases.
In this sense, the shopping spree obviously resulted in arrests and though it may have been carefree, it certainly could not be defined as pleasant. As well, this shopping spree was illegal.
A more traditional shopping spree might take place when someone needs to purchase many things at once, as for shopping for holidays. So for example, one might spend a couple hundred USD at a time buying gifts. People with extensive means might certainly spend a great deal more, and a shopping spree can become one that costs thousands of dollars.
On programs that detail the lives of celebrities, information is sometimes given about a celebrity shopping spree that results in tens of thousands of dollars being spent in a matter of minutes. For most people, such a shopping spree is well outside normal income limits. In fact, spending excessive amounts of money that one really doesn’t have is less a shopping spree and more the act of a compulsive shopper.
Where money and time are available a shopping spree to buy items that are not strictly necessary can be good fun. This has unfortunately been capitalized on by Internet and Telemarketing scammers. Internet sites may offer a shopping spree gift card worth several hundred dollars in exchange for a small payment, or personal information. The shopping spree card turns out to be worthless, or is never sent. Instead the person loses their money or has their identity, bank account or credit card numbers stolen.
These types of scams, especially the Wal-Mart shopping spree scam of 2006 resulted in people losing thousands of dollars drawn from their bank accounts. In 2006 the Federal Trade Commission was able to freeze accounts of many of the perpetrators, and accounts held by the scammers totaled in the tens of millions.
Because people enjoy the occasional shopping spree, these scams were readily practiced on a high number of people. Scammers capitalized on the consumer’s desire to shop carefree, and many are still trying to recoup their losses.



Before reading


1- The compound "shopping spree" spree has been coined recently to express a situation that is apparently new. Before, it was used in different contexts such as in "to go / to be on a spree". Find out the meaning with the help of a dictionary.
 

2- How would you translate the following headline ?

“Bored Teens Blow 80 m. in E-shopping Spree.”






3- What type of shopper are you? Prepare a short talk (about two minutes) and discuss it with your partner. 


  After reading.

1- Skim the text and write down all the words connected with MONEY. Guess their meaning from the context and share your guesses with your classmates.




2- Has the shopping spree had new consequencies with the extensive use of new technologies? 


3- Have you ever been a victim of scamming? Do you know anybody who has been?

4- Use the text to disuss the matter in class.

BUSINESS GRAMMAR PRACTICE. ELEMENTARY

Go to this link to practice the basic english grammar needed to start the course.

http://www.better-english.com/grammar.htm

USEFUL EXPRESSIONS FOR BUSINESS LETTERS.

Common Phrases for Business Letters Request for information

I am writing to inquire about . . . I am writing in reference to . . . I read/heard . . . and would like to know . . . Could you please send me . . . at the address below/above Thank you for your assistance. I look forward to hearing from you.

Response to request

Thank you for your interest/inquiry Enclosed is the information you requested. You can learn more about this at . . . If you have further questions, If you require assistance, please contact: If I can be of more help, please feel free to contact me at . . .

Sample Sentences: Requests

Could you please send me your most recent brochure? Could you fax me the results of the market survey? I would like to order ten copies of the book, Touchy Situations. I would be very grateful if you could send me this information. Please return the enclosed envelope with your payment.

Sample Sentences: Goodwill

Thank you for your hospitality. I enjoyed having lunch with you last week while I was in New York. Congratulations on your promotion to General Manager. I want(ed) to congratulate you on your new position. I was happy to hear that contract negotiations went well.

Sample Sentences: Introduction of Product/Service.

I am writing to tell you about . . . (Our new product) is coming out next month. This product/service is designed to (help you) . . .

Sample Sentences: Reference

I am writing in regard to . . . I am writing in reference to . . . Please refer to the enclosed invoice/brochure. I hope you have had a chance to look over the materials we sent.

Sample Sentences: Confirmation

I am writing to confirm . . . I would like to confirm what we discussed last Friday. I would just like to confirm the main points we discussed . . .

Sample Sentences: Notification

I am writing to let you know that . . . Please be aware/informed that . . . I would like to inform you of a recent policy change. I am happy to informyou that . . . Your request for funding has been approved.

Sample Sentences: Offering Assistance

We would be happy to . . . If we can be of assistance, please don't hesitate to ask.

Sample Sentences: Collection

According to our records . . . Our records show that . . . Your monthly installment is past due. Please send payment as soon as possible. 

 

FROM: eslgold.com

Ordering

**** Sample Letter: Modified Block Style ****

Trent Chang 56 Somerset Lane Kai Tak, Kowloon Hong KongApril 21, 2001

Marketing Director Dymon Publications 2201 South Maple Street Salt Lake City, UT 84797 U.S.A. Dear Sir/Madam, I would like to order ten (10) copies of the book, Touchy Situations: A Conversation Text for ESL Students. I recently came across this book at a local teachers' conference and was very impressed by its format and contents. Could you please send the books by express mail? I need them for class next Monday. Also, would you mind sending your latest catalog or brochure? Thank you for your prompt attention. I look forward to hearing from you soon. Best regards, Trent Chang

___________________________________________________________

**** Sample Letter: Block Style **** Dymon Publications 2201 South Maple Street Salt Lake City, UT 84797 U.S.A. April 21, 2001 Trent Chang 56 Somerset Lane Kai Tak, Kowloon Hong Kong Dear Mr. Chang, Thank you for your order of Touchy Situations: A Conversation Text for ESL Students. I sent the books by RedFex on April 20. They should be arriving within a few days if they are not there already. Please let me know if there are any problems with the shipment. As requested, I am enclosing a brochure, which provides information about our other products. You may also check out our web site at http://www.dymonbooks.com. If you have further questions, please don't hesitate to contact me. Sincerely, Alan Gordon Dymon Publications Enc: brochure

SOURCE: eslgold.com

Using tenses correctly

Use simple past tense to describe something that wholly occurred at a specific time in the past:

I graduated from NYU in 1998. NOT: I have graduated since 1998.

(That's when the ceremony occurred.) (Incorrect!)

I finished the Hollins project last week. I have finished the Hollins project last week.

(Specific time) (Incorrect!)

Use present perfect tense to describe something that has been in effect from a certain point in the past until now. Be careful! Some verbs are used for specific actions; others are used for conditions that cover lengths of time.

I met Mr. Flinders last year at a Convention in Little Rock. I have met him since last year. I have known him since last year.

(Specific time) (Incorrect!) (Correct!)

Use simple present tense to describe facts.

I work for IBS Corporation. He's a sanitation engineer. I am responsible for orienting new employees. She answers company correspondence.

Use present progressive tense to describe ongoing projects.

I am developing new software. She is teaching the hearing-impaired. We are building a new mall in East Heights.

SOME USEFUL EXPRESSIONS

Learn these useful expressions before preparing a talk or writing a text.

http://www.eslgold.com/business/useful_expressions.html