Exercise 1 ED or ING?

Underline the correct adjective.

1.Thank you very much for a very interested / interesting presentation.
2.We were all very interested / interesting.
3.Of course, we're excited / exciting to hear about this new product.
4.But the figures are a little confused / confusing.
5.We were surprising / surprised by next year's sales targets. They're very high.
6.I don't think the audience liked the talk. They looked bored / boring.
7.Your new multimedia project sounds really exciting / excited.
8.You look worried / worrying. Is anything the matter?

Exercise 2
Complete the article about Vivendi by putting each of the verbs in brackets into the past
simple. Most of the verbs are irregular.
Vivendi: 150 years of history
Vivendi, the French utilities and communication group, has a long history going back to 1853. In that
year the Government

created

(create) Compagnie Generale des Eaux. The founders

_______________ (have) two objectives: to irrigate the countryside for farming and to supply water to
towns and cities in France.
In 1880 a treaty ______________ (give) Generale des Eaux the right to supply water to Venice, and
then Constantinople and Oporto _______________ (come) soon after. By the time of the centenary
celebrations in 1953 Generale des Eaux _______________ (supply) water to eight million people in
France.
In the 1960s and 1970s the company _______________ (begin) activities in the area of civil
construction and _______________ (build) a large tower block in the la Defense business district of
Paris.
During the 1980s Generale des Eaux _______________ (join) with the Havas media group to create
Canal Plus, a pay TV channel. They also _______________ (take) a controlling stake in the civil
engineering giant, SGE. In the 1990s they _______________ (win) major contracts in the Asia Pacific
region and in Latin America.
Jean-Marie Messier _______________ (become) CEO in 1996 and _______________ (run) the
company

along

American

lines.

He

_______________

(sell)

$5

billion

in

assets

and

_______________ (cut) the workforce by 10%. All this _______________ (mean) that an annual loss
of $600 million _______________ (turn) into a profit of $320 million. In 1998 he _______________
(change) the name of the group to Vivendi and soon after _______________ (make) a series of
partnerships and acquisitions in the telecommunications industry.
Operations in North America _______________ (grow) very quickly after this and in 2000 Vivendi
_______________ (buy) Seagram to become a truly international media and telecommunications
company.

Exercise 3
Study the words in column C. What verbs can you use with them? Write the infinitive and the
past forms of the verb in columns A and B. Some letters are given to help you.
A
infinitive
1.break
2.s _ _ _
3._ _ y
4._ _ k _
5._ _ a _
6._ l _
7.f _ _ _
8._ _ _ r _

B
past simple
broke
___t
___d
___e
_e__
__e_
__l_
_____t

C
...a contract, a promise, a glass
...an invoice, a letter, a fax
...in cash, a bill, a dividend
...a profit, a mistake, an appiontment
...a report, a book, the newspaper
...business class, by helicopter, by Concorde
...sick, tired, happy
...a lesson, a language, something new

Exercise 4
A Here are some questions and answers about a business trip. Complete the questions using
words from the list below. Then match each question to the correct reply.
Who

Was

Where

When

1. Where
did you go?
2. ________ did you go?
3. ________ did you meet?
4. ________ you make any useful contacts?
5. ________ long did you stay?
6. ________ did you get back?
7. ________ airline did you fly with?
8. ________ hotel did you stay in?
9. ________ the trip a success?

Did

How

Which

What

Why

a) Some of our agents.

b) Yes, it was very useful.
c) Yes, a few.
d) To do some market research.
e) The Sheraton.
f) Gulf Air.
g) Dubai.
h) A week.
i) On Thursday.

B Here are some answers but what are the questions? Make questions using the verbs in bold.
Example: Who did you write to? I wrote to Mr Jackson.
1. When _________________________________________? I phoned her yesterday afternoon.
2. Why

_________________________________________?

He left because he was offered a

better job.
3. Where _________________________________________? He went to London.
4. How

_________________________________________? It cost 300.

5. Did

__________________________________________? No, I didn't see the report.

6. How

__________________________________________?

I stayed at the exhibition for two

hours.
7. Who

__________________________________________? I spoke to the General Manager's

secretary.
8. What __________________________________________? The weather was great.

Exercise 5

Write down when you last did these things. Use ON, IN or AT in your answers.
1. When did you last go on holiday?
_________________________________________________________________________
2. When did you get to school this morning?
_________________________________________________________________________
3. When was your last birthday?
_________________________________________________________________________
4. When did you last go abroad?
_________________________________________________________________________
5. When did you start this exercise?
_________________________________________________________________________

Exercise 6
Complete the dialogue using verbs from the box below in the past simple. There is a mixture of
affirmative, negative and question forms. There is one negative question.
go

take

Dale: Hi, Jill. You went

think

sell

like

have(x2)

make(x2)

be(x4)

buy

to the Milan Fashion Show last week, didn't you? __________ you

__________ a good trip?

Jill: Yes, it was great.
Dale: __________ you __________ any useful contacts?
Jill: Well, there __________ loads of people at the show, and I __________ a lot of good contacts but
we __________

__________ nearly as many orders as last year.

Dale: Oh, why was that? __________ they __________ our new styles?
Jill: No, no, that __________ the problem. The shoes __________ really well, but we __________ so
successful with some of our other products, like handbags, for example, and there __________ much
more competition this year.
Dale: Who from?
Jill: Well, the paul Smith stand was really busy.
Dale: Oh, but his clothes are expensive...Um, __________ people at the show __________ our prices
were too high?
Jill: Possibly. But we __________ __________ the authority to lower them at the time.
Dale: Oh, what a shame. So it was a waste of a trip then?
Jill: Well, not exactly...I __________ this great pair of Prada shoes and this Gucci handbag...

Exercise 7
Make questions relative to the underlined words.
1.Mr Jones retired in 2004.
When did Mr Jones retire?

2.Adam Smith wrote "The Wealth of Nations".

________________________________________________________________________
3.I spent $ 125 yesterday.
________________________________________________________________________
4.I went to university with my boss.
________________________________________________________________________
5.We began negotiations ten days ago.
________________________________________________________________________
6.Exports climbed by 20% last year.
________________________________________________________________________
7.She went to Milan last month.
________________________________________________________________________
8.I spent four days in Malaysia.
________________________________________________________________________
9.The journey took two hours.
________________________________________________________________________
10.We lost $ 20,000 last year.
________________________________________________________________________
11.We were successful because we advertised on TV.
________________________________________________________________________
12.They loaded the cargo on the lorry yesterday.
________________________________________________________________________
13.Our export sales went up because the Government devalued the currency.
________________________________________________________________________
14.I saw the Bank Manager yesterday.
________________________________________________________________________
15.I saw the Bank Manager yesterday.
________________________________________________________________________
16.I saw the Bank Manager yesterday.
________________________________________________________________________
17.They bought 50 shares.
________________________________________________________________________
18.They sent the consignment by ship.
________________________________________________________________________
19.We produced the components in our Manchester.
________________________________________________________________________
20.The manager signed the cheque you sent us.
________________________________________________________________________

Exercise 8
One person uses the information below and the other looks at the information on the opposite
page.
Student A
Read the story about Sam Walton, the world's richest self-made man. Some information is
missing.
Complete the text by asking your partner questions using the words in the box below.

Sam Walton 1918 1992

A story of American free enterprise
The American entrepreneur, Sam Walton, died in 1992. He had a chain of 1,752 stores across
America. His company was worth 1)_______________ .
Walton was born in 2)_______________ and studied economics at university. To pay for his studies,
he 3)_______________ . He then borrowed 4)_______________ and bought a franchise store: the
Ben Franklin 'Five and Dime'. When Walton arrived, the store was losing money but soon made a
profit with his new ideas.
Walton wanted to start up discount stores across small-town America but the Ben Franklin company
disagreed. So with his brother, he opened the first Wal-Mart Discount Store in Arkansas, in
5)_______________ . Customers could buy 6)_______________ from jeans to bread.
Walton succeeded because he had a unique style and because he knew how to make money. For
example, he learnt to fly a plane and could visit 7)_______________ stores across the USA in a day.
Walton soon built a network of over 1,000 stores, based in 8)________________ . He used the best
technology to supply the stores with fresh produce and had a satellite linked to store computers.
Walton died of leukaemia at the age of 74. Today, the walton family still control Wal-mart stores. The
company has a reputation for friendly service, low prices, and profit-sharing. Wal-Mart's food labels are
still called "Sam's American Choice".
1)______________________________

5)______________________________

2)______________________________

6)______________________________

3)______________________________

7)______________________________

4)______________________________

8)______________________________

How much

When

What

How much

When

How many

Where

How

Student B
Read the story about Sam Walton, the world's richest self-made man. Some information is
missing.
Complete the text by asking your partner questions using the words in the box below.

Sam Walton 1918 1992

A story of American free enterprise
The American entrepreneur, Sam Walton, died in 1992. He had a chain of 1,752 stores across
America. His company was worth $1.6 billion.
Walton was born in 1918 and studied 1)_______________ at university. To pay for his studies, he
worked as a waiter. Then he borrowed $25,000 and bought a franchise store: the Ben Franklin 'Five
and Dime'. When Walton arrived, the store was losing money but soon made a profit with his new
ideas.
Walton wanted to start up discount stores across small town America, but the Ben Franklin company
disagreed. So, with 2)________________ he opened the first Wal-Mart Discount Store in
3)_______________ in 1962. Customers could buy anything from jeans to bread.
Walton succeeded because 4)_______________ and because he knew how to make money. For
example, he learnt 5)_______________ and could visit five or six stores across the USA in a day.
Walton soon built a network of over 6)_______________ stores, based in rural parts of the country. He
used 7)_______________ to supply the stores with fresh produce and had a satellite linked to store
computers.
Walton died of leukaemia at the age of 8)_______________ . Today, the Walton family still control
Wal-Mart stores. The company has a reputation for friendly service, low prices, and profit-sharing. WalMart's food labels are still called 'Sam's American Choice'.
1)______________________________

5)______________________________

2)______________________________

6)______________________________

3)______________________________

7)______________________________

4)______________________________

8)______________________________

What

Who

Where

Why

What

How many

How

How

Discussion
Do you know any interesting stories from your country about successful rich entrepreneurs
and self-made business people? If you do, tell your partner the story.

Exercise 9
Complete the phrases. Use IN, ON or AT.
1. _____ 2005
2. _____ December
3. _____ the second of April
4. _____ Friday
5. _____ 11.15
6. _____ Easter
7. _____ the afternoon
8. _____ midday
9. _____ Tuesday morning
10._____ the beginning of the century

Exercise 10
Match the words and phrases on the left with their synonyms on the right.
1. calculate
2. handle
3. tell us about it
4. be connected
5. recruit
6. organize

a) get through
b) take care of
c) deal with
d) take on
e) fill us in
f) work out

Now use the words and phrases on the left to complete the following sentences:
1. You'll need to _______________ how much time the assignment will take.
2. Modern computers can _______________ large amounts of data very quickly.
3. Customers can't _______________ after 5 pm.
4. The police are trying to _______________ more officers from ethnic minorities.
5. We all have to learn to _______________ stress.
6. Miranda, could you _______________ something more _______________, please?