Introduction
Have a look at the graph below and decide if the following statements are likely or unlikely to be true:
- 1. Sales for the 12 month period were more or less what had been anticipated.
- 2. The person describing the graph will be full of enthusiasm.
- 3. Events probably occurred over the 12 months that could not be forecasted.
- 4. As the graph shows expected growth, there is no way of knowing how the company did from a financial perspective.
- 5. The person describing the graph will no doubt try to blame other departments in the company for any failures.
Listening: General Comprehension
1. Now Listen and check your ideas from the Introduction.
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2. Drag the text into position so it follows the order of the listening, then listen to check.
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Obviously over the last 12 months we have experienced a mix of good and not so good things, though we'll see a slow but important improvement in the near future.
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Before I talk more about that, I want to quickly describe what's happened in the last 12 months and suggest why we didn't do as well as expected.
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If we look at the graphic, our early predictions, which were somewhat over-optimistic, did get much better before flattening out at two-thirds of what we'd anticipated.
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We changed to some extent the way we predict what's going to happen in the future and this resulted in a much more accurate picture at three quarters of what we'd predicted.
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We got our best results over a spring long weekend, though last year our sales figures were better.
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Although things gradually went downhill due to circumstances beyond our control, our predictions weren't badly affected.
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Things then went really wrong with prices of fuel rocketing and the previous problem still affecting everyone.
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We did some things to stop the downward trend before summer had finished and after a period of little change, there was a slight albeit disappointing recovery a couple of months later.
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Lovely weather in Europe for the time of the year attracted more American customers, which was good for everyone.
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Also, as we'd predicted some time before, the eventual drop in fuel costs would be good for growth in the next financial quarter.
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Things are looking much better for the near future, as we have a strong foothold in the Orient, better positioning in Jamaica and The Dominican Republic and more help with information interpretation.
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3. Listen to the recording again and complete the expressions with the same meaning as the words in bold.
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1. obviously
2. slow but important improvement
(needles) to (say)
(gradual) but (significant) gains 3. I want to quickly describe
I'd like to (take) you (briefly) (through) 4. If we look at the graphic
(focusing) (on) the graph 5. did get much better
improved (considerably) 6. things gradually went downhill
slow (decline) 7. stop the downward trend
(halt) the (fall) 8. lovely weather for the time of year
a (particularly) (mild) winter 9. also
(coupled) (with) this 10. as we'd predicted
which we'd (anticipated) 11. drop in fuel costs
fall in (oil) (prices) 12. have a strong foothold
have (firmly) (established) our market presence
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