unit
1 Communication
vocabulary A Complete each sentence with the best word.
LANGUAGE WORK
1 Good presenters rarely ramble. They usually try to be as succinct as possible.
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a) inarticulate b) hesitant c) succinct
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2 Her arguments were so that we all agreed to her proposal.
a) fluent b) extrovert c) persuasive
3 The audience were very and carried him through his difficult
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presentation.
a) responsive b) eloquent c) coherent
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4 She is a very person. She always keeps her attention fixed on what
she wants to achieve.
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a) sensitive b) focused c) fluent
5 He never says what he thinks or shows what he feels. How can anybody be so
?
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a) rambling b) fluent c) reserved
6 Everybody seems so here. They behave and speak freely, and do
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not really care what other people think.
a) incoherent b) articulate c) uninhibited
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7 We know that not all politicians are Some of them even use
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an autocue.
a) eloquent b) inhibited c) hesitant
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B Match these words to make compounds and collocations relating to
communication.
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1 extensive a) accuracy
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2 eye b) communication
3 body c) contact
4 grammatical d) humour
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5 sense of e) language
6 effective f) vocabulary
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vocabulary + C Complete the following phrases with say or tell as appropriate.
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1 tell a story 6 somebody what to do
2 the time 7 hello / goodbye
3 as far as I can 8 a lie / lies
2
4 yes or no 9 what you mean
3
5 somebody 10 something
to do something under your breath
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UNIT 1 •• COMMUNICATION
D Complete the following sentences with the appropriate form of say or tell.
1 Can you think of situations when it might be better not to tell the truth?
2 How easy or how difficult do you find it to other people to do things
for you?
3 In meetings, how often do you what you think?
4 Have you ever a joke in English?
5 How easy or how difficult is it to the difference between the
LANGUAGE WORK
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banknotes used in your country?
6 Can you ‘How are you?’ in more than three languages?
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7 When you were a child, did you use to do as you were ?
Check your answers in the key. Then answer the questions for yourself.
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language A Complete the idioms in the sentences below with the correct nouns.
review
1 They sent us a very long reply with all the details. But to put it in a nutshell ,
Idioms
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that’s it, we’ve won the contract!
2 I wish my boss would stop beating about the and tell me clearly
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whether or not I stand a chance of being promoted soon.
3 She expected profit figures and I was going on about sales figures. Once again, we
were just talking at cross .
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4 Not official yet, but it seems we’re going to relocate. Just heard it on the
.
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5 If you think you can give a good presentation just because you know your
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subject inside out, well, I’m afraid you’ve got the wrong of the
.
6 This is a very badly written report. I just can’t make or
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of it.
7 I’ve tried to tell my boss, but it’s like talking to a .
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No reaction!
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B Reorder the words to make idioms.
1 to / the / in / loop / someone / keep
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2 to / straight / the / get / mouth / it / horse’s / from
3 to / point / come / the / straight / to
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4 to / picture / somebody / the / in / put
5 to / on / wavelength / same / be / the
C Complete the sentences with the correct form of an idiom from exercise B.
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1 I know you couldn’t attend the meeting, so here’s a summary of the main points
just to put you in the picture .
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2 Let me : I think your performance is totally unsatisfactory.
3 I want to be . I don’t want important decisions to be taken
without me.
4 I thought it was a rumour, but today I . Andrew told me he was
resigning.
5 Fortunately Sue and I so we hardly ever disagree about anything.
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UNIT 1 •• COMMUNICATION
D Match these new idioms with their definitions.
1 air your views a) tell somebody all the information they want or
2 be at a loss for words need to know
3 drop a hint b) unable to say anything because something
surprising or totally unexpected has happened
4 give somebody the
low-down c) express your opinions about something in public
5 keep somebody d) give somebody regular information about things
LANGUAGE WORK
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up to date e) make a suggestion in an indirect way
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E Complete the sentences with the appropriate form of an idiom from
exercise D.
1 E-mail me every day to keep me up to date with the latest developments,
will you?
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2 When she was told she’d been nominated Businesswoman of the Year, she
.
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3 Could you briefly on their financial situation before our meeting this
afternoon?
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4 Every week in our department there’s a meeting where the administrative staff can
and discuss problems.
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5 We can’t be sure, but management that there might be redundancies.
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writing A Study the examples of linking words.
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Linking ideas 1 Despite his great sense of humour, he often finds it difficult to respond to his
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audience.
2 In spite of his shyness, he is a brilliant speaker.
3 Although he generally communicates his ideas clearly, I often find it hard to
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follow him.
4 Even though I’d put them in the picture, they didn’t seem to grasp what I was on about.
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Cross out the two explanations which are not correct.
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The words in italics are used to
a) express the cause of something, the reason for something.
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b) reinforce an idea, add information.
c) contrast ideas.
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B Tick the three sentences which make sense. Then check your answers in
the key.
1 I managed to follow their conversation, although my attention had drifted away. ✓
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2 Even though the talk was awfully boring, I left the room after a couple of minutes.
3 Despite the fact that he knew he was right, he refused to admit it.
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4 In spite of their criticisms, I didn’t lose my confidence.
5 I was unable to express my disagreement although I am generally assertive.
6 I felt sleepy throughout the meeting in spite of my tiredness.
C Rewrite the three incorrect sentences in exercise B.
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UNIT 1 •• COMMUNICATION
D Use your knowledge of linkers to guess the meaning of the words and
phrases in italics.
1 Although Sue is usually very direct, this time she was really beating about the bush.
2 Despite the market’s bearish trend, he was optimistic about share prices going up
again soon.
3 Although he often tends to waffle, today he made a presentation that was clear,
concise and to the point.
LANGUAGE WORK
4 Their new product sold quite well even though the advertising campaign was
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a complete flop.
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5 They managed to find a huge site for the new factory in spite of the scarcity of
land in that part of the country.
An e-mail E You work in the Human Resources Department of a modern, forward-looking
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organisation. You are very interested in the course advertised below.
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BRENTFORD COLLEGE
BUSINESS AND ADMINISTRATION TRAINING
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Autumn–Winter Courses
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Communication & People Skills [Course Ref. No. 23-D]
The aims of this residential one-week seminar are to:
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• improve participants’ speaking and listening skills
• analyse common communication problems and explore ways of resolving them
• give participants opportunities to experiment with conflict resolution strategies
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• help participants deal with defensiveness and aggressiveness.
This seminar will be of interest to all Course fee (including manual): £650
professionals who have to deal with people Dates: 7–13 October
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and work out problems with others.
Venue: Brentford College
Facilitator: Kate McGovern, PhD, MBA, For further details, contact: Martin Lowles, BATP
President of Schröders Consultants in Geneva,
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Brentford College, 27 Burrard Street,
author of the bestseller How to Listen to Others and Brentford TW9 0AK
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Write an e-mail (70–80 words) to your Head of Department, including:
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• a request to go on the course
• why you think the course would be useful
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• some details of the course
• an enquiry about the possibility of financial support towards the course fee.
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To:
Subject:
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