Transcripts
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CD1 Track 13 Ex 4.5
Listen to a recording about competition between large supermarket chains and small local shops. Complete the text with one word in each space.
Because of planning restrictions, the large UK supermarket chains are looking to expand their businesses and increase profits by opening smaller ‘convenience stores’. Organizations representing small, independent shops protest that they now face unfair competition from the large chains. And they accuse the large chains of a number of practices that make it difficult for them to compete. Firstly, it is alleged that below-cost pricing is used by large supermarkets to force smaller, local shops out of business. Secondly, the large chains often buy up land which is not immediately used, and this prevents smaller local businesses from entering the market.
There is also some concern that the large chains are treating their suppliers unfairly. Farmers claim that they are being paid less for their products, and they are reluctant to complain for fear of losing key contracts.
However, supermarkets argue that the consumer is the best regulator of the market.
CD1 Track 14 Ex 4.7
Listen to a recording about the effect of global warming on numbers of polar bears. Complete the text with one word in each space.
Wildlife experts predict that numbers of polar bears will decline by at least 50% over the next 50 years because of global warming. Polar bears rely on sea ice to catch seals for food, and it has emerged that ice floes in the Arctic are disappearing at an alarming rate. Now scientists report that the animals are already beginning to suffer the effects of climate change in some parts of Canada, and if there is any further delay in tackling this problem, polar bears may be extinct by the end of the century.
CD1 Track 15 Ex 4.8
Listen to a recording about monitoring water levels in rivers. Complete the text with one word in each space.
Scientists are now able to monitor river levels using information from satellites by using a computer programme devised by researchers at De Montfort University in Leicester. Satellites have been able to measure the height of the sea by timing how long it takes to receive a beam bounced back off waves. But, until now, interference from objects on the banks of rivers has made it impossible to measure river levels.
However, the new programme, which is based on data collected over the last decade, is specially designed to filter out this interference. This new technology will be particularly useful in monitoring river-levels in remote areas. It will, for example, enable scientists to examine river level patterns over the entire Amazon River basin, contributing towards our understandings of climate change.
Unit 3: Identifying key ideas in lectures
CD1 Track 16 Ex 2.2
Listen to Part 1 of the lecture, which is in three sections. Identify the three sections and number them in the correct order.
Franchising Part 1 Section 1
The form of business development I’m going to look at now is franchising. The term ‘franchising’ covers a wide range of business arrangements, but today I’m going to focus on ‘business format franchising’.
If you own a small or medium-sized enterprise, you may reach a stage in its development at which, in order to develop further, you need large amounts of capital, or you need to reorganize your business, or to bring into the management team new skills. Well, let’s say you own four or five hairdressing salons in your city which are very profitable. You want to expand the business, but recognize firstly that a lot more money will need to be invested, and secondly that you will not be able to exert the same amount of personal control over the
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