Write an article developing one of the following theses.

1. “What education fails to teach us is to see the human community as one. Rather than focus on the unique differences that separate one nation from another, education should focus on the similarities among all people and places on Earth.”

2. “Education has become the main provider of individual opportunity in our society. Just as property and money once were the keys to success, education has now become the element that most ensures success in life.”

3. “It makes no sense for people with strong technological skills to go to college if they know that they can earn a good salary without a college degree.”

4. “Schools should not teach specialized information and techniques, which might soon become outdated. Instead, schools should encourage a more general approach to learning.”

5. “Formal education should not come to an end when people graduate from college. Instead people should frequently enroll in courses throughout their lives.”

6. “If a nation is to ensure its own economic success, it must maintain a highly competitive educational system in which students compete among themselves and against students from other countries.”

 

Project Making

Some experts maintain that students learn best in a highly structured environment, one that emphasizes discipline, punctuality, and routine. Others insist that educators, if they are to help students maximize their potential, ought to maintain an atmosphere of relative freedom and spontaneity.

In this context and also with the view to accommodate the increasing number of undergraduate students, colleges and universities should offer most courses through distance learning, such as videotaped instruction that can be accessed through the Internet or cable television. Requiring students to appear at a designated time and place is no longer an effective or efficient way of teaching most undergraduate courses.

Design a project which will meet these requirements. Pay special attention to the duration of teaching and the organization of exam sessions (should they be also held via Internet or arranged in a more conventional way?). Do not forget about financial effectiveness.

Group Project-Making

You are members of the global strategy team of JapanMOTORS, multinational car maker. The company currently has production units in the USA, UK, Germany, France and Spain. But with the opening up of the markets in Central and Eastern Europe, you are considering whether to set up a production in Russia. Hold a meeting to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of this strategy, and try to come to a decision.

 

 

Active Vocabulary List

accelerate (v), 3.2 A accord (v), 4.5 A admonish (v), 4.6 A adroit (adj), 4. 3 A advent (n), 3.2 A ambiguous (adj), 4.6 A annihilation (n), 3.2 A antithesis (n), 4. 3 A arduous (adj), 4.2 A ascertain (v), 4.5 A attrition (n), 2.4 A auspicious (adj), 2.3 A belligerent (adj), 3.3 B berate (v), 1.2 A bolster (v), 4.4 A chide (v), 3.5 A circumvent (v), 1.4 A clandestine (adj), 1.4 A collaborate (v), 4.4 A command (v), 4.5 A commensurate (adj), 3.3 B complacency (n), 1.2 A complement (v), 2.3 A confer (v) 4. 3 A contend (v), 2.4 A contingency (n), 3.5 A contrite (adj), 4. 3 A corroborate (v), 4.4 cursory (adj), 4.2 A decorum (n), 4. 3 A demise (n) 3.2 A denunciation (n), 3.4 A depreciate (verb), 1.4 A deride (v), 4.6 A derive (v), 3.2 A derogatory (adj), 3.4 A despondent (adj), 4.5 A detriment (n), 1.2 A discreet (adj), 2.3 A discretion (n), 1.2 A dispar­age (v), 1.5 A disparity (n), 2.2 A disseminate (v), 1.4 A dissipate (v), 3.3 B distraught (adj), 4.6 A   rebuke (v), 2.3 A recourse (n), 2.4 A redeem (v), 2.3 A regress (v), 4.4 A reiterate (v), 4.6 A rejuvenate(v), 3.4 A relinquish (v), 1.3 A replete (adj), 1.3 A reprehensible (adj), 1.2 A repudiate (v), 3.5 A repugnant (adj), 3.5 A resilience (n), 1.2 A resist (v), 4.5 A resort (v), 4.5 A reticent (adj), 1.4 A retribution (n), 2.2 A rudimentary (adj), 1.5 A     doom (n), 3.2 A dormant (adj), 4.2 A embellish (v), 4.6 A emulate (v), 4.2 A encompass (v), 4.2 A eradicate (v), 2.4 A equivocate (v), 1.4 A espouse (v), 4.4 A estrange (v), 4.6 A euphoric (adj), 1.3 A excel (v), 1.2 A exhilaration (n), 3.4 A exhort (v), 2.4 A exoneration (n), 1.5 A exorbitant (adj), 3.4 A expedite (v), 2.3 A extenuating (adj), 2.3 A extinct (adj), 3.2 A extricate (v), 3.4 A fabricate (v), 4. 3 A facilitate (v), 4.6 A fastidious (adj), 2.3 A flout (v), 2.3 A foible (n), 3.5 A forestall (v), 2.2 A fortuitous (adj), 1.4 A fraudulent (adj), 2.3 A germane (adj), 2.4 A grievous (adj), 4.6 A havoc (n), 3.2 A heinous (adj), 2.3 A hierarchy (n), 4.5 A impede (v), 2.4 A impending (adj), 3.2 A imperative (adj), 3.3 B impetuous (adj), 1.3 A implicit (adj), 2.3 A inadvertent (adj), 1.4 A inane (adj), 1.3 A incapacitate(v), 3.5 A incongruous (adj), 4. 3 A inflate (v), 4. 3 A innocuous (adj), 3.5 A indigenous (adj), 1.5 A insidious (adj), 2.2 A   schizophrenic (adj), 3.2 A scrupulous (adj), 1.2 A sedentary (adj), 4.4 A somber (adj), 3.2 A sordid (adj), 4.2 A staunch (adj), 3.4 A stigma (n), 3.4 A stint (n), 4.2 A stringent (adj), 2.4 A sensory (adj), 1.3 A sham (n), 1.4 A solace (n), 1.3.A squander (v), 1.3 A squelch (v), 1.5 A subordinate (adj), 4.5 A subversive (adj), 3.3 B tantamount (adj), 1.3 A   insinuate (v), 2.2 A instigate (v), 1.3 A integral (adj), 3.3 B interrogate (v), 2.2 A intuition (n), 4.5 A inundate (v), 2.4 A irreparable (adj), 4.4 A juxtapose (v), 4.4 A liability (n), 1.5 A liaison (n), 4.4 A. lucid (adj), 3.5 A macabre (adj), 3.4 A mandatory (adj), 2.4 A maudlin (adj), 4.2 A mediocre (adj), 4. 3 A mesmerize (v), 4.6 A meticulous (adj), 3.5 A mitigate (v), 3.3 B morale (n), 4.4 A nonchalant (adj), 3.3 B noxious (adj), 3.3 B oblivious (adj), 1.3 A obsequious (adj), 2.2 A obtrusive (adj), 2.3 A omnipotent (adj) 2.2 A opportune (adj), 2.2 A optimum (adj), 1.2 A ostentation (n), 1.3 A ostracize (v), 1.5 A panacea (n), 2.4 A perfunctory (adj), 2.4 A permeate (v), 2.2A pinnacle (n), 4. 3 A platitude (n), 3.4 A plight (n), 4. 3 A portend (v), 3.2 A precarious (adj), 4.6 A precipitate (v), 1.4 A predisposed (adj), 1.2 A, preponderance (n), 1.2 A preposterous (adj), 3.5 A presumptuous (adj), 3.5 A proliferation (n), 1.5 A propensity (n), 1.2 A quandary (n), 3.4 A   tenet (n), 1.5 A tenacious (adj), 4.3 A tenuous (adj), 4,3 A transgress (v), 2.3 A travesty (n), 4.6 A turbulent (adj), 4.4 A ubiquitous (adj),1.5 A unprecedented (adj), 3.3 B utilitarian (adj), 3.3 B validate (v), 3.4 A vehement (adj), 2.3 A veneration (n), 1.3.A vindicate (v), 3.3 B vociferous (adj), 1.5 A yen (n), 3.3 B

Bibliography

 

Bromberg, Murray; Gordon, Melvin. 1100 Words You Need to Know, Barron’s Education Series, Inc.,1993.

Cotton, David; Falvey, David; Kent, Simon. Market Leader, Financial Times, Pearson Education Ltd, 2001

Dwyer, Anne. Skills for Business English, Student Book 3, DELTA Publishing, 39 Alexandra Road, Addlestone, Surrey KT 15 2PQ, United Kingdom, pp. 48.

Goodman, Donald; Nist, Sherrie L.; Mohr, Carole. Advancing Vocabulary Skills, Townsend Press, Marlton, NJ 08053.

Jones, Leo. Progress to Proficiency, Cambridge University Press, 1994.

Jones, Leo. New Cambridge Advanced English, Cambridge University Press, 1998.

Kotler, Philip. Marketing Management. Prentice Hall, 2000, Chapter 2.

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, 3rd Edition, Longman House, England, 1995.

Longman Idioms Dictionary, 3rd Edition, Pearson Education Limited, England, 2000.

MacKenzie Ian. English for Business Studies. A Course for Business Studies and Economics Students. Cambridge University Press, UK, 2004.

Macmillan English Dictionary for Advanced Learners, International Student Edition, Macmillan Education, Between Towns Road, Oxford OX4 3PP, 2002.

Mascull, Bill. Market Leader, Longman, 2001.

Mascull, Bill. Business Vocabulary in Use: Innovation, Professional English, Cambridge University Press, 2004.

McCarthy, Michael; O’Dell, Felicity. English Vocabulary in Use. Advanced. Cambridge University Press, 2003;

The Merriam Webster Dictionary of Synonyms and Antonyms, Merriam-Webster, Inc., Publishers, Springfield, Massachusetts, 1992; Longman.

Misztal, Mariusz. Tests in English. Thematic vocabulary. Wydawnictwa Szkolne I Pedagogiczne, Warszawa 1996

Numrich, Carol. Raise the Issue, Longman, 1994.

Oxford Collocations Dictionary, 4th Impression, 2003.

Oxford Learner’s Wordfinder Dictionary, Oxford University Press, 1997.

Pilbeam, Adrian. International Management, Longman, 2000.

Pye, Diana; Greenall, Simon. CAE Reading Skills, Cambridge Examinations Publishing, 1996.

Schinke-Llano, Linda. Reaching for Tomorrow, National Textbook Company, Illinois, USA, 1994.

Stephens, Mary. Proficiency Reading, Longman, 2000.

Tiersky, Ethel; Chernoff, Maxine. In the News, International Herald Tribune, National Textbook Company, Illinois, USA, 1993.

Wright, Jon. Idioms Organizer, Language Teaching Publications, Commercial Colour Press, London, 1999.

 


[1] Using situations for own benefits

[2] Too patriotic

[3] wise

[4] Delay doing something

[5] Calm, doesn’t easily become excited or angry

[6] Troubled, distressed by

[7] Wanting to gain advantage for oneself

[8] Expensive or impressive

[9] gloomy

[10] Based on the article by J. Ashworth in The Times

 

[11] David Cotton, David Falvey, Simon Kent. Market Leader, Financial Times, Pearson Education Ltd, 2001.

[12] Connotations used in journalism may be quite short-lived. The phrase The Iron Lady, used to refer to Mrs Thatcher when she was Prime Minister of Britain, lost any strong associations for most people after she left office.

Sometimes connotations are not the same for different nations and even for geographical variants of one language.Black cats, for example have associations withgood luck in Britain and bad luck in the USA.

[13] Today oysters are expensive and few people eat them, but hundred years ago, they were eaten by everyone. They were one of the commonest forms of seafood. The idiom – the world’s your oyster – is hundreds of years old. A character in a Shakespeare play says: The world’s mine oyster, which I, with sword, will open. In other words, he will conquer the world. If you remember what an oyster is, it might help you remember the idiom.

[14] David Cotton, David Falvey, Simon Kent. Market Leader, Financial Times, Pearson Education Ltd, 2001.

[15] Attempt to sell something by being very forceful

[16] Selling or marketing goods and services by phone

[17] Phoning people who have not requested a call in order to try to sell them something

[18] When a company behaves as if you agreed to buy something because you did not actually refuse it.

[19] Based on Anne Dwyer Skills for Business English: The Open-Collar Worker, DELTA Publishing, Surrey, UK, 2001; David Cotton, David Falvey, Simon Kent, Market Leader/Robert Dunbar, Grooming, Gossip and the Evolution of the Language: Hard Sell around the Photocopier, Pearson Education Limited, Essex, UK, 2001; The Eternal Coffee Break, the Economist.

[20] Based on Ian MacKenzie. English for Business Studies. Cambridge University Press, UK, 2002.

[21] Based on Jan MacKenzie, Cross-cultural Management in English for Business Studies, Cambridge University Press, 2002; Recruitment and Selection in Managing Cultural Differences , Economist Intelligence Unit.

[22] Based on Rene Sanchez, Alternative education is flourishing in US, Washington Post Service; Charles Handy, A proper education; “So you want to be a success”, Focus Magazine; Christopher Middleton, Why do kids think that grammar is dad’s mum? Gerald Tribune; M. Garrett Bauman, Liberal Arts for the Twenty-First Century, Journal of Higher Education, Vol. 58, No 1 (Jan/Feb. 1987), Ohio State University Press.

[23] Carol Numrich. Raise the Issue. An Integrated Approach to Critical Thinking. Longman, Pearson Education, NY, 1994.

[24] The articles in this section reflect the position of their writers and do not necessarily coincide with the stance of the author of this book.

[25] Based on Ian MacKenzie. English for Business Studies. Cambridge University Press, UK, 2002.