Lexical exercises

Match the two halves of the sentences:

Would they accept the offer	we'd leave the company.
Our rent would be lower	would you agree to pay sooner?
If I were you,	I'd apologize for my mistake.
If we gave you a 10% discount,	if we included transport costs?
If our boss expected us to work overtime,	if we employed more staff?
Would people start leaving	if we moved out of the centre.

Listening

I. Derek is the owner of a chain of Turkish restaurants in Ireland. The manager of one of the restaurants is a Turkish woman called Ayse. She wants to talk to Derek about something important. Read this summary of the first part of the dialogue. Then listen to the dialogue and correct the text where it is wrong.

Ayse wants to talk to Derek, her boss, because today she's received a letter from her family in Turkey, saying there's a problem at home and they need her to come home for three or four days. Derek seems to understand her problem and it's a busy week.

II. Listen to the second part of the dialogue and underline the part of the sentence in Italics that is correct.

1. Derek will not agree to Ayse's request because he cannot manage without her / he feels she is not being honest.

2. Ayse's main worry is her duty to her family / money.

3. They understand / do not understand each other's point of view.

III. Listen to the third part of the dialogue. What compromise do they reach?

IV. Look at the extracts from the dialogues. Complete them with the phrases used by Ayse and Derek. Then listen again to all three dialogues and check your answers.

1. I know it's a busy time of year, I do. I __________________________your point of view.

2. But put______________________ - imagine if it were your family.

3. This is what I suggest. Let's both ______________________and I'll phone you tomorrow morning.

4. Right, er... I've ________________________ thinking.

5. On the _______________________I need someone with your experience and ability with the staff and the customers.

6. So what _________________________ - if you went in four days' time that would give us time to show the ropes to someone else.

7. Let's ____________________then.

Speaking

Respond to the following problems. Try to use language from the unit.

1) a regular customer says they are having financial problems and cannot pay for the goods or services you have provided. You need the money but do not want to lose a good customer.

2) there is an urgent project at work. Your boss wants you to work extra hours for the next two weeks, including all day Saturday and Sunday. No extra money is available to pay you for this.

Writing

As part of a presentation to new employees, you decide to suggest some “tips for reaching agreement”. Write four or five tips that you could show as part of the talk.