Greenpeace gets Lego to end ties with Shell

Danish toy maker Lego said on Thursday (1)___________________ a new deal with the oil company Shell. They had a partnership in which Lego made toys with the Shell (2)___________________. Shell sold the toys in its gas stations in 26 countries. The (3)___________________ $110 million. Lego made this decision after the environmental group Greenpeace made a video using Lego (4)___________________ Shell in the Arctic Ocean. It shows oil filling the water in the Arctic (5)___________________. Lego people and polar bears in the video become covered in oil. At the end of the video, oil has covered everything, except a Shell flag. The video has become Greenpeace's most-watched (6)___________________ history.

Greenpeace's video (7)___________________ three months. Over a million people emailed Lego asking (8)___________________ with Shell. Greenpeace was very happy that Lego will end the partnership. A statement on the Greenpeace website said: "Thanks a million, Lego". It added: "We're super happy Lego has finally decided to (9)___________________. It's a massive victory." Lego's CEO said he made the decision because he didn't want the company (10)___________________ environmental campaign. He said Greenpeace should have spoken to Shell instead of making the video. Shell had (11)___________________ the Arctic in 2013 or 2014 but stopped because of technical problems. It has not (12)___________________ or not to start in 2015.

Task 10. Match the synonyms from the listening.

1. maker 2. deal 3. worth 4. covered 5. except 6. end 7. statement 8. massive 9. problems 10. yet

a. huge b. valued at c. difficulties d. contract e. so far f. manufacturer g. apart from h. announcement i. finish j. coated

 

Task 11. Mark the statements as true or false according to the information from the audio.

1) The toy maker Lego has cancelled its current contract with Shell.

2) Shell sold (sells) Lego toys in its gas (petrol) stations.

3) Lego made the decision because of a Greenpeace video.

4) The video shows real polar bears covered in oil.

5) More than one million people wrote to Lego about Shell.

6) Greenpeace sent a billion thanks to those who mailed Lego.

7) Lego's boss said Greenpeace should not have spoken to Shell.

8) It is unclear whether or not Shell will drill in the Arctic in 2015.

 

Task 12. Case study

You have a rich client who wants to start a business with a friend, and his friend’s wife. The business is to manufacture and sell a new office product that will revolutionize the way people work. Your client is putting up the money and his friend will assign the ownership of the patent of the product to the business.

Your client envisages that the product will be very successful and probably sell in large quantities around the world over the forthcoming years.

What is your advice about the best type of business to form? Remember who you are acting for. Your client is putting up the money and needs to have his investment protected.

Write a letter to your client outlining your advice and why you recommend the particular form of business you are advising as well as why you are opposed to the other alternatives. Use the following recommendations.

 

Dear Sir, You have asked me to advise you about the type of business you should form in connection with your new venture. Essentially, there are three types as follows: 1. A Limited Liability Partnership - LLP 2. A Limited Company - LC 3. A Public Limited Company – PLC   a. Give reasons why ST and PS are not the best form of business for this venture; b. Outline the features of an LLP, LC and PLC; c. Outline differences between LLP, LC and PLC; d. Choose the best form of business and say why.   I hope that this advice sets out the position clearly, and if you have any further questions please do not hesitate to contact me.   Yours faithfully, …

 

Unit 2

Recruitment

Questions for discussion:

1) How to prepare for an interview?

2) What are the top 5 questions to ask an interviewee?

3) What are the stages of recruitment?

4) Is it worth signing up to a recruitment agency?

5) What are the modern techniques of recruiting?

6) Do you think a certain type of appearance is necessary for some jobs? Explain why.

7) When was the last time you attended or held an interview? Was it successful? Why/why not?

 

Task 1. Match the words with the correct definitions.

1. to matter 2. to hire 3. promotion 4. employer 5. to require 6. career 7. authority 8. qualities 9. to rank 10. applicant

a. a person that you work for b. to need c. characteristics d. the long-term plan for your professional life e. to put in order of importance f. to be important g. to give employment to someone h. a person who applies for a job i. the power to give orders j. a movement to a more important job, with more responsibility and money

 

Task 2. Complete the following passage about the role of headhunters in business, using words from the previous exercise. Change the form of the words where necessary.

 

Headhunters, or executive search firms, specialise in finding the right person for the right job. When a company wishes to (1)___________________ a person for an important position, it may use the services of such a firm, specifying the skills and (2)___________________ which it (3)___________________ of the future employee. The headhunter contacts executives with the right (4)___________________ profile, and provides the company with a shortlist of suitable candidates. In this way, the (5)___________________ does not have to go through the preliminary stages of interviewing and selecting (6)___________________ itself.

 

Task 3. Put the correct words written below into the article.