1.  Listen to a marketing consultant presenting her report to  the management of a retail group. Complete these extracts.

 2. Listen to the management of a retail group discussing the problem of their store in Paris. Tick the expressions in the Useful language box that you hear.

Asking for the facts

Can you bring us up to date?

Can you give us the background?

Where do we stand with …?

Making a suggestion

We should sell out as soon as possible.

Why don’t we sell out?

Disagreeing

I don’t agree with that at all.

I totally disagree.

Identifying needs

We’ve got to get more information.

We need more information about where we’re going wrong.

Agreeing

You’re absolutely right.

I totally agree with you.

Expressing doubt

I am worried about the store’s location.

I’m not sure about that.

Making a decision

The solution, then, is to keep the store going.

I think, on balance, we feel we should keep the store going.

Stating future action

So, the next thing to do is ...

What we’ve got to do now is ...

You are board members of a manufacturing firm. As your company is making a loss, you must cut costs. Hold a meeting to decide which one of these options to follow.

• Cut factory workers' wages by 10%   

• Make 50 employees redundant

• Pay no end-of-year bonuses    

• Reduce everyone's salary by 8%