Advanced English Conversations (2) - Robert Allans, Matt Edie, A. Mustafaoglu 2020

Set 36 - The last thing I need is to be marked down

Leo: Anna; I’m sorting out my marketing report about coffee percolators and how fewer people are buying instant coffee. I need your help, Anna. The last thing I need is to be marked down.

Anna: With pleasure! But there’s a movement away from drinking coffee. People are switching to things like herbal teas and the like. Anyhow, you’ve to back it up with some data or your report would lack weight. Also consider adding comments about the implications of the figures.

Leo: What I worried about is saying something original. That’s just beyond my capabilities.

Anna: Well; as long as you’re using published data, your analysis might not throw up anything new. What really matters is the perspective you provide by your interpretations.

Leo: Right then. I’m OK for the first main part, the macro environment stuff. But I haven’t done the conclusion yet and I’m just racing against time. Any hints for that?

Anna; OK; it’s got to draw out the main points. You just need to recap what you’ve said earlier.

Leo: Thanks loads. I appreciate your help.

Vocabulary;

to organize; to resolve some confusion or conflict; to study a problem and figure it out.

percolator: a machine in which water passes through crushed coffee beans into a container.

mark (sb) down: to give someone a low score.

movement away from: a change of opinion, direction, styles, or methods.

back (something) up: to give additional support or evidence about something.

lack/attach/carry weight: to lack/add respect, influence, trust, or importance.

implication: 1. the conclusion that can be drawn from something although it is not explicitly stated. 2. a likely consequence of something.

beyond one’s capabilities: not able to be done by someone or something.

throw up: to produce new problems or ideas.

matter: to be important, or to affect what happens.

macro environment: the influences of political, economic, social ... factors of a business.

race against time: to act quickly to accomplish something in a short amount of time.

a hint: a piece of advice that helps you to do something.

draw out: to pull out, extract; to cause to speak.

recap: to state again as a summary; recapitulate.

Exercise;

Fill in the gaps with the appropriate phrases or words;

1. I've spent nearly an hour on this math problem, but I still can't .......... it out.

2. To .........., most people seem to agree that data collected by the government relating to environmental issues should be made available to the public.

3. We .......... out some interesting linguistic data from the native informant.

4. Could you give us a .......... about how to do this exercise, please?

5. Recently there has been some .......... away from traditional methods of teaching.

6. Take note of your spelling mistakes. They'll .......... you down for misspelled words.

7. Drip brew coffee makers replaced the coffee .......... in the 1970s due to the percolators' tendency to over-extract coffee, thereby making it bitter.

8. Jen's going to have to race .......... time if she wants to get her story in tomorrow's newspaper—it's almost time to send it to the publisher!

9. I know Charles doesn't think this project is important, but it .......... to me.

10. These calculations are beyond the .......... of even the most advanced computers.

11. After he was voted out of office, few people attached much .......... to what he said.

12. My story of the crime will .......... your story up.

13. Our market research .......... up a few key facts and some significant findings.

14. It's not yet clear what the .......... of the new legislation will be for small businesses.

1. sort 2. recap 3. drew 4. hint 5. movement 6. mark 7. percolator 8. against 9. matters 10. capabilities 11. weight 12. back 13. threw 14. implications