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

Set 86 - It does pay dividends in the long run

Bob: Good news! The marketing policy is on course to deliver what it set out to do.

Michael: Great. This step is bound to take the company to the nest level and urge those reluctant customers to deal with us.

Bob: Certainly! You know advertising is a game-changer. Nevertheless, we were right when we steered clear of newspapers’ adverts which many people feel misleading.

Michael: Yep. You can’t have the last laugh these days unless you make use of the cutting-edge methods and findings.

Bob: That’s why we are investing the lion’s share of our profits in experienced consultants and updated investigations. It does pay dividends in the long run.

Michael: What’s interesting in advertising and marketing is that humans are diverse yet the methods tend to be uniform.

Bob: Right. Before I leave I just want you to notify the employees and ask them to be on guard for the coming few days in case any new prospects show up.

Vocabulary;

on course: likely to happen, or likely to succeed as planned.

set out: to aim or intend to do something.

reluctant: (adjective) unwilling and hesitant; disinclined.

steer clear of: to avoid someone or something.

misleading: giving the wrong idea or impression; fallacious; deceptive.

have the last laugh: to succeed in the end, after some earlier reverses.

cutting-edge: (adjective) highly advanced; innovative or pioneering.

the lion’s share: the largest part or portion of something.

pay dividends: to bring advantages at a later date.

diverse: (adjective) showing a great deal of variety; very different.

on (one’s) guard: alert and watchful; cautious.

prospect: a possible future customer.

Exercise;

Fill in the gaps with the appropriate phrases or words;

1. He .......... out to design software that would be accessible to employees outside the accounting department.

2. Frequently, a salesperson has only a limited amount of time for contact with customers and ..........

3. Those trails can be a bit treacherous to climb. I just hope she's on her ..........

4. Being disciplined in the way you study now will pay .......... by the time your exams come around.

5. Students from countries as .......... as Colombia and Lithuania use Cambridge textbooks.

6. When he invented this machine, everybody laughed at it, but he’s sold 10 000 of them. He certainly had the last ..........

7. Apple exemplifies the marketing concept, creating consistently stylish and ..........-edge products.

8. Even though we're all talented, it's always our youngest brother who gets the lion's .......... of our parents' praise and attention.

9. I can’t approve this article. It contains a number of .......... statements.

10. The 8:00 train is always late, so .......... clear of it if you want to be on time.

11. She persuaded her .......... husband to take a trip to Florida with her.

12. Because of the recession, we're on .......... to have record unemployment levels.

1. set 2. prospects 3. guard 4. dividends 5. diverse 6. laugh 7. cutting 8. share 9. misleading 10. steer 11. reluctant 12. course