BUSINESS AND FINANCE ENGLISH VOCABULARY IN USE PRE INTERMEDIATE

 

ENGLISH VOCABULARY IN USE PRE INTERMEDIATE UNIT 40 BUSINESS AND FINANCE

 

A Rise and fall These verbs describe trends [movements] in sales [how much you sell], prices, etc. When sales or prices rise / go up / increase, they can do it in different ways We use certain prepositions to say by how much something rises or falls. The price has risen by 10 pence. Sales fell from 8,000 units to 6,500 units. Rise/increase and fall/decrease can also be used as nouns, with certain prepositions. There’s been a gradual rise in prices. There’s been a sharp fall in sales. We’ve seen a slight increase in profit. Profits were £5 million, which is a decrease of 10%. Language help   Profit is the money you receive from your business after you have paid all your costs (opp loss). Last year the company made a profit of €2 million but this year they could make a loss. B Financial language   Language help   Interest is what the bank charges you [asks you to pay] when you borrow money from them, and the interest rate is how much you must pay as a percentage, e.g. 5%, 8%, etc. So, if you borrow £100 for a year and the interest rate is 15% a year, you’ll have to pay back £115. EXERCISES 40.1 Choose the correct word to complete the sentences. 1 We made a profit of / for six million euros. 2 Sales rose to / by 10% last year. 3 The value of the shares fell from / for 240 pence to 225 pence. 4 There was a fall of / from 5% in the value of the shares. 5 There has been a gradual rise with / in profits. 6 The company made a loss two years on / in a row. 7 What’s the current value of / in the euro? 40.2 Which words or phrases are being defined? 1 The amount of money that something can be sold for. ________value ____________ 2 Money you borrow from a bank for your business. ___________________ 3 What the bank charges you when you borrow money. ___________________ 4 The rate at which prices increase. ___________________ 5 The money that a company receives for its goods after paying all the costs. ___________________ 6 Buying and selling goods and services between countries. ___________________ 7 A movement in sales, prices, etc. over a period of time. ___________________ 40.3 Complete the two short texts, then answer each of the two questions. 1 If you get a bank ___________ of €500 for one year and the bank ___________ you 20% ___________, how much will you have to ___________ to the bank at the end of the year? 2 If you take out a similar amount from another bank, and the interest ___________ is 15 ___________, how much will you ___________ at the end of the year? 40.4 Look at the graph and complete the text. The 1_____graph_____ shows sales 2______________ for the last three and a half years. Three years ago sales 3______________ slightly and reached 100,000 units by the end of the year. The company 4______________ a profit of almost £500,000 and decided to 5______________ the price from £8.95 to £10.25. It had an immediate effect: there was a 6______________ 7______________ in sales over the year. It was bad news, and the company made a 8______________. And in the next year sales 9______________ the same. However, in the first two 10______________ of this year, they have 11______________ 12______________ for the first time in many years. 40.5

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