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  • Hello. I'm Margot Politis. Welcome to Study English, IELTS preparation.

  • Today we're going to talk about businesses, and different ways to discuss economic information.

  • We're going to listen to an interview with the head of a large clothing company.

  • Then we're going to look at how he describes the success of his company.

  • Here's Derek O'Neill.

  • Well, we've said before that we've had consistent growth over the last four to five years. We've

  • delivered EPS growth in excess of 20% over the last three years. You know, growing earnings

  • at 25, 30, 35% forever becomes impossible. I think we end up owning US GDP in about 2023

  • with 25% growth.

  • We've registered that 15 per cent is our plan and we think that's a good target.

  • We're very happy with our level of sales. We grew sales in the US in girls' wear at

  • 50 per cent and we think that's a fantastic performance, so we'll stand by those numbers.

  • We've had solid momentum in that market for four or five years and we expect that momentum's

  • going to continue.

  • OK. So today we're going look at the language of description, particularly describing economic

  • information.

  • In formal academic writing, it's important to use impersonal, objective language when

  • describing things.

  • Notice that in the interview, Derek O'Neill often begins his sentences with We've, short

  • for we have.

  • Using phrases like I've or we've is very common in spoken English.

  • Well, we've said before that we've had consistent growth over the last four to five years. We've

  • delivered EPS growth in excess of 20% over the last three years.

  • He says: We've had consistent growth.

  • We've delivered growth in excess of 20 per cent.

  • We've had solid momentum in that market.

  • How would you turn these sentences into more formal descriptions?

  • Take the first sentence: we've had consistent growth.

  • Generally the first person forms of I and we are not used in more formal writing, or

  • when describing economic data.

  • We'd use an objective form: there is, there are,

  • there has been, or there will be.

  • So, "We've had consistent growth," becomes, "There has been consistent growth."

  • Look at this one: We've delivered growth of 20%.

  • That becomes: There has been growth of 20%.

  • Now listen to him again.

  • We've had solid momentum in that market for four or five years and we expect that momentum's

  • going to continue.

  • He said: We've had solid momentum.

  • We expect that momentum is going to continue.

  • We've had, we expect.

  • How could you write that information in a formal way?

  • We've had solid momentum. There has been solid momentum.

  • We expect that momentum is going to continue. It is expected that momentum is going to continue.

  • So looking for the use of the first person is a good way to tell whether someone is discussing

  • information in a formal or informal way.

  • You should remember that in an academic context, you always need to include evidence to support

  • your opinions or descriptions.

  • You should try to always include data to explain and support what you're saying.

  • Data is information, especially facts and figures - numbers, percentages, and dates.

  • In formal language, you need to include data to support your arguments.

  • Listen to the data Derek uses.

  • We've delivered EPS growth in excess of 20% over the last three years. You know, growing

  • earnings at 25, 30, 35 per cent forever becomes impossible. I think we end up owning US GDP

  • in about 2023 with 25% growth.

  • We've registered that 15% is our plan and we think that's a good target.

  • He mentions a variety of facts and numbers, but he also describes how the data has changed

  • - that is, the degree or type of change.

  • To describe data, there is a variety of word choices.

  • You can use both adjectives and adverbs - words that describe.

  • Of course, adjectives describe things, and adverbs describe actions.

  • So you'll need both nouns and verbs for your descriptions.

  • For example, you might use nouns like the rise, the increase, or the growth.

  • Listen to Derek again.

  • Well, we've said before that we've had consistent growth over the last four to five years.

  • They've had consistent growth.

  • He uses an adjective, consistent, with a noun, growth.

  • Let's look at a table.

  • To describe numbers going up, we can use nouns like the rise, the increase, or the growth.

  • And to describe numbers going down, we can use the drop, the decrease.

  • Then we've got adjectives to describe those nouns - like rapid, slow,

  • slight, dramatic, sudden or consistent.

  • And we can put these together: a sudden rise, a slight decrease,

  • a sudden drop, a consistent growth.

  • But, there's another way of describing these changes.

  • We can use verbs and adverbs.

  • Many nouns like the rise, the increase, the growth can be used as verbs:

  • to rise to increase

  • to grow to drop

  • to decrease

  • And many adjectives can become adverbs - rapidly

  • slowly slightly

  • dramatically suddenly

  • consistently

  • By using these new words, we can describe data by using verbs and adverbs.

  • We can say to rise suddenly, to decrease slightly, to drop suddenly, to grow consistently.

  • So look how these phrases change: a sudden rise, becomes to rise suddenly

  • a slight decrease, to decrease slightly

  • a sudden drop, to drop suddenly

  • And look at how sentences can be changed to fit these different phrases:

  • It has grown consistently There has been consistent growth.

  • It's important to always use a variety in your written work. Sometimes use verbs and

  • adverbs to describe data, and sometimes use adjectives and nouns. It will make your English

  • sound much better.

  • OK, listen to the clip again, and then we'll try to put together all the things we've looked

  • at today. Listen for personal descriptions, simple verbs, and descriptions of data.

  • Well, we've said before that we've had consistent growth over the last four to five years. We've

  • delivered EPS growth in excess of 20% over the last three years.

  • We've registered that 15% is our plan and we think that's a good target.

  • We're very happy with our level of sales. We grew sales in the US in girls' wear at

  • 50% and we think that's a fantastic performance.

  • He finishes by commenting on the data, and its significance for the company.

  • OK, let's go back over the steps we've looked at today.

  • When you're making an argument, it's important to support your case - you must include data

  • or facts.

  • Make sure you discuss this data - use objective, impersonal language.

  • Describe changes to data by using a variety of noun/adjective, and verb/adverb combinations.

  • And finally, comment on the data, using formal objective language.

  • And that's all for Study English today. Don't forget to keep reading, writing, speaking

  • and listening to English as much as you can. And why not try to rewrite some conversational

  • English into more formal academic styles.

  • I'll see you next time for more IELTS preparation. Bye.

Hello. I'm Margot Politis. Welcome to Study English, IELTS preparation.

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學習英語--第1輯第3集:公司成長篇 (Study English - Series 1, Episode 3: Company Growth)

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    田立瑋 發佈於 2021 年 01 月 14 日
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