Unit 22 Presenting Facts.
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Play back the recording and fill in the gaps with the words you hear.
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The list of answers:
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1.
Penny Richard.
Richard Penny! Are you here for me?
Penny I need to talk to you.
Richard But I've just got off the plane! All right, but not until we're in the
car. I want to tell you all about my holiday.
Penny Let me take your bag.
Richard Oh, don't be silly, Penny. I've never felt so fit in my life. Ah, the
sunshine, the food ... the food! Penny, have you ever eaten fresh coconut...
and every day fish straight from the sea?
Penny We couldn't contact you.
Richard Ah. Do you know, there wasn't a single telephone on that island. Can
you believe it? No telephones, no televisions, no newspapers. It was paradise!
Penny So you haven't heard the news?
Richard No, I haven't. And I feel absolutely marvellous. Ah, why do people listen to the news? It only makes them worry.
Ah, listen, Penny. You and I have been selling computer components for years.
And are we happy? The people on that island have never seen a computer. And
Penny, they're happy.
Penny I'm afraid we have to take the train. No company cars were available.
Richard No cars available? Well, never mind. Have you ever been to the Antilles? It's another world ...
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Richard and
the sunsets ... and the sea, ah ... and the light on the water. I've never
seen anything like it! All right. I can see you've got something to tell me.
What's the news?
Penny Well, it isn't very good, I'm afraid.
Richard Well, let's start with some good news. Think of some. Things are never
as bad as they seem.
Penny Well, there is some good news. The profitability of disk drives has
improved dramatically.
Richard I knew there must be some good news! That's excellent. Let me see.
Penny This graph shows the profit margin on
sales over the last six months.
Richard So, there was a sharp increase in the margin last month. Why? What happened?
Penny It won't last I'm afraid. The increase in profitability was due to a sudden increase in price. This shows the price of disk drives over the last eighteen months.
Richard Prices rose steadily ... until last month. What's this line?
Penny It's the unit price adjusted for inflation. As you can see, prices rose
in line with inflation. Until last month.
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Richard And then there was this sudden jump in price. What happened?
Penny Well, it wasn't due to a change in demand. Demand has remained steady.
Richard Was it due to a change in production costs?
Penny No. Production costs have remained the same. The change was due to a
sharp drop in supply.
Richard That's wonderful news. So our competitors have got problems, eh? Can't produce enough for the market. What
about our sales, then?
Penny This graph shows our sales over the last six months. As you can see,
they went up steadily until last month.
Richard And then they fell sharply. Well, that must be because some fool put the price up. Who authorized this?
Penny That's not the problem. Everybody put their prices up. Disk drives are in very short supply. Have a look at
this. This shows our stock level today.
Richard But we've got no stock left!
Penny It's all gone.
Richard Then why aren't we producing more?
Penny Do you want to see this month's output figures?
Richard Yes I do! We aren't producing anything at all! What's happened? Is
there a strike?
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Penny No. There isn't a strike. It was John.
Richard John? John who?
Penny John the Financial Director.
Richard He authorized the price rise?
Penny No. He shot himself.
Richard John shot himself?
Penny Yes. When the
police came to arrest him, John locked himself in the basement and shot
himself.
Richard The police wanted to arrest our Financial Director?
Penny Yes. When they discovered the money was missing, they came to arrest
him. He locked himself in the basement and ...
Richard What money?
Penny The money he stole from the company.
Richard John stole money from the
company?
Penny Yes. They think about two million pounds is missing. He lost a
lot of money on the horses. He was a gambler, but not a very good one.
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Richard Two million pounds?!
Penny Yes. It's amazing, isn't it? It was in all the newspapers.
Richard So John killed himself. That is terrible news.
Penny He missed. He only injured himself. He wasn't a very good shot, either.
Richard So, let me get this straight. John
isn't dead, he didn't authorize the price rise, but he did stop production?
Penny No. He didn't. It was the bullet.
Richard The bullet?
Penny The bullet went into the fuel tank in the basement.
Richard The fuel tank in the basement.
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Penny Yes. That caused an explosion, which started the fire. The fire
destroyed the factory. We stopped producing disk drives, which caused a
shortage of supply. That caused an increase in price, and an increase in
profitability. But only in the short term, as you can see. I'm sure you're
right Richard. Things are never as bad as they seem. Disk drives are making a
lot of money. It's a pity we're not making any disk drives, that's all. New jobs. Best to start looking early. We all are.
Don't worry, Richard. Things always seem bad after a holiday.
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