MARKET LEADER ELEMENTARY

UNIT 3 – PROBLEMS

’’A problem is a chance for you to do your best.’’

Duke Ellington (1899-1974) Us composer and musician

I/ GLOSSARY

abroad invoice
adv. n. [C]
əˈbrɔːd ˈɪnvɔɪs
in a foreign country or going to a foreign a document sent by a seller to a customer with
country details of goods or services that have been
EX : How often do you travel abroad? provided, their price, and the payment date
I spent six months travelling abroad. Ex : There's a problem with the invoice, the
figures are wrong.
We require suppliers to submit invoices with
client
services clearly categorized.
n. [C]
ˈklaɪənt missing
someone who pays for services or advice from a
adj.
professional person or organization
ˈmɪsɪŋ
Ex : Jeremy's clients sometimes have quite
not able to be found
complicated problems.
Ex : We can't use it because there's a piece
Mr Dolan is an important client of this law firm.
missing.
The missing child has been found safe and well.
confusing
refund
adj.
kənˈfjuːzɪŋ n. [C]
difficult to understand ˈriːfʌnd
Ex : The instructions are not always clear, and a sum of money that is given back to you
they are sometimes very confusing. Ex : I'm sorry there's a problem with the mobile
I find some of the maths a bit confusing. phone, we can give you a refund.
If the goods are faulty in any way you will be
entitled to a full refund.
cost
v. [I] report to
kɒst
phr.v.
to have a particular price
rɪˈpɔːt tə
Ex : How much does the ticket cost?
to have a particular person in authority over
It costs £20 to go to that event.
you who gives you tasks and checks that you do
them
Ex : I report to Peter, he's my line manager.
On a day to day basis you will report to your Line
Manager, who will be a senior member of staff
within your placement area.
 solve
cost
v. [T]
n. [C]
sɒlv
kɒst
to find a successful way to deal with a problem
the amount of money that you have to pay in
Ex : My job is to solve our customer's problems.
order to buy, do, or produce something
Students and teachers need to solve this
Ex : Customers want low prices, but companies
problem by working together.
have increasing costs.
The distributor bears the full cost of promoting a
staff
film.
There are flexible investment opportunities. n. [U]
stɑːf
customer
the people who work for an organization or
n. [C] business
ˈkʌstəmə Ex : I go to all staff meetings.
a person or organization that buys goods or We now employ twenty-five members of staff.
services from a shop or company
Ex : It is not easy to talk to customers when they
strategy
are angry and do not want to understand.
We try to keep regular customers happy. n. [C]
ˈstrætɪdʒi
delay a plan or series of plans for achieving an aim,
especially success in business or the best way
n. [C]
for an organization to develop in the future
dɪˈleɪ
Ex : Our management team discuss business
a period of time when you have to wait for
strategy, but they don't discuss employee
something to happen
problems.
Ex : Delivery delays are always a problem.
What's your strategy going to be for winning the
There was a 12-hour delay before the plane took
election?
off.
stressful
delivery
adj.
n. [C]
ˈstresfəl
dɪˈlɪvəri
making you worried and unable to relax
the act or process of bringing goods, letters etc.
Ex : Working in a call centre is often very
to a particular place or person
stressful.
Ex : It’s about the delivery of mobile phones: I
Pilots have a stressful job.
want fifty, not fifteen.
Deliveries to the restaurant should be made at
the back entrance. turnover
n. [U]
efficient
ˈtɜːnˌəʊvə
adj. the rate at which people leave an organisation
ɪˈfɪʃənt and are replaced by others
working well, without wasting time or energy Ex : Nobody stays in the job very long, there's a
Ex : Our new boss is very efficient. high staff turnover.
You have to find an efficient way of organising If a number of people leave your company
your work. quickly, the higher staff turnover can have a
negative impact on your business.
employee
waste
n. [C]
ɪmˈplɔɪ-iː, ˌemplɔɪˈiː v. [T]
someone who is paid to work for an weɪst
organization, especially someone who has a job to use more of something than you need to, or
of low rank to not use it in a sensible way
Ex : Our employees enjoy having flexible hours. Ex : We waste a lot of paper, but we don’t waste
A large proportion of the company's employees electricity.
work outside the UK. Don't leave the lights on when you go - it's a
waste of electricity!
factory
n. [C]
ˈfæktəri
a large building or group of buildings where
goods are made, using large industrial
machinery and usually employing many people
Ex : When the machinery in the factory starts, it
is very noisy.
The owner wouldn't comment on the factory's
future.

II/ VOCABULARY

Adjectives

A - Complete the sentences. Drag a word from the list to the correct box.

late low broken delayed dangerous incorrect confusing stressful missing

1 Our plane isn’t on time because of the bad weather. It’s …………….…….. by one hour.

2 The fax machine doesn’t work. I think it’s …………………………. .

3 Five hundred dollars? That’s impossible. I’m sure the total is …………………….. . Please check it for me.

4 Sam doesn’t understand his new job. It's very …………….………. .

5 I like working at Swiftcom, but my salary is very …………………….. .

6 Hello. Max here. Sorry, I’ll be half an hour ………….……….. for the meeting. I have a problem with my
car.

7 Don’t open the photocopier. That can be very ……………………… .

8 The documents are ……………………. – they aren’t in the envelope.

9 He's got a very …………..………... job. There's a lot of important work to do and he has to work long
hours.
B - Complete the sentences below using adjectives from the box.

broken clean confusing fast flexible noisy

1. Our employees enjoy having ………………….. hours.

2. The new sales assistant got a ………………… promotion.

3. We want a ………………….. and well-firnished apartment.

4. Their old printer is ……………………, sot they want a new one.

5. The instructions are not clear. They are very …………………… .

6. When the machinery in the factory starts, it is very ……………………… .

C - Work in pairs. Ask and answer questions about adjectives and their opposites.

Student A Student B

Match the adjectives (1-8) to their opposites (a-h). Match the adjectives (1-8) to their opposites (a-h).
Ex : What’s the opposite of ‘long’? Ex : What’s the opposite of ‘big’?
The opposite of long is …………. The opposite of big is ………….

1. long a) difficult 1. big a) wide

2. heavy b) quiet 2. hot b) wrong
3. early c) boring 3. narrox c) hard
4. slow d) dangerous 4. high d) stressful
5. safe e) light 5. soft e) cold
6. noisy f) late 6. right f) low
7. easy g) fast 7. cheap g) expensive
8. interesting h) short 8. realxing h) small

D - Look at these sentences.

The bed is too hard. It isn’t soft enough.

The seats aren’t wide enough. They’re too narrow.

Write sentences using too or enough and adjectives from Exercise C relating to the underlined
words.

1. The report doesn’t give much information. (too/enough)

Ex : It’s too short./It isn’t long enough.

2. I can’t carry these suitcases. (too)

3. I can’t meet you at six o’clock in the morning. (too)

4. I don’t want this car. Its top speed is only 100 kilomètres per hour. (too/enough)

5. Don’t take any visitors to those areas late at night. (too/enough)

6. That camera doesn’t fit in my pocket. (too/enough)

7. The hotel room is 1,000 dollars a night. (too/enough)

8. I can’t sleep because of the music from the party. (too/enough)

Too/enough

E - Complete the sentences. Choose the correct word.

1 This machine is too / enough slow.

2 Is it warm too / enough in this room?

3 This photocopier is too / enough old.

4 The printers are good too / enough for the job.

5 Are the instructions clear too / enough?

6 The music is too / enough loud.

7 My laptop isn’t fast too / enough.

8 An eight thirty start for the meeting is too / enough early for some people.

9 The flight's too / enough expensive.

10 Your report isn’t detailed too / enough.

III/ GRAMMAR REFERENCE
Present simple questions

A - Make neagtive sentences. Use don’t (do not) or doesn’t (does not)

1. I like meetings. (presentations)

EX : I like meetings, but I don’t like presentations.

2. We waste a lot of paper. (electricity)

3. They agree about most things. (money)

4. Susan sends a lot of e-mails. (faxes)

5. Our management team discusses business strategy. (employee problems)

B - Put the words in the correct order.

start / does / staff / time/ meeting /the / What

1 …………………………………………………………………………………………..?

Who / report / to / staff / the / do

2 ……………………………………………………………………..?

live / Where / does / boss / the

3 ……………………………………………………………………?

do / How / machines / much / cost / the

4 …………………………………………………………………… ?

Money / do / they / Why / need / the

5 …………………………………………………………………. ?
Have and have got

C - Complete the sentences in the negative form. Use the verb in brackets.

1 We …………………………………. an iPad. (got)

2 He ……………………………….. flexible working hours. (have)

3 You ……………………………. a very big office. (have)

4 They …………………………… a meeting today. (got)

5 I …………………………………… a good boss. (have)

6 The new office building ……………………………………. many rooms. (have)

7 The company ……………………………………….. many offices. (have)

8 It ……………………………………… an office in London. (have)

9 He ………………………………… a job at the moment. (got)

10 We ………………………………… air conditioning in the office. (have)

D - Make sentences about what Marco has and doesn’t have.

1 EX : Marco has a company car. He doesn’t have a sat-nav.

1. a company car  a sat-nav •

2. an iPhone • an iPad 
3. an interesting job  a high salary •
4. a nice boss • some great colleagues 
5. a desktop computer at work • a laptop 

E - Complete these questions with does have and do have.

1. …………….you ……………. a new mobile phone?

2. What kind of car …………… she ……………?

3. …………… the company ………………. a restaurant?

4. …………… all the rooms ………………. air conditioning?

5. …………….. I ……………. time to finish this?