B Vocabulary

Management in mid-sized German Companies

A Before you read - Discuss

In business is bigger always better?

If you are looking for new management ideas, should you always look at management in companies bigger than yours?

B Vocabulary

Complete the sentences below. Look carefully at the words in italics. Use you dictionary and refer to the attached text from The Economist.

1) A management guru is...

a) a successful manager.

b) an Indian manager.

c) an expert on management.

2) If you scour the world, you...

a) explore it searching for something.

b) explore it without knowing what you are searching for.

c) travel for pleasure.

3) If you are fixated on an idea or procedure, you...

a) prefer to use this idea more than others.

b) believe the idea has no value.

c) use the idea or procedure to mend things which are broken.

4) If you describe a currency as strongish, it is...

a) always strong.

b) very strong.

c) fairly strong.

5) If a product or company is durable, it...

a) is very old.

b) has functioned successfully for many years.

c) is out-of-date.

6) If you defy a convention, you...

a) attend it.

b) do not follow it.

c) argue against it.

7) The sequel to a book is...

a) the way in which the book develops.

b) the people who follow the ideas in the book.

c) the book which comes after another book.

8) A parochial firm is...

a) a firm owned by a religious group.

b) a firm which operates in a small area.

c) a firm owned by a single family.

9) Anonymous company men...

a) do not have names.

b) use false names.

c) are not well-known.

10) If you are hip, you are...

a) young.

b) fashionable.

c) energetic.

11) If something is staid, it is...

a) traditional but slightly old-fashioned.

b) obsolete.

c) no longer useful.

12) A niche is...

a) a special place.

b) a secret space

c) a small space.

13) A spate refers to...

a) a large number of, probably bad, events.

b) a group of valuable assets.

c) a large number of, probably angry, people.

14) A sceptic is someone who...

a) a person who does not have any infectious diseases.

b) a person who often worried for no significant reason.

c) a person who does not automatically believe something heard or read.

15) If you overstate an argument, you...

a) exaggerate the argument.

b) suggest the argument is not logical.

c) over-react to the argument.

16) If something is prosaic, it is...

a) creative.

b) ordinary, not interesting.

c) familiar and friendly.

17) If your determination is dogged, you will... {pronounced dogg –éd]

a) admit defeat very quickly.

b) not admit defeat until the last moment.

c) not admit defeat after you are defeated.

18) If you innovate, you...

a) make an old thing look as if it is new.

b) use new ideas in creative ways.

c) re-use ideas which has been used before.

19) A sustained success...

a) requires regular injections of capital.

b) lasts for a long time.

c) will damage your reputation.

20) If you take a lesson to heart, you...

a) change your behaviour because of the lesson.

b) memorise the lesson.

c) accept some parts of the lesson.