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Cultural issues

Complete this text about meetings in different countries by putting one of the phrases from the box into each gap.

WHAT ARE YOUR MEETINGS LIKE?

Most companłes hołd meetings but they can be organised in different ways and have very different purposes. Different countries also have different ideas about how to run a meeting.

Most meetings have an agenda, that is, a written list of things to be discussed. In Germany, this is usually very important. People prepare for the meeting carefully and 1 ..£.. to the meeting with statements and reports which relate to particular items on the

agenda. For this reason, German business people 2......changing the agenda

at all. This contrasts with sonie other countries like France or the UK, where people sometimes change items on the agenda at the beginning of the

meeting. In France, people also 3......different issues together, instead of

talking about one thing at a time.

The purpose of a meeting is also different in different cultures. In Germany,

people 4......decisions in meetings, whereas in France meetings 5 ......as a

place to share information and make suggestions. The boss 6 ......the finał

ff

I, li'

a are not normally madę b tend to discuss

c will OftOfV OOfftO-

d do not generally like e usuallymake f normally makes g usuallytake place h are normally seen i tends to be

decision after the meeting. In some Southern European countries, such as Italy or Greece, people often favour informal places for discussions. What is

said in the bar or over lunch 7......just as important as what is said in a

meeting. In Japan, too, decisions 8......in a meeting. All the discussions

9 ......before the meeting, sometimes out of the office. The meeting is the

place to announce officially what has already been decided.

Vocabulary

You can make the opposite of many words by adding a prefix (syllable at the beginning of the word). The most common prefix for this is nn-:

happy -* anhappy    able -► unable

1 Add a prefix to the adjectives on the next page to make opposites. In most cases you need to add un-, but there are three adjectives which need a different prefix. Look at the text on page 65 in the Studenfs Book if you need help.

Adjective    Opposite

lucky

fortunate

successful

formal

polite

friendly

patient

comfortable

elear

popular

common

likely

usual

official

2 Choose a suitable word with a negative prefix from the table above to

complete the following sentences.

1    The company’s attempt to break into the Asian market was.....................

2    They have not published the sales figures yet, but.....................estimates

say that they will probably be 5 per cent down on last year.

3    The administrative changes in the company were very.....................with

staff.

3 Add other examples of words with negative prefixes to the table as you learn them.

UNIT 14 Cultural issues 33