Preparations unit 6_jarno_noteboom_english2_b_2ma01

Jarno Noteboom English 2B 2M01

Preparations Unit 6: RiskStarting up

A. Are you a risk- taker? What risks have you taken?

Taking risks is something that I need to make my life a little bit exciting. It’s fun to take risks, especially if you succeed them. I don’t take risks where i can lose too much money but maybe later, when I work and if I have a bit more money, I will do investments I think and that’s always a risk.

Other (maybe stupid ) risks that I’ve done are something like drink with my car while I drunk 3 or more beers or gambling…

B. Which item in each of the categories below carries the most and the least risk? Explain why.

Travel: it’s sure that the most accidents happens with cars, daily. Plane traveling is the best in case of risks, although if you crash with a plane there’s a little chance to survive.

Lifestyle: I think smoking is the worst for our body, especially for our lungs. Jogging is definitely the best for our body and health.

Money: like above I’ve said that investments are risks, so stocks and shares are the ones with the most risks. Savings account is the one with the least risks but it doesn’t bring much money anymore.

Shopping: online and mail order have the most chance to get wrong because of a wrong delivery, another order,…

C. What sort of risks do businesses face (for example: financial risks, environmental risks)? Can you give some examples

Especially the risk of bankruptcy and investments that went wrong. For example a company that merge with another company to make one product with each other that costs much money for research and development and starting costs. If the product isn’t that successful as they hoped, they will lose a lot of money.

Vocabulary

A. The verbs in the box are used when talking about risk. Check their meanings and put them under the appropriate heading in the table below.

Predict: anticipate, estimate, foresee, calculate

Meet: encounter, identify, face, eliminate


Asses: estimate, gauge, evaluate, measure

Manage: minimise, prioritise, reduce, spread

B. Match these sentence halves from newspaper extracts

During the credit crunch, many businesses faced the risk of running out of money. 1-E

We can reduce risk by spreading our lending across more markets. 2-F

Trying to minimise risk is an important part of business strategy. 3-G

It’s impossible to eliminate all risk when entering a new market. 4-D

It’s difficult to foresee the risks in order to advise insurance companies. 5-B

Actuaries calculate risk involved in setting up a new business. 6-C

It is important to consider the risks involved when sending staff to work in dangerous location. 7-A

C. These adjectives can be used with the word risk. Complete them with the missing vowels.

Slight

Great

Miniscule

Considerable

Potential

Immediate

Huge

Remote

Serious

Negligible

Significant

Imminent

Substantial

Terrible

Tremendous


D. Of the adjectives in Exercise C, which describe:

A high level of risk? A low level: huge -> slight

A possible future risk? A risk in the very near future: potential -> immediate

Listening

A. Listen to Steve Fowler, Managing Director of the Institute of Risk Management, and give one example of internal risk and one example of external risk.

Internal: injuries to employees within the factory

External: tsunami

B. Listen again and complete the chart.

Hazard: hurricanes & flutes

Operational: employment risks

Strategic: availability of new technologies & area of competition

Financial: lack of liquidity

C. Listen to the second part of the interview. What are the five key steps to risk management?

1. Recognize the strategic objectives for your organisation and the key process that your organization uses

2. Identify what the risks effecting the organization might be

3. Assess end prioritise those risks

4. Mitigating risk

5. Follow back those actions through to one’s strategic objectives again.


D. Listen to the final part. Which three examples does Steve give of organisations or industries that failed to manage risk? What does he say about each example?

1. Banking industry: has taken reckless risks. They might lead to massive implications.

2. An American based clothing retailer: they managed to lose 45 million credit card details two years ago, giving rise to an 80 million loss

3. Video cassette industry: those organisations have faced the ultimate risk of being replaced by another technology

Reading

A. Answer these questions.

What things do you and your family insure against? Water damage, familial , fire, car,

What sort of things do big international companies need to insure against? Fire, water, burglary, propriety

B. Read the article on the opposite page quickly and, in as few words as possible, say what the main point of the article is.

Insurance is a complex thing but this days it’s something that you need.

C. Read the article again and answer these questions.

How did the insurance industry start? As ship owners looked to protect the increasing values of their ships and cargoes.

What do reinsurers do? They create a place where insurance companies can cover their large risks.

How do the two examples of major losses in paragraphs 7 and 8 illustrate this quote?

‘Countries with an underdeveloped system of insurance suffer immeasurably more from major catastrophes than those where a good part of the material losses can be covered by professional risk carriers.’

One of the biggest loss events in history: the attack on the WTC in New York was a prime example of the complexity of today’s risks. Several insurance classes such as fire, liability, … the insurance are important to pay money back to the victims. Another case was the tsunami of 2004 which brought human suffering and losses of over the 10bn dollar.


D. In your own words, summarise the key points in the numbered examples (1-3) in the article.

1. Waterways are the most used for transporting2. Outsourcing to low-wage costs haven’t always all positive things… it reduces the costs but it

also can reduce the quality of your products.3. If you have e high liability and it goes wrong, the effects can be extremely bad

E. Find words in the article which mean the following.

When the maker of a product is responsible for any injury that the product causes. => liability

Money that a court orders someone to pay to someone else. => awards of damage

The collection of all policies held by an insurer. => portfolio

The total combined risks that could be involved in a single loss event .=> accumulation

A terrible event that causes a lot of destruction and suffering.=> catastrophe

F. Complete these sentences with the words form Exercise E

1. Awards of damage2. Liability3. Catastrophe4. Portfolio5. Accumulation

G. Without looking back at the article, match the words on the left to the phrases on the right to make expressions.

Bear => the bruntSpring => to mindMeet => a needPave => the waySpread => the risks


H. Match the expressions in Exercise G to their meanings

Immediately think of something => spring the mind

Make it possible for something to happen in the future => pave the way

Suffer the worst part of something unpleasant => bear the brunt

Reduce the chance of a large loss by sharing risks => spread the risks

Be good enough to do what someone needs, wants or expects => meet a need

I. In the next 30 years, which types of risk do you think will become a) more significant, and b) less significant

a) Geographical problems like earthquakes, bad pollution, less electricity,…b) Less dangerous jobs because of the new machines that are invented all the time.

Language review

A. Which of these adverbs strengthen the adjective which follow and which soften it?

Strengthen: entirely, exceptionally, extremely, fully, highly, increasingly, totally, verySoften: a bit, fairly, moderately, quite, rather, reasonably, slightly, somewhat

B. Complete these dialogues with a suitable adverb.

‘What were your sales rsults like last year?’‘Exceptionally good. I made my targets with two months to spare.’

‘What’s your new CEO like?‘Extremely talented and very intelligent. She brings out the est in people.’

‘Do you really think we should invest in a quite volatile market?’‘Well, first of all we should stay calm and review what we already own.’

‘What did you think of the HR Director’s presentation?’‘ To be honest, I don’t think she was extremely prepared. She seems to be reading it most of the time.’

‘Are you confident that the merger will go ahead?’‘Rather confident, although we still need a few more meetings to sort out one or two problems.’


Skills

A. Match these expressions from the meeting to the appropriate heading in the Useful language box below. (Some headings are not used.) Use the audio script on page 159 to check the context of each expression.

Now, just to sum up, we’ve looked at… => summarising

… I think it’s a really great place… => Emphasising

So can we all agree, then, that we go with Florence? => making suggestion

… I think that most of the time we’ll be spending indoors. => giving opinion

Now, what about the activities? => asking for opinions

What did you come up with, Carol, for the actual workshops? => asking for opinion

I thought it might be a good idea to use role play… => making suggestion

I think some kind of interaction is a good idea … => agreeing

OK, so we go with the workshops, then? => summarizing

Well, I don’t know about role plays, though. => giving opinion

… I was thinking maybe something like, you know, a simple quiz… => making suggestions

Exactly. => agreeing

… yeah, that’s a brilliant idea… => agreeing

Education

Preparations unit 6_jarno_noteboom_english2_b_2ma01