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IELTS Preparation Series 1, Episode 3: Company Growth


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0:02

Hello. I'm Margot Politis. Welcome to Study English, IELTS preparation.

0:20

Today we're going to talk about businesses, and different ways to discuss economic information.

0:27

We're going to listen to an interview with the head of a large clothing company.

0:32

Then we're going to look at how he describes the success of his company.

0:37

Here's Derek O'Neill.

0:39

Well, we've said before that we've had consistent growth over the last four to five years. We've

0:45

delivered EPS growth in excess of 20% over the last three years. You know, growing earnings

0:51

at 25, 30, 35% forever becomes impossible. I think we end up owning US GDP in about 2023

0:59

with 25% growth.

1:01

We've registered that 15 per cent is our plan and we think that's a good target.

1:05

We're very happy with our level of sales. We grew sales in the US in girls' wear at

1:11

50 per cent and we think that's a fantastic performance, so we'll stand by those numbers.

1:15

We've had solid momentum in that market for four or five years and we expect that momentum's

1:19

going to continue.

1:20

OK. So today we're going look at the language of description, particularly describing economic

1:28

information.

1:29

In formal academic writing, it's important to use impersonal, objective language when

1:36

describing things.

1:38

Notice that in the interview, Derek O'Neill often begins his sentences with We've, short

1:44

for we have.

1:46

Using phrases like I've or we've is very common in spoken English.

1:52

Well, we've said before that we've had consistent growth over the last four to five years. We've

1:58

delivered EPS growth in excess of 20% over the last three years.

2:02

He says: We've had consistent growth.

2:06

We've delivered growth in excess of 20 per cent.

2:10

We've had solid momentum in that market.

2:14

How would you turn these sentences into more formal descriptions?

2:18

Take the first sentence: we've had consistent growth.

2:23

Generally the first person forms of I and we are not used in more formal writing, or

2:29

when describing economic data.

2:33

We'd use an objective form: there is, there are,

2:38

there has been, or there will be.

2:41

So, "We've had consistent growth," becomes, "There has been consistent growth."

2:49

Look at this one: We've delivered growth of 20%.

2:55

That becomes: There has been growth of 20%.

3:00

Now listen to him again.

3:01

We've had solid momentum in that market for four or five years and we expect that momentum's

3:06

going to continue.

3:08

He said: We've had solid momentum.

3:12

We expect that momentum is going to continue.

3:16

We've had, we expect.

3:19

How could you write that information in a formal way?

3:23

We've had solid momentum. There has been solid momentum.

3:30

We expect that momentum is going to continue. It is expected that momentum is going to continue.

3:38

So looking for the use of the first person is a good way to tell whether someone is discussing

3:44

information in a formal or informal way.

3:52