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BUSINESS ENGLISH · BUSINESS SITUATIONS · ELEMENTARY (A1-A2)

COMPANY
HISTORY

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1 Key words

Match the terms on the left with the definitions on the right:

1. import a. a location of a business, but not the head office

2. a branch b. the amount of a product that people want to buy

3. increase c. to become bigger

4. expand d. to bring products from another country to sell in your country

5. go public e. to go up

6. demand f. to offer shares on the stock market for the first time

2 Starbucks
Audio
Listen to the history of Starbucks and answer the questions below.

1. Where did Starbucks open its first branch?

2. When did Starbucks open its first branch?
3. When did Howard Schultz join the company?
4. Which city did he visit?
5. When did Starbucks go public?
6. How many branches did Starbucks have in 1992?
7. Where did Starbucks establish its first cafe outside North America?
8. How many branches did Starbucks have in 2012?
9. How many countries did Starbucks operate in?

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3 Past simple

Put the verbs in brackets in the past simple. They are all regular.

Starbucks opened (open) its first branch in Seattle in 1971. But you couldn’t drink coffee there.
2
It (import) and sold coffee beans to restaurants and cafes. In 1982, Howard Schultz
3 4
(join) the company as the Director of Marketing. He (visit) Milan on a
5
business trip. He was very impressed with the Italian espresso bars and coffee culture, so he
(decide) to copy the idea in Seattle. Coffee bars quickly became popular in Seattle.
6 7
In the early 1990s, the demand for coffee (increase) and Starbucks (expand)
in North America. In 1992, the company went public. It had 165 branches. In 1997, Starbucks
8
(establish) its first cafe outside North America, in Tokyo, Japan. In September 2012,
9
the company (operate) 9405 branches in 60 countries all over the world.

Now write the correct irregular past simple forms of these verbs:

1. can - .................... 4. go - ....................

2. sell - .................... 5. have - ....................
3. become - ....................

4 The history of Apple Inc.

Work in pairs. Student A, look at the text and complete the questions about the missing information.
Student B, look at page 3 and complete the questions. Ask your partner the questions and complete
your text.

Student A
Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak established Apple in (1). They built their first personal
computer and sold it for $666. In 1977, they introduced the (2). The Apple II had color
graphics and a disk drive. In the 1980s, Apple made more computers, including the Macintosh in
(3). In 1985, Steve Jobs left Apple and started his own company. In 1986-1993, Apple
produced (4), including a digital camera and CD player. In 1996, Steve Jobs
returned and he became CEO in 2000. Apple introduced the iMac in 1998, the iPod in
(5) and the iPhone in 2007. Today, Apple operates 394 stores and employs (6) people all
over the world.

1. When did Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak establish Apple? (Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak/establish)
2. What . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . in 1977? (they/introduce)
3. When . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . the Macintosh (Apple/make)
4. What . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . in 1986-1993? (Apple/produce)
5. When . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . the iPod? (Apple/introduce)
6. How many people . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . today? (Apple/employ)

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Student B
Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak established Apple in 1976. They built their first personal computer
and sold it for (1). In 1977, they introduced the Apple II. The Apple II had
(2). In the 1980s, Apple made more computers, including the Macintosh in 1984. In 1985, Steve Jobs
left Apple and started (3). In 1986-1993, Apple produced some unsuccessful products,
including a digital camera and CD player. In 1996, Steve Jobs returned and he became CEO in
(4). Apple introduced the iMac in 1998, the iPod in 2001 and the iPhone in
(5). Today, Apple operates (6) stores and employs more than 70,000 people all over the
world.

1. How much did Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak sell their first computer for? (Steve Jobs
and Steve Wozniak/sell)
2. What . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ? (the Apple II/have)
3. What . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . in 1985? (Steve Jobs/start)
4. When . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CEO? (Steve Jobs/become)
5. When . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . the iPhone? (Apple/introduce)
6. How many stores . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . today? (Apple/operate)

5 Your company

Talk about the history of your company.

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COMPANY HISTORY

Transcripts

2. Starbucks

History of Starbucks

Starbucks opened its first branch in Seattle in 1971. But you couldn’t drink coffee there. It imported
and sold coffee beans to restaurants and cafes. In 1982, Howard Schultz joined the company as
the Director of Marketing. He visited Milan on a business trip. He was very impressed with the
Italian espresso bars and coffee culture, so he decided to copy the idea in Seattle. Coffee bars
quickly became popular in Seattle. In the early 1990s, the demand for coffee increased and Starbucks
expanded in North America. In 1992, the company went public. It had 165 branches. In 1997,
Starbucks established its first cafe outside North America, in Tokyo, Japan. In September 2012, the
company operated 9,405 branches in 60 countries all over the world.

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TEACHER MATERIALS · ELEMENTARY (A1-A2)

COMPANY HISTORY

Key

1. Key words

Go through the words with the students. Clarify their meaning by translating them or giving real-life examples.

1. d 2. a 3. e 4. c 5. f 6. b

2. Starbucks

Play the audio files or use your mobile device to scan the QR codes (make sure you have installed a QR code
reader app and can access the internet on your device).

1. Seattle 2. 1971 3. 1982 4. Milan 5. 1992 6. 165 7. Tokyo 8. 9405 9. 60

3. Past simple

Students can work alone and check in pairs.

2. imported 3. joined 4. visited 5. decided 6. increased 7. expanded 8.

established
9. operated
Tell the students to look for the answers in the text. Irregular forms:

1. could 2. sold 3. became 4. went 5. had

4. The history of Apple Inc.

Pair up the students making sure that they do not look at each other’s text during the activity. Students first
complete their set of questions individually. Go around the class correcting mistakes. Pre-teach or be prepare to
explain any difficult vocabulary in the text. Students ask and answer the questions to complete their texts.
Student A:

2. What did Apple introduce in 1977? - the Apple II

3. When did Apple make the Macintosh? - 1984
4. What did Apple produce in 1986-1993? - some unsuccessful products
5. When did Apple introduce the iPod? - in 2001
6. How many people does Apple employ today? - more than 70,0000
Student B:

2. What did the Apple II have? - color graphics

3. What did Steve Jobs start in 1985? - his own company
4. When did Steve Jobs become CEO? - in 2000
5. When did Apple introduce the iPhone? - in 2007
6. How many stores does Apple operate today? - 394

5. Your company

Students give a brief history of their own company. Provide any vocabulary needed.

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