Corner Office: Lloyd Blankfein

Vocabulary
Writing tips – The Four Kinds of Sentences
Grammar – Perfect Aspect

Corner Office: Lloyd Blankfein

Category: Business
Type: Video
Broadcaster: The New York Times
Series: The New York Times /Business (Video)
Episode: Corner Office: Lloyd Blankfein
Time: 07:41
Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVTWHtCsI_s

Quote of the Day:

“Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things”
Peter Drucker (1909 – 2005)

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Listening Comprehension Answer Sheet

Instructions for completing the listening exercise

• Listen to the recording once and answer the questions below.
• Read the Vocabulary, and listen to the recording the second time. Correct and complete your answers.
• Read the Script and check your answers

1. What helped Mr. Blankfein to retain the unity and integrity of his company during the crisis?
2. What kind of corporate culture does he inspire in his firm?
3. What kind of staff is he interested in hiring?
4. What principle(s) does he believe are important to ensure successful cooperation with others?

 

Vocabulary

the Corner Office	As corner offices are typically given to the most senior executives, the term primarily refers to top management positions
upheaval	Strong or violent change or disturbance, as in a society
the Street	The section of a city associated with a given profession or trade, especially when concerned with business or finance, as wall street
evolved	To develop gradually
driving	To cause and guide the movement of
manifest	To make clear or evident
sort of (kind of)	In a way; somewhat; rather: Their conversation was sort of tiresome
day-to-day	Occurring each day; concerned only with immediate needs or desires
validated	To make valid; substantiate; confirm: Time validated our suspicions
walk around	Walk with no particular goal
emphasize	Lay stress upon; stress: to emphasize a point
drew from	To get, take, or receive, as from a source
expansively	Unrestrainly, openly, comprehensively
get trapped by	To stop and hold by a trap
definitionally	By definition or fact
critical faculty	Function of conscious, trained and educated mind
perspective	A mental view or one’s opinion
reason writing	Writing of opinions, concerns, beliefs or views
bring to the table	To provide something that will be a benefit
hunger strike	Refusal to eat enough to sustain life
jump off the cliff	To commit suicide
screens out	Examine in order to test suitability
the bread always lends on the buttered side down	Anything that can possibly go wrong, does (one of Murphy’s Laws)
piddling amount of money	Amounting to very little; trifling; negligible
took a lot of pressure off me, he took the weight off the scale for me	Remove fully or in part the sense of responsibility for or stress from an activity
peeved	Annoyed, irritated
extracurricular	After school activities
working papers	Legal papers enabling a minor in the U.S. to work under certain conditions
vendor	A person or agency that sells
steep	Having an almost vertical slope
implicit	Implied, not expressly stated, contained

 

Listening Comprehension Summary

Summarize in 50 words or less the main point of the recording you have listened to.
 

 

Writing tips – The Four Kinds of Sentences

Declarative sentence – makes a statement ending with .

• Students have been studying well for the exam.
• Installation of a new processing unit has sped up all processes.

Interrogative sentence – asks a question ending with ?

• Do you like music?
• Have you seen this movie?

Imperative sentence – gives a command or order ending with .

• Finish your breakfast.
• Call to the customer immediately.

Exclamatory sentence – shows strong emotion ending with !

• Be quiet now!
• Get out of my car!
• This room is so bright!

Try It

For each sentence below, decide what kind of a sentence each is:

• How polite you are
• The company expanded two years ago
• Compare these two brands
• Show me your ID card
• Who won the match
• It is wonderful weather
• Have you cleaned your room

 

Grammar – Perfect Aspect

[times table]

Present Perfect Simple

Have (Has) + Past Participle => I have worked, I have been; He has worked, He has been

Current results, Experiences, Finished events with current relevance, WITHOUT telling exactly WHEN?, but PERIOD of time, i.e. till now, since when, for how long, recently, today, just, already, yet, etc.

For example:	But:
I have written 5 emails.	I wrote 5 emails yesterday.
It has been 5 years since we last met.	I met him 5 years ago.
She has trained new staff for two consecutive years.	She trained new staff for two consecutive years and left the firm.
I have recently been promoted to a higher position in our firm.	I was promoted to a higher position last week.
He hasn’t had breakfast, yet.	He didn’t have breakfast in the morning.
She has already finished her presentation.	She finished her presentation five minutes ago.

Past Perfect Simple

Had + Past Participle => I had worked, I had been; He had worked, He had been

Indicates that an event was completed before some other event.

Past Perfect Simple:	I came home. My wife had cooked the dinner.	2 before 1, reversed order
Past Continuous:	I came home. My wife was cooking the dinner.	1 while 2 was happenning
Past Simple:	I came home. I cooked the dinner.	1 and then 2, i.e. chronologically

For example:	But:
Prior to moving to the Chinese market, we had carried out a thorough market research.	We carried out a thorough market research and moved to Chinese market.
Our company suffered huge losses because we had maintained a large portfolio of overvalued real estate property.	We maintained a large portfolio of overvalued real estate property and suffered huge losses.
She had trained new staff prior to embarking on a new project.	She trained new staff and embarked on a new project.
His department had fulfilled all the targets when he was promoted to a higher position in our firm.	Department fulfilled all the targets and he was promoted to a higher position.
It was nearly noon, but he hadn’t had breakfast, yet.	He didn’t have breakfast in the morning.
She had already finished her presentation when I decided to ask her a question.	She finished presentation and I decided to ask her a question.

Future Perfect Simple

Will Have + Past Participle => I will have worked, I will have been; He will have worked, He will have been
Indicates the result of an event that will be completed BY some time in the future.

Future Perfect Simple:	I will have finished this project by tomorrow evening.	(Future result)
Future Continuous:	I will be working on this project after our meeting tonight.	(According to schedule)
Future Simple:	I will work on this project tomorrow.	(Promise)

For example:	But:
By this time next week, I will have taken all my exams.	I will take one exam tomorrow and another one on the day thereafter.
Before the legacy system crumbles down, we will have replaced it.	The legacy system will crumble down. We will replace the system.
By the end of this month, I will have had this job for 10 years.	I will work here one more month if I want to celebrate my 10 year anniversary.

Try It

Correct sentences below.

1. He had win 10 chess matches.
2. She have learned how to drive when she was 16 years old.
3. I had baught two ice-creams yesterday.
4. She will has just had a breakfast.
5. By the time she retired, she will has worked at this company for 10 years.
6. He hasn’t read a newspaper on June 2.
7. She will not have ate ice-cream when I will come.