BEC Communication Activities

BEC Exam Classroom Activities
Here are 14 communication activities to help your students engage more easily with
BEC exam tasks. The activity type and level, for which each is suitable, is given
below.
If you think of a good way to develop any of these, or have similar ideas for
motivating activities, please share them with us. We’d love to hear from you.
SKILLS AND ACTIVITY LEVEL
Writing:
1) Intray priorities Preliminary
2) Unusual correspondents All levels
3) Getting the register right Vantage and Higher
Speaking:
4) What is important when ...? Preliminary
5) Problem solving Vantage and Higher
6) Graphs All levels
7) Networking All levels
Reading:
8) Summary skills Vantage and Higher
9) News in brief All levels
Vocabulary:
10) Seeing things in terms of processes All levels
11) Core vocabulary: lower levels Preliminary
12) Core vocabulary: higher levels Vantage and Higher
13) Word building All levels
14) The first rule ... Vantage and Higher
Developed by Paul Dummett for Heinle ELT, © 2010

1) Intray priorities (Preliminary and Vantage)
WRITING task Instructions for the teacher: This is an activity that combines reading,
speaking and writing. Students are asked to read six messages and reply to
the most urgent. There is no correct answer. To prepare, make a copy of the
worksheet on the following page, one per student.
1) • Explain this situation. “Paul Dymmock is Sales Manager at Plasbox, a company

that makes containers (e.g. cartons and bottles) for liquids. Here are six messages
waiting for him when he arrives at work one Monday morning.”
• Ask the students to read the messages.
• Ask them to work in pairs and decide what action is needed for
each one.
• Discuss in open class.
• Ask the students to then write a reply to the one they think is most
urgent.
2) • Ask the students to work in groups of three to five. Ask each person
in the group to write one of the following five messages to Paul
Dymmock.
• Then ask them to exchange messages and check for any mistakes with
the English.
1) a note from a member of his sales team who wants to meet because she feels she has too much work
2) a letter from a customer who is unhappy about late delivery of some bottles
3) an email from a colleague who is going to be away on holiday for the next two weeks
4) a phone message from a hotel confirming the reservation of a room for one night
5) an email from the company’s accountant saying that a payment from a customer has still not arrived

Telephone message
To: Paul
Paul. Please can you From: Sarah at Bowlplex, Mob: 07966217018
Date: 17 November Time: 5.45pm
ask Frances to reserve
Subject: Christmas party
the meeting room for
me for 3–4.30 this She got your message about booking their bowling centre for our
afternoon? I’ll be in at Christmas party on 10 December. They are fully booked that day.
lunch time. Thanks, She could do the 12 or 14 December. Please call her back asap if
you want to book one of these dates, as they are going quickly!
Geoff
(She’s out of the office on Monday)
From: williamsg@hotfrog.co.uk From: sam_marks@Plasbox.com

To: paul_dymmock@Plasbox.com To: paul_dymmock@Plasbox.com
Subject: RE: our order Subject: RE: our order
Date: Fri, 17 Nov 2009 18:40:30
Date: Fri, 17 Nov 2009 17:18:2230 +0000
+0000
Dear Paul, Attached is the first draft of the thank you

Thanks very much for confirming message which we are going to send to our
our order. Please let me know when customers this Christmas. Let me know what
you have a date for delivery. you think when you have a moment.

Many thanks, Gina Williams Sam
From: reservations@grandhotel.fr
To: paul_dymmock@Plasbox.com
Subject: RE: our order
Date: Fri, 17 Nov 2009 17:25:09 +0000
Dear Mr Dymmock,
Thank you for booking online with the Grand Hotel. Please click here for details of
your reservation.
www.grandhohotel.fr/reservations/client90345
The reception team, Grand Hotel, Paris
COPELIA FARMS
14 November
2009
Dear Mr Dymmock,
I am not sure if you are the right person to speak to, but Charlie White from
County Dairies suggested that I contact you. We are a large producer of organic
apple juice, based in Kent. We would be very interested to meet you and discuss
whether your range of cartons and bottles could be suitable for our products.
I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,
Sharon Copelia

2) Unusual correspondents (All levels)
WRITING task Instructions for the teacher: Cut up the sentences on the right of the grid.
Then hand out the seven sentence openers on the left (not cut up) to each pair of
students. Ask them to say what preposition will follow in each case. (NB confirm has NO
preposition). Then give them the second half of the sentences, on the right (cut up) and
get them to match them.
I am writing to enquire about your English courses
Thank you for your recent letter
I apologise for the delay in replying to you
I am writing to complain about the condition of the washing machine you delivered
I am writing in answer to your letter of 10 May
According to our records, your car is due for a service
I am writing to confirm our meeting next Tuesday
I was given your name by a friend who recommended your company
2) Now ask the students to find the noun that corresponds to each of
these verbs.
Verb Noun
ask for make a re______ complain make a com______
order place an or____ advertise place an ad_______
remind send a re______ apologise make an apo_____
ask about make an en_____ suggest make a sug_____
offer make an of____

3) Working in groups of four ask students to each choose ONE of the
following correspondents. Then complete these eight sentences in the
context of a correspondence to or from ...
- a ladies’ football club

- a zoo
- NASA
- a ghost museum
Thank you for your request for …..
I have passed your complaint about ….. to …..
We have received your order for …..
I am writing in reply to your advertisement for ….
On 3rd November we sent you a reminder about ….
Please accept our apologies for …..
Thank you for your recent enquiry about ….
I read your proposal for ………. with interest.
When they have finished ask them to read their sentences to each
other. Hear. Then hear some examples in open class.

3) Getting the register right
(Vantage and Higher)
WRITING task Instructions for the teacher: The idea of this exercise is to distinguish between
formal and less formal writing styles. Hand out the worksheet to the students and give
them the following instructions.
• Look at the two emails written by Kirsty Myers, who works for a
commercial property company.
• One is written to a client she does not know; the other to a friend of
Kirsty’s who is looking for offices. But the sentences in the emials
have been mixed up.
• First read the two letters.
• Ask the students to work together to un-mix the sentences and put
them in the right email.
Dear Mr Quaid
I just got your email about renting office space in the Central Tower in Birmingham city centre.
There are two sets of offices available, the first comprising two small offices, a reception area and a large open plan
office. The other is a whole floor with very flexible space for you to divide up or arrange as you think best.
You will find attached floor plans of both spaces, which will enable you to see how each area is currently laid out. You’ll
also find details of the rent and other conditions with this.
Central Tower was recently refurbished and has all the equipment and amenities you’d expect of a modern office
building. It has good communications, the train station and bus station being within five minutes walk.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you would like further information or to arrange a viewing.
With best wishes,
Kirsty Myers

Dear Mr Quaid
There are two sets of offices available, the first comprising two small offices, a reception area and a large
open plan office. The other is a whole floor with very flexible space for you to divide up or arrange as
you think best.
You will find attached floor plans of both spaces, which will enable you to see how each area is currently
laid out. You’ll also find details of the rent and other conditions with this.
Central Tower was recently refurbished and has all the equipment and amenities you’d expect of a
modern office building. It has good communications, the train station and bus station being within five
minutes walk.
With best wishes,
Kirsty Myers

4) What is important when ...? (Preliminary)
SPEAKING TASK Instructions for the teacher: The idea of this task is to motivate students, for this
part of the speaking test, by giving them more familiar subjects to talk about.
1) Ask the students to study these examples from the Prelim Exam
speaking test.
Discuss: What is important when ...?
- choosing a training course (size of group, times, cost)

- booking a hotel for a business trip (location, facilities, cost)
- selling a new product (price, quality, advertising)
2) Using the language box below, elicit in open class how they might put these
into full sentences.
e.g. Well, when you’re choosing a training course, first you need to think about the cost. The size
of the group is another important consideration because if it is a large group, the training may not
be so effective ... etc...
You need to think about ….

........ is another important consideration, because .......
It’s a good idea to ...... Otherwise, ......
It’s important to know ....
You should always check ....

If it’s too ....., then you shouldn’t .....
You need to be careful not to ......
3) Ask the students to work in pairs and to write three factors to consider for
each of the following questions.
What is important when ... ?
- buying a mobile phone ________, _________, __________

- going for a job interview ________, _________, __________
- buying a product online ________, _________, __________
- planning a holiday abroad ________, _________, __________
- advertising something you want to sell (e.g. a bicycle) ________, _________, __________
- organising a party ________, _________, __________
4) Students should compare their answers with those of another pair.
5) Then ask the students to choose two of the items to discuss in a group of four.
They should use the language box above to help them.

5) Problem solving (Vantage and Higher)
SPEAKING TASK Instructions for the teacher: The idea of this task is to get students talking about
business topics that may be more familiar to them. Explain each situation and get the
students to work together to come up with ideas and then present them to the rest of
the class.
1) Setting up a service for tourists in your town:

e.g. - bicycle hire
- guided tours
- writing a short guidebook
- themed events (e.g. wine tasting, traditional cooking)
Come up with an idea and be prepared to present and defend it. Think about:
- Why it will appeal to tourists

- What the competition is for such a service
- How much (or little) investment it will need
- What revenue it can generate (directly and through other possible sources
e.g. advertising)
- What the return on investment will be
2) An established hotel in the centre of your town needs to increase its business.
Look at these problems and propose solutions:
- No bookings in the low season

- The restaurant gets little custom and what there is only comes from guests
at the hotel
- The only parking is five minutes from the hotel
- Very few visitors come from abroad
2) A home-built internet site where people share their favourite cooking recipes
for free wants to make money. It has traffic of 50,000 people per week.
Think of the possible ways it could make money from:
- the users themselves

- advertisers
- other partners
- other products
Consider: How much each idea will cost to set up? How much money is it likely to bring in?

4) A small telemarketing call centre (six people working at any one time) for a
company that provides home maintenance services (building, plumbing,
painting and decorating, electrical work.) The operators don’t talk much to
each other; productivity and motivation are low.
Think of ways to improve motivation and productivity by:
- team building or social events

- work meetings
- more information sharing
- financial or other incentives

6) Graphs (All levels)
SPEAKING TASK Instructions for the teacher: Graphs can be very dry. Below are some ideas for
more motivating subjects for graphs that students can generate themselves.
1) Ask the students to look at the graph below showing the average value of art
sales over the last 25 years.
2) Ask them to use each of the expressions below the graph to describe a
development in it.
Expressions
...... increased sharply ...... remained quite flat
...... followed a similar trend ...... peaked in 2007
...... improved steadily
3) Ask students to make their own (personal) graph, choosing from one of these
topics (or one of their own, if they prefer):
- your pocket money (or average pocket money of your group) over last ten years
- spending habits of yourself or your group (on clothes, food and going out) over a
typical month
- the amount of hamburgers (or other favourite food) you have eaten over the last
five years
- the performance of your favourite sports team

4) For homework, ask students to research some social trend of interest to
them on the Internet and then present the findings as graph in the next
lesson. For example:
- percentage of people achieving good high school/university grades now and 25

years ago
- number of smokers (male and female) over the last 20 years
- amount of time people spend watching TV or in front of a computer
- average number of books read by people each year
- number of holidays abroad that people take
- amount of hours exercise people take each week over last 15 years
- value of your currency against other main currencies
- average temperatures in your region/country last year compared to 25 years ago
- number of visitors to your country over last 10 years etc.

7) Networking (All levels)
SPEAKING TASK Instructions for the teacher: In the exam students are asked to talk about their
current situation and about what they would like to do in the future. This is a fun way of
combining the two.
1) Ask the students to complete this conversation using ONE word in each
space.
Bill Kate
Hello, my name’s Bill.

Hi, Bill. _______ to meet you. I’m Kate.
_____ you _____ to one of these
events before?
No, it’s my first time. It’s ______ fun, isn’t it?
Yes, I like them. You meet some

interesting people. What ____ you
____, Kate?

I run my _______ business. I have a shoe shop
in town.
What _____ of shoes?
We sell mostly foreign brands: Birkenstock, Ecco

and so ____.
Mmm. Do you sell online ____

well?
Not ____ the moment, no. I’m not very good ____
technology.
Well, I design websites for retailers.

Perhaps I ______ help you set
something up?
That ______ very interesting. Do you have a

business card?
Sure, here ____ are. Have a ______

at our website. You’ll see some
examples of what we can do.
Great, thanks, Bill. I’ll do that.

2) Ask the students to imagine the job they would MOST like to have ten years
from now and to make brief notes in the table below.
Job
Company
Location
Job description
advantages/Likes
Disadvantages/Dislikes
3) Now tell them they are at an informal business lunchtime drinks and snacks
meeting. The idea is to go around introducing yourself, meeting
others, finding out what they do and, if appropriate, exploring
any common areas of interest.
4) At the end they should report back on who they met, which contacts they
found interesting and who they thought could be a useful future business
contact.

8) Summary skills (Vantage and Higher)
reading task Instructions for the teacher: This is a test of summary skills based directly on the
BEC reading test. The topic is how to make YouTube (or any other ‘free’ download site)
profitable, so you could begin with a discussion of this.
1) Ask students to read the text and make their own short sub-heading for each
paragraph (maximum 7 words).
A
Google is looking at an idea to make its music and video sharing site YouTube profitable. The owners of music and film rights have for a long
time been in dispute with sites like YouTube that allow users to listen to and watch copyrighted material free of charge. For most record or film
companies, such use of material amounts to illegal practice and they have demanded that the content be removed from sharing websites.
B
Google, however, is optimistic that it can persuade the rights’ holders to make money from this film and music content. The idea is that
companies can choose to put advertising alongside the video, for example, linking to a site that sells a DVD of the film or CD of the artist in
question. For each sale generated by such advertisements, YouTube would take a small cut. If the company prefers not to make money from
advertising it can choose to simply block the content.
C
Identifying the exact source of material on YouTube can be difficult because sometimes the piece of music or film may have been embedded
within another video, like a wedding video for example. Google has got round this problem with a ContentID system which is able to match
material uploaded onto YouTube against reference files of copyrighted material. In this way the original source of the song or clip can be
located and credited.
D
Google has not given any specific figures, but says that the majority of rights’ holders would prefer to make some money out of the online use
of their content rather than just withdraw it. Companies feel more reassured now that their copyrighted material is being tracked by Google’s ID
system. Whereas in the past it was very difficult for them to police the sharing of this material, now it seems 80 per cent will be traceable.
E
The content ID system has had another unexpected benefit. It provides companies with very useful geographic and demographic information.
For example, it turns out that clips of Mr Bean, the British silent comedy series, are extremely popular in Saudi Arabia. This information can be
used to commercial advantage by the producer who can negotiate deals with TV companies and DVD distributors in the area.
F
For Google, this new acceptance of the money-making potential of YouTube has come not a moment too soon. It bought YouTube three years
ago for $1.65bn and has yet to make any profit from it. In fact analysts say it is losing around $200m a year. But Google is confident that if a
greater proportion of the 7bn videos a week that are streamed on YouTube are monetised, it will turn a profit in the coming years.
2) Now ask them to match these sub-heading to each paragraph.
1 Most companies back the idea 2 A controversial practice

3 Solving the identification issue 4 Important market data
5 A necessary change in fortune 6 A money-making opportunity
3) Discuss how their own sub-headings compared to the ones given in No. 2.

9) News in brief (All levels)
reading task Instructions for the teacher: The idea of this exercise is a) to develop students’
summary skills b) to get them reading more. These articles are for higher levels –
choose easier ones for lower levels. Cut up the short articles below so that you have
one set of articles for each group of 4 students (3 also works).
1) • In their small groups, hand out a different article to each student.
• Ask them to read the article and write a 5–8 word summary of it.
• Now ask them to read their summary to the other students in the
group. These others must ask questions to get more information about
the story.
A 13-year-old newspaper delivery boy from Clophill in the UK yesterday received a formal letter from his employer, Letterbox Direct, informing
him that he was being laid off from his paper round. The company said that Kane Middleton’s contract was being cancelled with immediate effect
and offered him a redundancy package of one week’s pay, amounting to £6.93. Kane said when he received the letter he had to ask his mum to
explain it. He was shocked and disappointed, because he was saving money to buy a new cage for his hamster. Kane is believed to be the youngest
person to have been made redundant during this recession.
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The fast food giant, McDonald’s, has decided to close its only three restaurants in Iceland because it has become too expensive to operate there.
Opened in 1993, the three franchises are owned by local businessman Jon Gardar Ogmundsson. He said that although business has never been so
good, profits have never been lower. The fall in the Icelandic krona has made imported goods from Germany prohibitively expensive. “For a kilo
of onion, imported from Germany, I’m paying the equivalent of a bottle of good whisky,” he said.
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A consortium of 12 European businesses, including Deutsche Bank, Siemens and E.ON, have announced a huge project to generate solar power in
the Sahara desert. The Desertec Industrial Initiative hopes to supply Europe with 15 per cent of its electricity by 2050. Plants using concentrated
solar power technology (CPS) will heat water to very high temperatures by reflecting the sun’s rays off parabolic mirrors onto water containers.
The water will power steam turbines and the electricity produced will be sent across a vast network of electricity transmission lines into Europe.
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A former driver for a Cambridgeshire haulage company who told his boss that she smelt has been awarded £3000 in compensation. John Lewin,
who had been employed for two years by the firm, was fired when he told office boss, Sarah Jones, that she had terrible B.O. In his defence he
said that he was constantly bullied and teased by Ms Jones and had spoken out in a moment of anger. The court ruled that by dismissing him on
the spot, the company had not followed the correct disciplinary procedures and consequently that this was a case of unfair dismissal. Normally,
an employee would receive a verbal warning followed by a formal written warning before they could be disciplined.
2) Ask two or three students to find similar (short) business news stories and to
write a summary of them. At the next lesson they should read their
summaries to the class and then answer questions arising from it.

10) Seeing things in terms of processes
(All levels)
VOCABULARY TASK
Instructions for the teacher: A good way of learning business vocabulary (and
concepts) is to think in terms of the steps involved in each process. So each time you
approach a new business area or process try to elicit from the students the different
steps.
1) Ask the students to think about the different steps involved in the following
processes and to find a verb for each step
- solving a problem
- a contract with a supplier
- making a decision
- reaching a target
- the life of a product
_______, _______, _______, _______, ________, ________ a contract

_______, _______, _______, _______, ________, ________ a problem
_______, _______, _______, _______, ________, ________ a decision
_______, _______, _______, _______, ________, ________ a target
_______, _______, _______, _______, ________, ________ a (new) product
2) Ask them to do the same for these processes (various noun-verb

combinations)
- Filling a vacant post
- Dealing with a customer complaint about a faulty product
- Ordering some goods or services
- Moving offices
- Getting quotes for a building job (e.g. an office extension)
- Preparing for a trip to a trade fair
- Redesigning the company website
3) Ask the students to work in small groups to work out a plan of action for the
following situations:
1) Several customers have complained that the batteries in the
telephones that you sell are low quality and do not last. There
are also blogs on the web complaining about this aspect of the
telephone.
2) The Managing Director’s personal assistant who has been with

the company for 26 years is due to retire next month.
3) You have been invited to attend a trade fair in Munich next

month to promote your products.

11) Core vocabulary: lower levels
(Preliminary)
VOCABULARY TASK Instructions for the teacher: Cut up the cards (one set for each group of three
students. Ask the students to find pairs of words. Then check the meaning by getting
examples in open class
Increase Decrease Improve Get worse Lend Borrow
Book Cancel Join Leave Employ Lay off
Supply Demand Employer Employee Income Expenditure
Profit Loss Success Failure Benefit Drawback
Common Rare Busy Quiet Risky Safe
Suitable Unsuitable Economical Expensive to run Skilled Unskilled
2) • Cut up the cards on the following page (one set for each group of
three students).

• Put the students in groups of three and give them the sentences face
down.
• One student picks up a sentence and reads it aloud to the others

(stressing the word in italics).
• The others say if the ‘highlighted’ word has been used correctly or
not. If not they must give the right word.
• The student who provides the correct answer first wins a point.
• If they provide the wrong answer the student who read the card aloud
wins a point.

I booked a reservation for a room for two nights in November Incorrect made
I lent £500 from the bank to buy a new mountain bike Incorrect borrow
My English has increased a lot in the last three months Incorrect improved
Sales are low because there is not enough demand for this product Correct
Our income has increased so we have less profit Incorrect expenditure
The employees are unhappy about their working conditions Correct
It would be more economic to use low energy light bulbs Incorrect economical
She joined the company two years ago Correct
The succeed rate of email advertising is less than 1per cent Incorrect success
If you ask me, it is a very risk investment. Incorrect risky
December is always our busiest period Correct
The people who find it most difficult to get a job are skilled workers Incorrect unskilled
A fast-food restaurant is an unsuitable place for a meeting with a client Correct
Don’t worry! It’s a rare mistake to make! Incorrect common
They fired her because there was not enough work Incorrect laid her off
The main profit of the course is that it teaches you how to manage people better Incorrect benefit

12) Core vocabulary: higher levels
(Vantage and Higher)
VOCABULARY TASK Instructions for the teacher:
1) Ask the students to complete the grid by putting the words into the correct
box:
An incentive satisfied a customer survey a candidate qualified to apply for
A saving to reward brand awareness to launch expenditure a reduction
Convenient to relocate a sample a bonus to move to attract
To advertise wasteful after-sales service a complaint premises motivated
Improving performance Finding new offices Improving customer

of salespeople service
_________________ _________________ _________________

_________________ _____to relocate____ _________________
_____a bonus______ _________________ _________________
_________________ _________________ _ after-sales service_
Cutting costs Recruiting staff Marketing a new

product
_________________ _____to attract_____ _________________

_____expenditure___ _________________ _________________
_________________ _________________ _____to advertise___
_________________ _________________ _________________
2) Transform the following into the part of speech indicated:
Satisfied __________________ (noun)

Advertise ___________________ (noun)
Wasteful ___________________ (noun)
To apply for ___________________ (noun)
A saving ___________________ (verb)

Motivated ___________________ (verb)
Expenditure ___________________ (verb)
An incentive ___________________ (verb)*
A complaint __________________ (adjective)

To attract __________________ (adjective)
Awareness __________________ (adjective)
To reward __________________ (adjective)

3) Ask the students to work with a partner. Make sentences using either form of
each word.
4) Ask them to work in a small group and discuss the following:
- you’ve been asked for your ideas on how to market a new chocolate bar
- the best way to recruit some extra sales staff for the Christmas period at a
department store
- you need to move offices because your current offices in the city centre are
a) too small b) rather old and c) too expensive

13) Word building (All levels)
VOCABULARY TASK Instructions for the teacher:
1) Give the students a word and ask them to think of as many words derived
from it as possible. It could be another part of speech (noun, adjective etc.), a
compound word or a phrasal verb. For example ...
Sell selling, sales, a salesperson, wholesale, undersell, sell out, sell off
Work worker, workplace, workforce, overworked, workload, paperwork,

work out
Compete competition, competitor, competitive, uncompetitive
Employ employee, employer, employment, unemployment, unemployed,

employable
Produce product, production, productive, unproductive, producer, productivity
Pay payment, repay, repayment, payroll, pay off, pay back, payable,
taxpayer
Account accountant, accountancy, account for, accounting, accountable

2) Ask them to complete these questions using the correct form of the root word
in brackets.
a Would you say you are a ____________ person? (compete)

b What’s the best thing you ever bought in the _______? (sell)
c Which group of professionals do you think are the most ________? (work)
d How can graduates make themselves more attractive to prospective ________?
(employ)
e What is the best new _________ you have seen in the last 12 months? Why?
(produce)
f Do you buy many things on the internet? Do you think that online ________ is
safe? (pay)
g The job of an ________ is seen as boring in the UK. Is it the same in your
country? (account)

3) Now get the students to work in pairs and ask each other these questions.
4) Ask the students to make their own question sentences using words derived
from the root words above.

14) The first rule (Vantage and Higher)
VOCABULARY TASK Instructions for the teacher: The idea if this exercise is to elicit useful collocations
like ‘make money’, ‘have a good idea’, ‘make a plan’ etc.
1) Ask students to write down a first rule of business (if they look particularly
blank give them a few prompts). Ask them to think about: money, planning,
ideas, the changing environment, location, the competition.
2) Get them to show their ideas to two other students.
3) Then discuss in open class and pull out the useful vocabulary and collocations
4) Show them this list and elicit their opinions.
The first rule of business is ….
…… always to cover your costs (FT)
……. simply to make money; why else would you be in business?
…….. the same as the first rule of life: Adapt or die. (Peter Drucker)
…….. to ensure there are no surprises – stability and predictability are everything
……... to understand your environment
……… location
………. to Only Do What Only You Can Do
………. before you do anything to make a plan
……... to “Do other men for they would do you.” – (Charles Dickens)
5) You can do the same with sub-areas of business. What’s the first rule of ….?
- selling
- advertising
- customer service
- purchasing from a supplier
- managing employees
- employing new recruits
etc.

Answer key
Unusual correspondents
ask for make a request complain make a complaint

order place an order advertise place an advertisement
remind send a reminder apologise make an apology
ask about make an enquiry suggest make a suggestion
offer make an offer
Getting the register right
Dear Mr Quaid
Thank you for your recent enquiry about renting office space in the Central Tower in Birmingham city centre.
There are two sets of offices available, the first comprising 2 small offices, a reception area and a large open plan office.
The second is a complete floor, which has flexible space that can be divided to suit your requirements.
You will find attached floor plans of both spaces which will enable you to see how each area is currently laid out. The
document also contains the full rental terms and conditions.
Central Tower is a recently refurbished building with up-to-date fittings and amenities. It has good communications, the
train station and bus station being within 5 minutes walk.
Yours sincerely
Kirsty Myers
Dear Bill
There are two sets of offices available, one with two small offices, a reception area and a large open plan space. The other
is a whole floor with very flexible space for you to divide up or arrange as you think best.
I am attaching floor plans of both spaces so you can see how each area is laid out at the moment. You’ll also find details
of the rent and other conditions in it.
Central Tower was recently refurbished and has all the equipment and amenities you’d expect of a modern office
building. It’s also very central, near both train and bus stations.
Do let me know if you need any more details, or would like to fix a time to see the offices.
With best wishes,

Kirsty

Answer key continued
Networking
Bill Kate
Hello, my name’s Bill.
Hi, Bill. __Nice/Good/Pleased_____ to meet you. I’m Kate.
Have____ you __been___ to one of these
events before?
No, it’s my first time. It’s _quite/good_____ fun, isn’t it?
Yes, I like them. You meet some interesting
people. What _do___ you _do___, Kate?
I run my __own___ business. I have a shoe shop
in town.
What _kind/type/sort____ of shoes?

We sell mostly foreign brands: Birkenstock, Ecco and so _on__.
Do you sell online _as__ well?
Not _at__ the moment, no. I’m not very good _with/at__ technology.
Well, I design websites for retailers.
Perhaps I _can/could_____ help you set
something up?
That __sounds/is____ very interesting. Do you have a business card?
Sure, here _you__ are. Have a _look__ at
our website. You’ll see some examples of
what we can do.
Great, thanks, Bill. I’ll do that.
Summary skills
A 2
B 6
C 3
D 1
E 4
F 5
Seeing things in terms of processes
_______ a contract (draw up, negotiate, sign, cancel, renew, renegotiate)
_______ a problem (identify, analyse, address/tackle, solve/resolve, get round/overcome)
_______ a decision (come to, make, reverse, reconsider, rubber stamp, veto, abide by, accept)
_______ a target (set, reach, exceed, fail to reach, adjust)
_______ a (new) product (design/create, develop, test, launch, promote, sell, withdraw)
e.g. Filling a post to advertise, to receive applications, to go through them, to hold interviews, to make a shortlist of the
candidates, to select, to appoint etc.
e.g. Dealing with a complaint to receive a complaint, to investigate the claims, to reply to, to offer compensation, to apologise
to the customer, to remedy the mistake etc.

Core vocabulary (higher levels)
1)
Improving performance Finding new offices Improving customer
of salespeople service
____an incentive___ _____premises_____ __customer survey_

____to reward_____ _____to relocate____ _____satisfied_____
_____a bonus______ _____to move______ ____a complaint___
____motivated_____ ____convenient_____ _ after-sales service_
Cutting costs Recruiting staff Marketing a new

product
____a reduction____ _____to attract_____ __brand awareness_

____expenditure____ ____to apply for___ _____to launch_____
_____a saving______ ____a candidate___ _____to advertise___
_____wasteful______ _____qualified_____ ____a sample______
2)
Satisfied satisfaction__________________ (noun)
Advertise advertisement/ advertising___________________ (noun)
Wasteful waste/wastefulness___________________ (noun)
To apply for application/applicant___________________ (noun)
A saving to save___________________ (verb)

Motivated to motivate___________________ (verb)
Expenditure to spend___________________ (verb)
An incentive to incentivise___________________ (verb)*
A complaint complaining__________________ (adjective)

To attract attractive__________________ (adjective)
Awareness aware__________________ (adjective)
To reward rewarding__________________ (adjective)

Word building
a Would you say you are a __competitive_______ person? (compete)
b What’s the best thing you ever bought in the __sales_____? (sell)
c Which group of professionals do you think are the most __overworked______? (work)
d How can graduates make themselves more attractive to prospective __employers__? (employ)
e What is the best new __product___ you have seen in the last 12 months? Why? (produce)
f Do you buy many things on the internet? Do you think that online __payment___ is safe? (pay)
g The job of an __accountant___ is seen as boring in the UK. Is it the same in your country? (account)

BEC Communication Activities

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BEC Exam Classroom Activities

SKILLS AND ACTIVITY LEVEL

Developed by Paul Dummett for Heinle ELT, © 2010

1) • Explain this situation. “Paul Dymmock is Sales Manager at Plasbox, a company

• Ask the students to read the messages.

• Discuss in open class.

Developed by Paul Dummett for Heinle ELT, © 2010

From: williamsg@hotfrog.co.uk From: sam_marks@Plasbox.com

Dear Paul, Attached is the first draft of the thank you

I look forward to hearing from you.

Developed by Paul Dummett for Heinle ELT, © 2010

I am writing to enquire about your English courses

Thank you for your recent letter

I apologise for the delay in replying to you

I am writing in answer to your letter of 10 May

According to our records, your car is due for a service

I am writing to confirm our meeting next Tuesday

I was given your name by a friend who recommended your company

ask for make a re______ complain make a com______

order place an or____ advertise place an ad_______

remind send a re______ apologise make an apo_____

ask about make an en_____ suggest make a sug_____

offer make an of____

Developed by Paul Dummett for Heinle ELT, © 2010

- a ladies’ football club

Thank you for your request for …..

I have passed your complaint about ….. to …..

We have received your order for …..

I am writing in reply to your advertisement for ….

On 3rd November we sent you a reminder about ….

Please accept our apologies for …..

Thank you for your recent enquiry about ….

I read your proposal for ………. with interest.

Developed by Paul Dummett for Heinle ELT, © 2010

• First read the two letters.

With best wishes,

Developed by Paul Dummett for Heinle ELT, © 2010

With best wishes,

Developed by Paul Dummett for Heinle ELT, © 2010

Discuss: What is important when ...?

- choosing a training course (size of group, times, cost)

You need to think about ….

You should always check ....

What is important when ... ?

- buying a mobile phone ________, _________, __________

4) Students should compare their answers with those of another pair.

Developed by Paul Dummett for Heinle ELT, © 2010

1) Setting up a service for tourists in your town:

- Why it will appeal to tourists

Look at these problems and propose solutions:

- No bookings in the low season

Think of the possible ways it could make money from:

- the users themselves

Developed by Paul Dummett for Heinle ELT, © 2010

Think of ways to improve motivation and productivity by:

- team building or social events

Developed by Paul Dummett for Heinle ELT, © 2010

Developed by Paul Dummett for Heinle ELT, © 2010

- percentage of people achieving good high school/university grades now and 25

Developed by Paul Dummett for Heinle ELT, © 2010

_____ you _____ to one of these

Yes, I like them. You meet some

What _____ of shoes?

ask for make a re complain make a com

order place an or advertise place an ad___

remind send a re__ apologise make an apo_

ask about make an en_ suggest make a sug_

- buying a mobile phone ____, _, ______

_ you _ to one of these

Sure, here are. Have a __

___, _, _, _, , __ a contract

_________ _ _________

_______________ _to attract_ _______________

__an incentive_ ___premises_ customer survey_

__a reduction _to attract_ brand awareness_