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HEM-MARRAKECH Année 2009/2010

COMMUNICATION D’ENTREPRISE Mme IFLAHEN
ANGLAIS

Nom & Prénom :

TALKING ABOUT MY
GENERATION Code :

DO YOU THINK YOU ARE AN INDIVIDUALIST? That no one else is quite like you? Well, you
may be in for a surprise. You’ll find that market researchers and trendspotters have been
studying your generation’s habits and they have given it a name! If you were born last
century between 1978 to 2000 then you belong to Generation Y. You are addicted to all
things technological.

Marketers have been identifying groups of people for a very long time. The first
generation to get a name was the ‘baby boomers’ born in the 1950s, and Generation X,
born between 1960 and 1980. And the term Yuppie (young urban professional) appeared in
the 1980s to describe a generation of high earning young people who liked spending
money.

So what is Generation Y like? We asked university student, Lauren, ‘What have you been
doing this afternoon?’ She replied, ‘I’ve been doing a quiz online for my coursework in
advertising, I’ve been writing to classmates on a message board and I’ve been downloading
some new music. But at the same time I’ve also been watching my favourite soap, and
keeping up with my text messages, so I know where to meet my friends later.’

Lauren is part of a new digital generation which experts have recently called the MySpace
generation. They chat together in a huge virtual world on sites such as MySpace. They
learn about new music from the net rather than from magazines, TV or shops. For
Generation Y there is no distinction between online and real world interactions. They enjoy
socializing on the net as much as face to face. And they multitask on a variety of media at
the same time, like Lauren.

Generation Y prefers to find out about things on the internet. The pop group Arctic
Monkeys became famous before they released an album through online file sharing. Even
before songs were released officially, fans sang along with the songs at concerts! Big

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 companies are worried by this trend. They use the blog site YPulse, which does market
research, to get updates about the most popular websites. And multinationals such as Apple
and Coca-Cola are now trying to reach the MySpace generation through a very old
technique – word of mouth.

COMPREHENSION/15

A. Read the article and answer these questions.

1. What are the names given to the generation born between 1978 and 2000?
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2. What other names have been given to other generations?
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3. What do Lauren’s activities have in common?
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4. What is new about the way the MySpace generation behaves?
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5. What does YPulse offer to businesses?
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6. To what extent do you feel part of the MySpace generation?
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B Rewrite the article headline.

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VOCABULARY/15

A. Find words and expressions that mean the following.

 Unable to stop it : -----------------------

 People who study the latest fashions and tastes : ----------------------------
 Earning a lot of money : -----------------------------------

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 Stay up to date : ------------------------------
 A clear difference or contrast : ----------------------------
 Doing two or more jobs at the same time : ---------------------------------
 Passing news on to people face to face, or personally : ----------------------------------

B. Complete the lists with the words and expressions below that are most commonly
associated with each theme.

The Stock Market Import Export Advertising

………………… …………….... …………………..
………………… ……………… …………………..
…………………. ……………… ………………….
………………… ……………… …………………

Marketing Creative director duties sole trader

………………... local subsidiary commercial issue shares
………………... segment dividend quota
………………… slogan focus group billboard
………………… tariffs broker yield
Consumer profile

C. Use words from the list to make one sentence for each theme. (4 sentences)

1. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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2. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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3. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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4. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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GRAMMAR/30

A. Match sentences 1-6 with their uses a)-f)

a) a future fact d) a future plan or intention

b) an opinion about the future e) a prediction with evidence in the present situation
c) an instant decision f) a future arrangement

1. I’m going to ask my boss for a pay rise next week. [ ]

2. I’m sorry to hear that. I’ll find out what the problem is right now. [ ]
3. I’m meeting Angela for lunch. Do you wan to join us? [ ]
4. Their share price will probably rise when the market recovers. [ ]
5. With so much competition it’s going to be difficult to increase sales. [ ]
6. I’m sorry, but I won’t be here tomorrow. I’ll be in Paris. [ ]

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B. Fill in the gaps with the correct words.

1. There was a ………rise in profits last month.

2. We ……………..our profits ………………. last month.
3. There was a sharp fall ……..our sales last quarter.
4. Our sales fell …… 6% last quarter.
5. We …………….our market share last quarter.
6. Our share price …………… a ………… last month, but it has since …………….. ; and
now stands….. £3.78.
7. Operating profits went ….. £2.5m …..£3.1m.
8. There was a………….drop in market shares ……..about 1%......... last year’s values.

C. Complete each sentence with a phrasal verb that means the same as the words in
brackets.

1. The photocopier has ……………………..again. (stopped working)

2. Can you …………………. The office while I’m out? (take care of)
3. He had to ……………… after the corruption inquiry. (resign/leave the job)
4. I have to …………. A client this afternoon. (visit)
5. Can you ……………this invoice, please? (take the necessary action)
6. I couldn’t ………………. My personal assistant. (function/manage without)
7. The new CEO will be …………in January. (taking responsibility)
8. We …………….. their offer. It was too low. (refused)
9. Here are some figures that …………….everything I’ve been saying about our
sales. (support)