Universidad Autnoma de Yucatn

Academics
Group 350C
A350003

Skill/Language point/Learning area: Reading; Vocabulary.

Estimated time: 30 mins.
Objective/Purpose: To give practice in reading to understand academic texts; to
recognize and understand technical terms
Expected outcome: Improved ability to understand text
Materials: Dictionary
Instructions:
Read the company news below. Turn the statements into noun clauses by placing
either The good news is or The bad news is in front of them. The first one has been
done for you.
profits are up.
sales are down.
fuel costs are down.
interest rates are down.
the stock price is up.
deliveries are on schedule.
construction is ahead of schedule.
production is behind schedule.
Created by: David Morales

the shipment has been delayed.

the union is going on strike.
300 employees were laid off.
losses were higher than expected.
demand was lower than anticipated.
revenue was higher than predicted.
legal costs were lower than forecast.
taxes were lower than expected.
maintenance costs were higher than
predicted.
the economy is heating up.

Universidad Autnoma de Yucatn

Academics
Group 350C
A350004

Created by: David Morales

II
Skill/Language point/Learning area: Reading; Vocabulary.
Estimated time: 30 mins.
Objective/Purpose: To give practice in reading to understand academic texts; to
recognize and understand technical terms
Expected outcome: Improved ability to understand text
Materials: Dictionary
Instructions:
Read the text and complete the activities below.
EXPECTATIONS AND STOCK PRICES
It seems strange that a company reports that it had a profitable year and
then its stock price declines. But, this does happen. And it happens
because stock prices are based on peoples expectations about a
company. So even if a company has profits, their stock price may go
down if the profits were lower than expected. In other words, investors
thought the company was going to have even greater profits and so they
paid too much for the stock. To put it another way, changes are not as
important as unexpected changes in controlling stock prices.
Here are some expressions that we use to talk about expectations.
Complete the sentences below using one of the following expressions.
Try to use them all:

than expected
higher

than anticipated

lower

than forecast
than predicted

Created by: David Morales

Stock prices will rise when profits . . .

Stock prices will drop when costs . .
.
Stock prices will go up when sales .
..
Stock prices will climb when
revenue . . .
Stock prices will plummet when
interest rates . . .
Stock prices will decrease when
taxes . . .
Stock prices will increase when
labor costs . . .
Stock prices will fall when legal
expenses . . .
Stock prices will crash when
losses . . .
Stock prices will decline when
competition . . .
Stock prices will rise when
consumer demand . . .

Created by: David Morales