 A. Answer the following questions about the meaning of business.

Questions with asterisks (*) cannot be answered directly from the text.
1. What is one modern definition of business?

2. *How does this modern meaning of business differ from the traditional one?

*What factors have brought about these changes?

3. What does production involve?

4. What example of distribution is given in the reading? *Can you think of another
example?

5. How do goods differ from services?

6. In addition to production, distribution, and sale, what other factor is important in

7. What is profit? *In general, what do companies do with their profits?

8. Compare your definition of business with the one given in the reading. *How are they
similar? *In what ways does your definition differ from the one presented in the text?

 B. Determine which of the following statements are true and which are
false. Then put Tor F in the blanks. Rewrite false statements to make them
true.
1. Business is not just one activity but a combination of different operations, such as
production, distribution, and sale.
2. From ancient to modern times the definition of business has remained
the same.
3. Moving a truckload of oranges from the orchard to the supermarket is an example
of production.
4. A salesclerk provides a service by answering customers' questions.

Vocabulary Exercises
 A. Write down any terms that you did not understand in the reading.
Find each term in the reading, look at its context, and try to figure out the
meaning.
Discuss these terms with your classmates.
 B. Look at the terms in the left-hand column and find the correct
synonyms in the right-hand column. Copy the corresponding letters in the
blanks.
1. g goods (line 5) a. moving or transporting

2. conversion (line 8) b. trade

3. for instance (line 16) c. however

4 distribution (line 10) d. look at

6. on the other hand (line15) f. for example

7. examine (line 6) g. products

 C. Complete the sentences with the noun and verb forms provided.
1. sales/sells

a. An annual report includes the ..................... figures of the company for the current fiscal
year.

b. An auto dealership ...................................... cars, trucks, vans, and sometimes

2. distribution/distribute

a. Some companies hold exclusive ............................ rights for specific products.

b. Factory representatives .............................. products to wholesalers and retailers.

3. production/produces

a. How efficiently a company ........................ its products will in large measure

determine its success.

b. The ............................. of high-technology instruments is one of the most rapidly

4. classification/are classified

a. Items .......................... in order to show the relationship between them.

b..................................... means the grouping of items to show the differences

between them.

5. conversion/convert

a. When traveling from country to country, people ......................... one currency to

b. The production process often involves the................................... of raw materials

into finished products.

Text Analysis
 Look at the reading to answer these questions.

1. The reading contains terms such as its, it, and this factor. These terms refer to nouns or
noun phrases that occurred earlier in the text. For example, its in line 6 refers to one
definition of business in lines 4-5. What does each of the following refer to?
LINES WORDS REFERENT

4 it
20 this factor
 2. Transition words or phrases are used to clarify the relationships between sentences.
They are usually placed at the beginning of new ideas. Transitions can be divided into
groups according to their functions. Match the following.
Next (line 8) a. summarizing
On the other hand (line 15) b. sequencing information
Therefore (line 23-24) c. contrasting
3. Line 8 refers to its various parts. List the parts of the business definition that are
explained in the reading.
a. production
b.
c.
d.
4. What key transition words are used to introduce each new part of the definition?
TRANSITION WORDS PARTS OF THE DEFINITION

b.
c.
d.
5. A definition may take this form:

Production → is → the changing of materials into products or the

Term being defined → verb to be → definition

A number of terms are defined this way in the reading. Find and copy these definitions in
the spaces below.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Classification
 Classification means the grouping of items to show the relationship between
them.
 Items that are classified together have something in common; that is, something must
apply to all the items in I that group or class. Look at the items below. They may be
classified as either goods or services. Review the definitions and examples given
in the reading (lines 13-18). Classify the following items as either goods or services.
1. Car✓ 8. Video cassette recorder 15. Office equipment repair
2. Medical diagnosis✓ 9. Management consulting 16. Newspaper delivery
3. Travel agency 10. Accounting ledger 17. Computer programming
4. Briefcase 11.calculator 18. Time clock
5. Auto repair 12. Job placement 19. Law book
6. Financial 13. Suit 20.income tax preparation
7. Computer 14. Forklift

GOODS SERVICES
Car Medical diagnosis

Application

A. Maich these parts of the business definition to the following real-life situations

• production of goods
• distribution of goods
• sale of goods
• sale of services
Examples:
Iron ore is made into metal car parts. production of goods

A car is moved from a factory to a car dealership. distribution of goods

An auto mechanic repairs a car. sale of services

1. A shipment of grain is transferred from a boat to a truck.

2. A chemical plant turns raw materials into fertilizer.

company to buy a shipment of drainage pipe from his company.

4. A warehouse ships books to a bookstore.

5. A computer manufacturer receives silicon chips and puts them

into minicomputers.

6. A dentist repairs a child's broken tooth.

7. A train moves truck parts across the country.

8. A grocer exchanges groceries for money.

9. A waitress takes your order for lunch.

10. A farmer plants vegetables for harvest in the tall.

 B. With your partner, write down real-life situations that would fit into the
categories of production, distribution, and sale. For examples, see the preceding
exercise.
Production:

distribution:

Sale: