🎬 Interactive video — script & questions
NARRATOR: Listen to two business professionals discussing their company's economic expansion strategy.
SARAH: Hi Marcus, thanks for meeting me. I wanted to talk about our quarterly numbers. Did you see the latest report?
MARCUS: Yes, I did. It's quite impressive. Our revenue grew by fifteen percent compared to last quarter. The market analysis shows strong demand in three main regions.
SARAH: Exactly. Now, if we invest in new facilities, we could potentially double our output within two years. However, if we didn't have the capital, we'd need to focus only on the existing markets.
MARCUS: That's a fair point. We looked at the costs. The initial investment would be around two million euros. But consider this—if we expand now, we'd gain a competitive advantage before our rivals do.
SARAH: True. I calculated that we'd need approximately eight hundred employees to staff the new sites. What about the timeline? Our team suggested starting in the fourth quarter.
MARCUS: The fourth quarter works well. We already spoke to three suppliers, and two of them confirmed they can meet our deadlines. If everything goes according to plan, we should see returns within eighteen months.
SARAH: Excellent. So, to summarize: we're looking at an investment of two million euros, eight hundred new positions, and a launch in the fourth quarter. Are we agreed?
MARCUS: I am. Let's move forward with this proposal.
- How much did revenue grow compared to last quarter?
- a) Twelve percent
- b) Fifteen percent
- c) Twenty percent
- d) Ten percent
- How much money is needed to start the expansion?
- a) One million euros
- b) Three million euros
- c) Two million euros
- d) Five million euros
- How many new employees does Sarah say they need?
- a) Five hundred employees
- b) One thousand employees
- c) Eight hundred employees
- d) Six hundred employees
- When does the team want to start the expansion?
- a) First quarter
- b) Second quarter
- c) Third quarter
- d) Fourth quarter
- How long will it take to see returns on the investment?
- a) Six months
- b) Eighteen months
- c) Twenty-four months
- d) Twelve months
📖 Reading
Maria Santos worked as a sales manager at a small electronics company for six years. Last month, her boss asked her to prepare a report about the company's growth. Maria was nervous at first, but she was always good with numbers, so she agreed to do it.
According to the report, the company sold 12,450 products last year. That number showed an increase of 18% compared to the year before. Maria explained that the online store was growing quickly. She suggested three new ideas to her team.
When Maria presented the report to the board, she used simple graphs so that everyone understood the figures easily. One director worked at the company for over twenty years. He said it was a very clear report. The board was impressed by her attention to detail.
After the meeting, Maria's boss thanked her for the excellent work. Maria smiled and said her whole team helped her a lot. She knows that success in business is rarely the work of just one person.
Maria's story shows that clear communication and confidence with numbers help anyone succeed at work, even someone who once felt nervous about giving presentations.
✏️ Questions
- How do you read this number? 12
- a) twelve
- b) twelfth
- c) one two
- d) one hundred twelve
- How do you read this number? 45
- a) forty-five
- b) fourty-five
- c) four five
- d) forty-fifth
- How do you read this number? 100
- a) one hundred
- b) one hundreds
- c) hundred one
- d) one hundredth
- How do you read this number? 350
- a) three hundred fifty
- b) three hundred and fifty-th
- c) three fifty hundred
- d) three hundred fifteen
- How do you read this number? 1,000
- a) one thousand
- b) one thousands
- c) thousand one
- d) ten hundred
- How do you read this number? 2,500
- a) two thousand five hundred
- b) two thousand and five hundredth
- c) twenty-five hundredth
- d) two five hundred thousand
- How do you read this number? 3rd
- a) third
- b) three
- c) threeth
- d) thirdth
- How do you read this number? 21st
- a) twenty-first
- b) twenty-oneth
- c) twenty-one
- d) twenty-firsth
- How do you read this number? 0.5
- a) zero point five
- b) zero comma five
- c) five tenths point
- d) point five zero
- How do you read this number? 1/2
- a) a half
- b) one two
- c) one over two
- d) second one
- How do you read this number? 3/4
- a) three quarters
- b) three fourth
- c) third quarter
- d) three over fourth
- How do you read this number? 2020
- a) twenty twenty
- b) two zero two zero
- c) two thousand twenty
- d) both twenty twenty and two thousand twenty