THE THIRTEENTH MEETING IS COMPETITION PART 1

A. AIM OF STUDY
1.1 Starting Up
1.2 Vocabulary

B. DESCRIPTION
Tujuan Pembelajaran 1.1:
Starting Up
A Before doing the quiz below, do you think you are:
a) Very competitive?
b) Fairly competitive?
c) Not at all competitive?
B Answer the questions in the quiz.
How competitive are you?
1. Which of the following statements do you agree with?
a) Winning is everything.
b) It’s not the winning that counts, it’s the taking part
c) We are in this world to help each other
2. Which of the following would satisfy you?
a) Earning more than anyone else you know
b) Earning more than most of your friends
c) Earning enough to have a comfortable life.
3. You have just won €50,000 and need to buy a new car. Do you:
a) Spend €12,000 on a reliable car that will get you from A to B?
b) Spend €26,000 on a middle-range car?
c) Spend the entire €50,000 on a flashy top-of-the-range car that will impress
all your friends?
4. If a colleague did something very successful, would you feel:
a) pleased for them?
b) Pleased for them but a bit jealous?
c) Very jealous and unhappy?
5. If you lose at something, do you:
a) Forget about it immediately?
b) Think about it for a while?
c) Never forget?
6. How do you feel when you win? Do you:
a) Boast about it and tell everyone?
b) Feel good, but keep it to yourself?
c) Feel sorry for the person who lost?
7. What do you want or your children? Do you want them:
a) To be happy
b) To achieve more than you did?
 c) To be the best at everything?
8. You are at the traffic lights next to another car. The lights change to ‘go’. Do
you:
a) Let the other car go first?
b) Move away slowly, without being aware of the other car?
c) Try to be the first away?
9. You are waiting to check in at a crowded airline counter. There does not seem
to be a system of queuing. Would you:
a) Push your way to the front?
b) Insist loudly that a fair system is adopted?
c) Keep quiet and wait?
10. How do you feel about doing this quiz? Do you want to:
a) Show you are the most competitive person in the group?
b) Show you are the least competitive person in the group?
c) Find out something about yourself?

Tujuan Pembelajaran 1.2:

Vocabulary Competition idioms
A There are many idioms from sport used in business. Particularly when
talking about competition. Use the nouns from the box to complete these
idioms.
game field ball seat horse goalposts race neck

1.A level playing field 5. Move the .....

2.In the driving ..... 6. Keep your eye on the .....
3.To be neck and ..... 7. Ahead of the .....
4.Flogging a dead ..... 8. A one horse .....
B Which of the idioms in exercise A refer to:
a) A situation of fair competition? 1
b) Being in front of the competition?
c) Being at the same level as the competition?
d) Being the only competition?
e) Wasting your time on a hopeless situation?
f) Staying focused?
g) A change in the rules?
h) Being in control?
C Complete the following with the most suitable idiom from exercise A.
Remember to choose the correct verb from where necessary.
 1. It’s not a level playing field any more. As a small company it is difficult for us
to compete with the big multinationals.
2. They are so far ahead of their competitors in terms of new products that it
has become ............... . It will be years before they face any serious
competition.
3. We have left all our competitors behind. We spend a lot of money on R & D
so we can stay ...............
4. The government have changed all the rules for exporters. They have
................. , so we will have to rethink our international operation.
5. It’s a waste of time continuing with the project. It will never work. We are
................
6. With our market dominance in the US, we are really .................
7. We have exactly the same market share as our nearest rival. We ...................
in terms of our profits so far this year, too.
8. We really need to concentrate on what our competitors are doing. In today’s
market you need to ..................... at all times.
D Discuss these questions
1) Have you ever felt you were flogging a dead horse
a) at work? b) in your private life?
2) Which companies are ahead of the game in your industry or the industry you
would like to work in?
3) How do you feel when
a) Someone moves the goalposts?
You are in the driving seat?