Cars and astronauts

Follow the link to an article that students can use to discuss choices of cars
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/news/8631908/My-other-car-is-a-Space-Shuttle....html

Business and Golf

From the BBC business website students can watch, read and listen to the business behind the sport of golf and the British Open Golf Championship. Then students can discuss their own experiences of corporate sponsorship and hospitality.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-14042846

Vigilance -Travel and crime

U.S. Embassy video chronicles a really bad trip here

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff What can happen to a tourist here who does not pay attention to basic security precautions? That's the premise of a YouTube video produced by the U.S. Embassy here that seeks to promote vigilance. The answer is that the tourist could end up in the consular section of the embassy one morning wearing one sandal and stripped of all possessions. Johnathan Roy, a vice consul, has the only speaking role. He's a friendly Gringo giving safety tips to a forlorn man who has been victimized even before he left the airport. That is where he lost his luggage to a thief, according to the video. The man's visit goes downhill from there. He meets pretty girls in a bar, and when he wakes up, his backpack is gone. At the beach he leaves his car keys on the sand along with his few remaining possessions. That's where he loses a sandal as well as the car. Roy said the video was a joint effort between the Consulate staff and the Public Affairs Office. Actors were embassy staffers. Students can watch and listen and identify crime-related vocabulary. The video could generate a  discussion on their own travel and crime experiences.

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Business English Costa Rica pineapples and sustainability

This is an interesting article to read and business English students can identify the vocabulary of CSR ethics and the language used to present conflicting points of view. It would be a relevant topic for discussion for Market Leader Advanced unit 6 Business ethics and problem-solving.
Follow the link to Tico Times
http://www.ticotimes.net/News/Top-Story/Industry-regulations-keep-pineapple-environment-safe-say-Costa-Rica-producers_Friday-June-10-2011

To practise the language of comparison The Global Debt clock

Thanks James for the great link from the Economist.
Lots of fantastic data for Business English students to compare and to practise saying extremely large numbers and to use as a basis for a discussion in class.
http://www.economist.com/content/global_debt_clock

Bridgestone expands financial service centre in Costa Rica

From Tico Times
Bridgestone expands operations in Costa Rica / News Briefs / News / Costa Rica Newspaper, The Tico Times
Check the words in the article  related to investment and expansion

PUMA’s environmental profit and loss account

Last week students studying Advanced Market Leader unit 4 Energy were discussing their own company's innovative environmental audit and this recent news from Puma is an interesting example of social enterprise.
 Follow the link to the website which has  extremely comprehensive information on Economics for students.
 http://economicsonline.co.uk/blog/
Posted on May 16, 2011 by George Higson

Today PUMA, the German based sportswear producer, published a detailed environmental profit and loss account (E P&L) which makes it the first global business to put value on all the resources used in production and the likely environmental impact caused.  PUMA worked with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and Trucost to develop a method to quantify the emissions it generates and the water consumed throughout its supply chain. An example is water used in the production of cotton, which in many cases is produced in areas where water is particularly scarce and the price paid for water fails to meet the true cost of water supply. PUMA are one of the first global companies to acknowledge the need to take environmental effects into account when making business decisions. The company estimates that, in 2010, the environmental cost of its supply chain was €94.4m. The UK government is shortly due to make a decision on whether large companies should be forced to publish an annual report detailing the environmental impact of their activities.
More on environmental economics