EPISODE 172
LEVEL A2
READING COMPREHENSION
Budweiser beer renamed “America”
One of the world’s most famous beer companies is changing the name of its best-selling beer. The company is Anheuser-Busch (AB), which is the USA’s largest maker of beer. It is going to change the name of its Budweiser beer to 'America’. The name change will be only for six months, between May 23 and November. A company spokesperson said the name change is to try and increase sales. Budweiser used to be the USA’s most popular beer but it has been losing market share for over 25 years. The word 'America’ will replace the word 'Budweiser’ on its cans. It will also use the same font that AB uses for Budweiser. In addition, the initials „AB” will be replaced by „US”. The new name and labeling is part of Budweiser’s summer-long campaign called „America is in Your Hands”. There are many important national days during the campaign period, starting with the Memorial Day weekend on May 30 and ending with the presidential elections in November. In between are the summer Olympics and Labor Day. The company wants Americans to feel proud of America – both the company and the beer.
Exercise 1
Find in the text expressions which mean:
1. najsłynnniejsza firma piwna
2. najlepiej sprzedające się piwo
3. największy wytwórca piwa
4. rzecznik firmy
5. trwająca całe lato kampania
6. ważne święto państwowe
7. wybory prezydenckie
8. letnie Igrzyska Olimpijskie
Exercise 2
Match these words from the two columns to form collocations:
1. to change market share
2. to increase one word by another
3. to lose proud of something
4. to replace sales
5. to use the name
6. to feel the same font
Exercise 3
Say these sentences in English using some expressions from the previous exercise:
1. Czy czujesz się dumny ze swojej firmy?
2. W zeszłym roku straciliśmy spory udział w rynku.
3. Zmieniliśmy nazwę naszej firmy ale używamy tej samej czcionki.
I know English idioms!
This time we could read about Budweiser, American beer maker. Beer is one of many drinks and so let’s stay in this area of idiomatic English:
- to drive somebody to drink (= to make sb extremely worried or unhappy)
- Sometimes my work problems will drive me to drink!
Phrasals, phrasals…
Staying in the drinking topic, let’s observe this phrasal verb:
- to drink in (= to listen to, look at, or experience something with great interest and enjoyment, chłonąć)
They all seemed to drink in the words of their leader with mouths wide open.
Grammar corner
The last sentence of the text reads: “The company wants Americans to feel proud of America – both the company and the beer.”
In this sentence we can observe a useful grammar structure with the verb “want”. The sentence would translate as: “Firma chce, aby Amerykanie czuli się dumni…”
So the structure could be expressed as: “want sb to (do)”
Now, try and say these sentences in English using the structure above:
1. Nasz menadżer chce, żebyśmy zawsze przychodzili na czas.
2. Chcemy, żeby nasi klienci byli zadowoleni.
3. Co chcesz żebym zrobił?
GLOSSARY
beer – piwo
to rename – zmienić nazwę
famous – słynny
best-selling – najlepiej sprzedający się
maker – wytwórca
spokesperson – rzecznik
to increase – zwiększyć
sales – sprzedaż
market share – udział w rynku
to replace – zastąpić
can – puszka
to use – używać, wykorzystywać
font – czcionka
in addition – dodatkowo
initials – inicjały
labelling – znakowanie
summer-long – trwający całe lato
campaign – kampania
national day – święto państwowe
the Memorial Day – amerykański dzień pamięci poległych na polu chwały
presidential elections – wybory prezydenckie
in between – pomiędzy, tu: w międzyczasie
Olympics – Igrzyska Olimpijskie
Labor Day – Dzień Pracy
to feel – czuć (się)
proud – dumny
both – zarówno
>>Answers
ANSWER KEY
Ex.1 1. most famous beer company 2. best-selling beer 3. largest maker of beer 4. company spokesperson 5. summer-long campaign 6. important national day 7. presidential elections 8. summer Olympics
Ex.2
1. to change the name
2. to increase sales
3. to lose market share
4. to replace one word by another
5. to use the same font
6. to feel proud of something
Ex.3.
1. Do you feel proud of your company?
2. Last year we lost quite big/large market share.
3. We changed the name of our company but we use the same font.
Grammar corner
1. Our manager wants us to always come on time.
2. We want our customers to be satisfied.
3. What do you want me to do?
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