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Teacher’s notes and worksheet: Published by Macmillan Education Ltd. © Macmillan Education Limited, 2020.
BUSINESSNEWSLESSONS
Worksheet
Artificialorhumanintelligence:
Whichwilldrivefutureinnovation?
Warmer
Put these technological developments in order from 1 (most likely to happen soon) to 6
(least likely to happen soon).
a. electric aircraft d. cashless economies
b. colonisation of the Moon e. 3-D printed furniture
c. drone mail deliveries f. 100% synthetic food
Key words and expressions
Find the words or phrases in the article that match the definitions below. Use the paragraph
numbers to help you.
1. the first form of something new, made before it is produced in large quantities (1)
2. of the basic ordinary type, with no special features (2) (three words)
3. to function or operate very well indeed (3) (three words)
4. a private start-up business with a value of over $1 billion (4)
5. a situation where a lot of people all try to do the same things at the same time (4)
6. ready to do or achieve something after preparing for it (6)
7. a situation in which there are many big and sudden changes (7)
8. something you can choose in a particular situation (9)
9. a written statement showing the value of a company at a particular time (10)
(two words)
10. income from business activities or taxes (10)
11. increasing a lot very quickly (10)
12. to increase the size, amount or value of something (11)
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Teacher’s notes and worksheet: Published by Macmillan Education Ltd. © Macmillan Education Limited, 2020.
BUSINESSNEWSLESSONS
Worksheet
Bold business ideas: Where is tech
taking us?
Smart companies will use innovation to augment rather than replace
human intelligence
BY LEO JOHNSON
For the first 250 metres it all goes well. I am in
Singapore, in the back of a prototype driverless car,
gazing at the other side of the road. Then our car
decides to veer slowly into the path of the oncoming
rubbish truck.
Our emergency driver lunges for the wheel,
yanks us back to safety, then tells me the game plan.
This isn’t a vanilla driverless car, he explains, it is a
do-it-yourself driverless car, made with off-the-shelf
technology, and the goal is to get it on the road as
fast as possible.
But the car, which works a treat for the rest of the
day, is only step one. Step two is to fully automate
Singapore’s economy. Step three is to put all citizens
on universal basic incomes. Step four is to use facial
recognition technologies to close off the city to
unwanted foreign migrants. It is a straight line, in
other words, from the technological to the economic
to the social, then the political.
If the 2010s were the decade of the unicorn — the
mythical beast of the $1bn tech start-up — the 2020s
appear poised for a unicorn stampede. With Timandra
Harkness, the co-presenter of our BBC Radio 4 show
FutureProofing, I have spent the past three years
scanning the horizon for what is coming in terms
of disruptive technologies. The cupboard isn’t bare:
eggless synthetic biology scrambled eggs, stem cell
rejuvenation, weaponised nanobots, the colonisation
of Mars, passenger-bearing mega-drones and
brain-to-brain communication systems.
Across disparate fields, from artificial intelligence
to robotics, from 3D printing to nanotechnology,
from genetics to quantum computing, a pattern is
emerging: technological developments are starting
not just to accelerate but to amplify one another.
They are poised to reshape the business landscape.
The core capacity we are going to need to survive,
says Astro Teller, the so-called Captain of Moonshots
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at X, Google’s research unit, may be dynamic
stability — the velocity to stay upright.
But as the rubbish-truck economy of Henry Ford’s
fossil-driven mass production starts to yield to the age
of the algorithm, what is the impact on business and
society? Where does this rollercoaster look like it is
going to take us?
My hunch it is not just speed that matters, it is
direction. If technology is not the answer but the
amplifier of intent, there is a primary question we
have to answer: What are the problems we are looking
to solve?
It looks like there are two different directions
emerging. We have the option to prize artificial
over human intelligence, to deploy technology in a
centralised model that solves for shareholder value
at the expense of jobs, that automates — according to
projections by University of Oxford academics Carl
Benedikt Frey and Michael Osborne — 47 per cent
of US and UK white-collar jobs by 2035.
This would hit national balance sheets with the
double whammy of lower tax revenues and surging
welfare costs, and set the stage — with increased
inequality and the perception of an economy no
longer working for the many — for broader support
for challenger populist movements.
But there is also another option: to do the opposite,
not to replace human intelligence but to augment it.
Go back 1,000 years and the means of production
was the land, and the barrier to entry was the wall.
For the past 200 years the means of production has
been the factory, and the barrier to entry the capital
to own it. But with this new set of technologies,
from APIs, the cloud and open data, to the sharing
economy and micro-printing, the barriers to entry
are dropping fast.
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Continued on next page

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Teacher’s notes and worksheet: Published by Macmillan Education Ltd. © Macmillan Education Limited, 2020.
BUSINESSNEWSLESSONS
Worksheet
Understanding the article
Are these statements true or false according to the text? Correct the false statements.
1. The author’s driverless car crashed into a truck in Singapore.
2. There will be more unicorns in the 2020s than in the 2010s.
3. A lot of ‘disruptive’ technologies are coming, according to the author.
4. As a result of automation, 47% of US and UK white-collar jobs could disappear by 2055.
5. Jobs losses would mean less revenue from income tax and higher welfare costs.
6. The author suggests replacing human intelligence and augmenting artificial intelligence.
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The potential is there, to unlock a new wave of
cognitive surplus and put power in people’s hands to
drive innovations across the challenges that confront
us, from distributed solar energy to data-driven banking
for the unbanked, from 3D-printed ultra-low-cost
housing to sensor-based micro-irrigation for
drought-resilient agriculture.
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Leo Johnson, 14 March 2019.
© The Financial Times Limited.
All rights reserved.
Articles republished from the Financial Times
What does real boldness look like for me as we head
into the 2020s? It is boldness not just of execution
but of intent.
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Business language – two-word phrases
Match the words in the left-hand column with those in the right-hand column to make expressions
from the text.
1. solar a. recognition
2. driverless b. whammy
3. basic c. plan
4. facial d. car
5. core e. production
6. double f. energy
7. mass g. capacity
8. game h. income
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Teacher’s notes and worksheet: Published by Macmillan Education Ltd. © Macmillan Education Limited, 2020.
BUSINESSNEWSLESSONS
Worksheet
Business language – verbs
Complete the sentences using these verbs from the text.
reshape veer emerge deploy unlock accelerate
1. When new ideas , they appear for the first time.
2. If you someone’s potential, you give them the opportunity to develop that potential.
3. To means to make something happen at a faster rate.
4. If people a business, they change the way it operates or develops.
5. If companies technology, they start to use it.
6. To means to suddenly move in a different direction.
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Business language – word building
Complete the table.
Adjective Noun
1. safe
2. intelligent
3. stable
4. bold
Noun Adjective
5. universe
6. face
7. technology
8. economy
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Teacher’s notes and worksheet: Published by Macmillan Education Ltd. © Macmillan Education Limited, 2020.
BUSINESSNEWSLESSONS
Worksheet
Wider business theme – technological developments
1.
Paragraph 4 of the article refers to future developments and includes the possible colonisation
of Mars. Imagine that this will begin to happen in the year 2035.
- List the potential advantages and disadvantages of colonising a new planet. Think about the
technical, economic and social challenges that this would present.
- Then list the business opportunities that might appear because of colonisation.
- It is the year 2035. Which business would you like to be involved in and why?
If necessary, use a search engine to get ideas.
2. Present your ideas to the group.
8
Discussion questions
• Are artificial intelligence and automation the answer to the world’s problems? Give reasons why
or why not.
• Singapore is considering a four-stage programme. What do you think of the country’s plans?
• The article suggests that humans not machines will drive technological innovations. Do you agree
with this? Give reasons for your answer.
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Teacher
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1
Teacher’s notes and worksheet: Published by Macmillan Education Ltd. © Macmillan Education Limited, 2020.
BUSINESSNEWSLESSONS
Procedure
1. Warmer
Give students time to think about the different technological
developments listed and how soon they will happen, if
at all.There is no single best answer and it is a matter of
personal opinion. In the context of the lesson, however,
you could point out that some of these technologies are
already happening to some extent – e.g. some economies
are already moving to a cashless mode while 3-D printing
and drone deliveries are developing quickly.
2. Key words and expressions
Students search for words and expressions in the text
and write them next to the definitions while noticing
how the words are used in context. In the case of the
word poised (#6), point out that the word also occurs
in paragraph 4.You can be poised for something
(e.g. Economies are poised for a downturn) or poised
to do something (e.g. The government is poised to
introduce tax increases).
Key:
1. prototype
2. off-the-shelf
3. work a treat
4. unicorn
5. stampede
6. poised
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. rollercoaster
8. option
9. balance sheet
10. revenue
11. surging
12. augment
3. Understanding the article
Students work individually to read the article again and
decide whether the statements are true or false. They
should correct the false statements. If students are
working in pairs or small groups, they can collaborate
on the answers to promote peer teaching. Then check
answers as a class.
Key:
1. False.The driverless car almost/nearly crashed into
a truck in Singapore.
2. True.
3. True.
4. False.They could disappear by 2035.
5. True.
6. False.The author suggests augmenting
human intelligence.
Level: Intermediate
Time: 60–90 minutes
Business topic: technological developments
Business language focus: language
associated with new technology and its
implications for jobs and society.
Activities: In this lesson, students will:
• read a business article from a trusted news
source and look at the language necessary
to understand and talk about the article;
• learn or revise some business idioms;
• practise word formation
• learn or revise a set of phrases containing
prepositions
• discuss aspects of the article in
greater depth;
• research an innovative area of technology
and present its current state and possible
future development.
Materials: One copy of the worksheet per
student, possible internet access for exercise 8
Group size: All of the tasks can be completed in
pairs or groups, so that as much communication
as possible takes place in the class.The lesson
plan can also be used in a one-to-one teaching
situation or for an online class.
Teaching online: Ensure that all students
(either in a group or in a one-to-one online
teaching situation) are sent the worksheet well
in advance of the lesson. This will give them
time to print out the document if necessary.
Use breakout rooms for small group or pair
discussion, if available. When the lesson
starts, work through the various activities in
the order presented but always ensure that
you allow sufficient time for feedback and
discussion after each activity.
Artificialorhumanintelligence:
Whichwilldrivefutureinnovation?
Overview: This lesson is based on an
authentic article from a trusted news source,
republished here with its full, original text.
The article discusses the role of human
intelligence in developing new technologies.

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Teacher
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Teacher’s notes and worksheet: Published by Macmillan Education Ltd. © Macmillan Education Limited, 2020.
BUSINESSNEWSLESSONS
7. Discussion
In small groups, students discuss the questions which
expand on topics and quotes from the article. Hold a
short whole-class feedback session and compare and
contrast each group’s answers and input. If you are
teaching an online class or a one-to-one lesson, give the
learner(s) plenty of time to consider their responses to
each of the discussion questions.
8.
Wider business theme – technological
developments
Ask students to read paragraph 4 of the article again.
The author mentions the colonisation of Mars as a
possible future technological development. Give students
time to consider the advantages and disadvantages of
this colonisation and the challenges it would present.
There might be challenges to people on Earth or to
those colonising Mars or to both. Then ask students to
consider the possible business opportunities colonisation
might create and which businesses they would like to
be involved in.
Encourage them to use a search engine to get more
information if necessary.
When students present their ideas to the group, it is
useful to make a note of any significant errors in their use
of language and then to ask them to correct these after
they have finished their presentation.
4.
Business language – two-word phrases
Students work individually to form two-word phrases
by matching the words in the two columns. They then
check their answers by looking in the text. Seeing the
expressions in context will help them to see how each
phrase is used. Make sure that they understand the
meaning of each expression, especially double whammy
(a set of two bad events or situations that have an effect
at the same time) and game plan (the things that you
decide you have to do to succeed in achieving a goal).
Key:
1. f
2. d
3. h
4. a
5. g
6. b
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. e
8. c
5. Business language – verbs
Encourage students to complete the exercise without
looking in the text and then check their answers in the text.
Key:
1. emerge
2. unlock
3. accelerate
4. reshape
5. deploy
6. veer
6. Business language – word building
Students should try to complete the exercise without
looking in the text. When they check their answers, you
may provide the hint that the nouns are in the order in
which they appear in the text and the adjectives are all in
paragraph 3 of the text. Point out that economic means
‘relating to the economy’
, while the adjective economical
means ‘not costing or spending much money’
.
Key:
1. safety
2. intelligence
3. stability
4. boldness
5. universal
6. facial
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. technological
8. economic
One-to-one teaching or
online teaching
This task can be adapted so that students
do the research on the colonisation of Mars
as homework and then report back to you
or the online class in the next lesson.