This document introduces a lesson on business English and critical thinking. It outlines learning objectives such as prioritizing personal goals, understanding career-related vocabulary, and using critical thinking skills. Exercises are included to practice matching collocations, expressing opinions, and setting SMART goals. The lesson emphasizes open-minded thinking and effective communication for business contexts.

1. Introduction to Business English and
Critical Thinking
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2. At the end of this lesson you will be able to:
• Prioritise the personal goals for studying on this course
• Understand some collocations related to work, job, career and
success
• Use a mind map to record vocabulary
• Understand how critical thinking will be used in the course
• Be able to use some vocabulary related to critical thinking
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Learning Objectives
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3. Speaking Skills
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What is Business English?
With your partner discuss:
• What you think Business English is?
• What topics do you expect to study in this course?
• What do you need this course to teach you?
Now together finish this sentence:
Business English is ___________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
Compare your answer with others in the class.
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4. Speaking Skills
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Exercise
Discuss with a different partner:
• What is your motivation to do this course?
• What do you intend to do on completion of this course?
• How will you use the knowledge you have gained?
• What do you need this course to teach you?
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Exercise
Work individually to list the course content in order of importance.
giving
presentations
describing figures
and graphs
telephoning skills
speaking in
meetings
new vocabulary grammar
writing a variety
of emails
writing letters
listening to
presentations
writing memos
speaking at social
events
reading and
understanding texts
cultural studies
1. ____________________
2. ____________________
3. ____________________
4. ____________________
5. ____________________
6. ____________________
7. ____________________
8. ____________________
9. ____________________
10.____________________
11.____________________
12.____________________
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6. Reading Skills
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Reading
Read the article on ‘How is Business English different from General English?’
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7. Reading Skills
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Exercise
Match the beginning of the sentence with the ending on the right.
1. My work place a.
of success. I have just been
promoted again.
2. The world of business b.
is very friendly. Everyone gets
on well.
3. I work hard c. like working with others.
4. At work I work closely with d.
every day and often do
overtime.
5. I will embark on a career e.
of his career. There is no
position higher.
6. I am climbing the ladder f. where I will earn a lot of money.
7.
The Prime Minister has reached
the peak
g.
the HR team. We talk every
day.
8. Team-players h. is often very competitive.For Aptech Centre Use Only

8. Reading Skills
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Exercise
Answers
1. My work place b.
is very friendly. Everyone gets
on well.
2. The world of business h. is often very competitive.
3. I work hard d.
every day and often do
overtime.
4. At work I work closely with g.
the HR team. We talk every
day.
5. I will embark on a career f. where I will earn a lot of money.
6. I am climbing the ladder a.
of success. I have just been
promoted again.
7.
The Prime Minister has reached
the peak
e.
of his career. There is no
position higher.
8. Team-players c. like working with others.For Aptech Centre Use Only

9. Speaking Skills
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Vocabulary
• Vocabulary is key to improve your English.
• Business English has a lot of specific vocabulary you need to start
learning.
For example,
– We can say embark on a career as a scientist, or embark on a career
in science.
– We can climb a career ladder but we can also climb the ladder of
success.
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10. Speaking Skills
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Vocabulary
• Collocations are words that ‘go’ together in English.
• Use them well to sound natural.
• Record collocations to help you remember them.
Compare the following.
Before the meeting, let’s get a quick bite to eat.
Before the meeting, let’s get a fast bite to eat.
I hate burgers, chips and pizza – I hate all fast food.
I hate burgers, chips and pizza – I hate all quick food.
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11. Writing Skills
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Exercise
Use the words in bold from exercise 1.2.2 to complete the following
text. You may need to change the form of the word or phrase.
I always wanted to work in the _______________________. At university I
took an MBA and _______________________ for two years. Straight after,
I started at my new _______________________, ITC Finance. Finally I felt I
was _______________________. I _______________________ my new
colleagues and always made sure I was a _______________________. I
was soon _______________________ and I hope to
_______________________ in a few years. After that I will retire!
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12. Writing Skills
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Exercise
Answers
I always wanted to work in the _______________________. At university I
took an MBA and _______________________ for two years. Straight after,
I started at my new _______________________, ITC Finance. Finally I felt I
was _______________________. I _______________________ my new
colleagues and always made sure I was a _______________________. I
was soon _______________________ and I hope to
_______________________ in a few years. After that I will retire!
world of business
worked hard
work place
embarking on a career worked closely with
team-player
climbing the ladder
reach my peak
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13. Writing Skills
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Mind Maps
Look at the mind maps and decide where the following expressions
collocate with the words in the centre.
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14. Writing Skills
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Mind Maps
Look at the mind maps and decide where the following expressions
collocate with the words in the centre.
Adjective
a high-powered job
a permanent ______
a promising ________
a part time _______
a brilliant ________
a glittering career
a long ________
a short ________
Verb
To ruin someone’s _________
To take on __________
To take on a new ________
Noun
A _______path
A work place
A _____description
A success story
Idioms
All in a days _______
Things will ______ out.
What is the price of _______?
A recipe for _________.
Make the most of a bad ________.
Don’t give up the day ___!
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Critical Thinking
Critical thinking is an important part of any course you take.
But what is critical thinking?
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Exercise
Put the list of statements into one of the categories.
Critical thinking is…
Critical thinking is not….
a. Combining different ideas, styles, or systems into a single
idea or system (synthesising)
b. Memorising facts and figures
c. Comparing and contrasting different views
d. Believing everything you read
e. Reaching conclusions based on evidence
f. Deciding whether evidence is strong or weak
g. Applying theory to practical matters
h. Using anecdotal evidence as a basis for conclusions
i. Being rational and open-minded
j. Being reflective and monitoring own thought processes
k. Taking a practical approach to problem-solving
l. Thinking according to my cultural background
m. Thinking independently but rationallyFor Aptech Centre Use Only

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Exercise
Answers
Critical thinking is…
a. Combining different ideas, styles, or systems into a single idea or system
(synthesising)
c. Comparing and contrasting different views
e. Reaching conclusions based on evidence
f. Deciding whether evidence is strong or weak
g. Applying theory to practical matters
i. Being rational and open-minded
j. Being reflective and monitoring own thought processes
k. Taking a practical approach to problem-solving
m. Thinking independently but rationally
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Exercise
Answers
Critical thinking is not…
b. Memorising facts and figures
d. Believing everything you read
h. Using anecdotal evidence as a basis for conclusions
l. Thinking according to my cultural background
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Critical Thinking Vocabulary
Choose from the words in the box to complete the gaps. You may need to
change the form of the word.
1. It is possible to ___________________ between two different forms of the disease.
2. It is important to ___________________the data in the light of current theories.
3. This rise ___________________sharply with the decrease in other countries.
4. This study ___________________the effectiveness of the new teaching methods.
5. We ___________________the results of this study with those from the 2003 study.
6. Historical events are usually ___________________from the perspective of a particular
country.
analyse compare contrast distinguish evaluate interpret
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Critical Thinking Vocabulary
Answers
1. It is possible to ___________________ between two different forms of the disease.
2. It is important to ___________________ the data in the light of current theories.
3. This rise ___________________ sharply with the decrease in other countries.
4. This study ___________________ the effectiveness of the new teaching methods.
5. We ___________________ the results of this study with those from the 2003 study.
6. Historical events are usually ___________________ from the perspective of a particular
country.
analyse compare contrast distinguish evaluate interpret
distinguish
interpret
contrasts
evaluates
compare
analysed
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Expressing Opinion
Expressing opinion is an important aspect of critical thinking.
From the list find expressions which:
I suggest that…
For me…
It is clear that…
It is obvious that…
I believe X to be…
I would like to propose that….
In my view…
a. Introduce your argument b. Express a personal opinion c. Express your opinion in more
impersonal and objective language
It seems reasonable to suggest that…
It can be seen that…
I would like to put forward that…
It is reasonable to conclude that…
I would like to suggest that…
In my opinion…
It can be noted that…For Aptech Centre Use Only

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Expressing Opinion
Answers
a. Introduce your argument b. Express a personal
opinion
c. Express your opinion in more
impersonal and objective
language
For me…
In my view…
I would like to put forward that…
In my opinion…
I suggest that…
I believe X to be…
I would like to propose that….
I would like to suggest that…
It is clear that…
It is obvious that…
It seems reasonable to suggest that…
It can be seen that…
It is reasonable to conclude that…
It can be noted that…
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Critical Thinking in the Course
• Be open to others’ opinions and don’t be shy in sharing yours.
• Work with different people and talk to everyone in the class.
• Do not limit your English to the class: read, speak and listen outside the class too.
• Try to reflect on your learning and set goals.
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Critical Thinking in the Course
Example:
I will be able to use all past and present tenses accurately by the end of the course.
I will have read two books related to my field of study or work by September.
Specific Timebound
Attainable/realistic
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Critical Thinking in the Course
Record your goals here.
Make sure they are SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timebound)
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
Remember to keep these goals stored someone safe and measure your progress every few
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Test Your Knowledge
1. Choose the correct option.
Statement Option 1 Option 2
1 A recipe for ____________ success work
2 Climbing the ____________of success tree ladder
3 Don’t give up the day ____________ job work
4 He had a _____________career shining glittering
5 She had reached the ________of her career peak top
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Test Your Knowledge
1. Answers
Statement Option 1 Option 2
1 A recipe for ____________ success work
2 Climbing the ____________of success tree ladder
3 Don’t give up the day ____________ job work
4 He had a _____________career shining glittering
5 She had reached the ________of her career peak top
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Test Your Knowledge
world of a career
high-powered success
the price of business
embark on closely with
work job
2. Match the columns.
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Test Your Knowledge
2. Answers
world of business
high-powered job
the price of success
embark on a career
work closely with
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In a Nutshell…
In this lesson you learnt to:
• Prioritise the personal goals for studying on this course
• Understand some collocations related to work, job, career and success
• Use a mind map to record vocabulary
• Understand how critical thinking will be used in the course
• Be able to use some vocabulary related to critical thinking
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31. 31
Thank You
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