International Negotiations

2 

What are the figures in the calculation?

3 

What is the decision and the reason for it?

4 

What is the problem and the offer?

5 

What is the cause of the deadlock?

6 

What is the opportunity that the observer has spotted?

Answers

1  Problem: they aren’t getting very far. Solution: come up with some alternatives.

2  27,650 + 4% = 28,756

3  Decision: to leave it (= to refuse the offer). Reason: it doesn’t meet their needs.

4  Problem: the set-up costs are too high. Offer: to sign up for three years.

5  The surcharges (= additional charges)

6  The other side will go ahead (= agree to the offer) if they can be reassured about 

compatibility (= that the various machines or systems will work together).

4 

Trainees work in pairs or small groups to complete the table. Afterwards, elicit from the class 

as many ideas as possible onto the board. Finally, tell trainees to compare their ideas with 

those in the commentary on page 61. Keep the list of ideas on the board, as this will be useful 

for exercise 5.

5 

Trainees read the article to see if it mentions the same ideas as they came up with in 

exercise 4, and to underline any additional ideas that they hadn’t thought of. They compare 

their answers in pairs before feeding back to the class.