Tag Archive: business news – beginner

  Pre-reading questions: What do you do to relax? How long do you work/study everyday?   Most Japanese workers are known to work overtime. Working overtime can cause stress which can possibly cause death. To prevent deaths caused by stress, the government wants companies to cut overtime work. However, cutting overtime work will be the same with cutting sales. Cutting sales will affect the economy.   Vocabulary: economy [noun] – management of money affect [verb] – impact overtime [noun] – additional work beyond regular time stress [noun] – pressure prevent [verb] – avoid   True or False: Most Japanese workers are known to work overtime. Stress can possibly cause death….
Read more

  Pre-reading questions: What is your favorite fast food restaurant? Do you like burgers and fries?   McDonald’s lets Chinese businessmen control 80% of its business. China’s Citic group and US’s Carlyle group will manage 2,000 McDonald’s outlets in China and Hongkong. After five years, the food company will add more restaurants in China, Hongkong, and South Korea. McDonald’s competitor in Asia, Yum Brands, is also coming up with new business strategies. Yum Brands is the owner of KFC and Pizza Hut. Both McDonald’s and Yum brands are trying to solve food safety problems in Asia, specifically, China.   Vocabulary: businessmen – [noun] people in business especially as owners or…
Read more

  Pre-reading questions: What email account do you have (Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail)? What engine do you use for searching (Google, Yahoo, Safari, etc.)?   More than one billion Yahoo accounts were hacked last 2013. Yahoo users’ phone numbers, passwords, security questions, and backup email addresses were stolen. It is by far the biggest incident of data stealing. All the information has been for sale on the dark web. But now that many people know about it, the price will become cheaper. Investigation says the group of hackers called Group E stole all the personal information from Yahoo. Group E is based in Eastern Europe. They have also hacked Dropbox, Tumblr,…
Read more

Pre-reading questions: Name 3 most popular jobs in your country. What is the ideal age for a person to work? What is the ideal age for retirement?   Japan’s population is decreasing and aging. It causes labor problems. Hotels, restaurants and elderly care industries need more workers. These industries have low output per worker.  They cannot give higher pay without productivity. Service businesses are also having problems. They have many part-time and contractual employees. The labor market is not doing good.   Vocabulary: aging – [noun] the process of growing and maturing industries – [noun] any general business activity output – [noun] an amount produced at the time productivity – [noun]…
Read more

Pre-reading questions: Do you think Apple can make great cars? Do you think Apple will stop making smartphones in the future? Do you think Apple products are the best?   Apple makes changes on their plan of making cars that will not need a driver. The company said they can’t make cars soon because they can’t promise good quality. They don’t want to damage their company name. As a result, hundreds of employees lost their jobs. On the other hand, more workers are added to help on a new project. Project Titan will show the advantages of their plan in 2017. Then, the management will make a new decision.   Vocabulary:…
Read more

  Pre-reading questions: Do you know online shopping? Have you shop online? Do you know Amazon.com?   Online store Amazon has set a limit on the number of reviews that customers can put on the website. Now, online shoppers can give only five reviews in a week. Some sellers give free products to some customers, so the customers give them a good review. Amazon also has started suing these kind of sellers. They have done this to lessen the number of fake reviews on their website. It is because they want to gain the trust of customers again.   Vocabulary: Review – [noun] a report that gives someone’s opinion about…
Read more

  Pre-reading questions: Do you know Facebook? Do you have an account on Facebook?   Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg made new plans to remove fake news on their site. Facebook would have a system that will identify if the news is true or not. It would be easier for users to report fake news. It would also make changes to its advertisement system. Many people thought that fake stories affected the U.S. Presidential election. Business analysts are worried because Facebook’s plans might affect their earnings. Some advertisers said that Facebook’s records were incorrect. Analysts thought these factors would affect the company’s earnings.   Vocabulary: CEO – 社長[noun] Chief Executive Officer;…
Read more

  Pre-reading questions: Do you always use your computer? Where do you shop?   The Chinese online company called Ali Baba has sold several products on Singles Day. They have earned 121 billion yuan ($18 billion) that day. It is 12 percent higher than what they earned last year. They said 82 percent of the customers have bought a new smartphone, but some people wonder if it’s true. Also, others say some online sellers sell fake products. Still, analysts think online shopping is a good business because even the people in rural areas have smartphones so they can shop online now.   Vocabulary: Singles’ Day – シングルズ・デイ[noun] November 11, a…
Read more

Pre-reading questions: Do you buy products from China? What are your favorite products from China? The exports or number of products that China sold to other countries dropped by 7.3 percent, while the imports or number of products that they bought from other countries dropped by 1.4 percent. This is based on their October reports. They said it decreased more than they thought it would this year. Vocabulary: exports – 輸出 [noun] products that are sent to another country to be sold there imports – 輸入 [noun] products brought into a country to be sold there drop – 落ちる [verb] to fall percent – パーセント [noun] part of every hundred…
Read more

  Pre-reading questions: What is your favorite breakfast every morning? Have you tried eating breakfast from other countries? Kellogg’s Cereal company loses sales for the seventh time. Their sales is now down to 2.3%. The company thinks it is because most customers in the US and the UK do not want to buy cereals anymore. A business psychologist said the way people eat breakfast is changing now. A lot of people spend five or six minutes only on breakfast. That is why they want to find a quicker way to have breakfast. And, the younger population will replace cereal with smoothies, fresh fruit and yogurt.   Vocabulary: sales – 売上げ…
Read more