The Slide Nobody Understood
Grammar: BE-5
A Business English English lesson exploring business.
What's in this lesson
A Business English ESL lesson on business, practising be-5. The worksheet has a reading, target vocabulary, a grammar reference with practice and discussion questions.
From the reading: The Slide Nobody Understood
"My God, Thiokol, when do you want me to launch, next April?" Lawrence Mulloy, an NASA manager, said this on the night of 27 January 1986. He was frustrated. Engineers at Morton Thiokol, the company that built the shuttle's rocket boosters, were on a conference call, and they did not want Challenger to fly the next morning. The forecast was freezing. They feared the rubber O-ring seals in the boosters would fail in the cold.
Vocabulary
- for
- in
- of
- on
- at the highest level
- In the event of
- made
- to the point
- with regard to
Grammar
- Nominalisation
- We decided quickly. → The decision was quick. — verb becomes noun
- Impersonal passive
- The launch was approved. — agent hidden, tone objective
Discussion questions
- Are big organisations better at communication than small teams?
- Is it ever right to ignore an expert's warning?
- Should engineers speak in plain language to managers?
The Slide Nobody Understood
Grammar: BE-5
What's in this lesson:
Full lesson plan with reading, grammar, vocabulary, and discussion.
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