Business English: A Practice Book by Rose Buhlig

=Exercise 158= Recall one of the books that you have read recently. Name two subjects that it suggests to you and that you can talk about. Write a careful outline for each of them, and be prepared to speak on one. =Exercise 159= Name a subject taken from one of your studies, history for example. Let it be definite enough so that you can tell all the details that you know about it in a speech lasting two or three minutes. Use examples and illustrations to make the subject interesting and clear. Prepare an outline. =Exercise 160= Reproduce an article that you have read in a current magazine. Be careful that you make the material your own before attempting to retell it. Do not under any circumstances try to memorize the article. Understand fully what it says, make an outline of the facts that you wish to reproduce, and then give them as if they were your own ideas. At the beginning of your speech tell the name and date of the magazine from which you are taking the facts. =Exercise 161= As has been said, most of us get our ideas of what is taking place in the world from the articles that we read in current newspapers and magazines. We cannot always form our opinion from what one newspaper on one day says of a particular event. We must read what it says on successive days and, if possible, consult other newspapers on the same subject, for it is well known that not all newspapers are non-partisan. If one in the city is known to be so, that is the paper to read for the material for this exercise. Then, if we can read what one of the magazines says on the same subject, our knowledge will probably be more definite and more nearly true. Let the class be divided into different sections, representing different kinds of news; for example, national, local, foreign, and business news. Under national news, you can perhaps find articles on national politics, legislative measures being discussed at Washington, rumors of war, immigration; under local news, anything pertaining to the city or the state in which you live; under foreign news, anything of interest to any of the other countries of the world; under business news, the prices of food products, strikes, panics, and their effect on business conditions. These are but suggestions. Such topics change so rapidly that nothing more definite can here be given. When you have been assigned to one of these divisions, prepare a talk on a topic that you understand thoroughly. Begin your talk with a clear statement of your subject, as explained in Exercise 140; amplify it by details or illustrations; and end with a sentence of conclusion, forecasting the future of your topic or restating what you have proved. =Exercise 162= For a week follow the same current event as recorded in the newspaper, taking notes as you read. Then choose from all your material only those facts that belong strictly to one topic. Write an outline, setting forth the facts in logical order. Deliver the speech, following your outline closely. =Exercise 163= Let the class choose four or six members one week in advance, who are to prepare a debate on a topic of current interest. Let the other members of the class act as judges or volunteer on either side, as the instructor may see fit. Such debates should occur as often as possible. =Exercise 164= About once a month devote a day to the production of a class paper. Let the class choose a name. During the first year let the items be developed into paragraphs. Longer compositions should be reserved for the second year. SUGGESTIONS FOR ARTICLES FOR THE PAPER