EC107_Guide.pdf

English as a Second Language Podcast

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ENGLISH CAFÉ – 107

TOPICS

Ask an American: Socially Responsible Companies; case study, to be at sea, to

knock (someone’s) socks off, to take one’s time

_____________

GLOSSARY

bottom line – the most important thing; in business, the amount of money made

by a company after it has paid all its expenses

* The orange growers had a much lower bottom line this year after the storm

killed all of their orange trees.

impact – effect; the way that something is influenced or changed by something

else; result

* Do you believe that if the government started spending more money on

education, both students and teachers would benefit?

sustainable – ongoing; permanent; not temporary or short-lived; something that

can be continued over time

* Giving food to poor communities isn’t sustainable, because they will always

need more food. But teaching them how to grow their own food is sustainable,

because once they have learned it, they can do it without help from others.

shareholder – a person who owns part of a company, known as a share or stock

* I wish we were shareholders in this company, because those shares are worth

a lot of money now.

stakeholder – a person or organization who is or will be affected by something;

a person or organization who has an interest in something

* The school is considering changing its schedule, but first it wants to talk to the

stakeholders: the students, teachers, and parents.

to inch up – to increase or move forward slowly, almost unnoticeably, over time

* They spent all morning in a very long line, slowly inching up to the ticket

window.

behind the scenes – in the background; without being seen or observed; not

obvious

* When watching a play, many people focus on the actors, but I am more

interested in all the people who are working behind the scenes.

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ENGLISH CAFÉ – 107

pension – the money that one receives every month after retiring; the money

that an old person receives every month after he or she has stopped working

* Her grandparents are having a hard time learning to live with only a $470

pension each month.

investor – a person who puts money into a project or organization, expecting to

receive more money if that project or organization is successful

* The investors want to receive a monthly report about the business’s growth, or

else they won’t invest any more money.

commonplace – ordinary; common; not unusual

* Unfortunately, murders are now commonplace in many large cities.

to engage – to involve; to use the services of; to do something with another

person or organization

* The speaker really knew how to engage the audience and to make the speech

interesting.

array – range; a group of things; an assortment of different types of things

* The team faces an array of challenges, but we believe it will succeed.

case study – a written analysis of a business or situation and how it has

changed over time or how it has adapted to a changing environment

* At the McQuillan Business School, students use case studies to understand

what does and doesn’t work in the business world.

to be at sea – to be on a boat on the ocean; to not know what to do; to be

confused

* Oriel wanted to attend a college out of California, but he doesn’t want to leave

his girlfriend behind and is at sea about what to do.

to knock (someone’s) socks off – to impress someone very favorably; to do

something that makes another person positively impressed

* When we heard Nestor sing for the first time, he knocked our socks off with his

beautiful voice.

to take (one’s) time – to do something slowly; to do something without being in

a hurry, as if one has unlimited time to do it

* Please take your time filling out these forms. I don’t need them right away.

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ENGLISH CAFÉ – 107

WHAT INSIDERS KNOW

Socially Responsible Businesses

Many American businesses want to not only be “profitable” (making money), but

also “socially responsible” (responsible to the society in which they do business).

A socially responsible business is supposed to do the right thing, helping people

who need help, and becoming involved in important community projects. Many

companies struggle to be more socially responsible, but some businesses have

“excelled” (done very well) in this area.

One example of a socially responsible business is Ben and Jerry’s. The

company has become famous not only for its delicious and unusual ice cream,

but also for its efforts to be a socially and environmentally responsible business.

Ben and Jerry’s “collaborates” (works with) many “NGOs” (non-governmental

organizations) that are active in communities. For example, Ben and Jerry’s is

working with the World Wildlife Fund, a well known environmental organization,

to “increase awareness” (make people more knowledgeable about something) of

“global climate change” (the increase in Earth’s temperatures due to human

activities).

The company also “refuses” (won’t do something) to use milk from “hormone-

treated cows” (cows that are given chemicals to make them produce more and/or

better milk). It also tries to buy some of its ice cream “ingredients” (the things

that are used to make a type of food) from small, family-owned farms instead of

large, “corporate” (owned by large businesses) farms.

The company “donates” (gives money away) a percentage of all its sales to

NGOs. It also has its own “foundation” (an organization that gives money away)

that tries to make the world a better place by giving money to other organizations

that are doing good work to solve environmental and social problems within

communities.

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these materials on another website or distributing them in any way is prohibited.

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ENGLISH CAFÉ – 107

COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT

Welcome to English as a Second Language Podcast’s English Café number 107.

This is English Café episode 107. I’m your host, Dr. Jeff McQuillan, coming to

you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles,

California.

Visit our website at eslpod.com, download a Learning Guide for this episode, and

help yourself learn English even faster. You can also take a look at some of the

new things we have on our website, which we think you’ll enjoy.

This episode is going to be another “Ask an American” episode, where we listen

to another native speaker talk about a topic. The topic in this episode will be

“Socially Responsible Businesses.” We’ll be listening to what some people think

about the idea of socially responsible businesses and, of course, talk about what

that term means. As always, we’ll answer a few of your questions as well. Let’s

get started.

Our first topic today is about socially responsible businesses. The idea here is

that companies, in addition to trying to make money, also try to do good things

for the community, do good things for the environment – for the water and the air,

for example. That’s socially responsible business.

There are many people who think that businesses do things for reasons of saving

money or, perhaps, helping their public image – what people think of them – and

that that is the real reason why they do these things. Other people believe that

many companies are actually interested in doing things that are socially

responsible.

In this episode, we’re going to listen to three different views and ideas about this

idea of social responsibility. These come from, as do many of our “Ask an

American” segments, the Voice of America website.

Our first quote is from a professor at Boston University by the name of James

Post. He talks about the companies’ “bottom line,” meaning the amount of

money they make after they spend what they need to spend. You take

everything that you get from your customers – all the money – you subtract what

it costs you to produce your product, and that’s the bottom line. He’s going to

talk about something called a “triple bottom line” for socially responsible

companies and what that means. He’s going to speak rather fast, and this is a

These materials are copyrighted by the Center for Educational Development (2007). Posting of

these materials on another website or distributing them in any way is prohibited.

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ENGLISH CAFÉ – 107

little longer quote than we normally have. But, try to listen to it; understand as

much as you can. Don’t worry, we’ll go back and explain everything he says

after we listen to it.

[recording]

What they’re doing is they’re reinventing the bottom line in a way that companies

refer to as “triple bottom line,” where they take careful measurement of their

economic performance and their environmental performance. What is the impact

on the air and the water, the land, biodiversity, and so forth, and their community

impact? So the triple bottom line is economic, environmental and community

impacts that a company has. That’s the bottom line that defines how sustainable

a company will be over the long-term.

[end of recording]

The person being interviewed here – on the telephone, you can probably guess –

starts by saying, “What they’re (what companies are) doing is they’re reinventing

the bottom line.” To “reinvent” means to create again – to invent again. When

you see the prefix – the letters “re” in front of a word, it often means to do again.

So, the companies are creating a new idea about the bottom line. Remember,

the bottom line is what a company makes – its profit, if you will.

This reinvention is something that he calls the “triple bottom line”; “triple” means

three. He says, “they take careful measurement of their economic performance

and their environmental performance.” So, they’re looking at how much money

they make – their economic performance – as well as what they are doing to the

environment – to the water and to the air, for example. These companies are

asking what “the impact on the air and the water, the land, biodiversity, and so

forth” is. The “impact” is the effect. You know what air and water and land are;

“biodiversity” refers to the biological variety of plants and animals, for example.

So, James Post says, “What is the impact on the air and the water, the land,

biodiversity, and so forth…?” That expression, “and so forth,” means et cetera;

instead of naming all the other possibilities, he just says “and so forth,” meaning

you’ll understand that it includes other things as well. The triple bottom line is

also about the “community impact,” meaning how does your business affect the

lives of the people who live around you.

He continues, “So the triple bottom line is economic, environmental and

community impacts that a company has. That’s the bottom line that defines how

These materials are copyrighted by the Center for Educational Development (2007). Posting of

these materials on another website or distributing them in any way is prohibited.

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