Click here for the PDF handout or try the online quiz, reading, listening, and activities on grammar, spelling and vocabulary for this lesson on BMW. Click on the links below or see the activities below this article:
READ
BMW (Bavarian Motor Works in English) is a German car, motorbike and engine maker. It is well known for its high quality luxury vehicles. Its website states: “The BMW Group has its sights set firmly on the premium sector of the international automobile market.” The company has its roots in aircraft engines. Its blue and white logo signifies an airplane propeller cutting through a blue sky. It moved to the production of motorbikes after World War I, and automobiles in 1928. The company bought the MINI brand in 2001 and owns Rolls Royce. The BMW group produces almost 1.5 million cars and 90,000 motorbikes a year. BMW is heavily involved in motorsport. It won the Paris-Dakar rally six times and the F1 driver’s championship once. The company’s current slogan is “Joy is BMW”.
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WORKSHEET ACTIVITIES
WARM-UPS
1. BRAINSTORM: Write all the words you can think of about BMW on the board or on a piece of paper. Talk about these words with your partner(s).
2. BMW MORNING: Each student pretends to be an employee of BMW. They walk around the class and talk about the company and their job.
3. RUMOURS:Each student writes down a pretend rumour about BMW. They then walk around the class and talk to other students about their rumour.
4. GOOD AND BAD:Brainstorm good and bad things about BMW and write them on the board. Students talk about these in pairs.
5. TRUE OR FALSE:Students find out several facts about BMW. They write these down and add the same number of things about the company that are false. Students test each other on which of their points are true or false.
6. FACTS:In groups, students write down as many facts as they can about BMW. The winner is the group with the most facts. Teacher may wish to have groups share their facts to make sure they are real.
LISTENING / READING GAP FILL
BMW (Bavarian Motor Works in English) is a German car, motorbike and engine maker. __________________ its high quality luxury vehicles. Its website states: “The BMW Group has __________________ on the premium sector of the international automobile market.” The company __________________ aircraft engines. Its blue and white logo signifies an airplane propeller cutting through a blue sky. It __________________ of motorbikes after World War I, and automobiles in 1928. The company bought the MINI __________________ Rolls Royce. The BMW group produces almost 1.5 million cars and 90,000 motorbikes a year. BMW is heavily __________________. It won the Paris-Dakar rally six times and the F1 driver’s championship once. The company’s __________________ “Joy is BMW”.
CORRECT THE SPELLING
BMW (Bavarian Motor Works in English) is a German car, motorbike and eiegnn maker. It is well known for its high quality xuyrul vehicles. Its website states: “The BMW Group has its sights set firmly on the muepmri sector of the international automobile market.” The company has its roots in aircraft engines. Its blue and white logo niifegsis an airplane propeller cutting through a blue sky. It moved to the onuocitrpd of motorbikes after World War I, and automobiles in 1928. The company bought the MINI brand in 2001 and owns Rolls Royce. The BMW group puersdoc almost 1.5 million cars and 90,000 motorbikes a year. BMW is lheiyvanvvdoeil in motorsport. It won the Paris-Dakar rally six times and the F1 driver’s championship once. The company’s rruncteonsgla is “Joy is BMW”.
UNJUMBLE THE WORDS
BMW (Bavarian Motor Works in English) is a German car, motorbike and engine maker. for high is known its It well quality luxury vehicles. Its website states: “The BMW Group set on has sights firmly the its premium sector of the international automobile market.” The company has engines aircraft in roots its. Its blue and white logo signifies an airplane cutting a sky propeller through blue. It moved production the to after motorbikes of World War I, and automobiles in 1928. The company bought the MINI brand in 2001 and owns Rolls Royce. The BMW produces 5 group 1 cars almost million and 90,000 motorbikes a year. heavily BMW involved is in motorsport. It won the Paris-Dakar rally six times and the F1 driver’s championship once. The company’s current ” BMW is Joy “ is slogan.
bmw (bavarian motor works in english) is a german car motorbike and engine maker it is well known for its high quality luxury vehicles its website states “the bmw group has its sights set firmly on the premium sector of the international automobile market” the company has its roots in aircraft engines its blue and white logo signifies an airplane propeller cutting through a blue sky it moved to the production of motorbikes after world war i and automobiles in 1928 the company bought the mini brand in 2001 and owns rolls royce the bmw group produces almost 15 million cars and 90000 motorbikes a year bmw is heavily involved in motorsport it won the paris-dakar rally six times and the f1 driver’s championship once the company’s current slogan is “joy is bmw”
CHOOSE THE CORRECT TENSE
BMW (Bavarian Motor Works in English) .......... (be) a German car, motorbike and engine maker. It .......... (be) well known for its high quality luxury vehicles. Its website states: “The BMW Group .......... (have) its sights set firmly on the premium sector of the international automobile market.” The company .......... (have) its roots in aircraft engines. Its blue and white logo .......... (signify) an airplane propeller cutting through a blue sky. It .......... (move) to the production of motorbikes after World War I, and automobiles in 1928. The company .......... (buy) the MINI brand in 2001 and owns Rolls Royce. The BMW group .......... (produce) almost 1.5 million cars and 90,000 motorbikes a year. BMW is heavily .......... (involve) in motorsport. It won the Paris-Dakar rally six times and the F1 driver’s championship once. The company’s current slogan .......... (be) “Joy is BMW”.
BMW (Bavarian Motor Works in English) is a German car, motorbike and ____________ maker. It is well known for its high ____________ luxury vehicles. Its website ____________: “The BMW Group has its sights set firmly on the ____________ sector of the international automobile market.” The company has its ____________ in aircraft engines. Its blue and white logo ____________ an airplane propeller cutting through a blue sky. It ____________ to the production of motorbikes after World War I, and automobiles in 1928. The company bought the MINI brand in 2001 and owns Rolls Royce. The BMW group ____________ almost 1.5 million cars and 90,000 motorbikes a year. BMW is heavily ____________ in motorsport. It won the Paris-Dakar rally six times and the F1 driver’s championship once. The company’s current ____________ is “Joy is BMW”.
roots
quality
moved
premium
slogan
engine
involved
states
signifies
produces
PROJECT BMW
Part 1. Your mission is to increase the profits and sales of BMW. Complete this table with your project partner(s):
Main products
How to improve them
A brand new ‘killer’ product
How BMW is better than the competition
How to beat the competition
Part 2. Change partners and look at their project. Suggest improvements. Ask for advice on your project:
Part 3. Make a presentation on your project. Give it to the class. Vote the best projects.
BMW – ROLE PLAY 1
Role A – BMW CEO
You believe your company is the best in the world. It pays its workers very well and working conditions are great. Your company is very green – it cares about the environment. You think your levels of customer service are great. Disagree with person B, C and D.
Role B – BMW worker
You think it’s a bad company to work for. You’re very unhappy with pay, raises and bonuses. You are very unhappy with the working environment. You don’t like the company’s policy on the environment. You keep hearing profits are more important than customers. Disagree with A and C. Tell D the truth.
Role C – BMW customer
You are a customer of BMW. You used to think it was great, but not now. Its workers are always very rude. No one ever answers the phone. You are shocked about its policy on the environment. You think all staff should get less pay. You disagree with person A and B. Tell D the truth.
Role D – A journalist
You keep hearing bad things about BMW. You want to tell the world in your newspaper. You heard the CEO gets a huge bonus every year. You found a company memo saying profits are more important than the environment. You want to know why so many staff are ill. Find the truth.
BMW – ROLE PLAY 2
Role A – BMW New Products Director
You have created a new product for BMW. You believe the new product will be the company’s best ever. It will be a bestseller. There are people who do not agree with you. You need B, C and D on your side. Tell them why this is a product that will bring great things to BMW.
Role B – BMW Marketing Director
You think the company’s new product is a really bad idea. It will give your company a really bad name. You think the New Products Director is trying to destroy the company. Try to get him/her to understand there’s no way the new product will sell. Try to get person C and D on your side.
Role C – BMW Market Researcher
You have interviewed thousands of people about the new product. They don’t like it or hate it. You think it will be successful if they make many changes. Tell the New Products Director he/she needs to change the product. You neither like nor trust person B. Disagree will him/her.
Role D – BMW Shareholder
You know a lot about BMW’s new product. You are worried it will not sell and share prices will go down. You think A is crazy and must find a new job. You agree with everything B says. You don’t agree with C. The new product should not go on the market.
Write a letter of apology to the customer. Explain why you cannot give a refund. Show your partner your letter. Correct each other’s work.
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HOMEWORK
1. VOCABULARY EXTENSION: Choose several of the words from the text. Use a dictionary or Google’s search field (or another search engine) to build up more associations / collocations of each word.
2. INTERNET INFO: Search the Internet and find more information about BMW. Talk about what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.
3. MAGAZINE ARTICLE:Write a magazine article about BMW. What have they done recently? What are their plans? Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Give each other feedback on your articles.
4. BMW POSTERMake a poster about BMW. Make sure you sell the company to the public. Show it to your classmates in the next lesson. Give each other feedback on your posters.
5. MY BMW LESSON:Make your own English lesson on BMW. Make sure there is a good mix of things to do. Find some good online activities. Teach the class / another group when you have finished.
6. ONLINE SHARING:Use your blog, wiki, Facebook page, MySpace page, Twitter stream, Del-icio-us / StumbleUpon account, or any other social media tool to get opinions on BMW. Share your findings with the class.
ANSWERS
Check your answers in the article at the top of this page.
