15. Just for fun.

Follow these instructions and find the mystery country.

1.	First you have to choose a number – any number you like between one and nine.
2.	Now you multiply the number by nine.
3.	If the number you have ended up with has only one digit, you do nothing. But if it has more than one digit, you add them together.
4.	Now you have to match the number up to a letter of the alphabet. So A is one, B is two, and so on.
5.	Now think of a European country that begins with that letter. Write it down.

16. Now see how quickly you can find the answer to this rather long sum. The answer is at the back of the book. (Key section)

Four add two, divide by three, subtract one, multiply by eight, take away four, times three, plus two, minus four, halved, equals what?

17. Now think about the number 2. Read the text. How much of the language would change if Daniel found himself a third girlfriend?

Well, take my friend, Daniel. He has two girlfriends. He likes both of them and they both like him. He plays tennis – mixed doubles – with one of them, and goes pairs – skating with the other one. They look very much like each other; the one could be the other’s double. Obviously, he can’t marry both of them but he could, he thinks, be happy with either of them. Unfortunately, neither of them knows about the other girl in his life. So far he hasn’t proposed to either of them. I don’t think he wants to be a part of a married couple yet, anyway. Almost as a protest, he hasn’t even got a matching pair of socks.

18. Study the following phraseological units and their translation.

Two’s a company, three’s a crowd	Третий – лишний
One for all and all for one	Один за всех и все за одного
To put two and two together	Сделать правильный вывод
To be on all fours	Стоять на четвереньках
To be at sixes and sevens	Быть смущённым, растерянным, не в ладу с чем-то
Nine times out of ten	Практически постоянно
Dressed (up) to the nines	Быть одетым с иголочки
Ten to one	Десять к одному
Twelve good men and true	Двенадцать присяжных заседателей в суде
Sixty-four-thousand-dollar question	Самый важный и сложный вопрос
To be on cloud nine / to be on the seventh cloud with happiness	Быть на седьмом небе от счастья
It takes two to tango	Один в поле не воин
It takes two to make a dream come true	Только вдвоём можно воплотить мечту в жизнь

II. Reading Comprehension

1. Read and translate the following text. Use a dictionary if necessary. Read the text very carefully so that to grasp both the main idea and the details added.

Customer Service level

The physical

distribution

customer service

level – including

fast and reliable

delivery – is

critical to many

business

customers.

Choosing the right channel of distribution is crucial in getting products to the target market’s place. But that alone is usually not enough to ensure that products are available at the right time and in the right quantities.

Let’s look at logistics through a customer’s eyes.

Customers don’t care how a product was moved or stored – or what some channel member had to do to provide it. Rather, customers think in terms of the physical distribution customer service level – how rapidly and dependably a firm can deliver what they – the customers – want. Marketing managers need to understand the customer’s point of view.

What does this really mean? It means that Toyota wants to have enough windshields delivered to make cars that day – not late, so production stops or early, so there are a lot of extras to move around or store. It means that business executives who rent cars from Hertz want them to be ready when they get off their planes. It means you want your Lay’s potato chips to be whole when you buy a bag at the snack bar – not crushed into crumbs from rough handling in a warehouse.

Logistics is – and should be – a part of marketing that is “invisible” to most consumers. It only gets their attention when something goes wrong. At that point, it may be too late to do anything that will keep them happy.

Most customers would prefer very good service at a very low price. But that combination is hard to provide because it usually costs more to provide higher levels of service. So most physical distribution decisions involve trade-offs between costs, the customer service level, and sales.

If you want a new Compaq computer and the computer store where you would like to buy it doesn’t have it on hand, you’re likely to buy it elsewhere; or if that model Compaq is hard to get you might just switch to some other brand. Perhaps the first store could keep your business by guaranteeing a two-day delivery of your computer – by using special airfreight delivery from the factory. In this case, the manager is trading the cost of storing a large inventory for the extra cost of speedy delivery – assuming that the computer is available in inventory somewhere in the channel. In this example, missing one sale may not seem that important, but it all adds up. In fact, Compaq Computer, which recently became the number one producer of PCs, estimates that it lost between $500 million and $1 billion in sales 1994 because its computers weren’t available when and where customers were ready to buy them. With lost sales like that, you can see why Compaq is working hard to reevaluate the trade-offs it’s been making.

Exhibit 1 illustrates trade-off relationships like those highlighted in the Compaq example. For example, faster – but more expensive – transportation may reduce the need for a costly inventory of computers. There is also a trade-off between the service level and sales. If the service level is too low – if products are not available on a timely and dependable basis – customers will buy elsewhere, and sales will be lost. Alternatively, the supplier may hope that a higher service level will attract more customers or motivate them to pay a higher price. But if the service level is higher than customers want or are willing to pay for, sales will be lost.

The important points is that many trade-offs must be made in the PD area. The trade-offs can be complicated. The lowest-cost approach may not be best – if customers aren’t satisfied. A higher service level may make a better strategy.

Exhibit 1

Trade-Offs among Physical Distribution Costs, Customer Service Level, and Sales

Split the text into parts and think up appropriate titles for each one.

What single word explains the central idea of each part?

Find the topic sentence in each part, then list the details which support it.

2. Answer the following comprehension questions.

1.	Can the right channel of distribution ensure that products are available at the right time and in the right quantities?
2.	Do companies spend a lot of money on physical distribution activities?
3.	Are there any ways to reduce distribution costs?
4.	How do you understand the phrase: logisticians need to understand the customer’s point of view?
5.	What do customers more often prefer: a good service or a low price?
6.	What can possibly happen if the service is higher than customers want to pay for?
7.	Is the lowest – cost approach the best in the physical distribution concept?

When you have answered the questions, find a partner in your group. Compare your answers and swap the information.