Conversation One
W: Well, it’s the South Theater Company. They want to know if we’d be interested in sponsoring a tour they want to make to East Asia.
M: East Asia? uhh… and how much are they hoping to get from us?
W: Well, the letter mentions 20,000 pounds, but I don’t know if they might settle for us.
M: Do they say what they would cover? Have they anything specific in mind?
W: No, I think they are just asking all the firms in tongue for as much money as they think they’ll give.
M: And we are worth 20, 000 pounds, right?
W: It seems so.
M: Very flattering. But I am not awfully happy with the idea. What we get out of it?
W: Oh, good publicity I suppose. So what I suggest is not that we just give them a sum of money, but that we offer to pay for something specific like travel or something, and that in return, we ask for our name to be printed prominently in the program, and that they give us free advertising space in it.
M: But the travel bill would be enormous, and we could never manage that.
W: I know. But why don’t we offer to pay for the printing of the programs ourselves on condition that on the front cover there's something like This program is presented with the compliments of Norland Electronics, and free advertising of course.
M: Good idea. Well, let’s get back to them and ask what the program they want will cost. Then we can see if we are interested or not.
Questions 19-21 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
19. What do we learn about the South Theater Company?
20. What benefit does the woman say their firm can get by sponsoring the Theater Company?
21. What does the woman suggest they do instead of paying the South Theater Company’s travel expenses?