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WARM-UPS

1. LUXURY GOODS: Walk around the class and talk to other students about luxury goods. Change partners often. Sit with your first partner(s) and share your findings.

2. CHAT: In pairs / groups, decide which of these topics or words from the article are most interesting and which are most boring.

luxury brands / downturn / spending / champagne / analysts / demand / jewellery / executives / performance / trends / popularity / success / momentum / uncertainty

Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently.

3. BRANDS: What are the best? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners and share what you heard.

Brand	Best	Why?	How is it different?
Car
Clothes
Mobile phone
Bag
Coffee
Camera

4. VALUE FOR MONEY: Students A strongly believe brands are good value for money; Students B strongly believe the opposite.  Change partners again and talk about your conversations.

5. LUXURY: Do you need it? Rate these and share your ratings with your partner: 10 = I must have luxury here; 1 = I don’t care. Change partners and share your ratings again.

at a hotel in the bath clothes eating in a restaurant

on the beach travelling cars relaxing at home

6. SALES: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word ‘sales’. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

1. TRUE / FALSE: Read the headline. Guess if  a-h  below are true (T) or false (F).

a.	Luxury goods makers are going to start selling expensive roses.	T / F
b.	Richer people are now opening their wallets.	T / F
c.	LVMH sold lots of goods because of sales in Asia and the USA.	T / F
d.	Sales of wallets and other leather goods outsold alcoholic drinks.	T / F
e.	LVMH executives started beating a drum at the news of the figures.	T / F
f.	A statement said LVMH will use its history for new designs.	T / F
g.	The company’s watches are selling very well following a trade show.	T / F
h.	Company executives aren’t being overly confident about the future.	T / F

2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article.

1.	despite	a.	because of
2	jump	b.	upturn
3.	due to	c.	senior managers
4.	particularly	d.	increase
5.	rate	e.	positive
6.	executives	f.	remarked
7.	upbeat	g.	above all
8.	commented	h.	in spite of
9.	cautious	i.	guarded
10.	recovery	j.	pace

3. PHRASE MATCH:  (Sometimes more than one choice is possible.)

1.	the downturn in the	a.	about the future
2	people with money	b.	quarter sales
3.	an 11% jump in first	c.	of 8 per cent
4.	the stronger figures were due	d.	upbeat at the news
5.	a slower rate	e.	innovations
6.	Executives were very	f.	world economy
7.	the success of its latest	g.	of watches
8.	their new line	h.	to spend
9.	The group was cautious	i.	recovery
10.	the strength of the economic	j.	to a rise in demand

 

WHILE READING / LISTENING

GAP FILL: Put the words into the gaps in the text.

Times are good for luxury brands ____________ the downturn in the world economy. It seems people with money to ____________ are now spending. LVMH, which has the brands Louis Vuitton, Dior and Moët-Chandon champagne, has reported an 11% jump in first ____________ sales. The Paris-based company said sales rose to just over $6bn in the first three months of the year. Analysts say the stronger ____________ were due to a rise in ____________ in Asia and a recovery in U.S. and European markets. Sales of watches, jewellery and expensive drinks were ____________ high. Wines and spirits sales ____________ by 18% while watches and jewellery went up by 33%. Other goods such as bags, wallets and designer clothes increased at a slower ____________ of 8 per cent.		particularly quarter demand despite rate spend rose figures
LVMH is the world's largest luxury ____________ group. Executives were very ____________ at the news. They said: "Louis Vuitton continues to deliver an exceptional performance, sustained worldwide by the growth of its historic lines and by the ____________ of its latest innovations." They spoke about the positive ____________ in their drinks sales, saying “the champagne business benefited from a renewal in ____________ from distributors”. They also commented on the popularity of their new ____________ of watches: "The success of the new products presented at the Basel Watch Fair this year confirmed the momentum of LVMH brands," a statement said. The group was ____________ about the future, saying the group was still "taking into account the uncertainty of the strength of the economic ____________ ".		cautious orders success line goods recovery upbeat trend

LISTENING – Listen and fill in the gaps

______________________ luxury brands despite the downturn in the world economy. It seems people with money to ______________________. LVMH, which has the brands Louis Vuitton, Dior and Moët-Chandon champagne, has reported an 11% ______________________ sales. The Paris-based company said sales rose to just over $6bn in the first three months of the year. Analysts say the stronger figures ______________________ demand in Asia and a recovery in U.S. and European markets. Sales of watches, jewellery and expensive drinks were particularly high. Wines and ______________________ 18% while watches and jewellery went up by 33%. Other goods such as bags, wallets and designer clothes ______________________ of 8 per cent.

LVMH is the world's largest luxury goods group. Executives were ______________________. They said: "Louis Vuitton continues to deliver an exceptional performance, sustained ______________________ of its historic lines and by the success of its latest innovations." They spoke about ______________________ their drinks sales, saying “the champagne business benefited from a renewal in orders from distributors”. They also commented on ______________________ new line of watches: "The success of the new products presented at the Basel Watch Fair this year ______________________ of LVMH brands," a statement said. The group was cautious about the future, saying the group was still "taking into account the ______________________ of the economic recovery".

AFTER READING / LISTENING

1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionary / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words ‘luxury’ and ‘brand’.

luxury

brand

• Share your findings with your partners.

• Make questions using the words you found.
• Ask your partner / group your questions.

2. ARTICLE QUESTIONS: Look back at the article and write down some questions you would like to ask the class about the text.

• Share your questions with other classmates / groups.
• Ask your partner / group your questions.

3. GAP FILL: In pairs / groups, compare your answers to this exercise. Check your answers. Talk about the words from the activity. Were they new, interesting, worth learning…?

4. VOCABULARY: Circle any words you do not understand. In groups, pool unknown words and use dictionaries to find their meanings.

5. TEST EACH OTHER: Look at the words below. With your partner, try to recall how they were used in the text:

despite spend quarter due drinks rate

upbeat deliver growth orders line taking

STUDENT LUXURY GOODS SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about luxury goods in the table. Do this in pairs. Each student must write the questions on his / her own paper.

When you have finished, interview other students. Write down their answers.

	STUDENT 1 _____________	STUDENT 2 _____________	STUDENT 3 _____________
Q.1.
Q.2.
Q.3.
Q.4.
Q.5.

• Now return to your original partner and share and talk about what you found out. Change partners often.
• Make mini-presentations to other groups on your findings.

LUXURY GOODS DISCUSSION

STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)

a)	What did you think when you read the headline?
b)	What springs to mind when you hear the word ‘luxury’?
c)	What luxury do you enjoy in life?
d)	Do you think luxury is immoral when so many people are starving?
e)	Do you have money to spend? What do you spend it on?
f)	What are your fave brands and why?
g)	Are luxury brands better than little-known brands of equal quality?
h)	Why do we like to show of brand goods?
i)	Why do you think sales of leather goods rose at a slower rate?
j)	What’s the most expensive thing you’ve bought? Is it good value for money?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)

a)	Did you like reading this article?
b)	What do you think it’s like to be an executive of a luxury brand?
c)	Do you think brands like Dior and Louis Vuitton are really so innovative?
d)	Why do you think champagne sales are up?
e)	What kind of people like brand goods?
f)	Would you feel different going shopping dressed in very expensive brand clothes and jewellery?
g)	Are you cautious about your future?
h)	What do you think of the strength of the economic recovery?
i)	What do you know of and think about Louis Vuitton?
j)	What questions would you like to ask LVMH’s boss?

LANGUAGE – MULTIPLE CHOICE

 (1) ____ are good for luxury brands despite the downturn in the world economy. It seems people with money to spend are now (2) ____. LVMH, which has the brands Louis Vuitton, Dior and Moët-Chandon champagne, has reported an 11% jump in first quarter (3) ____. The Paris-based company said sales rose to just over $6bn in the first three months of the year. Analysts say the stronger figures were (4) ____ to a rise in demand in Asia and a recovery in U.S. and European markets. Sales of watches, jewellery and expensive drinks were particularly (5) ____. Wines and spirits sales rose by 18% while watches and jewellery went up by 33%. Other goods such as bags, wallets and designer clothes increased (6) ____ a slower rate of 8 per cent.

LVMH is the world's largest luxury goods group. Executives were very (7) ____ at the news. They said: "Louis Vuitton continues to deliver an exceptional performance, (8) ____ worldwide by the growth of its historic (9) ____ and by the success of its latest innovations." They spoke about the positive trend in their drinks sales, saying “the champagne business benefited (10) ____ a renewal in orders from distributors”. They also commented on the popularity of their new (11) ____ of watches: "The success of the new products presented at the Basel Watch Fair this year confirmed the momentum of LVMH brands," a statement said. The group was cautious about the future, saying the group was still "taking into account the uncertainty of the (12) ____ of the economic recovery".

Put the correct words from the table below in the above article.

1.	(a)	Times	(b)	Timers	(c)	Timing	(d)	Timed
2.	(a)	spend	(b)	spending	(c)	spender	(d)	spends
3.	(a)	sold	(b)	sell	(c)	sales	(d)	sale
4.	(a)	because	(b)	so	(c)	that	(d)	due
5.	(a)	over	(b)	above	(c)	tall	(d)	high
6.	(a)	of	(b)	to	(c)	at	(d)	with
7.	(a)	upbeat	(b)	beat	(c)	beating	(d)	beats
8.	(a)	curtained	(b)	sustained	(c)	contained	(d)	stained
9.	(a)	boxes	(b)	squares	(c)	lines	(d)	circles
10.	(a)	from	(b)	for	(c)	of	(d)	to
11.	(a)	dash	(b)	doodle	(c)	squiggle	(d)	line
12.	(a)	strong	(b)	strength	(c)	strenuous	(d)	stringy

WRITING

Write about luxury goods for 10 minutes. Correct your partner’s paper.

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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: Search the Internet and find out more about the luxury goods company LVMH. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

3. LUXURY GOODS: Make a poster about luxury goods. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?

4. BRANDS: Write a magazine article about luxury brands. Include imaginary interviews with people who love and hate them.

Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Write down any new words and expressions you hear from your partner(s).

5. LETTER: Write a letter to the boss of LVMH. Ask him/her three questions about luxury goods. Give him/her three ideas on how to sell more of them. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

a.

F

b.

T

c.

T

d.

F

e.

F

f.

F

g.

T

h.

T

SYNONYM MATCH:

1.	despite	a.	in spite of
2	jump	b.	increase
3.	due to	c.	because of
4.	particularly	d.	above all
5.	rate	e.	pace
6.	executives	f.	senior managers
7.	upbeat	g.	positive
8.	commented	h.	remarked
9.	cautious	i.	guarded
10.	recovery	j.	upturn

PHRASE MATCH:

1.	the downturn in the	a.	world economy
2	people with money	b.	to spend
3.	an 11% jump in first	c.	quarter sales
4.	the stronger figures were due	d.	to a rise in demand
5.	a slower rate	e.	of 8 per cent
6.	Executives were very	f.	upbeat at the news
7.	the success of its latest	g.	innovations
8.	their new line	h.	of watches
9.	The group was cautious	i.	about the future
10.	the strength of the economic	j.	recovery

GAP FILL:

Future looking rosy for luxury goods makers

Times are good for luxury brands despite the downturn in the world economy. It seems people with money to spend are now spending. LVMH, which has the brands Louis Vuitton, Dior and Moët-Chandon champagne, has reported an 11% jump in first quarter sales. The Paris-based company said sales rose to just over $6bn in the first three months of the year. Analysts say the stronger figures were due to a rise in demand in Asia and a recovery in U.S. and European markets. Sales of watches, jewellery and expensive drinks were particularly high. Wines and spirits sales rose by 18% while watches and jewellery went up by 33%. Other goods such as bags, wallets and designer clothes increased at a slower rate of 8 per cent.

LVMH is the world's largest luxury goods group. Executives were very upbeat at the news. They said: "Louis Vuitton continues to deliver an exceptional performance, sustained worldwide by the growth of its historic lines and by the success of its latest innovations." They spoke about the positive trend in their drinks sales, saying “the champagne business benefited from a renewal in orders from distributors”. They also commented on the popularity of their new line of watches: "The success of the new products presented at the Basel Watch Fair this year confirmed the momentum of LVMH brands," a statement said. The group was cautious about the future, saying the group was still "taking into account the uncertainty of the strength of the economic recovery".

LANGUAGE WORK

1 - a

2 - b

3 - c

4 - d

5 - d

6 - c

7 - a

8 - b

9 - c

10 - a

11 - d

12 - b

 

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