Listening

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Helpful Words and Phrases

Listen and repeat.

  1. surge
    • ex. The number of visitors to the zoo surged during the holiday season.
  2. a profit
    • ex. The company made a large profit from its latest product release.
  3. profitable
    • ex. Food delivery was a profitable business during the pandemic.
  4. an operation
    • ex. The company's operations include producing and selling clothes to customers.
  5. a workforce
    • ex. The company is hiring new employees to expand its workforce.

Article

Read the article below and answer your tutor's questions.

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Sony’s income surged 34% last quarter because of strong sales of video games, music, and movies. The Japanese company reported a ¥189 billion profit, which increased from ¥141 billion the previous year. Sony’s president and chief financial officer, Hiroki Totoki, said the company will focus more on its profitable entertainment operations.

In music, Sony’s releases, like SZA’s SOS, Travis Scott’s Utopia, and Beyonce’s Cowboy Carter, became really popular. In films, Sony’s Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse earned $691 million (more than ¥108 billion) worldwide, and Napoleon earned $221 million (more than ¥34 billion). The increase in users of Crunchyroll, a U.S. online video service, also contributed to Sony’s success.

Totoki said he hopes Sony could become more resilient in the changing business world. The Hollywood strikes last year decreased movie sales. But Sony’s coming films like Will Smith’s Bad Boys: Ride or Die are expected to raise profits this month. Sony is also changing the structure of its PlayStation game section. In February, the company announced plans to reduce about 8% of its global workforce. Despite this, the company said that online gaming sales were doing well. This year, Sony expects to sell 18 million PS5s.

This material was based on an article by The Associated Press.

Discussion

Choose a topic and discuss the questions with your tutor.

Sony

  • Sony said that it will focus more on its profitable entertainment operations, such as video games, music, and movies. Do you think that this is a good move for Sony? Why or why not? Discuss.
  • Do you believe that Sony will continue to be more successful? Why or why not? Discuss.
  • Sony expects to sell 18 million PS5s and earn large profits from its coming films this year. Do you believe Sony will be able to achieve these? Why or why not? Discuss.

Resilient Businesses

  • How would you describe a resilient business (ex. it’s a growing company, it has a lot of profits)? Discuss.
  • Is it necessary for a business to be resilient? Why or why not? Discuss.
  • Totoki said he hopes Sony could become more resilient in the changing business world. What are the changes that you can observe in the business world (ex. more customers prefer online transactions)? Discuss.