Topical News Lessons

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Level 1 | 
Elementary
4
5
Vocabulary: Word Building
Complete the table
VERB
NOUN
1
•
treat
___________
2
•
produce
___________
3
•
reduce
___________
4
•
introduce
___________
5
•
employ
___________
6
•
support
___________ (person)
6
Vocabulary: Puzzle
Rearrange the letters to make key words from the text:
1
•
EZRO STEWA
2
•
CLERICYNG
3
•
CIGARNO
4
•
VEINNORMENT
5
•
NORATEINCINI
6
•
BIBRUSH

©
Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2006 
Taken from the Magazine section in 
www.onestopenglish.com
Fill the gaps using these key words and phrases from the text: 
worth 
stock 
market 
rival 
brand 
consumer 
fizzy 
quarter profit 
snack 
concentrate 
1. A ____________ drink has gas bubbles in it. Another word for this is 
‘carbonated’ drink. 
2. The ____________ is the place where you can buy and sell shares in 
companies. 
3. A ____________ is 3 months of the year. January to March is the first 
____________. 
4. A ____________ is a small amount of food you eat between meals. 
5. If you say how much something is ____________, you state its value in 
money. 
6. A ____________ in business is another company selling the same 
products. 
7. A ____________ is someone who buys and uses goods or services. 
8. ____________ is money that you make by selling something. 
9. If you ____________ on something, you give all your attention to that 
thing. 
10. A ____________ is a product that has its own name. Coca-Cola is an 
example of a ____________ . 
Look in the text and find this information as quickly as possible: 
1. Which company is now worth more – Coca-Cola or PepsiCo? 
2. How much was PepsiCo worth on December 12 2005? 
3. What was the market value of Coca-Cola in 2000? 
4. When did PepsiCo buy the fruit juice business Tropicana? 
5. What percentage of its profits does Coca-Cola get from fizzy drinks? 
6. How much were Coca-Cola’s profits in the third quarter of last year? 

©
Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2006 
Taken from the Magazine section in 
www.onestopenglish.com
Pepsi and Coca Cola are probably the most famous soft drinks in the world. 
For years Coca-Cola has been number one. Its sales have always been much 
higher than sales of Pepsi Cola. However, on December 12 2005 something 
changed. For the first time ever the Pepsi Cola company was worth more on 
the stock market than Coca-Cola. Pepsi Cola’s market value was $98.4bn on 
December 12 while Coca-Cola was worth $97.9bn. The "real thing" was 
suddenly number two not number one. 
Coca-Cola and PepsiCo have been great business rivals for many years. 
Marketing students always study these two companies because they are 
examples of how to create a powerful brand from something very simple - 
both drinks are made of brown carbonated water mixed with caffeine and 
vegetable extracts. Now marketing students study them for another reason: 
PepsiCo because it can change its business when people’s tastes change; 
Coca-Cola because it often cannot do this. 
At the beginning of 2000 Coca-Cola's market value was about $128bn, almost 
three times more than PepsiCo, whose market value was $44bn. In 
developed markets like the US and Europe sales of fizzy drinks are not 
increasing. The main difference between the two companies now is that 
PepsiCo is moving away from sugary carbonated drinks because it realises 
that consumers are worrying more and more about their health. 
In 1998 PepsiCo bought the fruit juice business Tropicana. Three years later it 
bought the energy drink Gatorade. Coca-Cola had the opportunity to buy 
Gatorade but its directors said the price was too high. That was a bad 
decision. Today PepsiCo has about 81% of the fast-growing sports drink 
market in the US. It has the number one fruit juice brand in Tropicana and the 
number one bottled water brand in the US, Aquafina. In last quarter of last 
year, sales of PepsiCo's non-carbonated drinks increased by 24%. 
PepsiCo gets about 23% of its worldwide profits from the fizzy drinks sector 
while Coca-Cola gets 85% of its profits from fizzy drinks. PepsiCo also owns 
snack foods including Walkers Crisps and Doritos, and these different 
products help it to sell to supermarket chains. 
Now Coca-Cola is trying to do the same. In June it started to sell Minute Maid 
fruit juice in Britain. It has also introduced the Dasani bottled water brand and 
the Powerade energy drink. Powerade is about one-fifth as big as Gatorade in 
the US. Dasani was not a success in Britain because it was made of ordinary 
tap water and consumers did not buy it. 
Coca-Cola's problems probably started when its chief executive Roberto 
Goizueta died in 1997. Many people then lost their jobs and there were a lot 

©
Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2006 
Taken from the Magazine section in 
www.onestopenglish.com
of changes in the management of the company. In May 2004 the Irishman 
Neville Isdell became chief executive.
Mr Isdell was open about Coca-Cola's mistakes. He said there were no easy 
answers. He said that Coca-Cola had missed consumer trends and that its 
advertising was not effective. He promised an extra $400m for marketing and 
promised to sell more in growing markets such as China and India. The 
company is now spending more money on developing new products.
Now it seems that Mr Isdell is making some progress. Coca-Cola’s profits 
have increased over the past year. In the third quarter of last year profits 
increased by 37% to $1.28bn, with very good sales in developing markets 
such as China, Russia and Latin America. 
In the meantime PepsiCo is continuing to do well. It is concentrating on 
healthier products including Tropicana fruit bars and a carbonated version of 
Tropicana fruit juices. 

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