SECTION 2
Questions 15 - 27
Read the text and answer Questions 15 - 21
Before you complain
Be clear in your mind why you are dissatisfied. Was it the way you were treated? A wrong decision?
Defective goods? What exactly went wrong?
Be clear in your own mind what you want to happen as a result of making a complaint. Do you want an apology? Do you want a different decision? Do you want the proper service that should have been provided in the first place? Do you want replaced goods? You should mention this to the organisation you are complaining to and ask for prompt action.
Who to complain to
This will be different depending on what type of organisation you are complaining to and the scale of your complaint. The following four steps are a general guideline. For more specific complaint procedures see the Information Section where you can find the specific steps for each organisation;
1. You should attempt to resolve your complaint directly with the parties involved: i.e. take the product purchased back to the shop, or attempt to have the service redone.
2. You should contact the relevant senior management or customer services department. It may be necessary to communicate with them several times before taking the next step. Most good organisations will have internal complaints procedures and complaints are often resolved using these. However sometimes the aren't and that's when you should consider the third step. It is worth mentioning that you are considering or have decided to take your complaint to the relevant authorities, sometimes this may provoke more serious consideration of a complaint.
3. You should contact the relevant authority or overseer who will be able to give advice on how to exacerbate your complaint if you are still not satisfied. Ask the institution which is the relevant independent ombudsman to whom you can take your complaint. Alternatively you can contact your local Citizens Advice Bureau or Trading Standards Office who will be able to help and give you advice on who you should contact next. Some Ombudsman or executive agencies such as Oftel or Ofgem may take complaints up for you.
4. Finally, if all else has failed then court or arbitration services maybe the final choice. The Legal Section on this site contains information regarding legal options. Small claims court proceedings are inexpensive but time consuming and arbitration is available for many industries and services.
What to Remember
Various valuable hints which should help you to get the result you are looking for:
· Keep a record of events. If you speak to someone on the phone make a note of who you speak to, when and what was said. If you use 'snail mail' then keep a copy of your letter and any replies you receive.
· Keep the evidence. Retain all receipts/invoices, letters and e-mails regarding products and services that you may have purchased/received. If you are asked to present these at any stage then present copies and keep the originals yourself.
· Stay Calm. If you have confronted someone directly then don't let the emotion of the moment get to you. If you are clearly not getting an adequate response then simply take the next step in the procedure as advised above. Don't be shy to use a bit of humour.
· Write clearly and concisely. Be polite and courteous but don't be afraid to convey the detail of any
incident and to articulate your disappointment. Be clear about what you think would resolve your
complaint.
· You should make an attempt to know your rights. See the Know Your Rights Section of this site if you are unsure.
· Don't give up.
· Praise where praise is deserved. Organisations welcome complaints but most certainly praise too!
Questions 15 - 21
Complete the sentences below.
Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the text for each answer.
15. It's important to be sure about what you would like the end __________ to be.
16. Make your complaint initially to the __________ .
17. An organisation may give your complaint more _________ if you mention that you are prepared to take it further.
18. The Citizens Advice Bureau will be able to tell you which __________ to take your complaint to.
19. The problem with the Small Claims courts is that they can be __________ .
20. If you are asked to show evidence, never present _______ .
21. If you do get a satisfactory result, give the organisation some __________ .
Read the text and answer Questions 22 - 27
As America changes, the English language changes, too. Some words have vanished and others have
appeared to replace them. Words and phrases that mean completely different things. This was illustrated pretty vividly a couple of days ago when we were having our daily budget meeting - that’s the meeting when we decide which stories will go on which pages the next day.
Naturally, we’ve joined the Internet age. We offer morning, afternoon and late afternoon updates as well as Twitter alerts. Since you can use only so many words in a Twitter message, we try to “Twitter” a story that’s especially important. We have to find something that is “tweet worthy.” Managing Editor Samantha Perry wondered how we would have reacted just a few years ago if any of us had suggested that a story was “tweet worthy.” My guess is that person would have gotten a lot of stares.
Then sports writer Tom Bone remarked that a World War II soldier who had just come home would think that we’re all a bit nutty if he overheard us complaining about the spam in our mailbox. We think of messages while the soldier thinks of hundreds of rectangular cans of Spam overflowing the kind of mailbox we see along the side of the road; in fact, I think a Vietnam soldier from back in the 1960s would have the same vision. Who could imagine that a name for canned meat could become a word that means electronic junk mail?
Terms like PC, Internet and laptop are fairly new, too. Folks who suddenly time traveled here from 30 or 40 years in the past wouldn’t understand what we were talking about. To them, a virus is only something that makes you sick. Complaining that your computer has a virus would earn you some stares. A “pop up” would be something that comes from a toaster and a “tweet” would be that sound a bird makes. Frankly, our language wouldn’t make much sense.
Even my favorite literary character, Sherlock Holmes, is used in a creative way. If somebody makes a
painfully obvious observation - somebody comes into your house soaking wet and you deduce that it’s raining outside - your observation is likely to be greeted with something like “No kidding, Sherlock.”
Coping with this new, growing vocabulary isn’t easy. Sometimes I try to use new words and, again, get stares. Reporter Kate Coil told us the story of an aunt who thought LOL, Laugh Out Loud, meant Lots of Love. She commented on a web page about a relative who had died of cancer, ending her message with LOL. Naturally, a younger person interpreted this a bit differently. “Dude, you aunt is harsh!” he told his friend.
This generation language gap was harsh on me when I tried the teaching profession. A few years ago I was teaching English Composition at a Virginia high school, and my kids often didn’t understand my vocabulary. Another teacher told me that I often “spoke over the head” of the students. Frankly, I thought they had a pretty poor vocabulary. Most of them rarely read anything longer than a text message - another term I wouldn’t have understood 20 years ago - so their vocabulary is pretty limited.
I’m not the only person who has these feelings. I sometimes visit YouTube and watch programs like “The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.” Naturally, fellow Holmes fans and myself will comment about the shows and talk about related subjects. One time we started lamenting the fact that our language seems downright crude compared to the flowing phrases used in Victorian England.
I said that Holmes and his friend and colleague, Dr. Watson, might as well be speaking Russian as far as my students were concerned. However, one person argued that kids’ vocabularies are more about English changing than decaying. They have different priorities and different needs, so they need new words to go with them. I’m fine with that as long as I don’t get compositions written in texting language, a habit that dropped more than one grade under my control. I insist on real words, not text slang or text abbreviations. My students thought I was harsh.
Questions 22 - 27
Choose the correct letter, A, B or C.
22. At the budget meetings the publishing team
A. discuss the impact of the Internet on their business
B. joke about the way language is changing
C. talk about how to organise their content
23. Tom Bone thinks that World War II soldiers
A. would probably disapprove of the use of the term SPAM
B. would be happy to receive 'spam' in their mail box
C. would think the people of today to be a bit crazy
24. The reporter Kate Coil
A. tells a funny story
B. gives an example of how young people can misinterpret language
C. describes how her aunt misinterpreted LOL
25. When teaching English composition
A. the writer's colleague was impressed with the writer's teaching
B. the writer's students were not interested in learning
C. the writer perhaps used the wrong kind of language
26. The writer feels that
A. Victorian English was more sophisticated than today's English
B. young people could learn a lot from Victorian English
C. in some ways Victorian English was more effective than today's English
27. Some people believe that
A. the English used by young people reflects changing times
B. the English language is being decayed by young people
C. young people prefer to use a simpler language
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