Explore reading 2: More urban legends Read the stories below and answer the questions (1–6) using a maximum of four words. Write your answers in the spaces provided. The first one (0) has been done for you. 37 Urban legends from the world of business Myth 1: The origin of potato chips is a cook’s moment of anger. (TRUE) One of the most popular snacks of all time was invented in 1853 by a chef in Saratoga Springs, NY. When a guest complained that the French fries were not salty enough and too thick and soggy for his liking, the cook was extremely annoyed. To get his own back, he sliced potatoes as finely as he could, all but fried them to cinders, put an unhealthy amount of salt on and dumped them in front of the diner. The customer tasted one and was delighted. The cook had created a winning formula as today Americans reportedly eat an average six pounds of potato chips per person per year. Myth 2: Job applicants who salt food before tasting are turned down by future employer. (LEGEND) A young man who applied for a job with a big company was told he was lucky that he was interviewing with them rather than with IBM as the computer company used some strange interview techniques. In one of the tests candidates were taken to lunch and closely watched. If they salted or peppered their food before tasting it, they wouldn’t get the job no matter how well they did in the rest of the interview. Myth 3: Entering your PIN in reverse at an ATM will call the police. (FALSE) According to the Bank of Nova Scotia, should you ever be forced by a robber to withdraw money from an ATM, you can notify the police by entering your PIN in reverse. The machine will dispense the money you requested while at the same time alarming the police, unknown to the robber. In other words, if your PIN number is 5678, key in 8765 and the police will be on their way to help you. Myth 4: A Kenyan tribesman in a NIKE ad said something quite different to what he was supposed to say. (TRUE) A 1989 NIKE television commercial for running shoes was shot in Samburu, Kenya. When the camera closed in on a Samburu warrior speaking in his tribal language, the slogan ‘Just do it!’ appeared on the TV screen. As an American anthropologist later found out, the man was really saying “I don’t want these, give me big shoes.”When questioned about it, a spokeswoman drily remarked, “We thought no one in America would understand what he said.” Myth 5: Due to a programming error, bank customers were addressed as ‘Fat Cats’. (LEGEND) A financial institution in England prepared a mass mail to 2,000 of its wealthiest customers, inviting them to buy extra banking services. A computer programmer was given the task of writing a program to search through the bank’s databases and select relevant customers automatically. The imaginary customer with whom he tested the program was called ‘Fat Cat’. Due to a small error, the 2,000 letters sent out all had the salutation line ‘Dear Fat Cat’. The unlucky programmer was fired on the spot. Myth 6: KitKat helps Japanese students pass exams. (LEGEND) Each year tens of thousands of Japanese high school students sit highly competitive exams to get into a top university. Most of them do not want to rely on hard work and diligence alone but bring along certain foods and charms associated with luck and success. The KitKat chocolate bar is one of these lucky charms. KitKat, pronounced ‘kitto katto’ in Japanese, sounds very similar to ‘kitto katsu,’ a phrase that means ‘win without fail.’ It shows how seriously language charms are taken in Japan as hardly a high school student will sit an exam without a KitKat bar in their lunchbox. 0 What was the cook’s intention when he made the crisps? 1 After their infamous beginnings, how were potato chips received by the public? 2 According to urban legend, what would you have to do to get employed by IBM? 3 What would be the advantage of calling the police in the way the Nova Scotia bank advises? 4 What mistake did the shoe company make? 5 Why did the programmer lose his job? 6 Why do Japanese students take a KitKat bar to exams? to annoy a customer 109 Language skills Extras Explore 8 Fiction and reality Nur zu Prüfzwecken – Eigentum des V rlags öbv
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