Listen to News with Tara Benwell - Instructions:
1. Preview the vocabulary and read the gapfill text.
2. Play the news report and try to fill in the blanks.
3. Answer the comprehension questions by writing full sentences.
4. Use the discussion question to write an essay or discuss the story with other students.
5. Click "show Answers" to see the full text.
6. Pretend to be a news anchor by reading each story out loud.
dateline: 29 May 2012
NB! For WEEKLY audio stories check out LISTEN & LEARN 🔈
Disappointing Week After Facebook IPO
Pre-Listening Vocabulary
- share: a division of a company’s stock
- NASDAQ:Â the world’s first electronic stock market
- overloaded:Â unable to keep up with the demands of users
- prospect:Â (financial) success in the future
- sue: to take to court due to damages or losses
- IPO: initial public offering; the first time a business offers to sell shares to the public
Comprehension Questions
- What happened to Facebook shares in the first week after the business went public?
- What happened the morning Facebook went public?
- Why are small investors unhappy about the Facebook IPO?
Discussion Question: Many people are calling Facebook a broken deal. On the other hand, other newly public companies such as Amazon.com recovered from a slow start. In your opinion, is Facebook a business worth investing in?
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Disappointing Week After Facebook IPO
In just over a week since going public, Facebook shares fell from $38 to $31 per share. The nightmare started when NASDAQ’s computer systems failed the morning Facebook went public. Many investors were unable to place orders due to the overloaded system. A few days later, news broke out that large investors had been given insider information about Facebook that small investors did not have access to. This financial information made some large investors nervous about the company’s growth prospects, causing them to change their investment plans. Many small investors are now planning to sue Facebook for not providing a clear picture of the business before the initial public offering (IPO).
- Facebook shares dropped in value from $38/share to $31/share the first week after the business went public.
- The morning Facebook went public the NASDAQ couldn’t keep up with demands. The system was overloaded.
- Small investors are unhappy about the Facebook IPO because they feel they were given unreliable information about the prospects of the business.
Written and recorded by Tara Benwell for EnglishClub
Tara Benwell is a Canadian freelance writer and editor who specializes in materials and articles for the ELT industry.
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