Flow-chart completion
Gold Edge Honey
Gold Edge Honey is a leading brand in the honey industry, exporting an ever-expanding range
of high-quality products to over 100 countries
It was in 1934 that Jack Rogers, the founder of Gold Edge Honey, first had the idea of entering the honey production business.
At the time, he was working for his father, a dairy farmer in the UK. Even though the family business stretched back several
generations, Jack lacked enthusiasm for it and had often dreamed of starting something new. On one occasion, he happened
to attend a talk given in his local town hall. The speaker, a honey producer himself, was describing the benefits that honey
could offer and how these might one day be recognised by people wishing to improve their health. Jack was intrigued and
concluded that this kind of promotion could go a long way towards making honey a more popular item among customers.
Jack tried for several years to convince his father that there was a future in the honey business. Eventually, his father accepted
that Jack had no interest in following in his own footsteps. Jack was about to approach his bank manager for a loan to set up
his new enterprise when his father suddenly announced that he and Jack’s mother had decided to give up their farm because
it was becoming too difficult to run. Consequently, they had decided to sell it and move closer to Jack’s sister and her children.
Although for his parents this had been a difficult decision to make, it did in fact present Jack with an unexpected opportunity.
After a good offer had been accepted for the farm, Jack received his share of the money. Because of this, he was finally able to
fulfil his ambition to buy land that was a suitable habitat for bees and go into honey production. Just a few years later, Jack
had made good progress with his new venture, which he called Gold Edge Honey, and was beginning to sell honey to local
shops. However, in 1946, disaster struck. This was the year in which honey production across the UK was badly affected by an
exceptionally long dry period. The flowers that the bees depended upon could not survive such a severe drought. What’s
more, in Jack’s case, disease had wiped out many of the bees in his hives. He realised that his earlier success had mainly been
due to luck. Therefore, if he was to avoid similar problems, he would need to hire beekeepers with far greater experience than
he had. It took a while, but by placing a notice in a regional newspaper, he was able to find such people.
Hard work and determination meant that within a few years, Jack’s honey production rose significantly. Because Jack was
making healthy profits, he decided to invest in 2,000 more hives. As a result, he was able to sign contracts with two national
supermarkets. For the first time, the honey produced by Jack’s company became available across the country, not just in local
markets. Indeed, by the 1970s, the company had even started exporting products overseas, to both Middle Eastern and
European markets.
Towards the end of the 1970s, Jack’s son, Andrew, took over the running of the business. Andrew Rogers, like his father
before him, worked hard to expand the business. For instance, he hired people to work on a variety of cosmetics, all of which
were created with honey as one of the main ingredients. As Andrew wanted customers to associate the new range with high
quality, a focus on attractive packaging and presentation was also something his marketing team worked hard to create.
Today, so well-known is Gold Edge Honey that a decision was made to provide public access to the original processing and
packing plant. It now attracts a large number of tourists, who can go on a guided tour and, among other things, view some of
the early machinery which was used to extract the liquid honey from the bee hives, filter it and bottle it. Of course, things
have moved on since the 1930s but, despite that, the tour still allows visitors to see just how labour-intensive honey
production used to be. Visitors can also sample a wide range of delicious honey products. In fact, the Gold Edge Honey café,
where customers can enjoy a fantastic selection of food containing honey, such as cakes, biscuits and drinks, has already won
awards.
It is now Jack’s granddaughter, Annabelle, who is responsible for the Gold Edge Honey company. She is well aware of the
international interest in the brand, and it was her idea to establish a website focusing on educating potential customers about
the benefits of honey and how it is produced. This will provide information about the stages of honey production, its health
properties and the lifecycle of bees. In addition, it will include entertaining features for younger visitors, like interactive games
and quizzes. It will be available online in the coming year.
Read the information. Then complete the flow chart below. Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.
The development of Gold Edge Honey Company
1934: Jack Rogers heard about the health 1 ……………… of honey.
The sale of the 2 ……………… enabled to set up Gold Edge Honey.
1946: honey production for Jack’s company failed due to the weather and to
3 ………………
After advertising locally, Jack found some employees with 4 ………………
Increased production meant Gold Edge Honey could be sold in 5 ……………… in the UK.
Andrew Rogers decided to develop a range of 6 ………………
At the first processing and packing plant, some old 7 ……………… used in honey
production can be seen by visitors.
The Gold Edge Honey Company’s 8 ……………… is scheduled to launch next year.
New words:
1. enthusiasm (n): sự hang hái 6. ambition (n): hoài bão
2. intrigued (adj): tò mò, thích thú 7. habitat (n): môi trường sống
3. convince (v): thuyết phục 8. wipe out (v): loại bỏ, hủy diệt
4. approach (v): tiếp cận 9. determination (n): sự quyết tâm
5. fulfil (v): thực hiện 10. labor-intensive (adj): sử dụng nhiều lao động
Key word table: Find similar words
Words in questions Words in the passage Words in questions Words in the passage
