C1 Unit 6: Present and Negotiate Under Constraints

C1 · LEARN THROUGH PRACTICE

Complex ideas.
Purposeful English.

Try a real task. Practice with support. Use what you learn in a new situation.

LE-C1-NEGO-01 · C1 · Reading, listening, writing and spoken interaction · Free

This is an original learning unit using fictional people and data. Work in short sessions; allow roughly 45–75 minutes and adjust your pace. The level is a curriculum design target, not a validated placement result.

Your goal

Distinguish interests from positions and record conditional commitments accurately.

Need support? Use Earlier-level support. You can review one skill while continuing here.

1. Pre-check: keep a first attempt

Read the source at the start of Step 2, then try the task below before opening answers, language help or a model. Keep your first response and note the date and help used.

Prepare a proposal and negotiate with someone requesting a firm guarantee. Write a follow-up with only agreed or explicitly conditional commitments.

2. Presentation: read and notice

A partner offers a room for six workshops if the center guarantees 30 attendees every week. The center has 22 expressions of interest, not confirmed attendance. It can commit to promotion and registration. The partner wants predictable use, while the center wants access without an unsupported promise. A smaller room holds 20, but availability is unknown. A shorter trial, a registration threshold or a review point might address the underlying interest, but no alternative terms have been accepted. Negotiation must distinguish a firm commitment within one’s control from a projection, a tentative offer and an unresolved check.

Language in use — open after your first attempt

Explore an interest behind a fixed position.
Make offers conditional on named checks.
Record agreements, projections and open questions separately.

3. Practice: understand the meaning

What is the underlying interest?

Predictable room use.

What cannot be guaranteed from current data?

Thirty weekly attendees from 22 expressions of interest.

What remains unconfirmed?

Smaller-room availability and any alternative terms.

Listen for meaning

Listen before opening the transcript. For practice, listen once for the main point and again for details. Record replays or slower playback with your result.

Listen in American English

Audio uses an American English voice available on your device. Pause and Stop appear when a session starts.

What can be committed to?
What remains conditional?

Transcript — open after listening

Twenty-two expressions of interest are not thirty guaranteed weekly attendees. We can promise promotion and registration work, not an outcome outside our control. A shorter trial or smaller room is negotiable only after availability and terms are confirmed.

Listening answers and reasons

Promotion and registration work. Alternative room or trial terms.

If you read the transcript before answering, record that as supported practice rather than an independent listening check.

4. Production: create your own response

Prepare a proposal and negotiate with someone requesting a firm guarantee. Write a follow-up with only agreed or explicitly conditional commitments.

Try before opening the example. If you work alone, speak aloud or record on your device. With a partner, ask one real follow-up question and respond without reading a script.

A compact model — compare meaning, not exact wording

We can commit to promotion and confirmed registration, but current interest cannot support 30 attendees each week. Could we consider a shorter trial with a review point? A smaller room might address occupancy concerns, subject to availability. We would need agreement on the room and registration conditions before calling this a confirmed arrangement.

This example shows the main communication moves. Your wording and conclusion may differ when supported by the facts. For a project with several outputs, use it as a starting structure and complete every output requested.

Four-part self-check

Use 0–3 for each area. Not tried yet is separate from 0. Judge this task, not your whole English level. Do not convert these scores into an exam score or certificate.

Task completion

0 — The required communication is not yet achieved.
1 — Some relevant work is done, but key requirements are missing or inaccurate.
2 — The response achieves this goal: Distinguish interests from positions and record conditional commitments accurately.
3 — It achieves the goal clearly and handles relevant detail or follow-up without inventing facts.

Clear meaning and organization

0 — The main message cannot yet be understood.
1 — The reader or listener needs substantial help to connect the ideas.
2 — The response is understandable and organized for the task.
3 — Structure and emphasis make the reasoning or action easy to follow.

Fit for the situation and interaction

0 — The response does not address the audience or situation.
1 — Some choices fit, but tone, attribution or response causes confusion.
2 — The response suits the audience and handles the other view or question fairly.
3 — It adapts effectively, clarifies limits and helps communication move forward.

Language range and control

0 — There is not enough relevant language to communicate the meaning.
1 — Limited words or errors obscure important information.
2 — Suitable precise source relationships, qualification, register and controlled cohesion communicate the main meaning; errors do not usually block it.
3 — Those resources are chosen effectively and controlled well for this task.

5. Post-check: use a fresh situation

A funder offers equipment for a guarantee of 50 weekly users. There are 35 inquiries and no usage record. The funder wants equipment used rather than stored. Negotiate a credible trial.

Use the same amount of help as before. Complete the task before opening the checking guide. Score the new response against the same goal and rubric.

Checking guide — more than one response can work

Do not equate inquiries with users. Explore trial use, shared access or review, while marking targets and equipment arrangements as proposed or conditional.

Review and return

Keep: date, task, help used, listening answers, four rubric judgments, a phrase supporting each judgment, and one next step. A longer response is not automatically a better one. After about a week, try another situation with changed details without copying the model.

Next: Unit 7: Communicate Nuance Across Contexts

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Guided speaking: answer one question at a time

Answer about the situation or your own response in this unit. Each question stops for your answer. Take as long as you need, then choose Continue. Pause also works while you are thinking; Resume replays that question. This page does not record or upload your voice.

Guided spoken practice