• You will hear five short recordings. • For each recording, decide what stage of agreement each speaker is talking about.

Man: Well, you see I’ve looked through the contract several times and I think all the important items have been covered. I don’t think my people will have any problem with it. For the time being, it seems that what we need to do is to set up a date to have it signed and then we can go about putting it into effect. As far as I am concerned, we can sign the contract in a couple of days. It shouldn’t take more than three days max.

Woman: I’m satisfied with the contract as it stands. If there are no other changes to be made, let’s go ahead and sign the agreement here. Sure enough, to sign it is only the first step. There’s still a long way to go. I’m sure both of us wish to gain from this cooperation, then let us strengthen our ties and see that the contract is faithfully carried out. OK, now let us take the first step.