Part I
l The Enron scandal
A financial scandal Enron Corporation, an American energy company, was involved in. The scandal eventually led the company to bankruptcy and the dissolution of Arthur Andersen, which was one of the five largest audit and accountancy partnerships in the world. This was the largest bankruptcy in American history by 2001 and Enron was also accredited as the biggest audit failure.
Unit 8 Accounting
Text A
Critical reading and thinking
Part I
Why does the accounting profession remain hale and hearty?
external audits by public accountants for public companies
(Para.7)
Unit 8 Accounting
Text A
Critical reading and thinking
Part II
l Roles of accounting Accounting is important for big business • Accounting is the language of business
Unit 8 Accounting
Text A
Critical reading and thinking
Part I
l Arthur Andersen
once one of the "Big Five" accounting firms among PricewaterhouseCoopers, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, Ernst & Young and KPMG. It was based in Chicago, providing auditing, tax and consulting services to large corporations. After being found guilty of criminal charges relating to its handling of the auditing of Enron, the firm surrendered its licenses in 2002.
consider issues ranging from auditor conflict of interest to the regulation of the derivatives market
reform accounting rules and get tough on fraud and audit oversight
• What is accounting? • Roles of accounting
Unit 8 Accounting
Text A
Critical reading and thinking
Part I
l Traditional views on accounting
• Boring, horrible debilitating disease, appallingly dull, unimaginative, timid, lacking initiative, spineless, easily dominated, no sense of humor, irrepressibly drab
Unit 8 Accounting
Text A
Critical reading and thinking
Part II
l What is accounting?
"Accounting is a system by which economic information is identified, recorded, summarized and reported for the use of decision makers."
Unit 8
Accounting • Text A
What is Accounting
─ Critical thinking and reading
• Text analysis • Main ideas • Main financial statements
─ Language building-up
change the fieknow it
Unit 8 Accounting
Text A
Critical reading and thinking
Part I
Measures taken to redeem the reputation of accounting profession after the Enron debacle:
学术英语 管理
Academic English for Business
Unit 8 Accounting
Unit Contents
• Lead-in • Text A • Text B • Listening • Speaking • Writing • Researching
Unit 8 Accounting
Unit 8 Accounting
Listening
Lead-in
l Accountants help maintain the ___in_t_e_g_ri_t_y_a_n_d_e_t_h_i_cs_ in business, and by doing accounting properly, we maintain the ethics in a business.
l Part I :
Main ideas
• Traditional view on accounting • Enron scandal; Arthur Andersen • Why did accounting attract the public
attention in 2002?
l Part II :
• Accurate recording of financial information (Para. 5)
• Understanding of laws, regulations, business environment (Para. 5)
• Help managers understand business performance and make decisions for the future (Para. 9)
• Specialized vocabulary • Signpost language • Formal English
Unit 8 Accounting
Text A
Critical reading and thinking
Text analysis
Divide into two parts:
l Part I : Paras. 1-6
Unit 8 Accounting
• Lead-in
Listening: the four roles of accountants
Unit 8 Accounting
Lead-in
Listening
l In this clip, we’re going to talk about the importance of accountants and accounting. Your accountants report the __f_in_a_n_c_ia_l_i_n_fo_r_m__a_ti_o_n__ that controls the markets and our economy. Without accounting, we don’t have ____go__o_d_, ___ ___re_l_ia_b_l_e__ information about the status of the businesses that make up our market and economy.
• As a result of the Enron debacle, accounting has entered the public consciousness like never before.
Unit 8 Accounting
Text A
Critical reading and thinking
are about the changing public perception of accounting.
l Part II : Paras. 7-11
define accounting and roles of accounting.
Unit 8 Accounting
Text A
Critical reading and thinking
Unit 8 Accounting
Lead-in
Listening
l Also, accountants ___p_r_o_v_id_e__a_d_v_ic_e_. They provide advice on ___t_ax_e_s___, on the status of a business, and they really help you __s_e_e_a_n__in_s_i_g_h_t __ into how your business is doing. And that's why accountants and accounting is important.