B1-B2. Lesson 89 (30/07/2024)

Summary

The video script features a brainstorming session on innovative business projects. Participants discuss the 'Skylift' air taxi concept, addressing urban traffic congestion, and the 'POW' pet washing service, utilizing Soviet-era architectural features for convenient pet cleaning. They also explore the Trash Factory idea and touch on reported speech grammar, with a focus on tense transformations and time reference adjustments. The session includes project pitches, creative brainstorming, and language exercises, fostering a collaborative and educational environment.

Takeaways

• 🚀 The first project 'Skylift' aims to solve traffic congestion by offering flying taxi services, utilizing the open airspace above urban areas.
• 🌐 The 'Skylift' pitch emphasizes the unlimited potential of air travel compared to congested roads and assures safety with certified pilots.
• 💡 The idea behind 'Skylift' considers future scalability, suggesting that as the service becomes more popular, costs will decrease.
• 🤔 Concerns are raised about potential future sky traffic jams, but the presenter believes that the 3D space above cities can accommodate growth.
• 📈 The second project, 'Pow', focuses on a service for pet owners, offering a convenient pet washing solution using a 'window of opportunity' in Soviet-era homes.
• 🐾 'Pow' introduces a subscription model for pet cleaning, including a special app for owners to monitor the cleaning process and a pneumatic tube for pet return.
• 📊 The discussion includes the importance of understanding reported speech in English, including the transformation of tenses when reporting what others have said.
• 📚 The script covers the 'waterfall rule' of reported speech, illustrating how tenses shift backward in time with each level of reporting.
• 🗓 Time expressions also change in reported speech to reflect the distance from the original speech time to the reporting time.
• 📝 As homework, participants are asked to complete exercises on reported speech, watch a YouTube video, and report the content using various reporting verbs.
• 📅 The next meeting is scheduled for Friday at 4 pm, where the group will continue discussions and possibly hear a new project pitch.

Q & A

What is the name and concept of M's business project?

M's business project is called 'Skylift,' a fantasy taxi service aiming to alleviate traffic congestion by offering flying taxi services, utilizing the open space above buildings.

What is the main issue Skylift aims to solve with its service?

Skylift aims to solve the problem of traffic jams by offering an alternative mode of transportation that uses the airspace above roads, which is less congested.

How does the pitch for Skylift describe the current traffic situation?

The pitch describes the current traffic situation as frustrating, with people wasting hours in traffic jams due to narrow roads and an excessive number of cars.

What is the unique selling proposition of Skylift according to the pitch?

Skylift's unique selling proposition is the use of airspace for transportation, providing a novel solution to traffic congestion with skilled pilots and security certifications ensuring passenger safety.

What concerns does Kate raise about the potential for future sky traffic jams?

Kate raises concerns about the possibility of sky traffic jams in the future, questioning what might happen after 10 years if the service becomes popular.

How does M respond to Kate's concern about sky traffic jams?

M responds by stating that the airspace above buildings has much more capacity than road space and suggests the potential use of different layers or 'echelons' of airspace, similar to how planes use different altitudes.

What is the cost implication of using Skylift according to M?

M admits that the service might be expensive initially but believes it will become cheaper as it becomes more widespread and popular.

What is the name and concept of the pet cleaning service presented by Kate?

The pet cleaning service is called 'Pow' with the motto 'keeping P clean one wash at a time.' It offers a convenient way for pet owners to clean their pets using a special entrance and cleaning process.

How does the pet cleaning service handle the cleaning process for pets?

The service uses a 'window of opportunity' in Soviet-style houses, where pets enter through a separate entrance, get rinsed, soaped, brushed, and dried, and then returned to their owners through a pneumatic tube.

What is the subscription model mentioned for the pet cleaning service?

The subscription model for the pet cleaning service is suggested as the future of startups, although the specifics of the model are not detailed in the script.

What is the potential issue with the pet cleaning service regarding different breeds of dogs?

The potential issue raised is whether the service can accommodate different breeds of dogs, especially those of different sizes, ensuring they can fit in the cleaning and pneumatic tube systems.

What is the name and concept of Nikita's project mentioned at the end of the script?

Nikita's project is called 'Trash Factory,' but the script does not provide further details about the concept of the project.

What is the main topic of the grammar discussion in the script?

The main topic of the grammar discussion is reported speech, including the rules for changing tenses and time references when reporting what others have said.

How does the script explain the transformation of tenses in reported speech?

The script explains that in reported speech, present tenses become past tenses, and past tenses become deeper past tenses, with the exception of past perfect and past perfect continuous, which do not change further.

What are the time reference adjustments made in reported speech according to the script?

Time references in reported speech are adjusted to reflect the distance from the time of speaking. For example, 'now' becomes 'then,' 'tomorrow' becomes 'the next day,' and 'next week' becomes 'the following week'.

What is the homework assignment related to reported speech as mentioned in the script?

The homework assignment involves completing project SE six, grammar bank exercises from the unit, watching a YouTube video and noting down six words or phrases for each conversation, and writing a five-sentence report using different verbs of reporting instead of 'said.'