•You will hear a dialogue among four speakers．They are talking about Megadrom

Manl：Right，you all know why I’ve called this meeting．The Megadrome Park has had a serious drop in income over the last 6 months．Frank has circulated a report in which he makes it clear that he feels this is a temporary drawback and he expects the park to return to profitability in the first half year．Now，we have three options facing us：one is to close the park completely；the second is to keep it open but on a much reduced scale and therefore cost and the third，which is basically Frank’s view，is to continue as before．I think we’ve all had time to analyze the figures so I’d like to confine this meeting to your assessment and conclusions．Helmut，how do you see it?
Man2：Very dimly，I’m afraid I see no evidence that the park will return to profitability next year，or for that matter at any time in the foreseeable future…
Man3：I don’t believe you have read a single word…
Man1：Frank．you’ll have a chance to give us your point of view in a second．Let Helmut finish first…  
Man2：Right，as 1 was saying．I’m afraid Megadrome is a lost cause．We’ve already lost nearly$400，000 in the last 6 months．We can’t afford to continue absorbing those sorts of losses．I think we should close it down as soon as possible and liquidise our assets．
Man3：What do you mean by liquidise our assets?…We wouldn’t be able to sell…
Man1：Just a moment，Frank，we’ll come to you in a moment．So，let me j ust summarise．Helmut is for closing the park as soon as possible and selling off the land and property．Is that right?
Man2：Yes．I know we’re not likely to get a very good price for the land but I think we’re better off selling now rather than waiting another 6 months and finding property prices have fallen even further．
Man1：Thank you，Helmut．Pam，what’s your view?
Man4：Helmut’s right when he says we’ve lost an awful lot of money but I think we have to look at it in the wider European context．All our European parks are going through hard times and entry numbers are down in all cases…．
Man2：Maybe，but nothing like…
Man1：Helmut，Let’s see what Pam has got to say．
Man4：Yeah，1 was saying all the European parks are suffering as a result of the tough economic climate and we’ve just commissioned an independent survey of the entire theme park business in Europe which indicates that as many as 40%of all parks will have closed by spring next year．
Man2：Exactly，that’s my point．
Man1：Helmut，we’d listened to you．Let’s listen to Pam now．
Man4：Right，so we can anticipate a much reduced number of theme park operations next year．At the sanle time，most economists are forecasting a recovery throughout Europe from about the middle of next year．Now，at the moment，our customers are staymg at home and saving their money but I feel we can expect them to start spending again by the middle of next year．
   There’ll be fewer parks to visit and I think Megadrome could be very well placed to pick up an increased share of the market．
Man1：So．you’re in favour of keeping it open?
Man4：Oh，yes，I am．But at a reduced level through the winter months．I’d like Frank to propose a plan for limited opening for the period November to March and then start again with a bang beginning of April in time tO catch the Easter holiday business．
Man1：Right，Pam．So you’re in favour of option 2-operating on a much reduced scale-for a 5-month period?
Man4：Right．
Man1：Frank．You’ve been very patient．No doubt you see this differently．
Man3：Not really．I agree with everything Pam has said，but I’m worried about her conclusions．
Man1：You mean the 5-month reduced operation?
Man3：That’s right．I’ll look at that option，of course．But you’ve got to understand that the largest running cost of Megadrome is the depreciation on all the equipment．If we just open at weekends，for example．we’ge got to offset a reduced gate income against the same level of depreciation．
Man2：Frank is right．That’s why I feel the only option is to closed down and sell off the equipment．
Man3：You’ve heard What Pam was saying about the state of the market．There’s no way we would find a buyer for the equipment in the present economic climate…
Man1：OK，Frank，I can see what you’re worried about．I’d like you to go away and work on a couple of reduced opening options-say，just weekends and a more drastic solutiorr-iust over the Christmas period．Right，we’ll have another meeting next Monday when you can present the financial implications of the two options and we’ll make a decision then．Right，there’s just one other point…