Reading and Speaking

INTERMEDIATE

Units 5–7Holiday jobs

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1 Answer the questions.

1 How do students in your country earn extra money? What sort of jobs can they do?2 Have you ever had a holiday job? What did you do?

2 Check the meaning of these words and phrases from the article.

chalet staff ski resorts demanding guests 5 star food

3 What do you think the article is about? Read the first two paragraphs and check your ideas.

4 Answer the questions.

1 Why do young people want to work in ski resorts?2 Before they go abroad, do the chalet staff understand what they will have to do?3 Do chalet staff work hard?4 What can Tricia Cox teach the young people?5 Is Gemma Hawkins excited about going to Austria?6 Are Gemma’s employers going to give her menus?7 Why is Tom Stringer doing the course? 8 Why are eight friends visiting Tom next weekend?

Vocabulary

5 Find words or phrases in the article which mean:

1 a small amount of money – usually given to children by parents or for day-to-dayexpenses (paragraph 1)

2 a person with lots of experience (paragraph 2)3 a new opportunity to sell something (paragrpah 2)4 things which experienced workers know (paragraph 2)5 money that is saved for a particular reason (paragraph3)6 to tolerate something (paragraph 3)7 the first part of a meal (paragraph 4)8 the most important part of a meal (paragraph 4)

What do you think?

6 Discuss these questions in groups.

What advice would you give

• a young person starting work?• someone going to work in another country?• someone coming to work in your country?

Reading and Speaking INTERMEDIATE Holiday jobsUnits 5–7

Headway © Oxford University Press PHOTOCOPIABLEPage 2 www.oup.com/elt/headway

All work, no skivery year hundreds ofyoung British people areemployed as chalet staff in European ski resorts.

Most go expecting to do a little bit of cookingand cleaning in exchange for a lot of skiing andsome pocket money. Unfortunately the realityis very different: they will work eighteen-hourdays looking after demanding guests.

It’s not easy to provide 5 star food if youusually live at home with mum and dad.Tricia Cox, a veteran chalet maid, has seenthis gap in the market and is offering a two-day training course for new chalet staff. ‘I’vebeen doing the job for the last six skiingseasons so I know all the tricks of the trade.New chalet staff think they are going to havelots of fun and that they will be skiing all day,every day. But the reality is very different.You must get up before everyone to cookbreakfast and you go to bed after the lastguest. You have to be incredibly wellorganised if you are going to cook good

meals, clean all the bedrooms andbathrooms and have time to enjoy yourself. ’

I spoke to some of her trainees before thecourse started. Gemma Hawkins, ‘I’m goingto Austria in two weeks time to run a chaletfor 12 people. I’m looking forward to it – butI’m a bit nervous too. I’m paying for thecourse from my savings. I like cooking butI’ve never cooked for strangers and I’ll needto come up with some interesting menus.Skiing holidays are expensive so the guestswon’t put up with pizza and chips.’

Tom Stringer, ‘I’m hoping the course will helpme be more confident about my cooking.This morning we’re learning to make cakes –I’ll have to make one every day in France.This afternoon we’re making starters.Tomorrow we’re going to cook three maincourses. Next weekend I’m going to practiseat home – I’ve invited eight friends to stayand I’m going to do all the cooking andcleaning. It’ll be a good test.’

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