November 24, 2009Topic: “Work”

Language focus: Modal verbs to talk about abilities

(present, past & future)

Collocations with make & do

Vocabulary: jobs & job interviews

Match the jobs in the box with the photos:plumber firefighter lawyer salesman

fashion designer customer service rep. secretary

1 2 3

64

5

7

Answers

1 = lawyer 2 = firefighter (or fireman) 3 = plumber 4 = salesman 5 = secretary 6 = customer service rep. 7 = fashion designer

Vocabulary practice 1 Put the phrases below in a logical order.

1. ________ 2. ________ 3. _________

4. ________ 5. ________ 6. _________

7. ________ 8. ________ 9. _________

get promoted be offered a job start your own company

apply for a job work long hours resign

have an interview prepare a CV take a job

Suggested answers 1 = prepare a CV 2 = apply for a job 3 = have an interview 4 = be offered a job 5 = take a job 6 = work long hours 7 = get promoted 8 = resign 9 = start your own company

Listening practice 1 Listen to three people’s stories. Match the stories with the pictures.

C

B

A

Answers

1 = C

2 = B

3 = A

Vocabulary practice 2 What’s the difference between these words?

1. an employer / an employee

2. an interviewer / an interviewee

3. an application form / a CV

4. experience / qualifications

5. a salary / a bonus

6. a receptionist / a secretary

7. a company / a factory

8. an office worker / a factory worker

9. a managing director / a sales rep.

Answers1. An employer is the boss; an employee is the person who works.

2. An interviewer is the person who conducts the interview; an interviewee is the person who is applying for the job.

3. An application form is provided by the company and you fill it in to apply for a job; a Curriculum Vitae is a summary of your qualifications and previous work experience.

4. Experience refers to the things you have done in your previous jobs; qualifications refer to your educational background and training

courses you have done.

5. A salary is the money you earn from your job monthly; a bonus is extra money you get for good work.

6. A receptionist works at the entrance to a business and deals with phone calls and visitors; a secretary helps people do their jobs or

acts as an assistant to a boss.

(cont’d)

7. A company refers to a business in general; a factory is a building

where things are produced.

8. An office worker is a person who works at a desk in an office, e.g. an accountant or a secretary; a factory worker is a person who does

manual work in a factory.9. A managing director is a person who manages a part of a company;

a sales rep. is responsible for selling the things the company makes.

A QUESTION FOR YOU:

Who are the so-called ‘white-collars’?

Who are the ‘so-called ‘blue-collars’?

Answers White-collar refers to a salaried professional or an educated worker

who performs semi-professional office, administrative, and sales

coordination tasks.

Blue-collar refers to a person whose job requires manual labour.

ANOTHER QUESTION FOR YOU:

What does educational background and educated worker mean?

What is the Italian word for that?

Answers

Education (here) refers to your schooling i.e. to the school/university you attended before you applied for a job.

Studi / percorso di studio and lavoratore diplomato/laureato i.e. con un titolo di studio.

Vocabulary practice 3 Choose the correct alternative and decide the correct verb form, preposition or adverb. 1. Most of our employers/employees _______ (be) with the

company since/for we started last year.

2. A good managing director/sales rep. ______ (know) how to listen to people and give them the products they need.

3. I’m afraid we need someone for this job with much more qualifications/experience.

4. It’s very important that a good receptionist/secretary welcomes visitors well/good.

5. If we reach our sales targets, we will get a 20% salary/bonus.

6. A good interviewee/interviewer knows how to ask good questions to find out about people.

7. I must fill in the CV/application form for a job today.

Answers

1. employees – have been - since 2. sales rep. - knows 3. experience 4. receptionist - well 5. bonus 6. interviewer 7. application form

In a job interview1. How many languages can you speak? 2. I’m sorry, I can’t speak English very well. 3. Can you speak more slowly?4. I am going to English classes twice a week, so I think I will be able

to use English in my new job.5. Before getting married I could travel a lot for work.

Which sentence refers to…?a) Past ability

b) Present ability c) Future ability

d) Something we aren’t able to doe) A request

Answers

1 = b

2 = d

3 = e

4 = c

5 = a

Language focus. Modal verbs can, can’t, could, be able to

We use can to talk about _____ or to _____

We use can’t to talk about _____

We use could to talk about _____ or to _____

We use be able to to talk about _____

Answers

We use can to talk about abilities or to make requests

We use can’t to talk about something we aren’t able to do

We use could to talk about general ability in the past and to make requests (formal)

We use be able to to talk about ability in the future (and in the past if we refer to a specific ability or situation). Be able to is also used in the missing tenses of ‘can’.

Some examples1. How many instruments can you play,

Natasha? Three – the violin, the clarinet and the piano.

2. Natasha could play the piano when she was four.

3. It’s nice to be able to go to the opera (NOT to can go)

4. If we earn some money, we’ll be able to go on holiday next summer.

5. The plane was able to take off at 11 o’clock, after the fog had lifted.

Vocabulary practice 4 Look at the examples of things we ‘make’ and things we ‘do’. Put the words in the box in the correct list below. MAKE MONEY DO BUSINESS

make… do…

nothing an effort progress homework

your best a decision an appointment research

someone a favour a mistake a phone call a complaint

Make

Answers

Do

an effort money

a decision

a mistake

a complaintan appointment

progress

research

your best

homework

someone a favour

nothing

business

a phone call

Further reflection on topic & language: You can find explanations and further practice on can, could, be

able to in English Grammar Gold Unit 6.3 - Basic Steps & 6.3 – Extension.

You can find a chart with other examples of ‘make’ & ‘do’ in the Supplementary Section n. 4 (p. 406).

You can find a list with other examples of ‘make’ & ‘do’ in English Vocabulary in Use, unit 26 (p. 54).

You can watch a video of a job interview and answer questions on:

http://www.englishmedialab.com/Quizzes/business/listening/job%20interview%20listening.htm

Another interesting website:http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/work/workskills/wsu3.shtml