Getting the ax

_______ used to mean making a smaller version of a product. But these days when companies talk about __________ employees know it's the____________ that's about to shrink, 20,000 jobs are being phased out at IBM. 10,000 have been cut at Digital. The recession is forcing companies to make payroll cuts they should have started years ago. A lot of the companies that are____________ right now may have been___________ during the whole decade of the 80s and only come about to reduce their___________ now.

During the 1981 recession most _____ hurt factоrу or construction workers. But this time business managers, executives and technical staff are getting the ax.

VII. Jobless combinations. 'Jobless' is often used in the com­binations below. Group the expressions under the three headings.

Jobless a benefits e rate

b claims f toll

с figures g total

d pay

1) the numbers of people out of work

2) money given to unemployed people by the state

3) the requests from people for this money

VIII. Match the two parts of the expressions and use them to complete the article from “Newsweek”.

industrialized	rate
rising	world
rapid	period
unemployment	years
boom	growth
unprecedented	productivity

Jobs

For more than two decades, from the late 1940's to the early 197O's, the ____________ world enjoyed an _________ period of ____________ growth and ____________ productivity that had economies running at full steam. Trade grew, incomes rose, living standards soared and in Europe, the United States and Japan, practically everyone who wanted a job could have one.

Look at us now. Our economies are growing at a snail's pace, if they're growing at all. Governments are running chronic deficits. And most miserable of all, millions of people can no longer find the work they need. In recession-plagued western Europe, more than 20 million work­ers are idle, an ____________ rate of per cent, and it's rising.

Nearly half of Europe's unemployed have been out of work for a year or more. Worse, unemployment has stubbornly refused to contract for more than a decade, even in _________ years.

Discussion Exercises

I. Read the following text and answer the questions.

1. What, in your opinion, is the most serious problem choosing a career?

2. Do you think it’s wise to try many jobs?

3. Do you think some jobs to be more prestigious than others? Are there jobs people love to hate (from traffic warden to nightclub bouncer)?

4. What do you think are the sources of work (dis)satisfaction?

5. When can work be enjoyable?

While discussing the text use the following conversational formulas.

Would you care to comment on that?	Не хотите ли вы высказаться по этому поводу?
Aren’t you losing sight of some facts?	Не упускаете ли вы из виду некоторые факты?
Is that a question or a speech?	Это вопрос или выступление?
I’m afraid I’ve put it clumsily.	Кажется, я неудачно выразился.
It’s hard to put it into words.	Трудно объяснить.
He’s put it very well.	Он очень хорошо сказал.
Any questions?	Есть вопросы?
Let me be the judge of that.	Разрешите мне судить об этом.
It’s for your information.	Это для сведения.
Let it be a challenge to you.	Подумайте над этим.
Do I make myself clear?	Моя мысль ясна?
Would you mind explaining?	Объясните, пожалуйста.
Let’s go forward shall we?	Давайте дальше.
Keep to the point.	Не отклоняйтесь.