1. Match the words (1-10) with their definitions.

   agenda	a. the work of connecting water and other pipes in a building
   assistance	b. a list of matters to be discussed at a meeting
   confirmation	c. a large vehicle used for transporting goods
   lorry	d. a person who takes part in a particular activity
   multi-task	e. a period of time when on organized group of employees of a company stop working because of a disagreement over pay or conditions
   participant	f. help
   participant	g. to do several things at the same time
   plumbing	h. a statement, letter that shows that something is correct or definite
   punctual	i. a person who is taking part in an activity or event
   strike	j. doing something or happening at the expected, correct time

2. Match the words to make word combinations. Translate the word combinations into Russian.

   listen with	figures
   construction	a schedule
   meet	time
   plan	half an ear
   allow	site
   to-do	time
   budget	list
   waste	deadline

3. Complete the sentences using the words from the Useful Language (the first letter is given):

1. The next item on the a…………… is the question of security.

2. The employees are s…………… whether they will have new boss or not.

3. We will send you written c…………… of our offer shortly.

4. The CEO r…………… an idea that he should give a pay rise to his employees.

5. Women are better at m…………… than men.

6. What p…………… of women return to work after having a baby?

7. The t…………… of our advertising campaign is to promote the product.

8. The e…………… walls of the house were painted green.

9. Don’t w…………… t…………… on chatting over the phone, you should p…………… your s…………… carefully and follow it.

10. It is expensive to t…………… such heavy items.

READING

4. Read the text and then decide whether these statements are true or false.

1. Philomena had always wanted to be a market research consultant, but she soon found the job too stressful.

2. One day, she realized she was not giving enough care to her husband because of her job.

3. It took her more than 5 year to achieve good work-life balance.

4. These days she works up to 70 hours a week, but she is happy.

Slow down, you move too fast

(1)Philomena Tan knows all about stress. By her 30-s, she was a successful, highly paid market research consultant who sometimes worked till 10 p.m. “We had a lot of meeting and deadlines; we had to win projects so I was writing proposals, making presentation, supervising staff,” she says.

(2)For a long while, she loved her job and there were perks – lots of travel, for instance - but it was never what she had planned to do with her life. Like so many others, she just got involved in a career that had started accidentally.

(3)Tan studied psychology, but she was also good with computers and statistics. In the early 1980s, these were a rare and valuable combination of skills, so Tan made a steady progress up the corporate ladder. But the turning point came the year she spent the entire week of her husband’s birthday in Brisbane running market research groups while he was home alone in Melbourne.

(4)It made her examine her life and think about what she was really contributing to society. Tan planned her escape carefully. She saved money and returned to study. Decade later, it has all come together and she is happy. The research she did for a doctorate in psychology not only added to her qualification as a psychologist and psychotherapist, but gave her the raw material for her first book, Leaving the Rat Race to Get a Life, a book for anyone seriously considering changing the pace of their lives.

(5)These days Tan is in private practice, she does yoga and chooses her own hours. She rarely works more than 4 days a week and, because she sees clients in the evening, she keeps her afternoons free to catch up with reading, meet with friends or research her next book. She is happy. “When you work up to 70 hours a week, you don’t have time for this,” she says.