Vocabulary focus

Ex. 1. Using the dictionary add as many words as possible in the table.

Verb	Adjective	Noun
1.	cluttered
2.		distraction
3. frustrate
4. waste
5.	executive
6.		search
7.	valuable

Ex. 2. Give a word for each of the following definitions.

1. A short official note to another person in the same company.

2. A small or narrow piece of paper.

3. To cover or fill the space with too many things, so that it looks untidy.

4. To delay doing something that you ought to do, usually because you do not want to do it.

5. A large amount of work, especially that should have already been completed.

6. To make a determined effort to deal with a difficult problem.

7. To get rid of something because it is useless.

8. Someone who has an important job as a manager in a company or business.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Words for reference: to tackle, to clutter, an executive, a memo, to discard, to procrastinate, a slip, a backlog.

Ex. 3. Give the Russian equivalents to the following.

Piled with letters, cluttered desks, a backlog of work, accepted norm, senior managers, to handle paperwork, unproductive mind, valuable time, vital pieces of paper, stream of memos.

Ex. 4. Fill in the prepositions.

1. Your desk is always piled high … print-outs and faxes.

2. Cluttered desks led … lost information and high stress.

3. Treacy’s arguments … uncluttered desks are strong.

4. Paper has become the foundation … which our organizations are built.

5. What should we do: dump the paper … the bin or act … it?

6. Companies cannot afford to let people work … cluttered desks.

Ex. 5. Fill in each gap with one word.

1. According to Declan Treacy, an untidy desk is ______a sign of a busy person at work. The best kind of desk is a _________ one.

2. International Clear Your Desk Day is held every ____________.

3. Office workers waste __________ minutes a day looking for documents.

4. In most businesses an __________ desk is considered perfectly acceptable.

5. It would take the average British worker _________ hours to clear his or her desk of paperwork.

6. 2½ Million pieces of paper are printed by computers every __________ and 60 million photocopies are made every _______.

7. Treacy’s four rules for clearing your desk of papers are:

1. ________ on it. 2________ it on to someone else.

3 ________ it. 4 ________it away.

Ex. 6. Make up your own sentences/text using the following phrases.

To be piled with letters, to lead to distractions, to hold seminars, to tackle paperwork, to file paper, to devote time to something, to act on something.

Comprehension

Ex. 1. Answer the following questions.

1. What do cluttered desks lead to?

2. What does Declan Treacy run?

3. When is Clear Your Desk Day being held?

4. What are Treacy’s arguments for uncluttered desks?

5. Does Treacy hold any seminars?

6. How long would it take the average British office worker to clear his/her desk?

7. What are Treacy’s four rules for clearing your desk of papers?

Ex. 2. Add the beginnings to the following sentences.

1. ……… leads to a 40-hour backlog of work.

2. ………. .to tackle paperwork more effectively.

3. ……….. under mountains of unwanted paper.

4. ………. is number four.

5. ………. act on it.

6. ………… of an unproductive mind.

7. ………. cluttered desks.

8. ……….. more important work.

Ex. 3. Put about ten questions upon the text.

Ex. 4. Write down possible headlines which best express the main idea of each paragraph. Then make an outline of the text.

Ex. 5. Comment on the title of the text. Discuss Tracy’s rules with the class.