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Файл:Improve your English with Movies. English conversation for Master’s students (Совершенствуйте свой английский с помощью фильмов. Разговорный английски
.pdf
It gives responsibility to children
Having a cat at home is a great responsibility for children. Taking care of it, feeding it, and training it is not always an easy task.
It’s important to talk to your children so they’re aware of how important the work is.
Don’t forget to make it clear that an animal is NOT a toy. They
must not hit them, throw them down, or grab them by the tail. As
living beings they must be respected and loved. Pets will be so much
happier if children are treating them well. Remember that a healthy
cat means a healthy human.
[https://exploringyourmind.com/cat-therapy-5-benefi ts-of-living-with-cats/]
3. Present an advert promoting anew Cat Cafe in Saint Petersburg.
Try to refer to the health bene ts described in Ex.2.
4. Listen to the 6 Minute English programme focusing on the con-
cept of dreams.
com)
In pairs, discuss your childhood dreams and adult aspirations.
5. In pairs, discuss the social advert which belongs to the series
“World For All”. Try to describe the e ect both the visual component
and the slogan produce on the addressees.
Are you following your dreams? 6 Minute English (youtube.
6. Write a review of the movie “A Street Cat Named Bob”.
91
UNIT 4: YOU AND YOUR COMPANY
WATCHING THE MOVIE “THE INTERN”
I. PREVIEWING ACTIVITIES
1. Read the article below and comment on the challenges that
women face when juggling their career and family in Russia. What is
the attitude to women entrepreneurs in Russia?
Mopping up Dieselgate: The boss transforming Volkswagen
By Joe Miller BBC News
17 March 2019
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-47524588
Hiltrud Werner knows how to handle rooms full of men.
As the lone woman on Volkswagen’s management board, she is
a rarity in the upper echelons of German industry.
Yet her ascent was not the result of an eff ort to blend in.
Ms Werner’s fi rst appearance in front of an all-male board was
less than a decade ago
was a memorable one.
“I got a very nice email that said: ‘Please Hiltrud, wear trousers,
they are not used to skirts in the boardroom,’” she recalls with
a playful grin.
“Of course, I came in a pink dress.”
The 52-year-old joined Volkswagen’s board in February 2017, at
one of the most turbulent moments in the carmaker’s history. As
head of integrity, she was charged with putting VW’s house in order,
and reforming a corporate culture which turned a blind eye to the
widespread cheating of diesel-emissions tests.
In the German press, she is often portrayed as a matron-like fi gure, hired to clean up a mess made by men who should have known
better. It is a characterisation she dislikes
among those charged in the various “Dieselgate” investigations.
—
at a fi rm she declines to name — and it
—
noting that women are
92
However, it is hard to overlook the irony of the appointment:
when a woman fi nally got to the top of VW, she was handed a poisoned chalice.
Ms Werner says she considered it an “honour” to be asked to
oversee VW’s turnaround, but she is under no illusions about the
scale of the task. To date, the diesel emissions scandal has cost
Volkswagen roughly €28bn, ($31bn; £24bn) and her prediction is
that 2019 will be the fi rm’s “most diffi cult year” ever.
The pressure on her is not just internal. Her eff orts are being
closely scrutinised by the court-appointed monitor Larry Thompson,
a former US Attorney General who worked on the prosecutions of
Enron executives, and whose task it is to evaluate whether the group’s
ethics programmes are robust enough to prevent further criminal
activity.
Since Ms Werner’s interview for this piece, the company has
faced further negative headlines. Its chief executive, Herbert Diess,
apologised for evoking a Nazi slogan, while American regulators
fi led suit against VW, claiming it misled investors in the run-up to
Dieselgate.
“We are still busy with the root cause analysis,” Ms Werner explains. The origins of the Dieselgate scandal, she maintains, are
“complex” but that VW felt it was “too big to fail” and there was
not enough self refl ection, employees thought what they did “in the
context of the company, was good”.
To try to remedy that, Ms Werner and her team have rewritten
the job specifi cations for more than 2,000 people, “to make sure that
roles and responsibilities are clear and that everyone understands
what their obligations are”.
But she is not content with challenging the culture of one of
Germany’s largest companies, and has her sights set on transforming
her compatriots’ attitudes to women in power.
That task may prove to be even more daunting: Germany, as she
points out, was one of last developed economies to get an antidiscrimination law, in 2006. At the time of writing, not a single one
of German’s top 30 fi rms has a female chief executive.
The Reykjavik Index
—
a survey of 10,000 people across the
G7 group of nations conducted by Kantar and Women’s Political
Leaders
—
found that only 29% of Germans would feel very com-
93
fortable having a woman at the helm of a major company (For comparison, almost 60% of British respondents were very comfortable
with the concept. One theory is that austerity has forced more women into work in the UK, which in turn led to greater cultural acceptance.)
Many of Ms Werner’s fellow corporate leaders do not grasp the
scale of Germany’s problem. When touring other companies’ offi ces,
she says, executives sometime say: “Oh you know what, we did
really well, we’ve got a woman on the board.”
But she is not content with challenging the culture of one of
Germany’s largest companies, and has her sights set on transforming
her compatriots’ attitudes to women in power.
That task may prove to be even more daunting: Germany, as she
points out, was one of last developed economies to get an antidiscrimination law, in 2006. At the time of writing, not a single one
of German’s top 30 fi rms has a female chief executive.
The Reykjavik Index
—
a survey of 10,000 people across the
G7 group of nations conducted by Kantar and Women’s Political
Leaders
—
found that only 29% of Germans would feel very comfortable having a woman at the helm of a major company. (For
comparison, almost 60% of British respondents were very comfortable
with the concept. One theory is that austerity has forced more women into work in the UK, which in turn led to greater cultural acceptance).
Many of Ms Werner’s fellow corporate leaders do not grasp the
scale of Germany’s problem. When touring other companies’ offi ces,
she says, executives sometime say: “Oh you know what, we did
really well, we’ve got a woman on the board.”
“She has been seen as very gender neutral,” says Ms Werner,
adding that Mrs Merkel is “always wearing trousers
—
boring outfi ts,
you could say”.
Ms Werner makes an eff ort to do the opposite: “I don’t want to
be a woman dressed like a man, I often intentionally come in colourful dresses.”
Not having children has also helped Mrs Merkel overcome German prejudices. “She has never been seen as a working mother that
left her kids at home,” says Ms Werner. “She did not experience all
the struggles that other women in leading positions feel.
94
“That’s why we have such a long way still to go in Germany,
because the role model is just half a role model.”
Not that Ms Werner is immune to the pressure felt by women in
the workplace to please their male peers. At the start of her 28-year
career in the car industry, she confesses, she was just “looking for
a survival strategy” and taught herself to speak “the language of
men” in an attempt to blend in.
She learned that “if you are asked what car you are driving, and
you answer ‘a red one’ then that is wrong”.
Instead she would show colleagues pictures of her particular
model
—
highlighting its engine power and how exhilarating she
found it to drive on alpine roads.
This adjustment was a part of “making sure everyone understands
that you love the product,” she says.
As VW goes about repairing its reputation, Ms Werner wants the
fi rm’s hundreds of thousands of employees to hear the same message: that she has the car industry’s best interests at heart.
“I have a lot of fuel in my blood,” she says, pausing to acknowledge Volkswagen’s next big bet.
“Maybe in future I will have to say I have some electricity in
my blood.”
2. Answer the following questions:
[https://www.bbc.com/news/business-47524588].
a) Why is the scandal around VW referred to in the article as
Dieselgate? What is the origin of this term?
b) Why was Ms. Werner asked to come to her fi rst board meeting wearing trousers?
c) How is A. Merkel perceived in Germany? Why does Ms. Werner call her a half role model?
d) How does Ms. Werner characterize the situation with female
chief executives in Germany? What is the reason for this kind of
attitude to female business leaders in Germany, do you think?
e) What is the situation like in Great Britain? Why? Can you
draw a comparison between the position of business women in Russia and Germany? In Russia and Great Britain?
e) What do you think about the concept of “the woman in power”?
95
3. Provide de nitions for the following words and expressions from
the article. Use a dictionary when necessary:
management board; turbulent; an executive; corporate culture; job
specifi cation; austerity; to blend in; a role model; an investor.
4. Use the collocations and idioms below to make up your own
story:
to be at the helm of (a company); to be handed a poisoned chalice; to turn a blind eye to; to have someone’s best interests at heart;
to have one’s sights set on smth; a daunting task;
5. The legal terms in the following examples are synonymous to those
used in the article. Replace them with their equivalents from the text:
a) Legal charges were brought against this captain of British in-
dustry for tax evasion and money laundering.
b) He is one of the best criminal lawyers in the country.
c) The company hopes that these customers won’t bring action
in court against it.
d) The Supreme Court amended the law to prevent further unlaw-
ful acts on the part of major corporations.
e) She was indicted with several felony off ences.
f) Who will be leading the inquiry into the accident?
6. Use the idioms in the brackets to ll in the gaps: (keep my head
down; take alot of ak; to know the ropes; got their marching orders;
working at a steady pace; cut back on expenses; hold the fort; got
enough on my plate; to climb the career ladder)
1) Why has John been down in the dumps lately? — He had to
….. last week as his boss was not happy with his annual report.
2) The company decided to …... dramatically to avoid declaring
bankruptcy.
3) I am so happy to be assigned to Jim for my internship, he
seems to be the only one around ….... .
4) He is said to do whatever it takes to …... , even to stab his
colleagues in the back.
96
5) I don’t know what to do — my boss keeps giving me new
tasks and I have …... already!
6) Look, If I were you, I ‘d ….. as you’ve been late again today
and the manager was about to spit blood when he saw your absence
an hour ago!
7) Have you heard what happened in our subsidiary on Monday?
Half of the Sales department …... . I don’t know whether we will
ever climb out of recession.
8) Can you ….. for me? I need to go on a short business trip.
I’ll be back for the board meeting on Friday.
9) They have been …. for a month now. I am sure they’ll meet
the deadline.
7. Watch the TED programme called “Women entrepreneurs, examples not exceptions” presented by Gayle T. Lemmon
com/talks/gayle_tzemach_lemmon_women_entrepreneurs_example_not_exception]
8. Answer the following questions raised in the TED programme
you have just watched:
[https://www.ted.
.
a) Why is the topic of resilience so personal to Gayle, the speaker? How does she describe her early years in Maryland? What sort
of women raised her?
b) Why is Gayle so passionate when insisting that women entrepreneurs are the examples for other women to follow, not exceptions?
c) Has the statistics related to women-owned businesses in different countries surprised you? Have you expected such fi gures?
d) What do we learn about Kamila, her business experience and
her motives for starting her small business?
e) Why do women become breadwinners? Give the reasons mentioned in the programme and think of some more incentives inspiring women to launch their own businesses.
9. There are some business terms used in the programme. Explain
them resorting to a dictionary, when necessary:
to invest; a cash fl ow loan; microfi nance; assets; competitiveness;
collateral; productivity trap; crowdsourcing, microbusiness, small
business, medium-sized business.
97
10. Replace the italicized words and expressions with their synonyms
mentioned in the TED Programme (ex. 7):
a) The tragic consequences of this military confl ict were analyzed
in numerous research papers.
b) This was really an amazingly attractive job, but she had to
reject this off er as she had already promised her friend to launch
a small business together.
c) They decided that it was the right time for their company to
develop. They found a few trustworthy businessmen ready to support
their company fi nancially.
d) There were several role models in his life, whose behaviour
he was eager to copy.
e) You should not treat this kind of incident as a deviation, which
you should dismiss and forget, but rather as a valuable experience.
f) There are still lots of prejudices when it comes to the women
in power, running their companies.
II. WHILEVIEWING ACTIVITIES.
THE MOVIE “INTERN”
EPISODE 1
1. Comprehension check. While watching the rst part of the lm,
try to answer the following questions:
1) What do we learn about Ben’s life?
2) How does he describe his retirement?
3) What are the typical leisure activities he takes up after his
retirement?
4) What programme does the fl yer that Ben has noticed promote?
5) What does Patty suggest Ben and she should do and how does
Ben react?
6) Do you remember the name of the Internet company Ben gets
interested in?
7) Why does the application requirement seem so challenging to
Ben?
8) How does Ben characterize himself in his cover video?
98
9) How does Jules deal with a delivery crisis?
10) What does Jules discuss with her team while examining their
home page?
11) What sort of questions is Ben asked during his job interviews?
12) What does the company that Ben used to work for make?
13) Which jobs did Ben hold in Dex One?
14) Which question did the interviewer, called Justin, decide to
scratch and why?
15) What is Jules’s initial reaction when she is reminded of the
Senior Citizen Internship Program?
16) What do we learn about the company and its founder and
the current number of the employees?
17) When was the internet shopping company launched and why?
18) Who is Ben assigned to as an intern?
2. Match the words in Column Awith their de nitions in Column B:
1) intern The most senior manager in a company who has more
authority than anyone else and is responsible for its
success
2) Senior citi-
zen
3) CEO A small enclosed area in a room, separated from the
4) application An executive in a company
5) To upload Someone who is more than 60 years old
6) cubicle A written request for a job or a place at a college, uni-
7) merchan-
dising
8) vendor An extra payment or benefi t that you get in your job
9) perk To send documents or programs from your computer
10) exec Someone who sells something, but not in a shop
The business of arranging and showing products in
shops in a way that makes people want to buy them
rest of the room by thin walls or curtains
versity, etc.
A student, or someone who has recently obtained a degree, who works in a job to get experience
to a larger system using the Internet
99
3. Provide synonyms for the following words:
relentless; to fi gure out; to review, to fi x, a screw up; to oversee,
to eliminate; to be psyched (about); an opening; a purchase; a hassle;
4. Provide antonyms for the following words:
illustrious; novelty; trustworthy; to speed up; to be thrilled; snug;
prompt; genuine; to be in charge of; to play hooky; a fl oater;
5. Restore the jumbled idioms and use them in your own
examples:
to love somebody out of the corner of one’s eye
to take on one’s hands
to catch something to pieces
come a rain check
to have time like a ton of bricks
to hit someone rain or shine
6. Translate from English. Comment on the contribution of stage
remarks to eshing out the characters of the movie:
1) Ext. Prospect Park — Brooklyn — an early spring morning.
An eclectic group ranging in age from 30 to 80 gather in rows
performing an ancient Chinese martial art of Tai Chi. They are led
by their young and graceful Instructor. Camera glides past one student to the next, as they move in sync through their meditative
poses. Credits begin. We arrive on Ben Whittacker. Ben just turned
70, an Everyman in many ways but a unique man to all who know
him. He exhales as he turns in sync with the others.
2) Int. Park Slope Starbucks — Morning
Crowded with folks on their way to work. Ben sits on a stool
at a corner table with a bagel and the morning's Post. Two Male
Execs in their 40s ask Ben if they can share his table. Ben's delighted, moves his papers. The Guys take two remaining stools, turn
them away from Ben and begin an impromptu meeting — as if Ben
wasn't even there.
100
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