Vocabulary:

setup	if you describe a situation as a setup, you mean that people have planned it in order to deceive you or to make it look as if you have done something wrong
sheet	you can use sheet to refer to a piece of paper which gives information about smth
to be up against	if you are up against smth (smb) you have a very difficult situation or problem to deal with
to go for	if you go for a particular thing or way of doing smth, you choose it
suite	a suite is a set of rooms in a hotel or other building
bonus on a bonus basis	a bonus is an extra amount of money that is added to someone’s pay usually because they have worked very hard
carried away	if you get carried away, you are so eager or excited about something that you do smth hasty or foolish
degree	a degree at a university or college is a course of study that you take there, or the qualification that you get when you have passed the course
to transfer	if you are transferred to a different job or place, you move to a different job or start working in a different place
to overestimate	if you say that someone overestimates smth, you mean that they think it’s greater in amount or importance than it really is

Task 1. Who said these things? In what situations?

1. Did you make a wish?

2. Can’t they emerge without you at least once?

3. He doesn’t want to hear it from a secretary.

4. You are up against Harvard and Wharton graduates. You’ve got some night school, some secretarial time on your sheet.

5. What do you think is the most important quality for a great arbitrager?

6. You are not seriously looking for a new assistant, are you?

7. You don’t get ahead in this world by calling your boss a pimp.

8. (It) took me five years in night school. But I got my degree and I got it with honours.

9. You go home and cool off.

Task 2. Explain these sentences. (Who said them?)

1. They turned you down for the entrée program again.

2. This isn’t another setup?

3. I get a little carried away.

4. I’m always on the lookout for new blood.

5. Looking at your file here. This is the third time in six months I’ve had to place you.

6. Here’s something for you. Transferring down from Boston. Mergers and acquisitions. Name is Parker.

7. This is the last time I can help you, four strikes, you are out.

Task 3. Match these words to their meanings:

1	setup	a	an extra amount of money that is added to someone’s pay usually because they have worked very hard
2	overestimate	b	to choose a particular thing or way of doing it
3	sheet	c	a set of rooms in a hotel or other building
4	to be up against smth (smb)	d	to move to a different job or start working in a different place
5	to go for	e	to think that smth is greater in amount or importance than it really is
6	suite	f	a piece of paper that gives information about smth
7	bonus	g	a course of study that you take at a university, or the qualification that you get when you have passed the course
8	to be carried away	h	to have a very difficult situation or problem to deal with
9	degree	i	a situation planned in order to deceive you or to make it look as if you have done something wrong
10	to transfer	j	to be so eager or excited about smth that you do smth hasty or foolish

Task 4. Number these sentences in the correct order, from 1 to 7:

• Bob in arbitrage. If you are still hungry, they are looking for (the) hungry out there.

• But, no one ever got rich overestimating what the American public wants to taste.

• All right, I’ll pick you at 5, we’ll ride back together.

• Do I look like a pimp?

• I don’t think they are going to sing you praises.

• Just once I could go for … like a sweater or some earrings, you know. A present I could actually wear outside of this apartment.

• The company keeps a suite at the Ritz Carlton and when it’s empty, they give it to us, boys, on a bonus basis.

Task 5. Answer these questions:

1. Where is the action set? In what way does the 1988 Academy award winning song by Carly Simon help create the right backdrop to the introductory scenes.

2. What’s your first impression of Tess McGill? Can we say she fits the description of a workaholic? What do you make of her hairstyle, her clothes etc.?

3. Why does Tess’s friend say she “is supposed to take Tess to drinks and have her home at seven”?

4. Was the morning in the office hectic? Why?

5. Can we say Tess has brains? Is she good at spotting new market trends? Justify your answer.

6. What news did Turkel and David Lutz have for Tess that day? Why do you think she was wary of David Lutz’s proposal?

7. Why do you think Tess told her boyfriend she “could go for” a somewhat different kind of present in the future?

8. Did “the job interview” with Bob turn out the way Tess had anticipated?

9. Why was Tess fired? Do you think she liked her job?

10. Sum up Tess’s conversation with the personnel manager.

Task 6. Discuss the following:

Tess Mc Gill seems to have everything going for her – beauty, brains & charm. Why do you think she finds it so difficult to get out of the Wall Street secretarial pool and into the upper echelons of New York brokerage industry?