Scene II

Notes:

Petty Marsh & Co	the company Tess Mc Gill is working for now
bunny	(used especially by or to children) a rabbit
stock	a company’s stock is the amount of money which it has through selling shares
tender	a statement of the price one would charge for providing goods or services or for doing a job
Coco Chanel	(1883 – 1971) a French fashion designer; who is known especially for a simple type of women’s suit and for the little black dress, which she invented
Acme Eats; The Raging Bull	New York caterers
hors d’oeuvres	savoury food served in small amounts at the beginning of a meal instead of soup or another starter
bartender a bartender service	a bartender is a person who serves drinks behind a bar. The British word is barman or barmaid
liquor liquor store	strong alcoholic drink, such as whiskey (compare liqueur)
“W”	a magazine in the US
dim sum	any of various Chinese foods typically consisting of small pieces of meat or vegetables wrapped in rice or a kind of light bread and cooked in steam or hot oil; a popular lunchtime meal
dumpling Chinese dumplings	a lump of flour mixed with water, cooked by boiling in water and often served with meat or having meat inside it
prick (taboo derog. slang)	a stupid or very unpleasant man
Trask Industries	a company
FCC	the Federal Communications Commission set up in 1927 to coordinate the work of all stations
take over	to take over a company means to get control of it, for example by buying its shares

Vocabulary:

tough	a tough person has a strong determined character and can tolerate difficulty or hardship
to accommodate accommodating	if you do smth to accommodate someone, you do it with the main purpose of pleasing or satisfying them
accurate	correct to a very detailed level
impeccable	if you describe something such as someone’s behaviour or appearance as impeccable, you are emphasizing that it’s excellent and has no faults
a two-way street	two people or groups helping each other or learning from each other
input	information or resources that a group or project receives (Input is information that is put into a computer)
pitiful	someone or something that is pitiful is so sad, weak, or small that you feel pity for them
glued to	of you say that someone is glued to something, you mean that they are giving it all their attention
to sneak	if you sneak somewhere, you go there very quietly on foot, trying to avoid being seen or heard

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

1. We are practically twins.

2. And call me Katherine.

3. The caterers are called “Acme Eats”. You can get the number from information. They do the usual hors d’oeuvres and such. “The Raging Bull” has a bartender service and the liquor store on Broadway and Liberty delivers.

4. If that’s the way you want to go.

5. I guess, you are right, if dumplings can be considered a good idea.

6. Jim, the man who spends every weekend in August glued to his desk … that man knows that I just can’t sneak out of my own party.

7. Never burn bridges. Today’s junior prick, tomorrow’s senior partner.

8. Shoot.

9. I’ve been trying to get into the entrée program and this would be a big push.

10. Maybe we could all go out sometime, you know. Dinner in the city.

Task 2. Match these words to their meanings:

1	input	a	to go very quietly on foot, trying to avoid being seen or heard
2	to sneak	b	information or resources that a group or project receives
3	impeccable	c	so sad, weak or small that you feel pity for them
4	a two-way street	d	doing smth for somebody with the main purpose of pleasing or satisfying them
5	accommodating	e	excellent and having no faults
6	accurate	f	two people or groups helping each other or learning from each other
7	tough	g	having a strong determined character
8	pitiful	h	correct to a very detailed level

Task 3. Watch Katherine’s ‘ground rules presentation speech’ again (once or twice).

1. Fill in the gaps in the text with an appropriate word or phrase from the list below (the list includes some words that are not suitable).

2. Can this short monologue help to get an insight into what sort of person Katherine is? In what way?

pitiful, accommodating, rewarded, two-way street, keep, link, accurate, meeting, impeccable, rethink, making, uniform, line, outside, tough, start with, profile, awarded, chain, exact, input

Katherine: A few ground rules. The way I look at it, you are my (1) ____________ with the (2) ____________ world. People’s impression of me (3) ____________ you. You are (4) ____________, when it’s wanted, (5) ______________, when you can be, you are (6) ______________, you are punctual and you never make a promise you can’t (7) ______________. I’m never on another (8) ______________, I’m in a (9) ______________.

I consider us a team, and as such we have a (10) ______________: simple, elegant, (11) ______________.

“Dress sharply, they notice the dress, dress impeccably, they notice the woman”, Coco Chanel….

…You look terrific. You might want to (12) ______________ the jewelry.

I want your (13) ______________, Tess. I welcome your ideas. And I like to have hard work (14) ______________. It’s a (15) ______________ on my team. Am I (16) ______________ myself clear?

Tess: Yes, Katherine.

Katherine: And call me Katherine.

Tess: OK.

Katherine: Let’s get to work then. This department’s (17) ______________ last year was damn (18) ______________. Our team has got its work cut out for it.

Task 4. Watch Tess’s account of her idea once again.

1. Number these sentences from it in the correct order, from 1 to 4;

2. Sum up the idea.

• Plus it would solve Trask’s problems with his Japanese competitors trying to take him over because FCC forbids foreign ownership of radio as well as TV.

• It’s not as glamorous as jumping right into TV, but it’s a solid place to start and there’s a lot more than for sale.

• You know how Trask Industries has been looking into buying into broadcasting.

• My idea is that they get their feet wet in radio and build from there.

Task 5. Answer these questions:

1. Which of Katherine’s ground rules seemed sound to you? Justify your answer.

2. What do you make of Ginny? Did you get the impression she was picking on Tess? Why?

3. Do you think the cocktail-party scene is relevant in terms of shedding some more light on the main characters? In what way?

4. Can we say Katherine got really interested in Tess’s idea? Try and remember what questions she asked her secretary while listening to her. What was the first thing she did after Tess left the room?

5. Does Tess, in your opinion, have much in common with her boyfriend? Explain why you think so.

Task 6. Discuss the following:

Tess says to her boss Katherine Parker at some point: “I’ve been trying to get into the entrée program and this (referring to her idea) would be a big push.” Would you subscribe to the view that one good idea might propel a person from a secretarial pool onto a management track? Give your reasoning.