- •4.1 Anticipating the Issue
- •4.1 A. The Job that Fits
- •1. You will need the following words to speak about skills and abilities necessary for certain jobs. Think which of them apply to you.
- •3. What would be the ideal job for you, and why?
- •4. Study the following verbs describing very important ways of reacting to other people’s emotions which are essential for working in a team.
- •5. Use the words in the following sentences in the correct form.
- •4.1 B. Seeking Employment
- •1. Explain the meaning of the words in bold which are quite often to be found in job advertisements.
- •3. Don’t forget that you should also actively participate in the interview. You should also ask questions which are interesting to you, such as:
- •4.1 C. Watching and Listening
- •1. Before you listen to the tape, discuss the following:
- •2. Listen to the recording and tick only the advice and information that the speakers actually give.
- •3. Discuss the following questions.
- •4.1 D. Group Discussion. Brainstorm Ideas
- •1. Imagine you are a career adviser. What advice would you give to someone who is
- •2. Chinese astrology organizes years into cycles of twelve with each year named after an animal. The Chinese believe that the year you are born in affects your character.
- •4.1 E. Creative Consolidation
- •4.2 Raise the Issue
- •4.2 A. Words in Context
- •1. Tick the word closest in meaning to that of the each boldfaced word. Use the context of the sentences to help you figure out each word’s meaning.
- •2. Write the word next to its definition. The sentences in the previous exercise will help you decide on the meaning of each word.
- •3. Using the answer line provided, complete each item below with the correct word from the box. Use each word once.
- •4.2 B. Headhunters
- •1. Read the article.
- •2. Match the words with their definitions.
- •3. Find words or phrases in the text which match the definitions below.
- •4. Answer the following questions.
- •5. Choose the best answer a, b, c or d. Only one answer is correct.
- •4.2 C. Group Discussion. Brainstorm Ideas.
- •4.2 D. Watching and Listening
- •2. Sally Muggeridge is Management Development Director at Pearson plc.
- •4.2 E. Vocabulary in Focus
- •1. Use the following idioms in the correct form in these situations.
- •3. Aspects of employment
- •4. Common work-related expressions
- •4.2 F. Creative Consolidation
- •2. Project-Making
- •3. Study different job advertisements.
- •4.3 Raise the Issue
- •1. Fill in the following expressions in the dialogue below. You might need them to speak about your plans.
- •4. 3 A. Words in Context
- •1. Tick the word closest in meaning to that of the each boldfaced word. Use the context of the sentences to help you figure out each word’s meaning.
- •2. Write the word next to its definition. The sentences in the previous exercise will help you decide on the meaning of each word.
- •3. Using the answer line provided, complete each item below with the correct word from the box. Use each word once.
- •4.3 B. Inflated Qualifications
- •1. Read the article.
- •2. Match the following words from the article with their definitions.
- •4.3 D. Vocabulary in Focus
- •1. Complete the expressions below using these verbs:
- •2. Use the expressions in these sentences.
- •3. Use the words from the box to complete each sentence.
- •4.3 E. Creative Consolidation
- •4.4 A. Words in Context
- •1. Tick the word closest in meaning to that of the each boldfaced word. Use the context of the sentences to help you figure out each word’s meaning.
- •2. Write the word next to its definition. The sentences in the previous exercise will help you decide on the meaning of each word.
- •3. Using the answer line provided, complete each item below with the correct word from the box. Use each word once.
- •4.4 B. Working Environment
- •2. Explain the meaning of the following words from the article.
- •3. What is your idea of the best organization of business?
- •4.4 D. Vocabulary in Focus
- •1. Complete the dialogues using the following idiomatic expressions.
- •2. Use the following expressions in the sentences below.
- •3. Use expressions from the box in the correct form in the following situations, connected with climbing the career ladder.
- •5. Over to you.
- •4.4 E. Creative Consolidation
- •4.5 Raise the Issue
- •4.5 A. Words in Context
- •1. Tick the word closest in meaning to that of the each boldfaced word. Use the context of the sentences to help you figure out each word’s meaning.
- •2. Write the word next to its definition. The sentences in the previous exercise will help you decide on the meaning of each word.
- •3. Using the answer line provided, complete each item below with the correct word from the box. Use each word once.
- •4.5. B Global Companies
- •1. Read the article.
- •2.Match the following words with their explanations.
- •3. Explain the meaning of the following words and word combinations from the text.
- •9. Word search.
- •10. For discussion.
- •4.5 C. Group Discussion. Brainstorm Ideas
- •4.5 D. Watching and Listening
- •1. Before you listen, decide which points below you think Miguel will make about Latin America and which ones Tong will make about China. Tick the appropriate column on the right.
- •2. What are the similarities and differences between the two cultures?
- •3. Listen to the rest of the interview. Summarize how business decisions are made in China, according to Tong.
- •4.5 E. Vocabulary in Focus
- •1. Match the words that collocate.
- •2. Choose the adjectives that collocate.
- •4.5 F. Creative Consolidation
- •1. Case Study
- •2. Write an essay on the following topics.
- •4. Project – Making
- •4.6 Raise the Issue
- •1. Change the underlined words, using more formal and more appropriate words from the list given. Make all necessary changes.
- •4.6 A. Words in Context
- •1. Tick the word closest in meaning to that of the each boldfaced word. Use the context of the sentences to help you figure out each word’s meaning.
- •2. Write the word next to its definition. The sentences in the previous exercise will help you decide on the meaning of each word.
- •3. Using the answer line provided, complete each item below with the correct word from the box. Use each word once.
- •4.6 B. A Short Cut to Success
- •1. Read the article.
- •2. Match the words from the article with their equivalents.
- •3. Read the article in detail and decide which paragraph mentions the following.
- •3. Distinguish between true and false statements.
- •4. Over to you.
- •4.6 E. Vocabulary in Focus
- •3. Study the following description of the written work for courses.
- •4. The writing process and evaluation.
- •4.6 F. Creative Consolidation
- •1. Write an article for a magazine about the importance of education in contemporary competitive world, developing one of the following theses.
- •2. Write an essay expressing your own opinions on the following statements.
- •3. Project Making
- •4.7 Reading Selection
- •Vocabulary
- •4. Understanding main points.
- •5. Understanding details.
- •6. How the text is organized.
- •7. Discuss the following questions.
- •Vocabulary
- •1. Match the words from the article with their meaning.
- •2. Explain the meaning of the following phrases.
- •3. Decide whether these statements are true or false.
- •4. Answer the following questions.
- •5. Comment on the title and sum up the information of the article.
- •Vocabulary
- •5. For discussion
- •Vocabulary
- •4. Answer the following questions.
- •5. Sum up the information of the article.
- •6. For discussion
- •Vocabulary
- •3. Decide whether the following statements are true or false.
- •4. Using phrases or sentences, outline the "three distinct stages of development" of the high achiever.
- •5. Comment on the title and summarize the article.
- •6. For discussion
- •Vocabulary
- •1. Find equivalents in the article.
- •2. Match the following words and expressions from the article with their definitions.
- •3. Explain the meaning of each adjective used by the author to characterize the ‘blessed barons’.
- •Vocabulary
- •2. What do the following phrases mean?
- •3. Explain the meaning of the following sentences.
- •4. The author paraphrases the common phrase ‘ vicious circle’ into ‘virtuous circle’. What is the difference between the two?
- •6. For discussion
- •Vocabulary
- •1. Match the phrases below with their meaning in the context.
- •2. Find the following expressions and phrases in the article. What are the meanings out of context (literal meanings)? Now decide what they mean in the context (figurative meanings).
- •3. Answer questions 1-5 by choosing a, b, c or d.
- •4. Does the author approve or disapprove of meetings? What pros and cons does he bring? Sum up his arguments.
- •Culture
- •Vocabulary
- •1. Find ten words and phrases in the text associated with each of the following:
- •2. Read the text again in detail to complete the following statements.
- •3. For discussion
- •4.8 Group Discussion
- •4.9 Panel Discussion
- •4.9 A. Vocabulary in Focus
- •1. Fill in the blanks with the words from the box.
- •4.9 B Watching and Listening
- •1. Listen to the first part of the interview and answer the following questions.
- •2. Listen to the second part of the interview and choose the best answer.
- •3. After you listen to the third part of the interview answer the following questions.
- •4.9. C. Brainstorm Ideas
- •4.10 Creative Consolidation
- •2. Write an article developing one of the following theses.
- •4.11 Group Project-Making
4. Understanding main points.
a. What is the attitude of UK employers to MBAs? Are they very positive, negative or in between?
b. Several top business schools are mentioned in the text - which ones are they? Do you agree with this list? Would you add others?
c. According to the article, do most MBA students pay for themselves?
d. In which country are MBAs very highly regarded by employers, according to the article?
5. Understanding details.
a. Four companies are mentioned in the article. Rank them in order in terms of their attitude to MBAs, starting with the one most in favour.
b. Some disadvantages about MBAs are mentioned by people quoted in the article. What are they?
c. Businesses are generally grouped into two broad categories - manufacturing and production on one side, and services on the other side. Into which categories do the four companies mentioned in the article fit? What does this tell you about the type of companies which generally favour MBAs? Is this the case in your country too?
6. How the text is organized.
The article has four main parts, each one describing the attitude of one company to MBAs. Each part has a clear introductory sentence that indicates whether the company is in favour of MBAs or not. Find the introductory sentences and decide if the sentence indicates a positive or negative attitude to MBAs.
7. Discuss the following questions.
- What do the letters MBA stand for?
- In our country how important is it to have an MBA to succeed in management?
Do you know many people who have an MBA, or who are studying or plan to study for one? Are you one of them? What are the reasons for doing so?
What policy should companies have towards MBAs? Should they sponsor students fully or partly with or without conditions? Should they form a partnership with a particular business school to design a ‘company-specific’ MBA? Should they recruit graduates only from the top international business schools?
Many people study for MBAs part-time over several years, or even by distance learning. What are the advantages and disadvantages of this route compared to a full-time MBA?
■ 4.7 B. No Place to Call Home
Foreign workers on H-1B visas were going to rescue Silicon Valley. But layoffs may force many to go home.
By brad stone and fe kagahastian
For the latest on the pursuit of the American Dream in Silicon Valley, all you have to do is to talk to someone like "Nagaraj" (who didn't want to reveal his real name). He's an Indian immigrant who, like many other Indian and Taiwanese engineers, came to America recently on an H-1B visa, which allows skilled workers to be employed by one company for as many as six years. But one morning last month, Nagaraj and a half dozen other Indian workers with H-lBs were called into a conference room in their San Francisco technology-consulting firm and told they were being laid off. The reason: weakening economic conditions in Silicon Valley. "It was the shock of my lifetime," says Nagaraj.
This is not a normal bear-market sob story. According to federal regulations, Nagaraj and his colleagues have two choices. They must either return to India, or find another job in a tight labor market and hope that the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) allows them to transfer their visa to the new company. And the law doesn't allow them to earn a pay-check until all the paperwork winds its way through the INS bureaucracy. "How am I going to survive without any job and without any income?" Nagaraj wonders.
Until recently, H-1B visas were championed by Silicon Valley companies as the solution to the region's shortage of programmers and engineers. First issued by the INS in 1992, they attract skilled workers from other countries, many of whom bring their families with them, lay down roots and apply for the more permanent green cards. Through February 2000, more than 81,000 workers held such visas—but with the dot-com crash, many have been getting laid off. That's causing mass consternation in U.S. immigrant communities. The INS considers a worker "out of status" when he loses a job, which technically means he must pick up and go home. But because of the scope of this year's layoffs, the U.S. government has recently backpedaled, issuing a confusing series of statements that suggest workers might be able to stay if they qualify for some exceptions and can find a new company to sponsor their visa. But even those loopholes remain nebulous. The result is thousands of immigrants now face dimming career prospects in America, and the possibility that they will be sent home. "They are in limbo. It is the greatest form of torture," says Amar Veda of the Silicon Valley-based Immigrants Support Network.
The crisis looks especially bad in light of all the heated visa rhetoric by Silicon Valley companies in the past few years. Last fall the industry won a big victory by getting Congress to approve an increase in the annual number of H-1B visas. Now, with technology firms retrenching, demand for such workers is slowing. Valley heavyweights like Intel, Cisco and Hewlett-Packard have all announced thousands of layoffs this year, which include many H-1B workers. The INS reported last month that only 16,000 new H-1B workers came to the United States in February—down from 32,000 in February of last year.
Visa holders are not allowed to take part-time work. Since many immigrants have rent payments to make and families to support here and back home, that rule is roundly ignored. One 22-year-old Taiwanese woman was forced to take up illegal employment after getting laid off from her job as a Web designer for a New-York dot-com in January. She waitressed, tutored kids, taught English to elderly immigrants and even volunteered to participate in a neurological study—anything to earn some cash. "Waitressing was the hardest job but the easiest to get," she says. "They didn't ask many questions or ask to see work papers. All they wanted to know was how much I weighed."
Last month, acknowledging the scope of the problem, the INS told H-1B holders "not to panic," and that there would be a grace period for laid-off workers before they had to leave the United States. INS spokeswoman Eyleen Schmidt promises that more specific guidance will come this month. "We're aware of the cutbacks," she says. "We're trying to be as generous as we can be within the confines of the existing law."
Among the established immigrant communities in Silicon Valley, there's growing consensus that the visa system itself is flawed. Kanwal Rekki, an Indian-American entrepreneur, says, "H-1B workers have become the indentured slaves of companies," since they rely on their employers to sponsor them for visas and green cards. Special-interest groups like the Immigrants Support Network are trying to remove those bonds, and have achieved a few modest successes. The organization lobbied successfully for the "portability" provisions in last year's H-1B visa expansion bill, allowing workers to transfer their visas and green-card applications among companies. Murali Krishna Devarakonda of the Immigrants Support Network says the goal now is to completely remove companies from the H-1B process. "What we are shooting for is simple freedom," he says. "Employers need us. The economy needs us. Why is the law structured in a way that we also need the employer?" He may have a point, but for now the lives of many immigrants are in chaos.