Work

1 How would you generally feel, happy ☺ or unhappy ☹, if you were in the
following situations? Use the words and phrases in bold to help you decide.

1. The company you work for is well known for its job security. ☺ ☹
2. You are suddenly made redundant. ☺ ☹
3. You receive a promotion. ☺ ☹
4. You are given an increment. ☺ ☹
5. You work unsociable hours. ☺ ☹
6. You have a steady job. ☺ ☹
7. You had adverse working conditions. ☺ ☹
8. You suddenly find yourself unemployed. ☺ ☹
9. You need time off work because of repetitive strain injury. ☺ ☹
10. The office where you work has sick building syndrome. ☺ ☹
11. You receive regular perks ☺ ☹
12. Somebody calls you a workaholic. ☺ ☹
13. Your company gives you plenty of incentives. ☺ ☹
14. Your boss announces that there is going to be some downsizing ☺ ☹
15. You have a lot of job satisfaction. ☺ ☹
16. Your company has a generous incentive scheme. ☺ ☹
17. You receive a commission ☺ ☹
18. You receive support from a union. ☺ ☹
19. You are under stress. ☺ ☹
20. You are forced to resign. ☺ ☹
21. You receive a cutsalary. ☺ ☹
22. Your company gives you sickness benefit. ☺ ☹
23. You find your job very demanding. ☺ ☹
24. Your boss tells you that you have potential ☺ ☹
25. Your boss tells you that you lack initiativemotivation ☺ ☹
26. Everyone at work ignores ☺ ☹
 Work
2 Match sentences 1 – 6 in box A with one of the sentences A – F in box B.
Write the person’s name after each sentence A – F. Use the words and
phrases in bold to help you.
Box A.

1. Samantha is the assistant manager of a bank and she works from 8.30 to
5.30 every day.

2. Tracy works on the production line of a factory which makes cars. She
uses a machine to spray paint on to the finished car parts.

3. Jane works for herself. She is a photographer. She works every day for
about eight or nine hours.

4. Jeanette is a cleaner for a company in Birmingham, but she only works

there for about three or four hours a day.

5. Claire has a powerful job in the personnel office of a large

multinational company. She is responsible for employing new people
and getting rid of those that the company doesn’t want to employ any
more.

6. Marie works in the finance department of an international college in

Oxford.

Box B.

A. She is a semi-skilled blue-collar worker in a manufacturing

industry. .............................
B. She is self-employedfull-time. She likes to describe herself as
freelance. .............................
C. She is responsible for hiring and firing. .............................
D. She calculates the wages, salaries, pension contributions and
medical insurance contributions of all the staff. .............................
E. She is a full-time white-collar workerservice industry.
.............................
F. She is an unskilled part-time employee. .............................
Work
3 Now read this essay and complete the gaps with one of the words or
phrases from Exercises 1 and 2. You will need to change the form of some
of the words.

‘Some people live to work, and others work to live. In most cases, this
depends on the job they have and the conditions under which they are
employed. In your opinion, what are the elements that make a job
worthwhile?’
In answering this question, I would like to look first at the elements that
combine to make a job undesirable. By avoiding such factors, potential
1................................................... are more likely to find a job that is more
worthwhile, and by doing so, hope to achieve happiness in their work.
First of all, it doesn’t matter if you are an 2...................................................
worker cleaning the floor, a 3...................................................
4................................................... worker on a production line in one of the
5..................................................., or a 6...................................................
worker in a bank, shop or one of the other 7...................................................: if
you lack 8..................................................., with the knowledge that you might
lose your job at any time, you will never feel happy. Everybody would like a
9................................................... in which he or she is guaranteed work.
Nowadays, however, companies have a high turnover of staff,
10................................................... new staff and
11................................................... others on a weekly basis. Such companies
are not popular with their workers.
The same can be said of a job in which you are put under a lot of
12................................................... and worry, a job which is so
13................................................... that it takes over your life, a job where you
work 14................................................... and so never get to see your family or
friends, or a physical job in which you do the same thing every day and end up
with the industrial disease that is always in the papers nowadays –
15....................................................
With all these negative factors, it would be difficult to believe that there are
any elements that make a job worthwhile. Money is, of course, the prime
motivator, and everybody wants a good
16..................................................................... But of course that is not all. The
chance of 17...................................................................., of being given a
better position in a company, is a motivating factor. Likewise,
18................................................... such as a free lunch or a company car, an
19................................................... scheme to make you work hard such as a
regular 20................................................... above the rate of inflation,
21................................................... in case you fall ill and a company
22................................................... scheme so that you have some money when
you retire all combine to make a job worthwhile.
Unfortunately, it is not always easy to find all of these. There is, however, an
alternative. Forget the office and the factory floor, become
23................................................... and work for yourself. Your future may not
be secure, but at least you will be happy.