Unit 3 Corporate Life

3.1. Listening Development

Assignment 1. Listen to the recording to Unit 3. Fill in the gaps with the words and phrases used. Give their Russian equivalents.

China Faces Drop in Recruitment

Jobs in multinational companies are ________________ in China, especially ________________. For a start the pay is often better than you might get as a ________________ or the employee of a state owned enterprise. The jobs ________________ at the moment in the larger cities, like Beijing or Shanghai, or in the areas where there are many factories ________________.

Two years ago the multinationals were competing ________________ from China's universities but since the financial crisis jobs in multinational firms whose parent companies have ________________ overseas, like CitiGroup or Motorola, no longer look so secure.

This year there was ________________ of applications for the civil service, more than three quarters of a million people applied for 13,500 places. The surveys of the multinationals reported in the state media suggest that those applicants were wise ________________.

Almost 7 out of 10 of the firms polled made clear they planned to recruit fewer staff in the year ahead. That will make life even harder for this year's graduates. There are fewer jobs available than before and they'll be competing with other unemployed graduates from previous years and with ________________ workers who already have experience. The graduate employment market has always been tough in China but this year it is looking like it will be tougher than ever.

British Job Losses

Here at the Mini car plant in Cowley they know all about ________________. Recently over 800 agency workers were ________________ from here ________________. They're now part of a growing number of jobless which has ________________ for the first time in 12 years.

What is particularly worrying is the way ________________ are happening ________________. There is evidence too that the pain and suffering is being felt especially by younger people.

Politicians are ________________ for the summer when many school and university leavers will finish full-time education and start looking for jobs. That is one of the reasons why experts are ________________ that Britain could ________________ over three million unemployed, a situation not seen since the 1980s.

3.2. Vocabulary Enrichment

Assignment 1. Use appropriate verbs to complete this company profile.

GKS Services (1)________ in 1989 when Dieter Norland left his job as an engineer in the computer industry.The company (2)________ high-tech security alarms and (3)________ its products all over the world. It (4)________ ISO people at its factory near Rotterdam, although the company's head office is in Amsterdam and (5)________ a staff of 20.The company (6)________ a number of new products each year GKS Services (7)________ products to the security industry and (8)________ domestic alarms for the general public.

Assignment 2. Complete these sentences with the correct form of the word given in brackets.

1. The Finance __________________ (manage) is in his office.

2. Our __________________ (compete) have brought out a new product and it looks very good.

3. After a long negotiation, we finally reached __________________ .(agree).

4. The Far East suffered from __________________ (economy) difficulties in the late 1990s.

5. The TZ4000 is our best-selling __________________ (produce).

6. The World Bank is an international __________________ (organise) that supports development projects around the world.

Assignment 3. Fill in the gaps with the phrasal verbs given in the box.

to catch on to pick up to fall through

to come up with something to take someone on to fall off

to lay someone off to back out (of something) to take something over

P e t e r: Hello, Bill, how’s the car business doing at the moment?

B i l l: Not very well, I’m afraid. Our sales ____________________ at the moment, and our latest model hasn’t ____________________. We’ve also had to ____________________ a new project to build a family car. What about you?

P e t e r: Our export figures weren’t very good at the start of the year, but now they are starting to ____________________ and we need to ____________________ extra staff. In fact, we are thinking of ____________________ of another business.

B i l l: Lucky you! Our company is thinking of ____________________ some of its staff until things get better. By the way, what happened about that design problem you were telling me about?

P e t e r: Fortunately one of our team managed to ____________________ a brilliant solution to the problem – otherwise the whole project would ____________________.

Assignment 4. Make up a sentence with each phrasal verb given in the box above (Assignment 3).

1. _____________________________________________________________

2. _____________________________________________________________

3. _____________________________________________________________

4. _____________________________________________________________

5. _____________________________________________________________

6. _____________________________________________________________

7. _____________________________________________________________

8. _____________________________________________________________

9. _____________________________________________________________

Assignment 5. Fill in prepositions or postpositions where necessary. If you are not sure look it up in the Preface and Unit 1 of Achievement 1 on pages 1-8.

1. My boss greatly appreciated the new approaches … solving the problem that I suggested in yesterday’s meeting.

2. This textbook is to be used either … class or … self study … students of the upper intermediate level.

3. I was also responsible … recruitment and supplied our company … the best experts … marketing and banking I could find.

4. She waved her arm … me to attract my attention … what was happening behind her.

5. I don’t mind working … my own but in this case I could do … the aid of a more experience colleague.

6. Time in office should be spent … doing business but not … chatting … your wife all day.

7. I can’t stand it when my boss talks to me as if explaining something … a small child.

8. What I really like … this job is the sense of achievement … the clinching an important deal.

9. You can not spend all your live hoping … something to turn … .

10. That’s exactly the job I have always dreamed … .

11. – What does she do … a living?

• I’m not quite sure.

12. Mr Bright was recommended … promotion last month and got appointed … the post of deputy board chairman. He gladly took the new responsibilities … .

13. He referred … some book in his presentation very often but I didn’t get the author’s name.

14. The scandal brought his career … politics to a sudden end. He gave it … and took … early retirement … 55.

15. My brother worked … a skilled trade for 3 years. But he felt he was not cut … … it. He quitted … his job, was … the dole for about a year, was job hunting and finally got a position in a building company he was satisfied … . We all hoped he wouldn’t be laid … . But alas, times were hard and a lot of companies were cutting back … staff and even closing … .

16. He was a bricklayer … trade and built a lot of houses … the neighbourhood.

17. Mary entered … the teaching profession in 1997. She is … maternity leave now but she’s coming back … September.

18. – What line of medicine is he … ?

– I suppose he is … psychology.

19. To be thrown … … work is very annoying especially if you are young and full … energy.

20. Let’s assign him … the job. He is reliable and responsible enough.

21. The sales assistant deserves … advancement … position. He can make … a good department manager. He can also be responsible … recruitment.

22. Engine drivers were just about to go … strike but a rise … wages calmed them ….

23. A bank clerk receives and pays … money … a bank. He may also help clients fill … forms and write … cheques.

24. Who is … charge of your company?

25. My son works … business. He makes … programs for professional accountants and lawyers.

26. I am afraid that drawing is not … my line.

27. Why not appoint Mark … the job. He’ll cope … it perfectly well.

28. Medicine is not just a way of making … money. It’s a special call … God. Unfortunately you have never had the sense of fitness or particular ability … relieving other people’s suffering.

29. I intended to take … a job of a printing press operator when I left school but they didn’t take me … . After I was turned … by a couple of other companies I was finally employed … a post of a night watcher. I can at least get … … my wages now while looking … something better paid.

30. They dismissed Peggy … her work in just a month but it didn’t discourage her.

Assignment 6. Translate the following phrases from Russian into English. Make sure you use the correct forms, articles and prepositions.

1. I worked really hard all summer чтобы расширить мой словарный запас и увеличить скорость речи. My goal is to добиться отличного владения иностранным языком to make a brilliant career in future.

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2. Have you ever рассматривать этот вариант?

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3. Заключение важной сделки always brings me a sense of achievement and satisfaction.

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4. Does he work for a particular company or is he работает на себя.

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5. Why did you подал заявление об уходе? (2 variants)

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6. You won't have any дополнительные льготы (2 variants) for the first year after you are приняты на работу (at least 3 variants).

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7. I wouldn't fancy working as переводчик-референт. It is a very тяжелая и утомительная работа, требующая больших усилий.

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8. Peter is always на больничном. He'd сокращен\уволен (6 variants) first if there were сокращение штатов to be made.

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