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II. Basic Listening Practice
8. Script
W: Why do some people stay in one job for life while others switch jobs from time to time? M: Some people want a fixed routine so that they don?t have to adapt tot new circumstances over and over again, while others think variety is the spice of life. Q: According to the dialog, why do some people stick to one job for life?
9. Script
M: Kathleen, you?ve been late for work so many times lately that I have to warn you that any repetition will result in your dismissal. W: I?m sorry. I?ll try my best to get here earlier in the future. Perhaps I could work later to make up the time I?ve lost. Q: What does the woman say?
3. Script
M: Mr. Brown, my time here has been frustrating for me. I have a better opportunity with another firm, and I?m taking it. W: We won?t be sorry to see you leave, Richard. You?ve done your best to make everyone here as miserable as you are. Q: How does the woman feel about the man?s leaving?
4. Script
W: Mr. Armes, I wanted to tell you in person that at the end of this month I?ll be leaving the company. M: Well, Sylvia, we are certainly going to miss you here, but I wish you the best of luck. Q: What does the woman want?
5. Script
W: Time, I hate to tell you this, but we?re caught in a budget crunch, and we must lay you off. I?m sorry. M: I understand. I?ve enjoyed my time here, and I?m confident I can find something else. Q: What is the man?s response?
Keys: 1.B2.D3. A 4.C 5.D
III. Listening In
Task 1: How to Avoid Bankruptcy
Manager: Adam! Have you any suggestions about how we can avoid bankruptcy?
Downsizing would certainly reduce our operating costs. You know, make us lean and mean, the way you have to be in today?s market. Manager: Where do you suggest we start making these staff cuts? Adam: The logical place to start would be in administration. They usually overstaffed. Manager: That?s not going to go over very well with our employees. Some of them have been with the company for years. Adam: It?s painful process, but there?s no choice. They?ll just have to get used to the idea. Manager: We can give them a fairly decent severance package when they?re fired. Adam: I know. And I think that if we computerize the office, we could reduce office staff by about 20 percent just by eliminating a lot of paperwork. Manager: OK. If we lay off 20 percent of the administrative staff, will that be enough to get the company back on its feet? Adam: Unfortunately not. We?ll also need to make some cuts in the service department. Manager: How can we do that and maintain the level of service that we offer our passengers? Adam: Well, we?ll have to retrain the service staff and streamline our operations, so we won?t need as many people to run things smoothly. Manager: Well, this is serious, but I really don?t think we have any other choice. If we keep losing money like this, we?ll have to shut everything down. 21. What is the dialog mainly concerned with? 22. What does the man mean by “make us lean and mean”? 23. What is the difficulty in cutting the administrative staff? 24. What will happen as a result of firing the administrators? 25. What does the man think will happen after they cut 20 percent of the administrators?
Adam:
Keys: 1B 2.D 3.A 4.C 5.C
For Reference 1. He suggests retaining the service staff and streaming their operations, so they won?t need as many people to run things smoothly. 2. That is a serious step, but she thinks they haven?t any other choice. If they keep losing money, they will have to shut everything down.
Task3: Layoffs can be predicted.
Script
In some cases companies inform their employees in advance that layoffs are coming. In other cases, they come without warning: You arrive on time for work on a Friday, but you are told not to come next week. Ouch! In either case, you may be able to sense some bad signs in advance. Maybe the company has tried very hard to avoid layoffs; maybe it has been preparing for the worst for quite some time. If you think about the bad omens carefully, you might know as much or more than some of the employees in managerial positions with management responsibilities. For example, if you work in sales, you might know that quotas have not been met. If you work in field engineering, you might notice far fewer customer installations. If your company?s competitors, suppliers or customers are laying off employees, it?s likely your company will too, especially if economic conditions are affecting your industry. Check the layoff statistics from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Search the Net and your local newspaper too for articles concerning layoffs in your industry. Do things like bad sales always mean that layoffs are coming to your company? Not necessarily. Companies have seasonal and economic sales dips all the time, and are always looking for ways to improve their performance. So, if you see only one or two bad signs, don?t jump to a hasty conclusion. But if you see more, especially along the lines of earnings warnings, budget cuts, hiring freezes, restructuring, and massive layoffs in your industry, it might just be time to get your resume up to date and start looking for a new job. Also, it might e a good idea to cancel your vacation, implement money-saving measures, and become more useful on your job. You should prepare in advance if you think you might get the axe soon.
19. What is the passage mainly about? 20. According to the passage, when can one sense layoffs are coming? 21. What is mentioned as a bad sign for the field engineering department? 22. According to the passage, what do bad sales signal? 5. Which of the following is NOT mentioned as a sign for you to update your resume?
Keys: 1D 2.C3. B 4.C 5A
For Reference You may get your resume up to date and start looking for a new job. Also, it might e a good idea to cancel your vacation, implement money-saving measures, and become more useful on your job.
VI. Further Listening and Speaking
Task1: Problems of Joblessness Script
Joblessness can lead to a series of problem, and it is not easy to solve them. First of all, being without a job often means lacking social contract wit h fellow employees, and lacking a purpose for many hours of the day,. Also, it obviously affects your ability to pay bills and t o purchase the necessities of life, Lack of this ability is especially serious for those wit family obligations, debts, or medical costs, and it is especially true id in a country like the United States, where the availability of medical insurance is often linked to holding a job. Some maintain that jobless people can rely on unemployment insurance, but this is no true. Unemployment insurance in the U.S. typically does not even replace50 percent of the income one received on the job, and one cannot receive it forever. Therefore, the unemployed often end up aping welfare programs such as Food Stamps—or accumulating debt: both formal debt to banks and informal debt to friends and relatives. Some hold that low-income jobs provide solution to joblessness, but this is not true. Since it is difficult or impossible to get unemployment insurance benefits without having worked in the past, job-seekers have to accept low-income jobs. Thus, unemployment insurance keeps a ready supply of low-paid workers. To make things worse, many employers take advantage of this. When they resort to such management techniques as low wages and benefits, as well ad few chances for advancement, they bear the unemployment insurance option in mind. Under increasing unemployment pressure, jobless people suffer from a variety of financial, psychological and social problems. Increase unemployment encourages bad health and raises both crime and suicide rates.
17. What is the first problem mentioned concerning joblessness? 18. Which of the following is true of American unemployment insurance? 19. Why do people accept low-income jobs? 20. According to the passage, what problems might unemployment cause? 21. Which of the following would be the most suitable title for the passage?
Keys: 1.A 2.B 3.C 4.D5.A
Task 2: Before the cutback
Script
Barbara: I?ve really got to think about my future. You?ve heard of the cutbacks the management?s making, right? Alan: Oh, yes. I?ve heard it. But you haven?t anything to be concerned about. Barbara: Around here you never know from one day to the next whether you can keep your job .Alan: Come on, they won?t let you go. You?ve been for so long. Besides, you?re good at your job. Barbara: That might be, but I feel that I?ve reached the glass ceiling in this company. Alan: Glass ceiling? What do you mean by that? Barbara: I?ve been working here for ten years. I haven?t gotten a promotion in three years. I thought I should be Vice President by now. If I were a man, I?m sure I would be Vice President. Alan: There?s no official company policy, but it?s true that they don?t promote women to management positions here. Barbara: I can see the writing on the wall. I think it?s time to change job, and maybe even careers, if I want to get ahead. Alan: Change career? That?s a big jump. If you change careers, what will you do? Barbara: I?m doing market research here, but I studies public relations in college. I?d like to do PR for a large multinational company. Alan: That sounds exciting, and the pay would be better, too. Yeah, if I would keep an eye on the job positing on the Internet. Barbara: Sooner or later something good is bound to turn up in the job market.
Keys: TTFFF
