TALKING ABOUT YOUR WORK ENGLISH VOCABULARY IN USE PRE INTERMEDIATE

 

ENGLISH VOCABULARY IN USE PRE INTERMEDIATE UNIT 36 TALKING ABOUT YOUR WORK

 

A What do you do? People can ask what job you do in different ways; you can answer in different ways. B What does that involve?* James and Emma are business consultants [people who help others in a particular area]. They advise people who want to set up [start] a business, especially in health and fitness. James deals with the marketing [does the work in marketing; syn handle], while Emma is responsible for [in control of; syn in charge of] products [things that people make/produce] such as towels, equipment, beauty products, etc. Common mistakes   I have a lot of work to do. (NOT I have a lot of works to do.) She advises me. (NOT She advices me.) BUT She gives me advice. (NOT She gives me advise.) My job involves a lot of travel. OR My job involves travelling. (NOT My job involves to travel.) Amy is a manager in a veterinary surgery. She runs [organises or controls] the day-to-day [happening every day] business of the surgery and is in charge of a small team: three receptionists, an accounts manager and a secretary. Her work involves a lot of admin [short for administration] such as buying food, medicine and equipment; she also handles any complaints that customers make. [when customers complain / say that something is wrong or is not satisfactory] * What do you have to do exactly? C Pay Most workers are paid [receive money] every month; this is called a salary. Your income is the total amount of money you receive in a year. This might be money from one job; it might be money from two jobs. We can express this in different ways: My income is about £25,000. OR I earn/make about £25,000 a year [every year]. Some of that income you can keep, but some goes to the government; in the UK this is called income tax, e.g. I lose 20% of my income in income tax. Language help   A salary is money paid to professional people, e.g. doctors or teachers, and to office workers for the work they do, and is usually paid into a person’s bank account every month. Wages are usually paid for each hour/day/week of work to people who do more physical jobs, e.g. building or cleaning. D Conditions* Most people work fixed hours [always the same], e.g. 9 am to 5.30 pm. We often call this a nine-to-five job. Other people have to do/work overtime [work extra hours]. Some people get paid for overtime; others don’t. Some people have good working conditions, e.g. nice offices, paid holidays, extra time off [not at work] for a new mother and father when a baby is born, etc. There is also a minimum wage [an amount of money workers receive, and employers cannot pay less than this]. * the situation in which people work or live   EXERCISES 36.1 Tick (✓) the words which are directly connected with money. 36.2 Match the words on the left with the words on the right. 36.3 Rewrite the sentences on the left starting with the words given. Keep a similar meaning. 1 What do you do? ____________What’s your job?__________________________ 2 I’m a marketing assistant. I work ____________________________________________ 3 I’m employed by the government. I work ____________________________________________ 4 I earn £34,000 a year from my two jobs. My ____________________________________________ 5 What do you have to do exactly? What does your job ____________________________________________ 6 I’m responsible for the reception area. I’m in ____________________________________________ 7 What’s your job? What do you do for ____________________________________________ 8 I have to read government reports. My job involves ____________________________________________ 9 I advise clients. I give ____________________________________________ 10 I complained about the service. I made ____________________________________________ 36.4 Complete the texts. Put one word in each gap. Alexander Carpenter works 1_____ in _____ sales, and he’s a regional manager. He 2_______________ the north-west region and he’s 3_______________ for a small team of five other sales people. His job 4_______________ a lot of travelling within the region, and he’s in contact with his team on a day-to- 5_______________ basis. It’s not a nine-to- 6_______________ job: Alexander has to do a lot of 7_______________. Fortunately he can 8_______________ a lot more money by doing this, and his working 9_______________ are quite good. After income 10_______________ he makes £60,000 11_______________ year. Recently his wife had a baby, but the company gave him extra time 12_______________ to be with her after the birth. Kelly Bradbury is a financial adviser for a bank. She specialises in mortgages, which means that she 13_______________ people who want to buy a flat or a house. At the moment Kelly spends a lot of her time 14_______________ with young people who are trying to buy a property for the first time, which is not easy. She works 15_______________ hours – 9 am to 5 pm – and she doesn’t have to 16_______________ overtime. 36.5

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