The world of work

• jobs and work
• phrases made with job + noun
• reported questions
• subject / object questions
• negative questions
• question tags (form and meaning / pronunciation)
• writing general enquiry letters

Dream jobs: the dream and the reality

A survey of 3,000 workers in the UK has revealed the top ten dream jobs. Being ‘dream’ jobs, a certain amount of fantasy is involved, but what is the reality behind the dream? We asked some professionals what doing these jobs was really like.

1 Discuss the questions below in pairs or small groups.

1 What does the phrase ‘dream job’ mean?

2 What order do you think the jobs came in?

2 Read the magazine article. Then complete the tasks on page 69.

Now test your reading: word meanings first, then true or false.

Word meanings and true-or-false statements

1 Choose the correct meaning for these words from the text. Circle A or B.

1 revealed (line 1)

A repeated

B shown 2 fantasy (line 3)

A unreality

B excellence 3 job security (line 12)

A having a job that isn’t dangerous

B being sure that you won’t lose your job 4 outweighs (line 22)

A is heavier than

B is more important than 5 stage fright (line 25)

A feeling nervous before appearing in public

B gradually becoming more afraid 6 make a living (line 32)

A feel more alive than before

B earn enough money to survive 7 charity (line 51)

A non-profit organisation

B taking great care

2 Decide whether the statements are TRUE or FALSE. Write the phrase or sentence from the text that helped you decide.

1 James is surprised that so many people want to be pilots.

2 Jane feels that her job is special.

3 If you are a good enough singer, you will probably succeed in the end.

4 Many musicians are also full-time teachers.

5 Some people who work for charities are not paid.

3 Discuss the questions in pairs or small groups.

1 Which of the ten jobs would you prefer to have? Why?

2 If your own dream job is not included in the list, what is it?

3 How do you think the list of dream jobs would be different if you asked people in Palestine the same question?

A school and a minister talk about work

1 Discuss the questions in pairs or small groups.

1 How important is it for schools to prepare students for working life?

2 How early in their school years should students begin thinking about their future career?

3 At what age do students begin choosing subjects in Palestine?

4 When choosing your subjects for future study, which is more important: subjects you are interested in or those that could be useful in getting a job in the future?

2 Read the two texts quickly. Then complete these sentences.

1 Text ———————— is probably a news story.

2 Text ———————— is probably a newspaper or magazine article.

3 Both texts are about the connection between ———————— and ————————.

Now a second text on the same theme.

Find words, fill gaps, use job phrases

3 Find words in the text that have these meanings.

1 having or getting a job (Text A, paragraph 2) 2 from beginning to end of (Text A, paragraph 3) 3 giving good value (Text A, paragraph 3) 4 different parts working together (Text A, paragraph 3) 5 possibilities for the future (Text B, paragraph 1) 6 causing a lot of argument (Text B, paragraph 2) 7 ignore, not pay attention to (Text B, paragraph 2)

4 Use the words in Activity 3 to complete the sentences below.

1 It’s good to have an interesting hobby, but don’t ___ your studies.

2 Learning is something that should continue ___ your life.

3 He has lots of different ideas about what to do, but no ___ plan.

4 A lot of students and teachers disagreed with the school’s ___ decision to have a longer working day.

5 It’s not ___ spending money on a new computer if the old one still works.

6 The Minister said the ___ for future economic recovery were good.

7 Graduates are more likely than non-graduates to find ___ in the future.

5 Look at the phrases made with the word job and use them to replace the underlined parts of the sentences.

1 Your possibility of getting a job in future will be better if you choose technical subjects.

2 The problem is that I have no guarantee that my work will continue. _ 3 He refused to do it because it wasn’t part of his list of duties involved in his job. 4 It’s important to know how to write a good letter or form to try and get a job. 5 For her, feeling happy about what she does is more important than a high salary. 6 Because of economic problems, there aren’t as many chances to get work. __

6 Read the texts again. Then answer the questions.

1 What are future students encouraged to do before they begin studying at Milton School?

2 Why aren’t teachers at Milton School expected to advise students about work?

3 Why did students in the past without a clear idea of their future career tend to choose arts subjects?

4 Why does the university head believe that arts and technical subjects are equally important?

Reported questions: statement order, no question mark

1 Look at the examples of direct questions and reported or indirect questions.

Then circle the correct words to complete the grammar rules.

1 In these direct questions, the subject comes before / after the verb.

2 The questions on the left ask for information / a yes or no answer.

3 The questions on the right ask for information / a yes or no answer.

1 When reporting questions, the subject comes before / after the verb, as in normal sentences.

2 Changes like moving tenses into the past and changing pronouns are the same as / different from normal reported speech.

3 When reporting Wh- questions / Yes/No questions, we use either if or whether

4 We use / don’t use question marks with reported questions.

2 Report the questions.

1 ‘Where is the nearest police station?’ He asked ___.

2 ‘Was that the best way to do the job?’ I asked her ___.

3 ‘How did you manage to do the work so quickly?’ They asked him ___.

4 ‘Who do you want to speak to?’ She asked me ___.

5 ‘Can you speak any foreign languages?’ He asked her ___.

6 ‘Do Palestinian students usually choose technical subjects?’ I asked ___.

3 Look at the examples. Then complete the grammar rules by adding subject or object.

1 When who or what refers to the ___ of the question, we use the normal sentence order (subject + verb).

2 When who or what refers to the ___ of the question, we use the question order (do/did + subject + infinitive verb).

4 Read the situation. Then write a question for each answer.

The teacher asked Faisal a question, but the question confused him. That evening, he asked his father, who told him the answer.

1 Who ___ ? The teacher.

2 Who ___ ? Faisal.

3 What ___ ? The question.

4 Who ___ ask? His father.

5 Who ___ Faisal’s father? Faisal.

6 Who ___ ? His father.

Subject and object questions with who and what

Negative questions: doubt, annoyance and surprise

1 Compare the examples. Then answer the questions.

1 Which question suggests that the speaker has doubts? ___

2 Which question suggests that the speaker is annoyed? ___

3 What type of question (positive or negative) do we use to express feelings like anger and surprise? ___

2 Match the negative questions with their suggested meanings.

NEGATIVE QUESTIONS SUGGESTED MEANINGS 1 Don’t you know the answer?

2 Didn’t you enjoy the film?

3 Haven’t you finished yet?

4 Won’t that cause problems?

5 Weren’t you at the same school as me?

6 Can’t you play it a bit quieter?

a You’ve been doing it for two hours.

b I think I recognise your face.

c I thought you were good at maths.

d It’s starting to annoy me.

e I really liked it.

f It may not be as simple as you think.

Question tags: repeat the verb, flip the sign

3 Look at the examples of question tags. Then complete the rules.

1 When the main sentence is positive, the tag is usually _ ; when the main sentence is negative, the tag is usually _ .

2 When the main verb is be, an auxiliary verb (e.g. ___ ) or a verb (e.g. should), we repeat this in the tag.

3 With all other verbs, we use the auxiliary verb ___ in the tag.

4 Add question tags to the sentences.

1 You aren’t sure about it, ___ ?

2 It can’t be as easy as it looks, ___ ?

3 You won’t forget the number, ___ ?

4 He’s never usually late, ___ ?

5 She lived in your town, ___ ?

6 She doesn’t know the answer, ___ ?

7 The letter hasn’t arrived yet, ___ ?

8 You two went to the same university, ___ ?

9 We’re studying the same subjects, ___ ?

10 They didn’t answer the question, ___ ?

5 Look at the example. Then complete the sentences with a word and preposition from the boxes.

1 The careers adviser can make students _ _ job opportunities.

2 This job isn’t really _ _ older people.

3 They have to wear special clothes to _ them _ injury.

4 You may have to _ _ job satisfaction and a high salary.

5 He isn’t _ _ his present job so he wants to apply for another.

6 The school brought in an _ _ careers advice.

Word and preposition pairs

Arrange your own work experience

1 Students at the school you read about in Period 2 usually arrange their own work experience. Why do you think the school doesn’t do it for them?

2 What do you think the students gain from the experience?

3 Is this something that you would find useful? Why? / Why not?

2 Listen and complete the notes with words from the conversation.

Personal email or formal enquiry letter

Last, how people find jobs, and how to write for one.

3 Look at the student’s letter and show the purposes of the sentences by putting the correct letter in each box.

A Introduce yourself

B Say that you might accept any kind of work

C Explain why you are writing

D Give the dates you are interested in

E Offer to provide more details if necessary

F Say what you are studying

1 Read the extract from a job-finding website and answer the question.

Which two of the sentences below are a logical conclusion from the text?

A You might have some success by sending general enquiry letters to companies. It certainly won’t do any harm.

B The best way to solve this problem is to look more carefully in different places: not just newspapers, but also magazines and the Internet.

C What you need to do is expand your circle of contacts. Send emails to people you know and use social media websites, especially those specially designed for professional users.

2 Read the sentences. Then divide them into two groups: a personal email and a formal enquiry letter.

I’m leaving school at the end of June and I need to find some work.

Could you ask around and see if there’s anything suitable?

I have good language and IT skills, which I hope would make me suitable for various jobs.

Basically, though, I don’t mind what I do.

I am writing to enquire about possible vacancies with your company.

Thanks a lot.

I’ve attached my CV in case that would be useful.

If you need any further information, please contact me.

I am currently looking for employment as I am due to leave school at the end of June.

This is just a quick message to ask if you could do me a favour.

I enclose my CV and would be grateful if you could keep it on file in case of any future opportunities.

Thank you very much for your help.

I was just wondering if there were any vacancies at your place.

I’m good at languages and IT, so anything using those skills would be great.

3 Now write the sentences for each group in the right order.

4 Write a general enquiry letter to a local company with your own information, using the letters in this Period and Period 5 as models.