Handout Unit 5 1. Article - Answer the following questions 1. What are India’s call centres responsible for? What new culture did it lead to? (1) 2. What is the predicted future for the call centres sector? (1) 3. There is a very high staff turnover at these Indian centres. T/F (2) 4. How has today’s attitude to „job-for-life“changed compared with the past? (2) 5. What has contributed to such economic restlessness in India? (3) 6. What might be the solution to this problem and does it work? (4) 7. How do Indian call centres try to attract and keep their employees? (5) 8. What causes employee trauma and how is it usually dealt with? (6) 9. What is the typical Indian response to anger and what impact does it have on a Western customer? (6) 10. What age groups usually work in call centres and what other groups could work there? (7) 11. What are the two major problems that Indian call centres probably cannot deal with successfully? (9) 12. Call centre attrition is worse in India than in the West. T/F 2. Listening 5.3 Complete the listening script with the words you hear. I: So, how have new technologies changed the way we work, then? S: Well, this very much depends on the professional category. The survey show that over 80% of higher professional and senior managers use the Internet and e-mail at work. However, the most 1. ______________ employees, while they often have PCs at home, are not using information technologies in the workplace. Only 29% of 2. ____________staff use the Internet and e-mail in their jobs, along with 14 to 15% of 3. _______________________ and 4. ____________________ staff. I: But I thought there was more demand now for workers with IT skills. S: Well, what we’re seeing, in fact, is 5. _____________________ rather than new jobs being created. People are required to 6. _______________additional skills and roles that in the past would have been done by other members of staff. Everyone is in fact 7. _________________ middle-management roles, and so fewer of them are needed now. So, while higher professional jobs have risen by 3% to 37% in the last ten years, the 8. _____________ jobs have been 9. _______________. The findings could be seen as 10. ______________________ to the notion of the 11. ________________________ economy, a trend first 12. ______________ in the US. It suggests there’ll be large numbers of highly skilled and unskilled workers and very few people in the middle-ranking occupations. You know that also, the total number of manual workers hasn’t changed in the last 10 Years – it still remains 13. _______ 40% of total employees. In fact, 14. _________________________________, it´s the traditional and 15. _____________ occupations- sales assistants, call-centre operators, 16. ____________________, care workers and generally service-sector jobs – that are growing. You know, the fastest-growing occupation in the UK is hairdressing – up by over 300% from ten years ago. I: What are the possible consequences of this 17. _____________ ? S: Well, it´s going to be very difficult to 18. _________________, with fewer opportunities for 19. ___________________ sand 20. __________________________. Employees with fewer skills have less 21. _______________________. And I would say that there’s clearly a need for 22. ___________________________ – such as 23. _____________________________, as we’ve seen in the UK, and controls over working hours, as we´ve 24. ____________________ in the 25. ___________________________ in the European Union. 3. Find the words and phrases which mean the following: 1. _____________ - to accept responsibility or blame for sth bad (1) 2. _____________ - a) to make something or someone become gradually less effective, confident, or successful (1) 3. _____________ - a good quality or habit that a person has, especially a moral one such as honesty or loyalty (1) 4. ______________ - a) the state of feeling nervous or worried that sth bad is going to happen, b) a worry or fear about sth (1) 5. ________ - an act of counting the number of people who are at an event, employed by an organization, etc (1) 6. _______________ - using money, time, materials, etc. in a careless way (1) 7. ____________ - the process of reducing the number of people who are employed by an organization by not replacing people who leave their jobs (2) 8. __________ - the central and most important part of a particular place or activity (2) 9. ____________ - inability to stay still or be happy where you are, because you are bored or need a change (3) 10. __________ - to exceed (3) 11. _________ - an unusual trick or unnecessary device intended to attract attention or to persuade people to buy sth (5) 12. _________ - a) a mental condition caused by severe shock, especially when the harmful effects last for a long time b) an unpleasant experience that makes you feel upset and/or anxious (6) 13. ______________ - rude and offensive; criticizing rudely and unfairly (6) 14. _______________ - to deal successfully with a difficult situation or problem (9) 15. _______________ - a natural development or result of sth (9) Grammar - Inversion: 1. Complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first sentence, using the word given. Do not change the word given. a) It was only when the office phoned me that I found out about the meeting. find Not until _____________________________________________about the meeting. b) The facts were not all made public at the time. later Only _____________________________________________ all made public. c) The response to our appeal was so great that we had to take on more staff. response Such ______________________________________ to our appeal that we had to take on more staff. d) Harry broke his leg, and also injured his shoulder. but Not only _________________________________________ also injured his shoulder. e) The police didn't suspect at all that the judge was the murderer. did Little _________________________________ as being the murderer. f) As soon as I got home, I realised I'd left my bag in the shops. had No sooner _________________________________ I realised I'd left my bag in the shops. g) It was only when I asked a passer-by that I realised where I was. did Not until _________________________________________where I was. h) The minister was interrupted just after starting his speech. when Hardly ______________________________________ he was interrupted. i) If the government raised interest rates, they would lose the election. raise Were __________________________________ interest rates, they would lose the election, j) Please never ever interrupt me when I'm in a meeting. am On no account ________________________________________ when I'm in a meeting. k) Nobody from this school has ever written a better composition. anyone Never __________________________________________written a better composition. l) The money is not to be paid under any circumstances. no Under ____________________________________________to be paid. m) It's not common for there to be so much rain in March. see Seldom ____________________________________________ so much rain in March. n) The car doesn't need anything else except new tyres. needs All _______________________________________________ new tyres. o) The person who told me about the hotel was Keith. who It ________________________________________________ told me about the hotel. p) I really hate lukewarm food. stand What I ___________________________________________ lukewarm food. q) In the end Martha went to the police. was In the end what Martha __________________________________ to the police. 2. Translate 1. To bylo v úterý, co se to stalo, ne ve středu. 2. Nehodu jsem měl v Praze, ne v Liberci. 3. To nebyla protekce, ale tvrdá práce, díky níž byl povýšen. 4. To byl Klaus ne Havel, kdo řekl, že nezná špinavé peníze. 5. To, co se mi líbí na cestování je, že člověk pak jinak vidí svoji vlastní zemi. 6. To, co jsem tím chtěla říct je, že zaujme při hodnocení úplně jinou perspektivu. 7. Jediný důvod, proč jsem tady je, aby si mě všiml můj nadřízený. 8. Pokud byste potřebovali s něčím pomoct,klidně se na mne obraťte. 9. Kdyby ses lépe rozhlédl, byl bys viděl to auto přijíždět. 10. Jen zřídka o té smutné záležitosti mluvíme. 11. Nikdy předtím jsem nepotkala takového odporného člověka. 12. Za žádných okolností nesmíte říct pravdu. 13. Pouze s jeho pomocí se jí podařilo dostudovat. 14. Sotva za sebou zavřela dveře, začalo lít. 15. Až na jaře zjistila, že její nadřízený falšoval účetní knihy 16. Teprve až dorazila do práce si vzpomněla, že nechala klíče v zámku.