UNIT THREE

WORK
PART ONE: READING AND DISCUSSION

PRE-READING
1. In your note-books, write down the definitions of the words ‘work’ and
“job”. In pairs, discuss your ideas. Then share your thoughts with the other students.
What are the most controversial points?

2. What are the most important factors for you in choosing or keeping a job?
Put the following factors in order of importance and then compare the order you have
chosen with your partner’s.

- good salary or wages

- interesting work, not boring and monotonous

- work which is useful to society

- comfortable working environment

- flexible working hours
- opportunities for personal development

- friendly and considerate management and colleagues

- opportunities to travel
- satisfaction/sense of achievement

- social status

- little or no stress
3. On the basis of the categories presented below, write down two jobs which:
a. require very long training
b. require absolutely no intelligence
c. have low salaries but high prestige
d. will be most needed in the future
e. are boring but well-paid
f. young people typically want to do
g. are very prestigious in your country.
 Discuss and dispute your answers.

4. Indicate the extent to which you agree with the following statements by filling
in each blank with A (agree), U (undecided) or D (disagree). Then compare your
responses:
a. _____ In my native country, women and men have equal job opportunities.
b. _____People have the ability to control their own destinies.
c. _____To get a good job in my native country, one needs a college
education.
d. ______ One cannot be successful without having a well-paid job.
e. _____ With hardwork and determination, most peoplecan achieve the
«American dream».
f. _____ In my native country, one’s job opportunities are determined by
the social class one is born into.
g. ______ It is easier for women than men to balance their careers and family
life.
h. ____ Being a lawyer is more challenging than being a waitress.
i. ______ In my native country, it is possible to get any job you want to.
READING ONE
Read the text and discuss the questions that follow.

HELP ME! I’M A WORKAHOLIC

She was addicted to the success of her high-flying job – until she realised she
had nothing else left in her life. Anita Chaudhuri talks to a woman wedded to her
work
The poignant details surrounding the suicide of Katherine Ward, the wealthy
American-born lawyer who jumped off the balcony of a Kensington hotel earlier this
month, make salutary reading for anyone who has ever worried that they might be
sacrificing too much for the sake of a glittering career.
Friends of Ward noted that the six-figure-salary executive had become depressed
after her bosses instructed that she refrain from going into the office on Sundays.
Shewas known to regularly stay at work until 10pm or 11pm. Her life outside work
had apparently become solitary; one friend recalled that her fridge contained only
twoitems: champagne and nail varnish.
Only those privy to the suicide notes she left will ever know whether
workaholism really was a factor in her untimely death. However, one thing is certain:
she would not be the first woman to experience the numbing despair of giving her all
to a job that, ultimately, cannot fill the void at the centre of her life.
In the past, work was something dreary to be endured in order to pay the bills.
Now it fuels our fantasies and dreams in a way that marriage used to. In an era when
controlling one’s romantic destiny often seems like a fool’s errand, work can seem a
more reliable way of securing happiness. As Candace Bushnell recently told this
newspaper: «Success is the new sex».
Caroline Scott, a 46-year-old corporate communications director, knows this
only too well. Workaholism severely damaged her mental health and her personal
relationships. «The warning signs were there from the beginning, I just chose not to
see them», she admits now. «I’ve always been prone to overwork, but when I got a
big break at a merchant bank, I was anxious to prove myself. It was very male, which
made me compete harder, and it had a culture of long working hours».
Scott was swiftly promoted, again and again. «My life was a whirl of
deadlines, meetings and international flights – first class of course. I was living the
life I’d always dreamt of. What people don’t understand about workaholism is that
you get addictedtoyour job because you love it. It brings these great bursts of pleasure.
Work made me feel sexy and powerful».
And like most drugs, she soon needed bigger and bigger doses in order to feel
good. No sooner had she achieved one ambition than she would crave another. “I
thrived on the adrenaline, and I used to get exasperated when people around me
couldn’t keep up. There were a couple of younger women in my office who regularly
balked at working into the wee hours to finish a project. I’m afraid I didn’t have a lot
of patience for their sob stories about seeing boyfriends or family. To me, this type of
complaining gave women a bad name, for it was rarely the men who objected to
working late».
Slowly, without her noticing, work began to eclipse every other area of her life.
«As the deadlines grew more intense, I would habitually cancel dinner or the theatre
with friends at an hour’s notice. My job was so much more important. Surely they
could understand». Even when she arrived four hours late for her best friend’s
wedding because of a work crisis, she still didn’t suspect that her work/life balance
might need addressing.
Scott’s schedule was punishing. She would often be at her desk at 6.30am to
check in with the Tokyo markets. If she did not have lunch with contacts, she would
gobble a sandwich at her desk. Seeing friends for lunch was out of the question. At
about 8pm, she would go to the exclusive health club near her office and work out for
an hour, then be back at her desk, usually with another sandwich, by 9.30pm. She
would then put in another hour or two before driving home in her Porsche.
She employed a cleaner, an interior designer and a personal shopper, yet
workaholism meant she neglected herself. «During my eight years at the bank, I
cancelled every appointment I made with the physiotherapist, the dentist and the
well-woman clinic. Nobody else could attend those clinics for me. I had no hobbies –
and no conversation. The job that once made me feel so sexy seemed to have jinxed
my meeting any suitable men. Part of the problem was that I had no idea who I was
when I left the office. At weekends, wearing casual clothes made me feel scruffy and
inferior, so I would often wear suits».
As time went by, Scott noticed that she no longer had the same energy or passion
for the work, yet her bosses continued to expect more and more. Instead of a
pleasurable adrenaline rush, she began to feel stressed and depressed about
completing previously routine tasks. She played Russian roulette with deadlines, not
starting work on projects until the last minute, hoping the adrenaline would give her
the energy to get it done. Inevitably, her bosses noticed and, in the end, she was
transferred to the planning department, where there was less to do.
Ironically, it was the reduced workload that pushed her over the edge. “With all
that time on my hands, I could no longer avoid what had been staring everyone else
in the face. Beyond work, I had no life, and the life I had at work was barely worth
living”.Within six weeks of this epiphany, she gave up her job, enrolled on an MBA
course and is currently setting up her own business.
Scott’s advice to anyone who identifies with her experience is simple: «Get out
before it’s too late. I believed that the reason I wasn’t happy was because I hadn’t
achieved enough. I kept waiting for the day when I would wake up and finally feel
happy with who I was. That day did come eventually – the morning after I
resigned». (The Sunday Telegraph)

DISCUSSION POINT
1. Explain the main idea you think Anita Chaudhuri is tryingtoconvey in the
article. Use yourown words.
2. Why is work so important for people?
3. Describe a job that is held in high esteem and one that is held in low esteem
in your country. Give your reasons.
4. Analyze the text structure and text features. How do they help to
understand the main ideas in the article? Sighnpost the text.
5. What are the ambitions and the major career goals of the young Ukrainian
people?

ACTIVE VOCABULARY
Explain the meaning of the following words and phrases and give their
Ukrainian equivalents:
To be addicted to sth; a high-flier; to be wedded to sth; poignant
reminder/moment; salutary experience; a glittering career; six-figure salary; to refrain
from; to be privy to sth; to fill the void; fool’s errand; to be prone to sth; to achieve
ambition; to crave sth (attention); to thrive on sth; to get exasperated; the wee hours;
sob stories; to eclipse sb/sth; at an hour’s notice; work/life balance; to gobble a
sandwich; out of the question; to jinx; scruffy; to play Russian roulette; to push sb
over the edge; to have time on one’s hands; to enroll on a course