Toxicintermediate

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A Toxic Workplace
Upper-Intermediate
the ARTICLE (for teachers)
A Toxic Workplace
If an article can be believed, pressure, stress, and job insecurity form the foundation on which Amazon is built.
In its quest to become the company where people can discover anything they want online, employees work past
midnight; complain if coworkers are slow to respond to emails; bicker and argue in meetings; and betray
colleagues. The corporate philosophy exists at every level of the organization. In addition, it goes against all of
the ideas of good management.
Over one hundred former employees provided information on the article, giving such stories as grown men
crying as they exited meetings. Each month, employees must justify their performance on a variety of metrics,
with the bottom performers fired.
The result is a ruthlessly competitive environment. It has been called "rank and yank," which means employees
are ranked and the least productive are fired. And evidence from other organizations show that such a system
creates distrust. After all, if colleagues are likely to stab you in the back, no one values teamwork or knowledge
sharing.
Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon, quickly responded to the article, explaining that the environment at Amazon is
friendly but intense. He said that he couldn't recognize the toxic environment in the article, and doubted any
tech company could survive, let alone thrive, with these kinds of policies. He concluded that unsupportive
management practices would not be tolerated.
Teacher's Notes:
* Underlined words in red typeface are the recommended vocabulary for this lesson.
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A Toxic Workplace
Upper-Intermediate
WARM-UPS
Select one or all of the following warm-up activities.
1: Define: What does "toxic" mean? Can you use it in a sentence? Can you give examples?
2: Brainstorm: Brainstorm with a partner(s) words and ideas associated with "toxic workplace" for 2 minutes.
Spend another 5 minutes or less discussing the words and ideas together.
3: Title: Speculate and/or discuss the contents of today's article from its title: "A Toxic Workplace."
4: Speculate: Write in the missing words for today's article title: "A ( ) Workplace." Why did you
choose these words for the blanks?
5: Do you agree or disagree? Why?

a. A company's work environment should be supportive.
b. The turnover rate of employees isn't very important.
c. Money and stock options are the best employee motivators.
d. I would want to work for an international company like Amazon or Apple.
e. I would want to start my own company someday.
A Toxic Workplace
Upper-Intermediate
VOCABULARY
Select one of the following vocabulary acquisition activities.
1: Vocabulary match: Individually or in pairs/groups, match the words in column A (from the article) with the
best choice in column B.
a. quest q. fight
b. bicker r. succeed
c. betray s. support
d. justify t. passionate
e. ruthless u. be disloyal
f. yank v. allow
g. distrust w. pull
h. intense x. search
i. thrive y. suspicion
j. tolerate z. cruel
2: Fill in the Blanks: Fill in the blank with the correct word.
justify bicker yank thrive distrust
tolerated ruthlessly intense quest betray
a. Its ( ) is to become the company where people can discover anything they want online.
b. Employees ( ) and argue in meetings.
c. Employees ( ) colleagues.
d. Employees must ( ) their performance on a variety of metrics.
e. The result is a ( ) competitive environment.
f. It has been called "rank and ( )."
g. Evidence from other organizations show that such a system creates ( ).
h. Jeff Bezos explained that the environment at Amazon is friendly but ( ).
i. He doubted any tech company could survive, let alone ( ), with these kinds of policies.
j. He concluded that unsupportive management practices would not be ( ).
3: Define: Define each word, correctly pronounce it, explain the meaning and/or usage, and offer an example
sentence to the class.
a. quest c. betray e. ruthless g. distrust i. thrive
b. bicker d. justify f. yank h. intense j. tolerate
A Toxic Workplace
Upper-Intermediate
WORD RECOGNITION
1: Word Search: Find the target words (in bold). Time yourself, and see how many words you can find in three
minutes. In five minutes. In ten minutes.
C Y Z H Q T Y H B T T T U C X
M H E X Z F S R H B S D T W W
M B E R I Y C U E O A W H M Z
S J I T T L X T R T R R R F V
E X S C Z E R H O T T M I P T
J U Y X K A B L D J S P V A K
J X K T Y E E E G N I I E F O
G K B W I R R S R C D H D N X
H L F U A Y L S E L H T U R T
Y Y F T S U J L I N T E N S E
Q I E J T G A Y A V X J U F N
F D Q E S Y A N K S Q E K W A
T G I Y E I O D H J Q S F V S
E U J F U G U X I Y D C M V V
D Q I I Q W P W K V N Z R H P
2: Target Word Pool: Find the target words (in bold) with their exact match. Time yourself, and see how many
words you can find in three minutes. In five minutes. In ten minutes.
interns
distrustful quested untolerated bickers
intense bickering betrayal distrust yanking
yank
thriving betraying unjust quests justify
distrusting
tolerant thrived
rummage tolerable sequestered
betrayed bicker
thrive trust bickered
intensify unjustified betrays
yanked
thriven
distrusted questing intensity
ruthlessness ruthless
quest
yang tolerated ruthlessly
justified
biker
justifiable toothless intenseness
thrives yanks tolerating betray
A Toxic Workplace
Upper-Intermediate
pre- or post-COMPREHENSION
1: Word Association: Brainstorm words associated with today's topic for two minutes. Present to the class.
2: Brainstorm Questions: Brainstorm questions that you would like to ask about today's topic. Answer the
questions without looking at the article.
3: True or False?: Guess (before the article) or answer (after the article) whether the sentence is true or false.
If false, correct the sentence.
a. The truthfulness of the article can be trusted. T/F
b. Employees at Amazon must work after midnight, and also disagree during meetings. T/F
c. More than one hundred current employees gave information for the article. T/F
d. "Rank and yank" causes a lot of negative results in a company. T/F
e. Bezos said the article was completely untrue. T/F
4: Questions: Answer the questions to check comprehension.

a. According to the article, what are employees encouraged to do?
b. What is mentioned about good management?
c. What must employees do on a monthly basis?
d. What is "rank and yank?"
e. What did Bezos say about the article?
5: Vocabulary: In pairs/groups, remember how the words were used in today's article.
a. quest c. betray e. ruthlessly g. distrust i. thrive
b. bicker d. justify f. yank h. intense j. tolerated
6: Fragments: Remember how the fragments were used, and complete the sentence from today's article.
a. If an article can be believed, pressure, stress, and job insecurity form...
b. Each month, employees must justify their performance on a variety of metrics, with...
c. It has been called "rank and yank," which means...
d. After all, if colleagues are likely to stab you in the back...
e. Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon, quickly responded to the article, explaining...
A Toxic Workplace
Upper-Intermediate
post-COMPREHENSION
1: Vocabulary: Circle any additional unknown words/phrases in the article. In pairs/groups, use your
dictionaries to understand the meanings. Present to the class.
2: Class Questions: Read through the article once more, and write down any questions that you would like to
discuss in pairs/groups or as a class. Discuss.
3: Summarize: Work with a partner to summarize the article in your own words.
4: Discuss (part I): Talk about the following questions in pairs/groups. Remember to support your answers!
a. Did you like this article?
b. What was your general impression after reading this article?
c. Do you think the negative article about Amazon is true? Why/not?
d. If the article were true, why would anyone want to work in such an environment?
e. Would you want to work at a company like Amazon? Why/not?
f. What is the best place you have ever worked at? How about the worst place? Why?
g. Who is the best manager you have worked for? How about the worst manager? Please explain.
h. What are some ideas and practices to create a positive, supportive environment?
i. What are some ideas and practices to maximize employee productivity?
j. What are standard business practices in your home country?
5: Discuss (part II): Assume you were interviewing for a new position in your company. What three questions
would you ask to determine if the company had a positive or negative atmosphere? Next, go around the class
and ask your questions, and see what sort of answers you receive.
a.
b.
c.
6: Google Search: Type "work environment" into Google news and read additional articles on this topic.
Discuss or write an essay about your findings.
A Toxic Workplace
Upper-Intermediate
STUDENT HANDOUT (the article)
A Toxic Workplace
midnight; complain if coworkers are slow to respond to emails; bicker and argue in meetings; and betray
colleagues. The corporate philosophy exists at every level of the organization. In addition, it goes against all of
the ideas of good management.
Over one hundred former employees provided information on the article, giving such stories as grown men
crying as they exited meetings. Each month, employees must justify their performance on a variety of metrics,
with the bottom performers fired.
are ranked and the least productive are fired. And evidence from other organizations show that such a system
creates distrust. After all, if colleagues are likely to stab you in the back, no one values teamwork or knowledge
sharing.
friendly but intense. He said that he couldn't recognize the toxic environment in the article, and doubted any
tech company could survive, let alone thrive, with these kinds of policies. He concluded that unsupportive
management practices would not be tolerated.
Notes:
A Toxic Workplace
Upper-Intermediate
STUDENT HANDOUT (fill in the blank)
Fill in the blank with the correct word.
bicker intense unsupportive justify management
tolerated information yank thrive betray
stab ruthlessly quest philosophy distrust
A Toxic Workplace
If an article can be believed, pressure, stress, and job insecurity form the foundation on which Amazon is
built. In its (a. _______________) to become the company where people can discover anything they
want online, employees work past midnight; complain if coworkers are slow to respond to emails;
(b. _______________) and argue in meetings; and (c. _______________) colleagues. The corporate
(d. _______________) exists at every level of the organization. In addition, it goes against all of the
ideas of good (e. _______________).
Over one hundred former employees provided (f. _______________) on the article, giving such stories
as grown men crying as they exited meetings. Each month, employees must (g. _______________) their
performance on a variety of metrics, with the bottom performers fired.
The result is a (h. _______________) competitive environment. It has been called "rank and
(i. _______________)," which means employees are ranked and the least productive are fired. And
evidence from other organizations show that such a system creates (j. _______________). After all, if
colleagues are likely to (k. _______________) you in the back, no one values teamwork or knowledge
sharing.
Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon, quickly responded to the article, explaining that the environment at
Amazon is friendly but (l. _______________). He said that he couldn't recognize the toxic environment in
the article, and doubted any tech company could survive, let alone (m. _______________), with these
kinds of policies. He concluded that (n. _______________) management practices would not be
(o. _______________).
A Toxic Workplace
Upper-Intermediate
STUDENT HANDOUT (extended listening)
Listen and fill in the missing sentences. Compare your answers with a partner, and
then listen once more.
A Toxic Workplace
midnight; a) _________________________________________________________________; bicker and
argue in meetings; and betray colleagues. The corporate philosophy exists at every level of the organization. In
addition, it goes against all of the ideas of good management.
b) _________________________________________________________________, giving such stories as

grown men crying as they exited meetings. Each month, employees must justify their performance on a variety
of metrics, with the bottom performers fired.
are ranked and the least productive are fired. c) __________________________________________________
______________. After all, d) ________________________________________________________________,
no one values teamwork or knowledge sharing.
friendly but intense. e) _________________________________________________________________, and
doubted any tech company could survive, let alone thrive, with these kinds of policies. He concluded that
unsupportive management practices would not be tolerated.
A Toxic Workplace
Upper-Intermediate
STUDENT HANDOUT (notes)
A Toxic Workplace
Upper-Intermediate
ANSWER KEY
Vocabulary
1. Vocabulary Match: 2. Fill in the Blanks:
a. x f. w a. quest f. yank
b. q g. y b. bicker g. distrust
c. u h. t c. betray h. intense
d. s i. r d. justify i. thrive
e. z j. v e. ruthlessly j. tolerated
pre- or post-Comprehension
1. True or False: 2. Fragments:
a. F a. the foundation on which Amazon is built.
b. F b. the bottom performers fired.
c. F c. employees are ranked and the least productive are fired.
d. T d. no one values teamwork or knowledge sharing.
e. T e. that the environment at Amazon is friendly but intense.
Student Handout
1. Fill in the Blanks
a. quest i. yank
b. bicker j. distrust
c. betray k. stab
d. philosophy l. intense
e. management m. thrive
f. information n. unsupportive
g. justify o. tolerated
h. ruthlessly
2. Extended Listening
a. complain if coworkers are slow to respond to emails
b. Over one hundred former employees provided information on the article
c. And evidence from other organizations show that such a system creates distrust
d. if colleagues are likely to stab you in the back
e. He said that he couldn't recognize the toxic environment in the article

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5: Do you agree or disagree? Why?

4: Questions: Answer the questions to check comprehension.

b) _________________________________________________________________, giving such stories as

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