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A. Lead In: Facultatea de Automatica Și Calculatoare
A. Lead In: Facultatea de Automatica Și Calculatoare
SEMESTRUL II – SEMINAR 6
A. LEAD IN
1. Would you like to work in a small company or in a big multinational one? (Give arguments
for your answer.
Yes, I agree with that statement; more work means a bright future.
4. What do you think working about shortening the working week?
I disagree with that, because it is better to work more and harder than
more free days; aging is for to rest.
READING COMPREHANTION
The English language is full of idioms extolling the virtues of hard work. We praise employees who
are willing to fight tooth and nail for the company. Someone ready to go extra mile is the kind of
worker we want on our team. But employees who keep their nose to the grindstone, might not be
what companies need to be successful.
Some
companies are now experimenting with a four day work week, and it’s not just the employees that a
re benefiting. Microsoft in Japan recently tried a four days work week and they say productivity
increased by 40%. The program was called the ‘Work Life Choice Challenge’. All employees were
given Fridays off this past August and the bottom line was more money for the company. They were
measuring sales and it was a 40% jump compared to August 2018. In addition to increase sales
Microsoft was able to save electricity costs by closing down once a week.
In Japan, a country known for overworking employees, this was a bold initiative.
In addition to cutting hours, employees were encouraged to reduce meetings and emails. This may h
ave been a reason they were more efficient. Reduced stress and increased morale may have also con
tributed to productivity.
Microsoft Japan isn’t the only one trying out a four day work week. Across Europe, companies are ex
perimenting with decreasing work hours. A Belgian nonprofit called Femma is currently testing a 30-
hour work week. After discovering that a desire for more free time was employees’ chief complaint,
they cut Fridays for most of their 60,000 workers. It is a one year experiment that is being studied by
researchers at the University of Brussels. Femma director Eva
Brumagne, says, “Our colleagues are very happy with this new situation; they’re experiencing a lot m
ore freedom… People are saying their lives have slowed down.”
Perpetual Guardian, a real estate company in New Zealand, has recently made a four day work week
permanent. They have reported a 20% boost in employee productivity and a 45% jump in employee
worklife balance. And more balanced employees equals more focused employees. Burning the candl
e at both ends isn’t the answer. The real answer is , working smarter, not working longer.”
A. In the text there are some underlined phrases which are synonyms with those
listed below
go extra mile
C.True/False questions
1. to overwork by trying to do too many things, causing one to not get enough
sleep at night → burn the candle at both ends
True False
Intercultural communication is a relatively new concept, which developed in a new field of research.
It is also interdisciplinary, and so draws on many different areas of investigation such as sociology,
anthropology, business studies, psychology, history, geography, communication science.
Many problems occurred in companies working in USA, where they faced with the challenge of
finding ways to help people of many different cultural origins to live and to work together. After the
Second World War there was a realization in business that the USA needed to know more about
other cultures if it was to increase its overseas trade. Input also came from the USA army, which had
been operating in many different countries, and faced many intercultural problems.
A
1. Intercultural communication is a concept which developed due to the Second World
War
2. Companies in USA have to work with people of many different
cultural origins.- CORRECT
3. Intercultural aspects are important in international trade.
4. Intercultural aspects are specific for armies
Cultural differences are very important in non-verbal communication. Body movement, body
position and facial expression as well as the way of dressing are different. The same gesture can
mean different things to people from different culture
B. Look at the images below. The same gesture has different meanings. Decide what they
4. Look at the image below. What is this young man doing for living?
This man is a person who offers confidence through
his warm smile, formal dress and firm handshake. I
think this person is one who urges you to work, or
who is waiting for you in his team. He has a good and
friendly face, also he is looking like a good manager.
WRITING
In order to develop your writing abilities you have to accomplish two different type of tasks
A. Summarize the points made in the lecture, being sure to explain how they
respond to the specific points made in the reading passage.
Most managers in large companies say they want to use advanced data analysis tools to remain
competitive. However, more than two-thirds of respondents have not yet taken concrete steps in
this direction.
From detecting bank fraud, predicting energy consumption, or interpreting medical diagnosis,
advanced data analysis system have become a necessity for many companies and industries. While
Artificial Intelligence is a natural component in many business processes, business need to respond
to challenges to stay innovative and respond to real –time costumer needs.
Nearly three-quarters of organizations (72%) claim that analytics help them generate valuable insight
and 60% say their analytics resources have made them more innovative. A third of respondents’
report that it is used tactical projects only. The responses suggest that companies know analytics can
help them, but they lack a clear and common understanding of the benefits of using a platform
approach across the enterprise and the analytic life cycle.
On the other hand, some business developers are quite enthusiastic. For example one who declares
‘Artificial intelligence is no longer a niche phenomenon and I think it will grow more and in the years
to come’.
(adapted from the homonym article in The Diplomat, vol 15, Q1, 2019)
Most companies use advanced data analysis tools to remain competitive. This advanced tools
help them to detect bank fraud, predicting energy consumption, in medicine, too.
The most managers understand that a good and a big company needs Artificial Intelligence to
respond to challenges to stay innovative and respond to real- time costumer needs.
Most organizations say that analytics help them generate valuable insight and their analytics
resources have made them more innovative. They know that Artificial Intelligence grow and it
makes our lives easier.
B. Essay Writing
For this task, you will write an essay in response to a question that asks you to state, explain, and
support your opinion on an issue.
Write an essay in which you express your opinion on one of the below listed topics
If you decide to work on the first statement please read also the following text which is the
testimony of an English student:
Learning through online courses more effect than learning the traditional classroom setting because
of three reasons. The first is that you can take the courses wherever you are once you have the
computer and the internet and second is that a discussion on the classes could be more easily for
some students who are very shy to discuss with the friends, classmates and professor face to face.
They can talk whatever they like if they face a computer. What’s more, it could be much easier for
the students to hand in their assignment. They just could send the email to the professor and the
professor can give the feedback of assignments in the email so I believe learning thorough…
A. On-line learning versus face to face education
No one can deny that there are both positive and negative aspects
of on-line learning or of education in classroom. If I were forced to
choose, I would definitely agree with on-line learning. It is my firm
belief that this is better for a student for a number of reasons, and I
will develop these ideas in the subsequent paragraphs.
To begin with, I want to say that you can have a flexible schedule
and environment, because by studying online, you choose the time
when you want to learn, and you can study in your comfortable
zone. Also, you don’t less time on the bus, or just talking with your
friends during the lessons. As for me, during this quarantine time, I
understood that studying from home is more beneficial than in a
class with 20 students. At home I have a lot of piece, I concentrate
more than at university. For this reason, I can say that on-line
learning is better than face to face education.
Secondly, online learning develops your management skills and
self-motivation. I can say that this type of studying is a challenge. I
support this idea because at home you have a lot of free time, and
for a good career we need to study more. Drawing from my own
experience, when I am studying from home I observe that I develop
my management skills; I have a schedule that I respect, I motivate
myself by creating a purpose list that I always put on the work table
to see.
Thirdly, studying on-line it could be much easier for us to hand
our assignments. Talking about myself, for me it is easier to do my
homework and send it to the teacher by email to be verified, than to
do on a paper and give to the teacher; the professor could not
understand your hand-writing and it will complicate its verification.
In light of the above mentioned reasons, I strongly believe that on-
line learning is better than face to face education.
GRAMMAR SUPPORT
REPORTED SPEECH
Reported speech is how we represent the speech of other people or what we ourselves say. There
are two main types of reported speech:
Warning:
In indirect speech it is more common for the reporting clause to come first. When
the reporting clause is first, we don’t put a comma between the reporting clause and
the reported clause. When the reporting clause comes after the reported clause, we
use a comma to separate the two parts:
She told me they had left her without any money.
Not: She told me, they had left her without any money.
Nobody had gone in or out during the previous hour, he informed us.
We don’t use question marks or exclamations in indirect reports.
Example:
Are you upset? Turns into He asked me why I was so upset.
PRACTICE
REFERENCES