BUSINESS READING – HANDOUT 2 – SUMMER SEMESTER 2021

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HOÀNG THỊ PHƯƠNG UYÊN
PHAN THỊ QUỲNH VI
NGUYỄN TỐNG THANH VY
TẶNG PHẠM THUÝ VY
BÙI LƯU THÁI NHƯ Ý

Part 1: Reading: Read the article below about culture shock. Are sentences 1-10
right or wrong? If there is no information in the text to answer ‘Right’ or ‘Wrong’,
choose ‘Doesn’t say’.
You are a young university graduate hoping to get your first work experience abroad. Or
perhaps you have decided to make a lifestyle change later in life and take your skills and
experience abroad. Maybe you have just found yourself transferred overseas as your
company broadens its scope on the international stage. Whatever the circumstances, there
are many professional, personal and social benefits to be gained by the experience of
living and working abroad. You should also be aware, though, that you will probably
suffer from culture shock at some point. There are different feelings associated with
culture shock, and most people go through some or all of the stages described below,
though not necessarily in the same order.
1. Fascination This is the exciting part of culture shock, when everything seems
wonderful, exotic and exciting. When you first arrive your priority will, naturally, be to
deal with practical considerations such as registering with a doctor and sorting out your
new accommodation, but it’s also important to take this opportunity to get out and enjoy
the new culture in which you find yourself.

2. Frustration Once the initial thrill of being in a new culture has passed, even the
simplest aspects of life abroad can feel difficult and annoying. Topping up your mobile
phone, using your credit card, paying the domestic bills - all these things are often done
slightly differently in other countries, and this can suddenly feel frustrating and difficult.
You may find yourself thinking, ‘Why don’t they do it here the way we do it in my
country?’ This can affect your professional life too, if you find yourself feeling irritated
by work habits and customs that are very different from those that you are used to.

3. Depression For some people, frustration can turn to depression. Stress, anxiety and
even flu-like symptoms can make life very difficult, and may affect how well you
perform your duties at work. This stage is the hardest to deal with, but fortunately not
everyone who works abroad experiences it.

4. Adaptation It takes longer for some people than others, but at some point you will
adapt to the new culture, and enjoy it on a deeper level than at the fascination stage. Most
people who adapt successfully are those who make the effort to learn at least some of the
language, find out about local customs and social etiquette, and make friends with local
people.

5. Re-adjustment If your work abroad is a temporary placement, there is one more stage

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to go through. Just as you have adapted to life abroad, it’s time to return home. And at
that point, you are faced with a different kind of culture shock – re-adjusting to life in
your home country again.

1. University graduates often spend some time working abroad.

A. Right B. Wrong C. Doesn’t say

2. Culture shock affects all people in the same way.

A. Right B. Wrong C. Doesn’t say

3. More people are working abroad than in the past.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Doesn’t say
4. Working abroad can help you develop personally as well as professionally.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Doesn’t say

5. All foreign workers experience fascination, frustration and depression before they
adapt to a new culture.

A. Right B. Wrong C. Doesn’t say

6. When moving to a new country, you should try to enjoy the excitement of the new
culture as well as making practical arrangements.

A. Right B. Wrong C. Doesn’t say

7. Cultural differences in working practices can be frustrating for workers abroad.

A. Right B. Wrong C. Doesn’t say

8. If depression makes you feel ill when you live abroad you should visit a doctor.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Doesn’t say
9. Trying to learn even a few words of the local language can help you adapt.

A. Right B. Wrong C. Doesn’t say

10. Re-adjustment is the final stage of culture shock for everyone who goes to work in
another country.

A. Right B. Wrong C. Doesn’t say

Part 2: Complete the text about looking for work abroad with words from the box.

ladder º recruitment º placement º candidates º process

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 subject º shortlisted º cover º attend º foreign
‘When placement
you graduate from university, many of you may feel that your degree (11)
ladder
subject hasn’t really prepared you to make the first step onto the career
_______ foreign
(12)
__________ . A work (13) __________ abroad can be a great solution, offering you the
chance to combine hands-on work experience withprocess
the adventure of (14) __________
travel. A word of advice: once cover
you’ve chosen where you want to look for work, it’s a
good idea to find out about the application (15)attend
__________. For example, you need to
candidates
know whether to send shortlisted
a (16) __________ letter with your CV. It’s also good to know how
recruitment
many interviews you will be invited to (17) __________, if you are fortunate enough to
be one of the (18) __________ to be (19) __________. Alternatively, you could use an
international (20) __________ agency, who will help you with all these things as well as
informing you what jobs are available internationally.’
Part 3: Read the article below about teleworking. Choose the best word to fill each
gap from A, B or C.
Working (21)_________ have changed throughout history, and the organization of work
worldwide (22)_________ through a major change nowadays, mainly due to the rise of
information and communication technologies. More and more people (23)_________
from ‘virtual offices’ – at home, in cafés or other locations. The term ‘teleworking’ was
invented to describe this (24) _________ of working in 1973, but it is only more recently
that teleworking has become common.
Teleworking requires a new management style. In the traditional workplace employees
can be monitored (25)_________ to check on their performance. This cannot be done
with workers at a greater distance from management, so these days managers
(26)_________ more emphasis on the successful achievement of objectives instead.
Teleworking brings many advantages. It (27)_________ the costs of running offices, and
employees can enjoy more flexibility in their working schedule. Less work-related travel
by commuters results in a (28)_________ in traffic congestion, and videoconferencing
limits the need for international travel. Companies can therefore reduce their carbon
(29)_________. As more people work from home and fewer people commute to major
towns and cities, smaller towns and villages are (30) _________being rejuvenated, and
local economies strengthened. There are also some disadvantages to this new working
practice. In a traditional workplace much attention is (31)_________ to looking after

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employees’ health and safety. Stress, injury and other occupational problems are all
(32)_________ nowadays because many teleworkers aren’t (33)_________ informed
about health and safety regulations. Some teleworkers are also feeling a degree of
isolation and loss of social contact.
21. A. trends B. percentages C. performances
22. A. goes B. is going C. go
23. A. works B. are working C. work
24. A. condition B. operation C. system
25. A. closely B. close C. closer
26. A. are put B. is putting C. are putting
27. A. goes down B. reduces C. increases
28. A. rise B. decrease C. grow
29. A. footstep B. footprint C. fingerprint
30. A. slowly B. slow C. slower
31. A. giving B. gave C. given
32. A. increasing B. shrinking C. decreasing
33. A. full B. good C. well

Part 4: Complete the text about the company Greenspace using words from the box.

resources º increasing º green light º milestone º deadlines º phase º operate

“The number of discontented people young people in big cities is increasing. Greenspace
works to reduce this problem by turning areas of waste land into green areas that they can
use for free time activities. A typical Greenspace project falls into three stages. The first
operate is when Greenspace finds a piece of land to buy and asks the city council for
permission to milestone there. Once the city council has given the resources, the main
part of the work begins. As well as creating a safe and exciting outdoor space for the
city’s young people to use, Greenspace also gives a team of disadvantaged young people
the opportunity to be involved in running the operation. Some do the manual labour while
others are involved in aspects of the project such as planning and setting deadlines. This
helps create motivation amongst the team to work hard and achieve. In each of our
projects a real phase is achieved when the young project workers first express pride and
satisfaction in their work, feelings which many of them have never experienced before.
We are a charitable organisation and depend on donations to pay for the green light we

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need. Please give generously.”
Part 5:
Working in a remote team
Aisha had been very successful managing her team in Edinburgh and was asked by the
company to lead a remote team for an important two-year project. Keen to demonstrate
her leadership abilities to the head office, Aisha got her team members together for a
remote meeting. But right from that first meeting, she realised that this was going to be a
different challenge.
For a start, Archie was late for the meeting by about 15 minutes because of ‘technical
problems’. Lucia kept asking about really specific details, while Aisha was hoping to use
the meeting to get to know the team members and identify priorities. Archie and Lucia
kept accidentally talking at the same time, and when they didn’t speak, there was an
uncomfortable silence. Valentina hardly said a word. No one had their cameras on, so
there was none of the usual communication through body language or facial expressions.
Without these visual clues, Aisha had no idea whether people were interested, lost,
confused or bored.
By the end of the meeting, Aisha didn’t feel like she had achieved much of her agenda
and wasn’t sure what people had understood. She wondered how she was going to build
trust and encourage bonding in her team.
As companies continue to think globally, and as modern-day technology makes remote
working easier, remote teams have become common. Instant messaging,
videoconferencing and other web-based tools all help. But communication via modern
technology is not without its problems. Meetings, essential for team bonding and working
together effectively, can be particularly challenging online. Aside from having to
coordinate people in different time zones and ensuring that no one is multitasking and
getting distracted, meetings on virtual platforms are not always helpful for good
communication. As seen from Aisha’s example, videoconferencing is often characterised
by uncomfortable silences and people talking over each other.
So what can managers of remote teams do to improve meetings and encourage successful
team bonding? Here are five tips.
1. Build trust quickly.
It can be hard to trust people you don’t know very well, so make sure the first meeting
includes proper introductions, where members of the team are able to share information
about themselves, their role and their context. Encourage people to have their camera on
for conference calls right from the start so that team members can put a face to a name
and build stronger relationships.
2. Discuss preferred communication styles and approaches to work.
Schedule some time during one of the initial meetings to talk about things like time-
keeping, expected amount of participation, how closely members prefer to follow the
agenda and so on. Talk about the challenges of online meeting platforms and how
members can help make meetings more effective.
3. Discourage distractions.
Minimise the risk of people multitasking and not paying attention during meetings by
creating a culture of calling with video on. Another way to ensure that people concentrate
during meetings is to give each member a role, for example, someone to take the minutes,
someone to notice problems and someone to offer ideas and alternatives.

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4. Try to understand what silence means.
If someone is quiet for a while, it might mean ‘thinking time’, and that’s OK. But it might
also mean lack of understanding or disagreement, so try to get more information from
them. Ask for everyone’s point of view at the beginning of a new project and make
regular opportunities to speak to team members individually. This will help you
understand other people’s opinions on things and avoid misunderstandings.
5. Actively manage turn-taking and be careful not to let one person dominate the
meeting.
If you notice that someone isn’t talking much, ask them for their opinions and bring them
into the conversation, or speak to that person later individually to check everything is
OK.
With team members located in different places, remote meetings are vital for team
bonding and effective teamwork. By making an effort to build trust and encourage good
communication, we can avoid common problems and find new ways of working that
bring many advantages to the team.

A. Are the sentences true or false?

41. Aisha was asked to lead a remote team because she was good at managing her team in
Edinburgh. True
42. Everyone was there at the start of the first meeting to introduce themselves to the
team.False
43. Archie and Lucia didn’t like each other and so they kept interrupting each other. False
44. Aisha was sure that Valentina was bored during the meeting. False
45. More and more people are working in remote teams now. True
46. Modern technology means that remote meetings are just as good as face-to-face ones.
False
47. Using cameras during meetings can be helpful for different reasons. True
48. It is always better to speak to the team all together whenever possible. False

B. Complete the sentences.

pay point remote team facial uncomfortable leadership

49. Aisha wanted to use her new role to demonstrate her leadership abilities.
50. She realised that there are particular challenges to leading a remote team.
51. During the meeting, some people talked at the same time and there were
uncomfortable silences.
52. It can be difficult to know how people are reacting if you can’t see body language or
facial expressions.
53. If we want our remote teams to be successful, we need to find opportunities for team
bonding.
54. If people multitask during meetings, there’s a risk they don’t pay attention.
55. It’s a good idea to ask for everyone’s point of view on new projects.