English for Business Life December Unit 11

8/18/2019 English for Business Life December Unit 11

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/english-for-business-life-december-unit-11 1/3

BUSINESS LIFE

English for

Pre-Intermediate

Unit 11 The people you work withReading comprehension

1 Read the text quickly. What do these numbers refer to?

a 100 ________

b 37 ________

c 52 ________

d 3 ________

e 1 ________

f £2 bill ion ________

2 Choose the correct answer to the questions, according to the article.

1 More bosses have postgraduate degrees than their PAs.

2 In the past PAs spent a lot of time dealing with the post.

3 The role of PA has got a lot smaller.

4 People with good qualifications don’t want to work as secretaries.

5 Nowadays, secretaries have very different jobs to managers.

6 The survey was commissioned by a newspaper.

7 Some PAs can speak an Asian language.

8 A small number of PAs manage the money in their company.

3 Find words in the text which mean the following.

1 probable (paragraph 1)

2 able to speak a language very well (paragraph 1)

3 a large number of different (paragraph 2)

4 got/achieved (paragraph 4)

5 two times (paragraph 5)

6 in comparison (paragraph 5)

7 across the whole country (paragraph 6)

4 Discuss these questions.

1 Make a list of all the tasks that a secretary or PA does in his/her job. Which of these tasks do managers also do?

2 Do you have secretaries or PAs in your company? When do they work with you?

3 If you are a PA, who do you work with in your everyday life?

4 Do you think secretaries and PAs are more qualified than managers in your country? Why/Why not?

MOST PAs ARE BETTER QUALIFIED THAN THEIR BOSSES

PHOTOCOPIABLE 1



The majority of secretaries and personal assistants (PAs)

in the UK are better qualified than their bosses - and they

are more likely to have postgraduate degrees and be fluent

in languages.

A survey of the qualifications of more than 100 PAs,

secretaries and bosses from a wide range of businesses

showed that an increasing number of highly qualified people

are choosing the secretarial route to make their mark in a

company. Technology and a more informal working

environment have relieved them of writing endless letters,

allowing the freedom to take on other responsibilities.

"The job has grown," said Marjory Mair, head of secretarial

and administrative development at the Industrial Society.

"There is a lot more responsibility in the job, which is

attracting people with higher qualifications. Some secretaries

are taking on responsibilities that would previously have been

given to middle managers and are acting as assistant

executive directors, taking control of budgets and businessdecisions."

The study, commissioned by DeskDemon, an online service

for managers, shows that 37 per cent of secretaries and PAs

have graduated from university, and 63 per cent obtained a

very good degree.

More than half, 52 per cent, were better qualified than their

bosses. They were also twice as likely to have additional

qualifications, such as postgraduate degrees or vocational

certificates. Three out of 10 said they spoke French, German

or Spanish fluently, and a further 4 per cent claimed

competency in other languages, including Japanese and

Portuguese. By contrast, only one in 10 bosses claimed any

proficiency in languages.

The research showed that a large proportion of secretaries

are now in charge of budgets and, nationwide, are responsible

for about £2 billion of office spending power.

© The Independent 18 August 200

Glossary

degree the qualification that you get from university

make their mark do something important so that otherpeople notice you

budget (1) the money a company has available;(2) a company’s financial plan

vocational certificates qualifications that relate to a job

BUSINESS LIFE

English for

Pre-Intermediate

Most PAs are better qualified than their bossesBy Cherry Norton, Social Affairs Editor


PHOTOCOPIABLE 2



Answer key

1

a There were more than 100 PAs, secretaries, and bosses in the survey.

b 37% of secretaries and PAs who have graduated from university

c 52% of secretaries and PAs who are better qualified than their bosses.

d 3 out of 10 secretaries and PAs spoke French, German or Spanish fluently.

e 1 out of 10 bosses can speak a foreign language.

f Secretaries in the UK are responsible for £2 billion of office spending power.

2 (Suggested answers)

1 PAs are more likely to have postgraduate degrees.

2 Correct.

3 The role of PA has got a lot larger.

4 Highly qualified people want to work as secretaries.

5 Nowadays, secretaries have very similar jobs to managers.

6 The survey was commissioned by an online service for managers.

7 Correct.

8 A large proportion of secretaries manage the money in their company.

3

1 likely

2 fluent

3 a wide range of

4 obtaining

5 twice6 By contrast

7 nationwide

BUSINESS LIFE

English for

Pre-Intermediate


PHOTOCOPIABLE 3

Documents

English for Business Life December Unit 11