lTextbankUNITlBeing internationalNetworkingBefore you readWhydo people'network'? Doyou thinknetworkingis useful? Why (not)?ReadingRead thisarticlefrom theFinancial Times and answer thequestions.'"I Level of difficulty: .. OII refuse to hobnob for advantagebyLucy Kellaway.......................................................................1 At somepoint onTuesday,1,000ofthe world's leading businessmenwill get on aircraft and hurtleacrosstheskyto Davos toattendthe WorldEconomic Forum. Intheir briefcases they will have a fatstack of business cards and acollection of glossy invitations. 4Every hour of the day for five daysthere will be a different socialengagement to key into theirpersonal digital assistants.2 On Tuesday, I will be on the 8.38a.m. to Moorgate Stationas usual.I am not going to Davos this year. Idid not go last year, either. In fact, Ihavenever been. 'Never beentoDavos?' people say, eyes wide withamazement. 'You must go. You'dlove it. You'd get to meet so manypeople.' I always nod, butactuallythe prospect of the biggest 5networkathon in the worldappealstomeeven lessthan theprospect of goingskiing- whichappeals not at all. Having to makeconversationwithstrangers whilesquinting at their nametags andtrying toworkout if youshouldhave heardof themis a wretchedway to spend anevening; doing itfor days on end must be puretorture.3 The wholenetworking processdefeats me, in particular thebusiness cards. I keepmy ownat15616the bottomof myhandbag, andtheyare usually abit grubbyonthe rare occasions I am requiredtoproduceone. Other people's cardsgo back into my bag, and get fishedout whenever I spring clean it.They then sit onmydesk for awhile before eventuallygoing intothe bin.Networkingmay not be allit iscrackedup to be. Lastweek, I had 7lunch with a man who was afamous UKentrepreneur in the1980sand now has many fingers inmanypies. The previous night hehadbeen invitedto a drinkspartyin a grand London hotel. The greatandthe good of British industrywere there, along with all thebiggest brokers, lawyers andaccountants touting for businessand laughing just atouch tooloudly.He checked in his briefcaseanawent into the heaving ballroom,smiling andcatching the eyesofthe peopleheknew. Suddenlyhefelt tiredbythe wholething. Hedid not see the point of beingthere. Sohe collected his briefcase,regrettingthe 1:2he had paid to thecloakroom attendant for fiveminutes' custody,andwent hometo watch the cricket on television.It had takenhim GO-plusyears torealise that networking was awaste of time. He could notremember one business deal oroneperson hehadever hired onthe strength ofa meetingat thissort of occasion. So why did he goon turning up? As a younger man,he had simply liked seeing andbeing seen. It had tickled hisvanity, butthat day he discoveredthat his ageing vanity was nolonger inneed of tickling, or atleast not in thisway.ThemoreIthink about it, theodder I find thewhole networkingprocess. The very word is off-putting: it sounds sopushy andcalculating. The point ofnetworking is to meet someonemoreimportant thanyou are. Butif everyone goes to a partydetermined to network, thewholeexercise becomesself-defeating. Italsooffends against theideathatwe workinameritocracy, wheretalent will out, eventually. In truelife, of course, talent does notalways out. The smarmiest haveanannoyingway of gettingto thetop. But it does not followthat thecollecting of business cards atdrinks parties is a gooduse oftime. Ah yes, networkers say.Theirs isanart, andyou havetolearn to do it well. Hence thesuccess of volumes called Non-Stop Networking, NetworkingMagie or The Networking SurvivalGuide.HNANCIAL TIMES@ PearsonEducationLimited2006 PhotocopiableCIIIIiI,h.r:r~r:r:!:cI:k:UNIT1Bein~ international1 Readthe wholeartide and matchthese headings to theparagraphs they relateto.a) Arecentnetworkingeventin Londonb) One entrepreneur's reactionto theLondon eventc) The entrepreneur's new-foundfeelingsabout networkingd) Adescriptionof an international networkingevente) WhyLucyKellawaycritieisesthenetworkingprocessf) The reasonswhy LucyKellawayisn'tgoing to Davosg) LucyKellaway's policy towardsbusiness cards2 Match these adjectivesfrom paragraph 1(l-S)with thenoun they describe (a-e).1 leading a)2 business b)3 glossy c)II social d)5 personal e)digitalassistantscardsbusinessmenengagementinvitations3 Match each of these nounswith theadjectivefrom Exercise2 it commonly goeswith. More thanone combination maybe possible.a) brochure b) lunch c) brand d) computer e) occasionII Read paragraphs 2 and 3 and say whether these statementsare trueor false.LucyKellaway...a) goesto work by train.b) has always beeninterested in attending theWorldEconomie Forum.c) doesn't like talking to strangers at networkingevents.d) can neitherunderstand nor deal with networking.e) finds her business cardsdon't stay very dean in herhandbag.f) often has to give peopleher business card.g) regularly searches throughher handbagto find cards.h) keepsall thebusiness cardsshereceives from contacts.5 Read paragraphs 4 andS. Choose thecorrect alternative toexplain the wordsand expressions in ita/ics.a) 'Networking may notbe all it is cracked up to be.' Thismeansit isn'tas ...i) difficult asit seems at first.ii) crazy as it looks.iii) good aspeoplesay it isob) ... has many fingers in many pies meansthat someone ...i) suffers from an eatingdisorder.ii) is influential andinvolved in many activities.iii) is theowner of a famouschain of restaurants.c) The great and the good means people who are...i) respected for their charitableworks.ii) consideredimportant.iii) membersof a secret organisation.d) Toutingfor business meansthey were ...i) trying topersuade peopleto buy what they wereoffering.ii) praising somethingto convince others that it'simportant.iii) trying tobuy and sell tieketsfor sports eventorconcert.Photocopiable