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2 the ARTICLE (for teachers) Some countries like France and Australia have begun to experiment with giving employees more vacation time. They understand that there must be a balance between work and personal happiness. But the worldwide trend has progressed in the opposite direction. Employees are working longer and longer hours in recent years. The result is a new type of employee, called the "extreme employee." Researchers examined more than two million surveys of high-salaried employees in the US. They concluded that people need to work long hours if they want to climb the corporate ladder. The extreme employee is unusually dedicated to the company, though. He believes that he could--and should!--always do more. If you count the time it takes to commute to the office, then 70-hour workweeks are common. He is available to clients and office emergencies 24-7, too. He also takes far fewer vacation days than he is allotted, about ten days or less per year. What is worse, though, is the fact that most extreme employees are dissatisfied. More than half believe they would be physically healthier with less work. A lack of free time also harms the relationship with their children. Slightly less than half complained that the long hours negatively influenced spousal relations. Experts recommend getting the seventy-hour workweek down to forty-five hours, if possible. Although corporations haven't accomplished this feat for high-impact jobs, some major corporations are trying. American Express, Johnson & Johnson, and more than thirty other companies are working to reduce the pressure on managers to perform and produce. Teacher's Notes: * Underlined words in red typeface are the recommended vocabulary for this lesson. Heads Up English - 1

3 WARM-UPS Select one or all of the following warm-up activities. 1: Define: What does "workaholic" mean? Can you use it in a sentence? Can you give examples? 2: Brainstorm: Brainstorm with a partner(s) words and ideas associated with "workaholic" 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: "." 4: Do you agree or disagree? Why? a. People work too much nowadays. b. I should work harder for my company. c. People who work less than 40 hours per week are lazy. d. In the future, it will be normal for everyone to work more than 60 hours per week. e. I love my job!! 5: Rank It!: Which is most important in your life? Rank the items in order. Remember to support your decisions. a. children b. significant other c. work d. free time e. personal growth and development Heads Up English - 2

4 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. progress q. travel b. dedicated r. accomplishment c. commute s. unhappy d t. loyal e. allot u. miss f. dissatisfied v. decrease g. lack w. assign h. influence x. affect i. feat y. advance j. reduce z. continuously 2: Fill in the Blanks: Fill in the blank with the correct word. commute dedicated influenced lack progressed reduce dissatisfied 24-7 feat allotted a. The worldwide trend has ( ) in the opposite direction, and employees are working longer hours b. The extreme employee is unusually ( ) to the company. c. If you count the time it takes to ( ) to the office, then 70-hour workweeks are common. d. He is available to clients and office emergencies ( ), too. e. He also takes far fewer vacation days than he is ( ), about ten days or less per year. f. What is worse, though, is the fact that most extreme employees are ( ). g. A ( ) of free time also harms the relationship with their children. h. Slightly less than half complained that the long hours negatively ( ) spousal relations. i. Corporations haven't accomplished this ( ), but some major corporations are trying. j. More than thirty companies are working to ( ) the pressure on managers to perform. 3: Define: Define each word, correctly pronounce it, explain the meaning and/or usage, and offer an example sentence to the class. a. progress c. commute e. allot g. lack i. feat b. dedicated d f. dissatisfied h. influence j. reduce Heads Up English - 3

5 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. commute dedicated influenced lack progressed reduce dissatisfied 24-7 feat allotted Z J K L D G E H N I K N M I D D D I S A T I S F Y I E D N E G E N E U C G O Z W P V D F T G Q S M Z N K T B R C E L L T J W M S F G G T O G I S U U O D O V E E S S G K F Y R C E L C E A T M G R Q S H B U K N L Y T A I W E A I O Z U O E C A V V P D S R T R P X H F H E E J U J S I A K H P N Y Y N D U R V E X S C P N P C Y T D F E I D L S G I A Z H L S N H B A M R I G X C L T J P A E C K S J D E T A C I D E D Z W Y Q F R E D U C E Y C I D Q T G L N 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. commute dedicated influenced lack progressed reduce dissatisfied 24-7 feat allotted pogrom allowed feat progressing influence commutation commute reduced distance dedicating reduction progression dedication lackey twentieth twenty-four seven lack influx a lot reduce allot commuter feet mislay WD-40 twenty-seven four dedicated dissatisfied influencing recluse inference forth progressive progressed dissatisfying dissatisfaction directed lark influenced allotment fiend commuted twenty-four deafened luck reducing compute disaster allotted fester Heads Up English - 4

6 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. According to the article, most countries have moved towards longer and longer workweeks. T/F b. Extreme employees always think they could and should do more for their company. T/F c. Extreme employees are often available for office-related phone calls at night and on weekends. T/F d. Extreme employees don't think that long hours affect the relationships with their families. T/F e. Some companies want to find a balance between production and personal lives. T/F 4: Questions: Answer the questions to check comprehension. a. According to the article, what does someone need to do to climb the corporate ladder nowadays? b. How does the article describe "extreme employees?" c. What are some of the reasons extreme employees are usually unhappy? d. According to the article, what do experts want to see? e. What are some larger corporations trying to do? 5: Vocabulary: In pairs/groups, remember how the words were used in today's article. a. progressed c. commute e. allotted g. lack i. feat b. dedicated d f. dissatisfied h. influenced j. reduce 6: Fragments: Remember how the fragments were used, and complete the sentence from today's article. a. But the worldwide trend has... b. Researchers examined more than... c. The extreme employee is unusually... d. Experts recommend getting the... e. Although corporations haven't accomplished this feat for high-impact jobs... Heads Up English - 5

7 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: 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. How many hours do your work per week? Is this too much, too little, or just right? Why? d. How does your job affect your relationship with your significant other and/or children? Please explain. e. Which is more likely, people will work more or less in the future? Why? f. Would you take a high-paying position with a company if it meant working 70 or more hours per week? g. Would you take a 50% salary cut if it meant working only 25 hours per week? h. Why do you think people work so much if they hate it? Please explain. i. If parents work more and more, how will this affect future generations of children? Please explain. j. Could you do more for your company? Should you do more? Why/not? 5: Role play: Your company is considering changing the amount of hours employees should work, so everyone has more personal time. Assume the following roles, and decide on: 1) how much overtime is reasonable, 2) how to maintain the overall happiness of the employees, and 3) how to maintain overall job satisfaction. Executive A: The company comes first. Employees should work and make sacrifices so the company benefits. Everything else is less important. Executive B: The company has a responsibility to take care of its employees. Everyone should work hard, of course, which may mean 70-hour workweeks when necessary. Executive C: Happy employees are more productive employees. Therefore, if there were flextime or the option to telecommute, the company would prosper because everyone would be happier. Sacrificing all of your personal life, and then hating work, just isn't practical. Executive D: Companies have a responsibility to society. In this case, it means establishing a system so employees have time for their private lives. The company can still prosper, even with people working 45 hours per week. 6: Google Search: Type "workaholic" into Google news and read additional articles on this topic. Discuss or write an essay about your findings. Heads Up English - 6

8 STUDENT HANDOUT (the article) Some countries like France and Australia have begun to experiment with giving employees more vacation time. They understand that there must be a balance between work and personal happiness. But the worldwide trend has progressed in the opposite direction. Employees are working longer and longer hours in recent years. The result is a new type of employee, called the "extreme employee." Researchers examined more than two million surveys of high-salaried employees in the US. They concluded that people need to work long hours if they want to climb the corporate ladder. The extreme employee is unusually dedicated to the company, though. He believes that he could--and should!--always do more. If you count the time it takes to commute to the office, then 70-hour workweeks are common. He is available to clients and office emergencies 24-7, too. He also takes far fewer vacation days than he is allotted, about ten days or less per year. What is worse, though, is the fact that most extreme employees are dissatisfied. More than half believe they would be physically healthier with less work. A lack of free time also harms the relationship with their children. Slightly less than half complained that the long hours negatively influenced spousal relations. Experts recommend getting the seventy-hour workweek down to forty-five hours, if possible. Although corporations haven't accomplished this feat for high-impact jobs, some major corporations are trying. American Express, Johnson & Johnson, and more than thirty other companies are working to reduce the pressure on managers to perform and produce. Notes: Heads Up English - 7

9 STUDENT HANDOUT (fill in the blank) Fill in the blank with the correct word salaried commute reduce influenced lack progressed feat allotted slightly workweek dissatisfied vacation worse dedicated Some countries like France and Australia have begun to experiment with giving employees more (a. ) time. They understand that there must be a balance between work and personal happiness. But the worldwide trend has (b. ) in the opposite direction. Employees are working longer and longer hours in recent years. The result is a new type of employee, called the "extreme employee." Researchers examined more than two million surveys of high-(c. ) employees in the US. They concluded that people need to work long hours if they want to climb the corporate ladder. The extreme employee is unusually (d. ) to the company, though. He believes that he could-- and should!--always do more. If you count the time it takes to (e. ) to the office, then 70- hour workweeks are common. He is available to clients and office emergencies (f. ), too. He also takes far fewer vacation days than he is (g. ), about ten days or less per year. What is (h. ), though, is the fact that most extreme employees are (i. ). More than half believe they would be physically healthier with less work. A (j. ) of free time also harms the relationship with their children. (k. ) less than half complained that the long hours negatively (l. ) spousal relations. Experts recommend getting the seventy-hour (m. ) down to forty-five hours, if possible. Although corporations haven't accomplished this (n. ) for high-impact jobs, some major corporations are trying. American Express, Johnson & Johnson, and more than thirty other companies are working to (o. ) the pressure on managers to perform and produce. Heads Up English - 8

10 STUDENT HANDOUT (extended listening) Listen and fill in the missing sentences. Compare your answers with a partner, and then listen once more. Some countries like France and Australia have begun to experiment with giving employees more vacation time. They understand that there must be a balance between work and personal happiness. But the worldwide trend has progressed in the opposite direction. Employees are working longer and longer hours in recent years. a), called the "extreme employee." Researchers examined more than two million surveys of high-salaried employees in the US. They concluded that people need to work long hours if they want to climb the corporate ladder. The extreme employee is unusually dedicated to the company, though. He believes that he could--and should!--always do more. b), then 70-hour workweeks are common. He is available to clients and office emergencies 24-7, too. He also takes far fewer vacation days than he is allotted, about ten days or less per year. What is worse, though, c). More than half believe they would be physically healthier with less work. A lack of free time also harms the relationship with their children. Slightly less than half d). Experts recommend getting the seventy-hour workweek down to forty-five hours, if possible. e), some major corporations are trying. American Express, Johnson & Johnson, Lehman Brothers, and more than thirty other companies are working to reduce the pressure on managers to perform and produce. Heads Up English - 9

11 STUDENT HANDOUT (notes) Heads Up English - 10

12 ANSWER KEY Vocabulary 1. Vocabulary Match: 2. Fill in the Blanks: a. y f. s b. t g. u c. q h. x d. z i. r e. w j. v a. progressed f. dissatisfied b. dedicated g. lack c. commute h. influenced d i. feat e. allotted j. reduce pre- or post-comprehension 1. True or False: 2. Fragments: a. F b. T c. T d. F e. T a. progressed in the opposite direction. b. two million surveys of high-salaried employees in the US. c. dedicated to the company, though. d. seventy-hour workweek down to forty-five hours, if possible. e. some major corporations are trying. Student Handout 1. Fill in the Blanks a. vacation i. dissatisfied b. progressed j. lack c. salaried k. Slightly d. dedicated l. influenced e. commute m. workweek f n. feat g. allotted o. reduce h. worse 2. Extended Listening a. The result is a new type of employee b. If you count the time it takes to commute to the office c. is the fact that most extreme employees are dissatisfied d. complained that the long hours negatively influenced spousal relations e. Although corporations haven't accomplished this feat for high-impact jobs Heads Up English - 11