#0312 – Different Work Styles.pdf - ESL Podcast McQuillan Jeff mp3+PDF - hinatka3991

English as a Second Language Podcast

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ESL Podcast 312 – Different Work Styles

GLOSSARY

autonomy – independence; ability and opportunity to work alone, without other

people; the freedom to make one’s own decisions

* Many teenagers fight with their parents because they want more autonomy.

self-directed – under one’s own control; able to make one’s own decisions about

what one will or won’t do, and in what order; without control by other people

* Megan is a self-directed learner and learned about biology on her own before

she took a class in school.

close – tight; very involved in another person’s activities, work, or life

* Do you have a close relationship with your grandparents?

supervision – monitoring; being in control of and responsible for another

person’s work

* Without supervision, Ed would spend the whole workday playing games on his

computer.

to slack off – to not do what one is supposed to do; to not work hard; to play or

be lazy when one should be working

* Olga slacked off all semester, and now she has to study a lot if she wants to

pass the final exam.

apprehensive – nervous and worried about something that will happen in the

future

* Sheila is apprehensive about going to Europe on vacation because she has

never left the U.S. before.

collaborative – cooperative; with two or more people working well together

* The presentation was a collaborative effort of the entire team.

creative – imaginative; with new and interesting ideas; not thinking like everyone

else does

* Melissa is a very creative artist who has new designs that are unlike anything

else we’ve ever seen.

adverse to risk – uncomfortable doing something new because it might fail;

afraid to take a chance

* People who are adverse to risk can keep their money in the bank instead of

investing it in the stock market.

These materials are copyrighted by the Center for Educational Development (2007). Posting of

these materials on another website or distributing them in any way is prohibited.

English as a Second Language Podcast

www.eslpod.com

ESL Podcast 312 – Different Work Styles

to challenge the status quo – to do things that are unexpected; to not do what

people expect one to do; to question why things are done a certain way and

suggest new ways to do things

* Ingot didn’t like the way that things were done at work, so she decided to

challenge the status quo and try her new system.

resourceful – using whatever one has to solve a problem or get work done

* Henry is so resourceful that when his car broke, he was able to fix it by using a

knife and some tape.

follow-through – the ability and willingness to do what one has said one would

do; the ability and willingness to fulfill one’s promises; the ability and willingness

to continue working on something until it is finished

* Franka has many good ideas, but her follow-through is terrible, so nothing ever

happens.

to fall through the cracks – to be forgotten because one is concentrating on

other things

* Hansel is working two jobs and taking care of his children, so some less

important things, like cleaning the house, are falling through the cracks.

to exercise authority over (someone) – to tell someone what he or she should

or shouldn’t do; to be the boss of someone

* Benny tries to exercise authority over his younger sister, but she usually doesn’t

let him.

to take charge – to be in control of something; to lead something; to be

responsible for something

* Ever since Eddie took charge of the company, the workers have been much

happier.

to back off – to become less controlling; to take less of a leadership role; to not

be as involved in something; to give other people an opportunity to do something

* I often help my children with their homework, but I need to learn to back off and

let them do it themselves.

you can’t teach an old dog new tricks – a phrase used to mean that it is

difficult to teach an older person to do something differently, or that it is difficult to

get an adult to change his or her habits

* Violet has been asking her husband to put down the toilet seat for almost 15

years, but I guess you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.

These materials are copyrighted by the Center for Educational Development (2007). Posting of

these materials on another website or distributing them in any way is prohibited.

English as a Second Language Podcast

www.eslpod.com

ESL Podcast 312 – Different Work Styles

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

1. How is this job different than his last job?

a) He has to work with other people.

b) He has to work alone.

c) He has to slack off.

2. Why do he and Delilah work well together?

a) Because they both like to exercise.

b) Because they respect each other.

c) Because they both like dog tricks.

______________

WHAT ELSE DOES IT MEAN?

slack

The phrase “to slack off,” in this podcast, means to play or be lazy when one

should be working: “Oren doesn’t like working with Helen because she always

slacks off and makes other people do all the work.” The word “slack” refers to

something that is loose, or not tight: “The fishing line was still slack, so we knew

that we hadn’t caught a fish yet.” Or, “The telephone cable is too slack and it’s

almost touching the ground.” The word “slacks” means pants: “Should I wear

these black slacks, or my gray ones?” The phrase “to cut (someone) some

slack” means to not be so critical of someone: “Fiona always talks about the

mistakes I make when playing piano. I’m doing the best I can, and I wish she

would cut me some slack!”

crack

In this podcast, the phrase “to fall through the cracks” means to be forgotten

because one is concentrating on other things: “I know you’re busy with work and

school, but make sure that the bills you need to pay don’t fall through the cracks.”

A “crack” is the space between two parts of something that has broken apart:

“The house is old, and there are cracks in the ceiling.” The phrase “at the crack

of dawn” means very early in the morning: “Xavier wakes up at the crack of dawn

every morning to feed the chickens.” Finally, the phrase “to crack (somebody)

up” means to make someone laugh very loudly or for a long time: “Renee told a

very funny joke that cracked us up.”

These materials are copyrighted by the Center for Educational Development (2007). Posting of

these materials on another website or distributing them in any way is prohibited.

English as a Second Language Podcast

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ESL Podcast 312 – Different Work Styles

CULTURE NOTE

Americans have many different personalities, yet they need to learn to work

together in an office environment. There are many different “terms” (special

vocabulary words) used to talk about “work styles,” or the ways that people work.

Some of these include “type A/B personalities,” “alpha males,” and “workaholics.”

Someone with a “type A personality” is a very “dedicated” (committed) worker

who does not know how to relax. Type A personalities are “obsessed” (thinking

about something all the time) with their work, are very worried about “sticking to

their schedules” (doing things when they are supposed to be done), and are very

competitive. In contrast, someone with a “type B personality” is more relaxed

and friendly. Type B personalities are “easy-going” (things do not bother them

very much) and they do not get “stressed out” (extremely worried and nervous)

about their work. Obviously, these “characterizations” (ways of describing

something) are “exaggerated” (made bigger than in real life), but most people

can “identify with” (feel a connection to) either the type A or B personality.

“Alpha male” is a term used to describe a man who has a very powerful position

at work, but is too “masculine,” or male. Alpha males are very “aggressive”

(angry and always ready to fight with other people) and competitive. People

generally do not like working with alpha males, but alpha males have powerful

positions at work because they are very “effective” (good at getting things done)

in the business world.

Finally, a “workaholic” is a person who is “addicted” (must have or do something

to feel good) to his or her work. Workaholics often work 60, 70, or even more

hours per week, even if it “hurts” (causes physical or emotional pain) for their

families. When they are home, they are often thinking and worrying about their

job.

______________

Comprehension Questions Correct Answers: 1 – a; 2 – b

These materials are copyrighted by the Center for Educational Development (2007). Posting of

these materials on another website or distributing them in any way is prohibited.

English as a Second Language Podcast

www.eslpod.com

ESL Podcast 312 – Different Work Styles

COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT

Welcome to English as a Second Language Podcast number 312: Different Work

Styles.

This is English as a Second Language Podcast episode 312. I’m your host, Dr.

Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in

beautiful Los Angeles, California.

If you go to our website at eslpod.com, you can download a Learning Guide to

this episode to improve your English even more. The Learning Guide contains

all the vocabulary, definitions, sample sentences, additional definitions of words

we use on the podcast, cultural notes, and a complete transcript of everything we

say on this episode. We also have some other new, exciting parts of the

website, so take a look at that if you haven’t visited recently.

Our topic today is “Different Work Styles.” We’ll go over some vocabulary you

can use to describe people’s work habits and the sorts of things that they do at

work in terms of the way (or the style or manner) in which they work. Let’s get

started.

[start of story]

Before I started my new job, I didn’t know that I would be working so closely with

another employee of the company. I was used to a lot of autonomy in my last

job, and I have always been self-directed. I didn’t need close supervision and the

boss never had to worry about me slacking off. To tell the truth, I was a little

apprehensive about working in a team after having had so much independence.

To my surprise, though, I liked the collaborative environment and I think I actually

do better work because of it.

Of the two of us, Delilah is the creative one. While I’m a little adverse to risk,

Delilah is always challenging the status quo. She often has good ideas, and

because I’m pretty resourceful, we often find a way to put those ideas to work.

Delilah has great follow-through, too, and I never need to worry that things will

fall through the cracks.

I think the key to our success in working together is that neither one of us tries to

exercise authority over the other. We respect each other’s abilities and we know

when to take charge and when to back off. If you had told me a year ago that I

would be working in a team environment and enjoying it, I would have told you

These materials are copyrighted by the Center for Educational Development (2007). Posting of

these materials on another website or distributing them in any way is prohibited.

#0312 – Different Work Styles.pdf

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