Fale inglês como um americano 2. I think I landed a good one this time!

Celine: So Carlos, how is the new job treating you?
Carlos: Great! I think I landed a good one this time.
Celine: Oh, that´s great.  So it´s much better than your last company, huh?
Carlos: Absolutely! You know how much I griped about working there. My new company really does a lot for us. They have some really good fringe benefits such as a gym memberships. Friday parties and they even will pay for graduate school.
Celine: So your old company never did any of this?
Carlos: Are you kidding me? It was like those Viking movies, you know,  when everyone is rowing the boat and they have the one guy whipping them and screaming "Faster, faster!" No way. This new company is much better and more organized. They seem to value us  more and I think there will be many more oportunities to movie up.
Celine: Yeah, that is one thing that is really pissing me off with the way companies are doing business now. It seems like they only care about numbers and cashing it.
Carlos: Don´t get me wrong, this company likes to make a killing too but I totally agree with you . I think what´s happenning now is that things are getting a lot faster in the world and the workers are the ones having to pay for it.
Celine: No kidding! I remember when they said that´s everything would be much easier with  all the new technology that was coming into our lives. But I think we are busier now and much more stressed.
Carlos: True. At my last times I would be out at the park or wherever and my cell would go off and guess who it was?
Celine: Yeah, my work pretty much  dos the same. Maybe I should come to work for your company. Seems like a killer a place to work.
Carlos: I´ll check into that for you. Just send me your resume and I´ll pass it on to my boss.
Celine: Sweet! Ohh, my cell again. Aggghh, it´s the office!  Looks like I gotta run.
Carlos: Okay then. Try to take it easy. I´ll see you around.

Dialogue Comprehension

1. Carlos new job is a lot of better than his previous job.

(     ) True          (     ) False

2. Celine seems to be very satisfied with the company she works for.

(     ) True          (     ) False

3. Carlos old company treated the employees very well.

(     ) True          (     ) False

4. Carlos is not willing to help Celine get a job at his company.

(     ) True          (     ) False

5. According to Carlos technology has made everybody's lives easier.

(     ) True          (     ) False

Language check

Find words in the dialogue that mean the same as:

a. start to ring, sound or vibrate: 

_____________________________________________________________________

b. Excellent or exceptional:

_____________________________________________________________________

c. Got to: 

_____________________________________________________________________

d. Get or achieve something desirable:

_____________________________________________________________________

e. Annoy or irritate somebody:

_____________________________________________________________________

f. Earn a lot of money quickly:

_____________________________________________________________________

g. Seriously, really:

_____________________________________________________________________

h. Find out more about investigate:

_____________________________________________________________________

i. Kind, pleasant:

___________________________________________________________________

j. Complain continually about:

_____________________________________________________________________

k. Absolutely not! definetely not!: 

_____________________________________________________________________

Conversation:

1. If you work for a company, what is your office environment like?
What do you think makes a good working environment?
2. Do you think companies makes a good working environment?
3. Is technology making our lives easier or more stressed? Give examples of how do you handle work or school stress?
4. How common is it for somenone to change jobs in your country?
5. What motivates you more: less job satisfaction with more money or less money and better job satisfaction?

Language Practice

Choose the alternative that best explains the meaning of the words in bold in the sentence bellow:

1."That was a killer performance", Jeff told his friends. 

a. Jeft thinks the performance was reasonable. 

b. Jeft thinks the performance was ridiculous.

c. Jeft thinks the performance was very bad.

d. Jeft thinks the performance was excellent.

2."I really to talk to Elton John once! No kidding!" said Keith to his friends. 

a. Keith enphasized that he was just joking about it.

b.  Keith enphasized that he was serious about it.

c.  Keith enphasized that he was just kidding about it.

d.  Keith enphasized that he was not sure about it.

3. "I´d like to thank you for what you´ve done for me. That was really sweet. Linda told Mark. 

a. unexpected

b. odd

c. weird

d. kind

4. "I´d rather not talk to Priscilla again. The sound of her voice alone pisses me off," said Tom to his friends.

a. Priscila's voice makes Tim feel bored.

b. a. Priscila's voice makes Tim feel irritated.

c. Priscila's voice makes Tim feel nervous.

d. Priscila's voice makes Tim feel indifferent.

5. Tom is always griping about the same routine work every day. 

a. Tom is constantly crying.

b. Tom is constantly complaining.

c. Tom is constantly shouting.

d. Tom is constantly criticizing.

6. You can make a killing if you can come up with a great markenting idea.

a. achieve your goals

b. achieve good results.

c. get a very good job.

d. earn a lot of money

7. My alarm rings at 6 a.m. every morning

a. goes on

b. goes out

c. goes up

d. goes off

8." I´ll check into your order and I see if everything has been shipped.!" Alan said to a customer over the phone.

a. look for; try to find

b. look around

c. figure out; try to understand

d. look into, investigate

Answer Key:

Dialogue Comprehension

1. True
2. False
3. False
4. False
5. False

Language Check

a. go off

b. killer

c. gotta

d. land a good one

e. pass somenone off

f. make a kiling

g. no kidding

h. check into

i. sweet

j. gripe about

k. no way

Language practice

1. d
2. b
3. d
4. b
5. b
6. d
7. d
8. d