Read about Barry Bean and answer the questions below.
Barry Bean was unemployed. Because he didn’t have a job, he watched TV all day.
Barry got a job making pizzas, but the weekly wage was very low and the
hours were terrible.
Barry tried construction work. The hours were
better (from 8am to 5pm), but the weekly wage was still low,
and...
...his wife Barbara had just had a baby bean!
Barry had never been to university, so he had no qualifications. He studied information technology for two long years...
He passed all his exams and got his diploma.
Barry applied for jobs as a computer operator and went to several
interviews.
Eventually he got a job. The monthly
salary
was enough to get by on, and although he lived very far from the office and had to
commute, he had
perks such as paid travel expenses and free lunches in the company restaurant.
But Barry soon got bored in an office job with no prospects and little chance of
promotion to a better
position in the company.
He started taking long lunch breaks in the pub.
And being late for work. Until one day...
...he got the
sack.
Barry applied for other jobs, but without a good
reference from his last
employer...
...he had little success.
So, Barry Bean is out of work again. He’s dreaming of his
retirement and living on a
state pension in a sunny part of Spain.
Look at the words in brown in Barry’s story, and use the context to match them with their descriptions below. Follow the example.
Example: when you speak to someone face to face to see if you are good for the job and if the job is good for you.
1. not to have a job
2. money you earn which is usually paid every week in cash.
3. the time you work from and until, 9am to 5pm for example.
4. a document, diploma, certificate etc. which shows that a person is able to do a particular job.
5. to ask for formally
6 money you earn which is usually paid every
month into your bank.
7. to travel daily or regularly to and from one's place of work in a city.
8. the
'extra' things in a job such as a company car, hotel expenses when you travel, health insurance
etc.
9. the positive things you expect from a job in the future.
10. advance to a better, higher position.
11. a place or job occupied by a person.
12. when you are told to leave your job.
13. a person who makes a report (usually written) about the character of someone.
14. someone who pays other people to do work.
15. this noun means that you leave your job because you are old.
16. the money the government gives you when you stop working (if you have paid your taxes!)
Listen and repeat the
vocabulary.
Read about Barry Bean again,
listen and repeat the story.
Annual salary – is the amount you earn in
one year. Monthly salary – is normally paid into your bank account every
month. Wages are paid daily or weekly and normally in cash.