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print & teach lesson

DOWNTIME
pre-intermediate

Language Function:

discussing issues - reading comprehension

intermediate

Vocabulary / Topic:

modern living - work-life balance - technology driven social changes - compound adjectives

upper-intermediate advanced

focus on vocabulary

Fill the gaps using the words listed on the right.

1. If something is a ..........................................., we need it very much and we cannot do without it. 2. When we ........................................... something, we keep away from it. 3. When we ........................................... something, we make it illegal. 4. If someone needs ..........................................., he or she needs time when they are not working or active. 5. If we ........................................... something, we accept it willingly and enthusiastically. 6. When we ........................................... something, e.g. an idea, we believe it is not worth considering. 7. If you nd something ..........................................., it makes you satised or happy. 8. When we ........................................... something, we make it stronger. 1

ban dismiss downtime embrace fullling necessity reinforce shun

Downtime
focus on comprehension

Scan the article to nd the answers to these questions.

1. Who were the people taking part in the experiment? 2. What did they have to do? 3. How long did the experiment take?

4. How did the experiment affect their work and private life?

High Time For Time Off

No single device has changed our everyday life more than the mobile phone. Our Nokias, Blackberrys and iPhones have become a necessity without which we wouldnt be able to survive a single day. We cant part with our mobile phones even at night, sleeping with the handset by our bedsides. But a new study has found that shunning the device for just an evening every week can improve a persons overall happiness and even performance at work. The experiment was carried out by Harvard Business School on 1,400 employees of the Boston Consulting Group, who over three years were banned from monitoring their work after 6pm just once a week. Initially, managers at BCG were afraid that the predicted time off (PTO) would negatively affect the quality of BSGs work. It turned out that they neednt have worried. Those who had regular downtime said they found they had greater job satisfaction and more likely to stay for a long-term career at the company. They also were of the opinion that their work-life balance improved, and they became more productive. Over the three years, 59% of those who had embraced PTO agreed with the statement, I am excited to start work in the morning compared with 27% of those who dismissed the idea. Turning their phones off, BCG consultants could spend more time with their families and lead a more fullling social life. Professor Leslie Perlow, who led the research, said: We dened as on the time people spent working plus all the additional time they were available, monitoring their work in case something came up. What caught our attention was that the more people were on, the more unpredictable their work seemed to become. By being constantly connected to work, they seemed to be reinforcing and worse, amplifying the very pressures that caused them to need to be available.
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Downtime
focus on comprehension

Read the article again and match the beginnings and endings to make sentences about the text.

1. The mobile phone ... 2. The study shows that monitoring work in ones private time ... 3. Regular downtime ... 4. Those who embraced predicted time off ... 5. The pressure to be constantly available ...

a. ... were over twice as likely to feel excited to start work in the morning. b. ... leads to greater job satisfaction. c. ... is stronger when a person monitors their work after working hours. d. ... has dramatically changed our lives. e. ... may negatively affect someones productivity.

focus on talking

Scan the article to nd the answers to these questions.

For many people missing a text message, a phone call or an email is simply unacceptable. Are you one of them? Does the thought of turning off your mobile phone for some time make you worried? Can you nd some downtime in your daily routine? Why, do you think, those who have regular downtime turn out to be more productive? Do you think companies should introduce a compulsory downtime for their employees?

focus on vocabulary: compound adjectives

Compound adjectives such as work-life or long-term consist of more than one word and are hyphenated to make the relationship clear. Match the compound adjectives and nouns with which they form collocations.

1. deep-sea 2. densely-populated 3. high-speed 4. hot-water 5. lead-free

6. long-term 7. one-way 8. part-time 9. two-piece 10.work-life

A. area B. balance C. bottle D. career E. diving

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F. job G. petrol H. printer I. street J. suit