At your service

Adapted from EF3e Int. Plus 6B

Name: ________________________________________

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a. What really annoys you about customer service when you go shopping? With a partner, write down three

things you consider to be bad customer service.


……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………


……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

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d. Read the article again. Tick ( ) the opinions that Mary Portas agrees with.

1. Supermarkets should make sure people don't have to queue for too long to pay.

2. Cashiers should be more friendly.

3. Cashiers shouldn't chat to customers.


4. Shop assistants shouldn't encourage you to buy things you haven't asked for.

5. Instead of chocolate, the newsagent's should offer people fruit to buy.


6. It's important to limit the number of items customers take into changing rooms so that they don't


spend too long in there.

7. Changing rooms are generally uncomfortable and dirty.


8. It should be easy to see what size clothes are.


9. It's unreasonable to expect shop assistants not to chat to each other while they are working.

10. People on beauty counters usually look great because they use the products they are selling.





e.
Which of the customer service 'crimes' she mentions are a problem in your country? Which of the

opinions in d do you agree with?

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 a. Look at the list of places below.




• supermarkets • mobile phone / computer shops • clothes shops • gyms • banks
• department stores • chemists


Think about the ones you go to, how good or bad the service usually is there, and experiences that you have had.


b. Work in groups of three or four. Talk and complete the table for each of the places.



supermarkets phone shops clothes shops gyms department stores chemists

how often you go there

how convenient the opening and closing times

are

what the facilities are like (queuing, changing

rooms, background music, seating areas, etc.)

what the staff are like (enough of them,

helpful, etc.)

what the customer service is like if you have a

problem

any especially good or bad experiences you

have had

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Example Grammar rule

1. He can cook really well. a. We use can to talk about

I can't come to class next week. I have an exam. • a_ _ _ _ _ _ ,
You can't park here. It, a no-parking zone. • possibility, and
• p _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ .
Can is a modal verb, and it only has a present form (which can be used
to talk about the future) and a past / conditional form (could).

2. Can I try this on, Could I try it in a large, b. We often use Can I...? or Could I...? to make requests.
Could I...? is more p_ _ _ _ _ .
3. I've been able to drive since I was 18. c. For all other t_ _ _ _ _ and forms, we use be able to + infinitive.
You'll be able to get it cheaper if you wait for the sales. We also sometimes use be able to in the present and past if we want to
I'd love to be able to afford that jacket. be more f_ _ _ _ _ .
I like to be able to try clothes on, so I never buy things online.
I'm afraid I wasn't able to speak to the manager about the new
project.
4. She could ski when she was three years old. d. We use could / couldn't to talk about general ability or possibility in the
They couldn't come to the concert last night. p_ _ _ .
He was able to read at a very young age. We can also use was / were able to but it is more f_ _ _ _ _ .

5. I couldn't find it in the shops but I was able to buy it online. e. If we want to talk about ability on one specific occasion in the past, we
The current was very strong, but he was able to swim to the shore. can use couldn't but not could. Instead we use was I were able to.
• We can also use managed to instead of was I were able to, e.g. I
managed to buy it online.

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 a. Are the highlighted forms right ( ) or wrong (X)? Correct the wrong b. Complete the sentences with the correct form of can, could, or be
ones.
able to.

I'm afraid I can go to the meeting.
The chemist's was closed, but I ____________________________
______________________to get some aspirin at the supermarket.

1. He can to speak French really well.


1. I prefer real clothes shops to shopping online. I hate not
2. The office is closed now, but you should can phone them on Monday.

________________________________________ try things on.

3. He loves music— he could play the violin when he was four!
2. If ________________________________________ we afford it,

we'd eat out every week.

4. You couldn't be serious! The ball was definitely out.
3. This shirt is much too small for me. It ______________________

__________________ be an extra-large.
5. I love this shopping centre. It’s great to be able to buy everything in one
4. ________________________________________ you see if they

place.
have these jeans in my size?

5. If it doesn't fit you, you should ___________________
6. There, a shop assistant— she might can help you.
_____________________ change it.

6. They ________________________________________ find the
7. I tried to phone the bank but I wasn't able to get through.

book anywhere in the UK, so they ordered it from a US website.


8. Will I can use my UK credit card when I'm in the US? 7. I've never________________________________________

pronounce her name correctly.
9. I bought a new bike yesterday —I could get 10% off by paying cash.

8. £50 for two pairs of socks? They __________________

______________________ cost that much!
10. This camera's really cheap— it can't be very good.

9. I spent ages looking for the right shoes, and in the end ______
__________________________________ find the perfect pair.

10. She's got a beautiful voice. I'd love ___________________
_____________________ sing like that. 7


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 Michel Roux’s Service:
From School Dropouts to Top Waiters

We’ve seen plenty of
cookery competitions
where amateur chefs
compete hoping to
become professionals,
but BBC2’s Service, a
programme from chef
Michel Roux, one of the
judges on BBC’s
Masterchef, focuses on
another side of restaurants. Over eight episodes, eight young people with no
restaurant experience at all are taught the skills to become top waiters and
waitresses. Rather than having competitors voted off each week, after the
eight weeks two winners are chosen to receive six-month scholarships with the
Academy of Food & Wine Service.
‘Great service is as important as great food,’ says Roux, who owns several well-
known restaurants, including Le Gavroche, a two-Michelin star restaurant in
London. ‘If the food at one of my restaurants was OK, but the service was
brilliant, the customers would still come back. But I’d never see them again if
the service was rubbish, even though the food was brilliant.’

‘There is a great career to be had in restaurant service,’ says Roux. ‘Head

waiters can earn as much as a top chef. And, like chefs, their skills can take
them all over the world.’

Roux’s trainees include Brooke Arnold, 18, who has previously worked for
McDonald’s, Nikkita Palphreyman, 19, a single mother, and Niki Bedson, 22, an
unemployed history graduate. 24-year-old James Marvin used to work in sales,
and Danielle Menagh, 19, was a hairdresser. ‘Before the show I’d never drunk
wine,’ she says.

The most unlikely trainee is 21-year-old Ashley Flay. ‘I left school at 14,’ he
says. ‘Before the show, I’d never eaten in a place which had table service.’

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a. Have you ever worked as a waiter / waitress in a bar or restaurant? Do you know anyone who has or

does? What are the main advantages and disadvantages?



b. Read the article about the TV reality show Service. Answer the questions.



1. How is Service different from other restaurant reality shows?




2. What are the prizes at the end of the show?



3. Who is Michel Roux and where does he work?



4. What examples does he give to show that service is as important as food?



5. What is surprising about Danielle's and Ashley's previous experience of restaurants?



c. 3.43)) Listen to a breakfast radio show where a critic talks about the series. Mark the sentences T

(true) or F (false).


1. Ryan only watched the final episode.


2. In the first episode the trainees weren't very successful working at a pizza restaurant.



3. Ashley and Nikkita had a fight.


4. Michel Roux and his colleagues made the trainees feel more confident.


5. Brooke had a disaster when she cooked crepes Suzette.


6. In the final episode the trainees served at a restaurant in Paris.


7. Michel Roux was very nervous for them beforehand.


8. Only Danielle and Ashley won scholarships.



9. The show was a success both for the trainees themselves and as a programme.




d. Listen again and correct the F sentences.


e. Discuss the questions with a partner.

1. When you go to a restaurant, which do you think is more important, the service or the food?

Why?
2. Think of some places where you like to eat out. Are there waiters or are they self-service places?
How do the staff treat you? How do you treat the staff?
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a. Circle the correct form. Tick ( ) if both are possible. b. Rewrite the highlighted sentences using the correct form of can or be able to. If
both forms are possible, write two sentences.


1. My boyfriend can/is able to cook really well, because his dad, a 1. Is it OK if I close the window? I’m really cold

chef. _________________________________________________________
2. You need to can/forget your personal problems when you're at
2. It isn’t possible for me to come to class next week. I’ll be on holiday.
work.
3. My mother could/I was able to sew really well when she was _________________________________________________________
younger.
3. Is it OK if I sit here? It’s the only free seat.
4. If it, nice this evening, we can/we'll be able to have a barbecue.
_________________________________________________________
5. Sorry, but we haven't could/haven't been able to give you the
table you wanted. 4. It hasn’t been possible for me to write to you. I’ve been really busy.
6. If your brother's restaurant was nearer, we could/would be
_________________________________________________________
able to go more often.
5. It wasn’t possible for her to finish the meal. There was too much food.
7. To work for this company, you must can/be able to speak three
languages. _________________________________________________________
8. We're really sorry we couldn't/weren't able to come to your
6. I’m sure that isn’t John. He’s on holiday.
party.
_________________________________________________________
9. I've never could/been able to make paella, but I'd love to learn.
10. Can you/Will you be able to make the lunch tomorrow? 7. I love having the possibility of getting up late in the holidays. I usually start
11. They wouldn't give me a refund for the top, but I could/was
work at 8 o’clock.
able to change it for a new one.
_________________________________________________________
12. I hate not can/not being able to read a menu when l’m abroad.
8. We managed to book a room with a sea view. It was the last one available.

_________________________________________________________
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