Practice Listening Business English Exercises for A2 – Work patterns

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1. Exercise 1

Audio

A. Listen to three people talking about their work patterns. Make notes about their jobs and working hours.
Speaker 1
Speaker 2
Speaker 3

2. Exercise 2

Audio

A. Listen to Lou calling her colleague, Ian, about an appointment she made with him last week.
1)
What date did Lou and Ian have an arrangement to meet?
2)
Why is that date now not possible?
3)
Does Lou want to make the appointment sooner or later? Why?
4)
Who’s available on the following dates?
a)
Wed 10, morning: Lou / Ian
b)
Wed 10, afternoon: Lou / Ian
c)
Thu 11, afternoon: Lou / Ian
d)
Fri 12, afternoon: Lou / Ian
5)
What does Ian offer to do to help?
B. In their conversation, Lou apologises for changing the meeting time, while Ian tries to be helpful. Listen again and note down examples of what they say.

3. Exercise 3

Audio

A. Ian immediately calls his assistant, James. Listen and note down the changes they make to Ian’s schedule.
B. Ian is more direct with James than Lou. Why do you think that is?

C. Listen to Ian calling Lou back to confirm the details. Make brief notes.

MEETING PLANNER | Ian Henderson

Arrangements: ………………………………………

4. Exercise 4

Audio

A. Listen to Clara Olsen giving a presentation to the senior managers in Madrid about the company culture at Holsted. Find one difference between each point below and the presentation.
The Holsted company culture
1)
Employees work 40 37 hours a week from Monday to Friday.
2)
They are often expected to work long hours.
3)
The working hours are fixed for most employees.
4)
The work culture is very strict but effective.
5)
Managers are responsible for how employees organise their time and projects.
6)
Senior staff in the company can tell us their ideas and opinions.
7)
It’s important to arrive on time for work; it shows you are professional.

5. Exercise 5

Audio

A. Listen to part of a meeting between Clara Olsen, Vice President; Marina Beltran, Human Resources Manager; and Álvaro Martínez, Finance Manager; in Madrid. Look at Clara’s list of questions. Which questions are they discussing?
MEETING ABOUT WORK PATTERNS
1)
What types of contracts are there? (full-time, part-time?)
2)
How much holiday do employees get?
3)
What are the working hours – start time, finish time?
4)
Does the company let employees work flexible hours?
5)
How long is the lunch break?
6)
Can employees work from home?
B. Listen again and complete this extract from the meeting (0:00–0:32). Then complete the bar chart with the correct percentages and times.
As you can see from this bar graph, the working day is very long here in the Madrid office. On an average day only (1) ) of our employees leave work by (2) ) o’clock. At (3) ) o’clock, (4) ) percent of the staff are still here in the office and (5) ) percent are still at their desks at (6) ) in the evening.
C. Work in pairs. What is a suitable title for the graph?
D. Listen to the rest of the meeting again (0:32–2:19) and answer the questions.
1)
What does Álvaro say about the lunch break?
2)
What do Marina and Álvaro disagree about?
3)
What does Marina say about staff working long days?
4)
What risks does she say are possible?

6. Exercise 6

Audio

A. Listen to an interview with a student and tick the jobs she does.
1)
working as a chef
2)
taking food orders
3)
serving food in restaurants
4)
pouring drinks at events
5)
delivering fast food
6)
delivering parcels
7)
working as a hotel receptionist
8)
working in a pharmacy
9)
working as a domestic cleaner
10)
promoting holiday events
B. Listen again and decide if the statements are true (T) or false (F).
1)
Amy doesn’t have to pay rent.
2)
The flexibility of the gig economy is good for Amy.
3)
Amy doesn’t like working for the catering company.
4)
The interviewer doesn’t think being a bike courier is safe.
5)
Amy often delivers food to office staff.
6)
After she finishes university, Amy wants a job that offers training and a pension.
C. Listen again and complete the sentences with one word.
1)
Amy is studying at the moment.
2)
She wants to work in the industry when she graduates from university.
3)
She needs to earn money to pay and buy food and clothes.
4)
When she has , she works less or stops working for a while.
5)
She says that some of her are also working in the catering and hospitality industry.
6)
She has done a lot of cycling and has never had an .
7)
As a courier, she often delivers parcels or .
8)
She is happy to carry on working in the economy while she is a student.
D. Choose the sentence which best describes Amy.
a)
She’s hard-working and wants an interesting and secure job in the future.
b)
She’s relaxed about work and would like to continue working for different companies.
c)
She’s happy to work in a dangerous environment.

7. Exercise 7

Audio

A. Complete the dialogue between Pavel and Laila with the phrases in the box. Then listen and check.
P: Pavel Orlov speaking.
L: Pavel, hi. It’s Laila.
P: Hi, Laila. What can I do for you?
L: Well, (1) ) our meeting on Tuesday next week.
P: You mean, the 12th? Do you want (2) )?
L: No, no. It’s just that I’ve got a bit of a problem. You see, there’s a training session at our head office on Tuesday and I really have to be there.
P: That’s OK. Don’t worry.
L: I know it’s a bit (3) ) .
P: No, that’s fine.
L: So (4) ) we fix another time to meet?
P: Fine. Let me just (5) )I’m free on Friday the 15th. How does the morning suit you?
L: Oh sorry, Pavel. I’m busy all day on Friday. How about Thursday?
P: No, sorry, Thursday’s (6) ), I’m afraid. All-day meeting
L: OKUm, can we bring (7) ), maybe? How about Monday the 11th?
P: Yeah, Monday’s good.
L: Great. (8) ) for you: morning or afternoon?
P: Morning’s fine.
L: Right. So just (9) ): the meeting will be on Monday the 11th.
P: Yes, Monday morning. 9.30?
L: Perfect. Thanks for being (10) ), Pavel. I appreciate it.
P: No problem. See you then.

check my schedule do you mind if I’m calling aboutit forward out for me short notice so flexibleto confirm to postpone it which is better

8. Test

Audio

1)
You will hear eight short recordings twice. For questions 1–8 choose the correct answer.
1)
How many days a week does the man work?
a)
3
b)
5
c)
7
2)
What does the man do at lunchtime?
c) 3) Who is going to finish preparing the presentation?
a)
Sandra
b)
Dmitri
c)
Rens
4)
What kind of work is the company offering?
a)
permanent
b)
flexible hours
c)
full time
5)
What do the man and woman decide to do about the staff party?
a)
delay it until summer
b)
book a restaurant now
c)
ask for different ideas
6)
What is the new meeting date?
a)
Monday 6 June
b)
Wednesday 8 June
c)
Monday 13 June
7)
What was the woman’s first job?
a)
a shop assistant
b)
delivering newspapers
c)
cleaner
8)
Where are they going to meet?
c