By Michael Skapinker

It is not possible to achieve a balance between work and life if you want to do well in business. To reduce only your workload will fail because in real life success in work depends on achieving targets. In a competitive business environment, leadership takes different qualities and skills – including commitment, passion, and of course a lot of time.

A work–life balance is not just about people wanting to leave the office at a reasonable time – they know that they have to compete against those who are prepared to work until the early hours, on the other side of the world. Take Pavan Vishnakarma, a freelance software developer who lives in Bhopal, for instance. He advertises himself as being available for work at any time.

The answer is surely to look for balance across our whole lives, rather than at any particular time. Life is about deciding what is important to you – and sometimes making hard decisions. There are periods when we want to devote ourselves to work and others when the family is more important.

It’s not that a work–life balance isn’t worth having. It certainly is. _______________ ¹¹. This is that you are not going to rise as high in the organisation or be as rich as those business leaders who have no interest in a work–life balance. _______________ ¹². However, if you are the sort of person who, faced with a choice between a school play and a crucial meeting, chooses the play, you will fall behind. _______________ ¹³.

Show me a successful Chief Executive and I will show_you someone who barely_sees his/her children. _______________ ¹⁴. We can’t. Those who spend more time with their family and friends will be richer in the ways that really matter. _______________ ¹⁵.

From the Financial Times

A Complete the article using the correct form of the verbs in brackets.

Obituary: George Thompson

George Thompson was one of the key people who _______________¹⁶ (make) the Bridgeport milling machine the fastest-selling machine tool in the world during the latter half of the last century. One Bridgeport machine _______________¹⁷ (sell) at that time every three minutes of a working week. The machines _______________ ¹⁸ (also find) in tool-making shops and maintenance departments everywhere: one _______________¹⁹ (even discover) by an expedition exploring the Amazon.

Two Swedes, Magnus Wahlstrem and Rudolph Bannow, _______________²⁰ (start) making the machines in 1938 at Bridgeport, Connecticut. But it was Thompson, an outstanding British engineer, who _______________²¹ (be) responsible for producing them in the UK.

UK production _______________²² (begin) to take off, so much so that manufacture _______________²³ (outgrow) the capacity available at Leicester. At Bridlington, Thompson _______________ ²⁴ (find) a site which he _______________²⁵ (turn) into what _______________²⁶ (become) the largest producer of milling machines in Europe and one of the most advanced plants of its time.

From the Financial Times

B Complete the gaps with who, which, whose or that.

27 Cultural awareness seminars at Train Us, _______________ the company only started offering five years ago, have become their most popular courses.

28 People _______________ trust their staff are often good leaders.

29 It’s the ideas of the company _______________ are really influencing business practices in this country.

30 Busy N, _______________ is an IT provider, offers a high-quality service.

31 Bix UT is a fast-growing Estonian company _______________ is looking for a new leader.

32 This is the team _______________ achieved record sales last year.

33 _______________car is that outside the plant?

34 Milly Saviour, _______________established the clothing company Citty Slick, travels economy class.

Skills

5 Complete the gaps in the presentation extract with one word.

Good morning everyone and _______________ ³⁵ to ACR Ltd. I’m going to _______________ ³⁶ my talk today into two parts. First, I’ll _______________ ³⁷ you an overview of the company’s main research and development activities. After that I’ll _______________ ³⁸ about some recent breakthroughs. If you have any questions, please don’t _______________ ³⁹ to ask. So, let’s _______________ ⁴⁰ with our main activities. Could I _______________ ⁴¹ your attention to this chart? As you can see ...

Vocabulary

A Complete the gaps in the sentences using the words from the box.

lead / goalposts / expectations / field / computer / presence / horse

42 We’re not making any progress. It’s like flogging a dead _______________

43 My boss keeps moving the _______________ . I never have any idea what I’m supposed to be doing.

44 It’s essential that we establish a _______________ in the Latvian market before our rivals do.

45 Well done! Sales this month exceeded all _______________.

46 DTP is doing well, but the company no longer leads the _______________.

47 I travel twice a month in my job so it’s really useful to have this laptop _______________ .

48 Last year we overtook our competitors to become market leader. This year we have retained the _______________ .

B Complete the sentences with the correct alternatives.

49 My boss is really motivating and so _______________ (passionate / ruthless) about his job.

50 Things are going badly and we’ve had a lot of _______________ (setbacks /breakthroughs).

51 I give up. Let’s go back to the _______________ (drawing board / brainwave).

52 It’s a concept that we have never seen before – in fact it’s _______________ (groundbreaking / lifesaving).

53 This low-fat product’s advertised as being _______________ (beneficial / pointless) for your health.

C Complete the gaps using the adjective form of the noun in brackets. Some may be negative.

54 He cannot choose which supplier to use. He is so _______________ (decision).

55 She really can’t wait to skydive. She’s so _______________ (adventure).

56 My boss never stops to think before opening her mouth. She can be so _______________ (thought).

57 I can’t seem to do anything right. It’s just so _______________ (motivation).

58 You have to wear smart clothes where I work. It’s a very _______________ (formality) working environment.

59 She is always rushing around doing things with such enthusiasm. I’ve never seen someone so _______________ (energy).

60 If you want to succeed in business then you must be prepared to take risks and be _______________ (opportunity).

Writing

9 You are a buyer for a department store’s toy department and have just seen the advert below in a local newspaper. Write an e-mail (40 to 50 words) to the distributor.

Remember to include the following information:

• state which products you are interested in

• request more information about the products

• ask about prices

Looking for high-quality toys and games?

We are distributing three new ranges of hand-made German products:

• soft toys for 0–3 year olds

• wooden toys for children aged 3–6

• board games for children aged 7–11

For more information, e-mail jack.denton@abc.com

B You work for a PR consultancy. You have been asked to write a press release for the Bright sparks Supermarket chain. Use the notes you made during a recent meeting with the company. Write 120 to 140 words.

Date: 2015-12-17; view: 2174