4/27/2011

Workplace of the Future

Level: Elementary +/ Pre Intermediate

Age: Adults

link to CBS news video: http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=6850541n



Before you watch

·        How do you imagine the workplace of the future?
·        Say if you agree or disagree with the following statements. Account for your answers.

-                    Everybody will have their own offices.

-                    There will be multi-purpose facilities.

-                    There will be lots of interactive technology.

-                    There will be more face to face meetings.

-                    Most employees will be staff, not contractors.

-                    All the work will be done by teams.

-                    People will work from 9 to 5.

After you watch

Watching for main ideas


·        Which of the points above are mentioned in the news report?

Watching for specific ideas


·        Watch and answer the following questions:

1. Where is Accenture based?
2. What kind of company is it?
3. Whose needs does their workplace meet?
4. Why do they implement such advanced technology?
5. Where do people work?

Watching for details

(if you want to convert the video to MP3 format you can do it for free at: http://www.video2mp3.net/)

·         Listen and fill in the blanks:

If you re like most people in this fast-paced world maybe it feels like you’re stuck on a treadmill. But in one office in ________________Houston, that’s the way some people like it. ________________ Accenture, a global _____________________________ that has built what some consider the office of the future.
“It is individual work space it is meeting space, it is cafe space, so it’s multi purpose.”
The idea is to get ________________________________ out of every space. The idea is to cater to generations x and y.
“So the office of the future will embody concepts that are around supporting ________________________________ and the way they work and the way they ________________ and the way ________________. So, multi tasking, highly technologically advanced.”
Accenture’s office of the future is packed with all kinds of interactive technology. This is called media escape, and it allows a person sitting here in Houston to _____________________________ or even ____________________________ with someone sitting in Atlanta, for example, and it’s all________________.
And the people on the other side of this conference table are ________________ on the other side of the world. India.
It’s the kind of technology that’s expected to ________________ the company 35 million dollars ________________ in travel expenses alone,
“And no one has ________________________________”
“No one.”
Not even the top executives. Like everyone else here, he settles in wherever he can.
“The reality is we’re a client service business, and we want our people to be ________________and not in the office.”
________________ it is the office of the future


Focus on vocabulary

  • Join with arrows

Group A

1.      Consulting                    workforce
2.      Young                          technology
3.      Face-to-face                company
4.      Advanced                     meetings

Group B

1.      Meet                           in Houston
2.      Be based                     money
3.      Do                               somebody’s needs
4.      Save                            work/ your job


Speaking 


  • Retell the news report using thenew vocabulary

Free expression: Discuss
 
  • How do you like the office of the future?
  • What are its advantages and disadvantages?
  • What aspects of the present workplace would you like to keep and why?

 

KEY

 

After you watch

Watching for main  ideas


Ideas mentioned:
-          Multi- purpose spaces
-          Interactive technology
-          Face to face meetings (with people overseas)

Watching for specific ideas


1. Where is Accenture based? In Houston, Texas
2. What kind of company is it? It’s a Global consulting company
3. Whose needs does their workplace meet? The needs of the employees of the future (generations Y and X)
4. Why do they implement such advanced technology?  To save money
5. Where do people work? Wherever they can but mostly outside the company.

Watching for details

(script)

If you’ re like most people in this fast-paced world maybe it feels like you’re stuck on a treadmill. But in one office in downtown Houston, that’s the way some people like it. Welcome to Accenture, a global consulting company that has built what some consider the office of the future.
“It is individual work space it is meeting space, it is cafe space, so it’s multi purpose.”
The idea is to get more than one use out of every space. The idea is to cater to generations x and y.
“So the office of the future will embody concepts that are around supporting a younger workforce and the way they work and the way they need to work and the way they work best. So, multi tasking, highly technologically advanced.”
Accenture’s office of the future is packed with all kinds of interactive technology. This is called media scape, and it allows a person sitting here in Houston to collaborate on a project or even share a spreadsheet with someone sitting in Atlanta, for example, and it’s all face to face.
And the people on the other side of this conference table are actually on the other side of the world. India.
It’s the kind of technology that’s expected to save the company 35 million dollars a year in travel expenses alone,
“And no one has their own office here”
“No one.”
Not even the top executives. Like everyone else here, he settles in wherever he can.
“The reality is we`re a client service business, and we want our people to be with our clients and not in the office.”
Even if it is the office of the future

4/19/2011

New Corporate Tax Havens

Level: Intermediate +
Age: Adult Learners


link to online video (60 minutes)  http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7360932n
link to online script http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/03/25/60minutes/main20046867.shtml

 
Before you watch


1. Look at the mindmap. What do you expect the video to be about?



After you watch

PART 1 (Introduction) (00:00- 01:05’’)

Say if the following statements are True or False.    (Account for your answer as far as possible)

1.      The American government is looking for ways to lower the federal budget deficit.
2.      The tax rate in the US is as high as in other countries.
3.      Many companies have moved to the Caribbean in order to dodge taxes more safely.

PART 2 (01:05’-06:35’’)

Answer the following questions.

  1. Where is Zug? What is it like?
  2. What’s Zug’s most special appeal?
  3. How high is the number of companies in Zug in relation to its population?
  4. How fast is the number of companies in the area growing?
  5. Who is Lloyd Doggett? What’s he concerned about?
  6. What example does he give to illustrate his point?
  7. What legislation has he proposed in order to clamp down on tax-dodging?
  8. What have Transocean and Weatherford done at the threat of Doggett’s legislation?
  9. What steps did the American government take back in 2004 to prevent companies moving offshore?
  10. Has it worked? Why (not)?

PART 3 (06:35’- end)

Complete the following ideas:

1. Thierry Boitelle is…………………………………………………………………………...
2. He wonders whether ……………………………………….……………………………
3. He thinks that many US companies would stay in the US if ………………
4. Lesley Stahl states that the US’s tax rate is by far ………………..…world.
5. According to Cisco CEO John Chambers the tax system …………………..
6. Economist Martin Sullivan says …………………………………………………….
7. John Chambers says that if their company doesn’t change .....................

 
Collocations: Join with arrows.

NOUN + NOUN

  1. Tax                             twisting
  2. Budget                        point
  3. Arm                            makers
  4. Selling                        haven/ code/ rate
  5. Decision                     deficit
VERB + NOUNS

  1. Clamp down on         your citizenship
  2. Park                            money
  3. Renounce                   a fast one
  4. Game                          tax dodging
  5. Subsidize                   the system
  6. Pull                             investment 
  7. Rake in                       your profits overseas

 
Fill in the blanks with the collocations above in a suitable tense and form.

1. The American government is in knots over ways to lower the federal ______________________.
2. The U.S. Treasury  is ______________________ in Ireland
3. Zug's main ______________________ isn't a view of the Alps but the fact that the taxes are somewhere between 15 and 16 percent.
4. Thierry Boitelle thinks the companies should be taxed based on where their ____________________ and management actually reside.
5. President Obama threatened to ______________________ tax dodging.
6. One major way companies avoid paying the tax man is by ______________________ overseas.
7. Some companies ______________________ their American _________________ and move offshore.
8. There's been a lot of ______________________, a lot of effective lobbying here, and some really smart tax lawyers figuring out how to ______________________ with one shenanigan after the other.
9. The corporate 35 percent ____________________ in the US is high in relation to other countries.
10. Weatherford rents conference rooms for board meetings, but Weatherford's Houston office told us they never go there. So are these big companies_________________________? Apparently not: under both Zug and U.S. tax laws, it's perfectly legal to get the low tax rate even without a real presence in Zug.
11. In 2005, a one-time tax break was tried and the Treasury _________________billions of dollars. However, very few jobs were created.

Verb patterns


  1. Companies avoid _____________________(pay) the tax man by parking their profits overseas.
  2. They'll tell you they're forced _______________(do) that because the corporate tax rate is too high.
  3. It seems the tax code actually encourages companies ________________(move) their businesses out of the country.
  4. President Obama threatened ____________________(clamp down on) tax dodging.
  5. Many companies decided________________________(leave) the Caribbean.
  6. Lloyd Doggett suggested______________________(tax) companies based on where the management resides.
  7. In a way Congress writes laws that allowed this _____________________(happen).
  8. Congress tried _________________(put) a stop to that with a law passed in 2004.
  9. Many companies in the U.S. would like____________________(keep) the jobs in the U.S. if they could, but they also need_________________(keep) their shareholders happy.

Conditional sentences

 Make sentences using:        

AS LONG AS                                PROVIDED
EVEN IF                     SUPPOSING                          IF                       OTHERWISE


1. Corporate taxes in the US / lower/ tax havens/ not so popular
2. The companies’ headquarters/ real presence in Zug /   most of their employees/ there as well.
3. Tax rate in Zug/ keep on being so low/ companies/ stay there for long.
4.  Under the new proposed legislation/ corporate decisions /in the US/ taxes/ in the US as well.
5. The government/  stricter laws/ smart lawyers/ still find ways to game the system.
6. Many American companies / like to keep the jobs in the U.S/ be possible.
7. Growing demand/ such high taxes/ Cisco/ not expanding overseas.
8. Tax rate in Ireland/ higher/  pharmaceutical and high tech co./ not there now.
9. Ireland and Switzerland/ keep on giving tax advantages/ not keep on adding  so many jobs there.                   
10. According to John Chambers/ companies leave the US/ /be left behind.


Speaking:

  • Present the news report using the mindmap above. Try to include as much new vocabulary as possible!

4/05/2011

The History of Tattoos


Level: Pre- Intermediate +
Age: All ages 
 
Before you watch

Get together with a partner and discuss the following questions


1.    Do you know where the name “tattoo” comes from?
2.    Do you know anything about their origin?
3.    Would you get a tattoo? Why? Why not?

Watching for main ideas

You are going to watch a short video about the origin of tattoos. Watch the video once and check if your predictions were right.


Watching for details

  1. These are some figures that appear in the video. Do you remember what they refer to? Watch the video again and check.

1000s                  1/7                      5000                 1991                5,300                59            1876

  1. Answer the following questions

a.    What was widely believed about the origin of tattoos at first?
b.    Who is Ötzi? Why is it said that his corpse offered a truly strange finding?
c.    Who designed the first tattoo gun?
d.    What material is tattooing derived of?


LANGUAGE FOLLOW UP

Fill in the blanks with a suitable tense. Use active or passive voice


Tattoos _________________(be) around for thousands of years and they _______________(appear) to be everywhere now. At least one in seven North Americans _____________(have) a tattoo on legs, arms, heads and hands. They’re out in the open and ready to_______________(see). Where do they come from and who has tattoos?
Until recently, it _________________(widely/ believe) that the Polynesian people _______________ (invent) the tattoo some 5000 years ago on islands dotted throughout the South Pacific, thousands of miles from the nearest continents. It _________________(believe)that the practice then _______________(spread) throughout Polynesia, reaching New Zeeland to the south and Samoa to the north. Some say  it’s this region and the tools that the Polynesian _______________(use) that actually ________________(give) tattoo its name, and that the word tattoo itself _______________(originate) from the Samoan word “tatau”, which literally _________________(mean)  “balanced or fitting”. Others _____________(say) that the word tattoo ________________(come) from the sound that the hand tool and the sticks make. But all these theories ________________(shatter) when in 1991 on a mountain on the border of Italy and Austria a frozen body _________________( discover). It was the oldest human ever found.


Read the following sentences. What do the words/ phrases underlined mean?

  1. Tattoos have been around for thousands of years
  2. Until recently, it was widely believed that the Polynesian people invented the tattoo
  3. It was believed that the practice then spread throughout Polynesia, reaching New Zeeland to the south and Samoa to the north.
  4. Some say it’s this region and the tools that the Polynesian used that actually gave tattoo its name.
  5. All these theories were shattered when a frozen body was discovered.
  6. The corpse was that of a sacrificed human.
  7. Since the tattoo dyes contain metal MRI exams may cause tattoos to have a burning or stinging sensation.

WORD FORMATION


Tattooing has been practised (1) ___________________.     (WORLD)         
It was (2) _______________among Polynesian peoples and among certain     (WIDE) (3)______________groups in the Taiwan, Philippines, Borneo, Mentawai Islands, (TRIBE) Africa, North America, South America, Mesoamerica, Europe, Japan, Cambodia,  New Zealand and Micronesia. Despite some taboos (4)_____________tattooing,      (SURROUND) 
the art continues to be popular in many parts of the world.
Tattoo enthusiasts may refer to tattoos as "Ink", "Tats", "Art", "Pieces", or "Work"; and to the tattooists as " (5)_______________".    (ART)  
Art galleries hold (6)__________of both traditional and custom tattoo designs.  (EXHIBIT)
Tattooing is a tradition among indigenous peoples around the world. Tattoos have served as marks of status and rank, symbols of (7)____________and      (RELIGION)                      
spiritual devotion, decorations and marks of (8)_______________, pledges of love,(FERTILE)  (9)_______________, amulets and talismans,               (PUNISH)                              (10)_______________, and as the marks of outcasts, slaves and convicts.             (PROTECT)
 

KEY

  1.  
1000s                  1/7                      5000                 1991                5,300                59            1876     

Tattoos have been around for 1000’s of years
1/7 North Americans has a tattoo on legs, arms, heads and hands.
Until recently, it was widely believed that the Polynesian people invented the tattoo some 5000 years ago
A frozen body was discovered in 1991
A man 5,300 years old with flesh, organs, fingers and toes all intact.
The corpse was covered in tattoos, more than 59 in all.
The basic tattoo gun was invented in 1876 and called the autographic printer, an engraving device.

  1.  
a.       Until recently, it was widely believed that the Polynesian people invented the tattoo some 5000 years ago on islands dotted throughout the South Pacific, thousands of miles from the nearest continents. It was believed that the practice then spread throughout Polynesia, reaching New Zeeland to the south and Samoa to the north
b.      Ötzi the Iceman is a frozen body  discovered in 1991 on a mountain on the border of Italy and Austria. It was the oldest human ever found. The corpse was covered in tattoos, more than 59 in all. Some have speculated that these are the markings of a shaman, a religious leader, and that the corpse was that of a sacrificed human.
c.       Thomas Edison invented the autographic printer, an engraving device, in 1876.
d.      Metals.

VOCABULARY
  1. Tattoos have EXISTED for thousands of years
  2. Until recently, it was BELIEVED BY MANY PEOPLE that the Polynesian people invented the tattoo
  3. It was believed that the practice then spread ALL OVER/ ALL THROUGH Polynesia, reaching New Zeeland to the south and Samoa to the north.
  4. Some say it’s this region and the tools that the Polynesian used that IN FACT/REALLY gave tattoo its name.
  5. All these theories were DESTROYED when a frozen body was discovered.
  6. The DEAD BODYwas that of a sacrificed human.
  7. Since the tattoo dyes contain metal MRI exams may cause tattoos to have a burning or PICANTE/ DE ARDOR sensation.
WORD BUILDING
1.     
6.      Exhibitions
7.      Religious
8.      Fertility
9.      Punishment
10.  Protection

 
Wordwide
2.      Widespread
3.      Tribal
4.      Surrounding
5.      Artists

SCRIPT (by Marcela)
Tattoos have been around for thousands of years and they appear to be everywhere now. At least one in seven North Americans has a tattoo on legs, arms, heads and hands. They’re out in the open and ready to be seen. Where do they come from and who has tattoos?
Until recently, it was widely believed that the Polynesian people invented the tattoo some 5000 years ago on islands dotted throughout the South Pacific, thousands of miles from the nearest continents. It was believed that the practice then spread throughout Polynesia, reaching New Zeeland to the south and Samoa to the north. Some say  it’s this region and the tools that the Polynesian used that actually gave tattoo its name, and that the word tattoo itself originates from the Samoan word “tatau”, which literally means  “balanced or fitting”. Others say that the word tattoo comes from the sound that the hand tool and the sticks make. But all these theories were shattered when in 1991 on a mountain on the border of Italy and Austria a frozen body was discovered. It was the oldest human ever found.
A man 5,300 years old with flesh, organs, fingers and toes all intact. One of the most amazing and unique finds in the history of science, Ötzi the Iceman. The corpse offered a truly strange finding; it was covered in tattoos, more than 59 in all. Some have speculated that these are the markings of a shaman, a religious leader, and that the corpse was that of a sacrificed human.
Tattoos are now applied with a tattoo gun, which was designed not by someone that looks like this, but someone that looks like this. It was Thomas Edison. The basic machine was invented in 1876 and called the autographic printer, an engraving device. A few years later Samuel O'Reilly adapted the machine to inject ink into the skin, and later patented a tube and needle system to provide an ink reservoir. Strangely enough, tattooing is actually derived from metals. Red color and black color come from iron oxides. Yellow comes from cadmium and green from chromium. And since the tattoo dyes contain metal MRI exams may cause tattoos to have a burning or stinging sensation. So you can cause a reaction when people can see your tattoos and also when they can’t.