
Teaching Objectives:
1. To have general ideas of the current employment market;
2. To remember and use new words and expressions;
3. To learn how to fire an employee and how to find a new job;
4. To know about the character of Business English vocabulary.
Focuses:
1. To remember and use new words and expressions;
2. To learn how to fire an employee and how to find a new job.
Difficulties:
How to improve reading ability by knowing about the character of Business English vocabulary.
Teaching Time: 2 periods.
Teaching Procedures:
Part I Pre-reading Questions
It can be used as lead-in questions. For students, they can discuss with each other and will have free answers.
Part II Extensive Reading
In this part, there are two texts and their relevant exercises. By reading the texts in limited time, Teacher helps students understand the contents and the reading methods to build reading abilities gradually.
1. Text A If You Fire People, Don’t Be a Jerk About It
a. Let the students read Text A as quickly as they can for the first time to find the general idea of the passage;
b. Then read through the text for the second time to find the answers to Exercise I;
c. Tell the students the general idea of the text while checking the answers to Exercise I;
d. Analyze the language points in the text:
1. We literally spent the day looking out the window as people were leaving ... 我们简直是整天望着窗外,看着人们离去……
literally用在这里表示强调,如: The old man was literally blazing with anger. 老人简直是怒火中烧。
2. Bellefonte, Pa:美国宾夕法尼亚州的一个自治镇。 Pa是邮政地名,同Pennsylvania。
3. Executive coaches say small-business owners in particular could use a lesson or two in easing the pain, since they often don’t have human-resources specialists to help them out and they may go for long stretches without firing anyone.
行政管理指导员说小公司业主们尤其需要学习如何减轻被裁雇员的痛苦,因为他们通常没有人力资源专家来帮助他们,而且他们可能花了很多时间,却谁都没解雇成。
4. Assuming they are solid performers, offer to give them a good recommendation and perhaps even reach out to acquaintances who you think may be hiring. 如果被裁员工有出色表现,你可以提出为他们写一封评价较高的推荐信,甚至可以联系你认为可能需要雇人的熟人。
reach out to: 联系;把手伸向。如: They have tried to reach out to these unfortunate people. 他们已尽力向那些不幸的人们伸出援助之手。
2. Text B Why Can’t You Find a Job?
a. Several minutes for students to read the text only once, then ask some to do exercises;
b. Pick out some terms for students to remind them of trying remember as many words of business English as possible;
c. point out some language points:
1. With unemployment at a 26-year high as the grinding downturn wears on, many people are being forced into job changes — if they’re lucky enough to find new jobs. 难熬的经济低迷仍在继续,失业率达到26年来的高点,在这种情况下,许多人被迫换工作—如果他们够幸运而能找到新工作的话。
2. Pulling out all the stops by doing anything you can to get in front of a hiring authority with pain (the need to hire someone) is key. 全力以赴,尽你一切可能站到求贤若渴的招聘人员面前才是关键。
3. They badmouth and criticize their current or past employers and justify their own convictions, thinking that a prospective employer is going to identify with them. 他们诋毁、批评他们现在或过去的雇主,为自己的观点辩解,认为未来的雇主能认同自己。
identify with : 同情;与… …产生共鸣。如: She always identifies with the loser. 她总是同情失败者。
d. Exercise III as their homework.
Part III Reading Skills
Before dealing with Text A and Text B, ask students to read through the whole passage of reading skill, to lead them to understand the characters of business English vocabulary and help them to improve their business English reading ability.
Part IV Supplementary Reading: Learn to Work with the “Now”.
Ask students to read it in a limited time, and then write a summary.
Part V Test Yourself
Ask students to do it and check the answers by themselves.
Questions for Discussion and Reflection:
1. If you were a boss, what would you do to fire an employee?
2. If you were fired, what would you do to find a new job?
Assignments
1. Write a short summary of about 50 words to express the main idea of Supplementary Reading;
2. Finish all exercises in Text A and Text B.
References:
《商务英语阅读教程Ⅰ教师用书》《牛津英汉双解词典》
