THE FIRST DAY IN

THE OFFICE

As you can see from its title, Lesson 8 is about working. First

you'll hear a dialogue about someone's first day in a new

office, so you'll learn vocabulary that deals with offices,

working, and companies in general. Then you'll take a closer

look at the uses of the very common verb must. After that

you'll review possessives, or words like my and mine,your and

yours, and so on . Finally, you'll review the simple past tense

(went instead of has gone), especially those irregular verbs.

• DIALOGUE
E OUR NEW COLLEAGUE! , . . .
YOU MUST B d t h-15 new office. Hes beginning a Job in th e
· b F lier's first ay a
Today 1s Bo u ... d he's meeting some of his new colleagues
. f I sales d1v1s1on, an ·
interna ion_a fth m introduces him to some of the people he'll
Let's listen in as one O e
work with .
Hi, I'm Susan Richter. And you must be Bob.
0 Susan Richter:
Bob Fuller: Yes Bob Fuller. Nice to meet you.
Susan Richter: Le/ me introduce you to some people. Annette, I'd like
you to meet our new colleague.
Annette Silva: Oh, hello, I'm Annette Silva. Good to meet you.
Bob Fuller: Hi, I'm Bob Fuller.
Annette Silva: Where will you be working?
Bob Fuller: In the international sales division.
Annette Silva : Oh, right next door. We'll be seeing a lot of each other
then. Let's have lunch sometime.
Bob Fuller: Yes, I'd love to.
Susan Richter: Let me introduce you to Phil now. He's the manager of
our division.
Phil Mendez: Hey,you must be Bob. We've been expecting you. I'm
Phil Mendez.
Bob Fuller: Nice to meet you.
Phil Mendez: Welcome aboard.
Now listen to the dialogue again and repeat in the pauses.

[]] A little while later, after Bob settles in a bit, he speaks to the manager of
his division, Phil Mendez.
0 Phil Mendez: So, how was your commute this morning?
Bob Fuller: Not bad at all. It took m~ only twenty minutes to get
here. By the way, I was wondering about my hours. 1
arrived here at nine today. Would it be better if Igot
here earlier on some days?
Phil Mendez: Yes. Would you mind getting here around 8:30?
Bob Fuller: Not at all. And when do you usually leave, 5:oo?
Phil Mendez: Well, we usually leave when the work's done.
.
Somet1mes h , ·t b,1 ear.
t at's 6:oo or even later. Let's play 1
Bob Fuller: No problem. And one more thing. Could you tell ,ne
how the telephone works?
Phil Mendez: Sure. Dial 9 for an outside line and then the number
You are ca 11·mg. ff you want to,contact anyone 1·n the
office,just dial their extension.
Bob Fuller: OK. Thanks.
Listen to the dialogue a second time, and repeat in the pauses provided
 LESSON 8: THE FIRST DAY IN THE OFFICE
75

• WORDS IN ACTION

OJ colleague
She's always at work. She spends more time with her colleagues than herfamily!
manager
I must find out what my manager wants me to do today.

division
There are twenty-five people in my division. We all work on sales.
sales
Jonah works for the sales division; he meets with his accounts to sell the
company's merchandise.
advertising
The advertising department makes ads for television and magazines.
I.T. {Information Technology)
Ifyour computer isn't working, call l.T.
publicity
The author was interviewed on television-that's good publicity.
marketing
The marketing department works closely with sales, publicity, and advertising.
accounting (finance)
Billing and payments are handled by the accounting (finance) department.
human resources
Human resources is in charge of hiring employees.
fax
No one mails letters today-everyone just sends faxes.
dial
For long-distance calls, dial '1'first.
extension
Idon't know Kevin's extension, so Icalled the general number of his company
line
The line is busy; /'II call back later.
to play it by ear
There are no set working hours; we'll play it by ear.
"Let's have lunch."
We haven't talked in ages. Let's have lunch soon.
reception
When you first enter an office,you arrive in the reception area.
 commute · t
., takes me twenty mmu es to get to
. 't bad at all·, it on/v
My commute 1sn
work.
e-mail .
Send the report by e-mail; it's much Jaster than ma,!,
She e-mailed me all of the travel information.

aboard
Welcome to our company, welcome aboard!

0 Now turn on the recordings and listen to the vocabulary in bold. Repeat
each word or expression, and the example sentence, in the pau ses
provided.

PRACTICE: VOCABULARY
OJ colleagues I.T. (Information extension
manager Technology) play it by ear
divisions publicity reception
sales accounting commute
marketing humar:i resources e-mail
advertising fax on board
dial
1. There's a ___ coming through for you, Bob, but the machine is out
of paper.
2. The company scandal was in all of the newspapers and created a lot of
bad _ __
3- When you come into the building go to the _ _ _ area and say that
you have an appointment with Mr. Krauss.
4. Linda 's a good---· Everyone who reports to her likes her, and they
get their jobs done well.
5- 1see a lot of my _ _ _ in this restaurant for lunch, since it's so close to
where we work.
6. Tina wants to work for that company, so she sent her resume to th e
_______ department.
7- The _ _ _ department develops commercials for television and ad s
for magazines.
8. We work for the same company, but since we're in different - - - - we
never see each other at work.
9. The international _ _ _ division handles all f th ccounts outside
the U.S. 0 ea
10. Henry's great with computers, so he's perfect for the _ _______
department.
11 .Send ;he bill to the _ _ _ department so that they can pay it
12. Whats your _ _ _ ? I only have the general number.
 LESSON 8: THE FIRST DAY IN THE OFFICE
77

1
3- _ _ _ 'g'to get an outside line.
14 . Send me an · I need the information right away.
15. I'm happy to be _ _ _ _ _ _ with a new company!
16. My _ _ _ is horrible! It takes me two hours to get to work every day.
17. I'm not sure of the details yet-let's just _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _.
18. The new _ _ _ plan has been very successfu l-everyone knows about
the product.

• TAKE A CLOSER LOOK

USES OF MUST
In the dialogue you heard Susan Richter say, "You must be Bob." Must is a
~ord you hear a lot in English. Let's ta lk about some of the different ways
you can use it. First, turn on your CD and listen to a few examples.

0 You haven't called him yet?

You must call him immediately.
You worked all day?
You must be tired.
Tom hasn't come in yet?
He must be sick.
We must be early.
No one else is here yet.
Richard lives out of town?
His commute must be terrible.

CIJ Of course, must can be used to mean "have to."

Ihave to finish this report and give it to my manager by tomorrow!

I must finish this report and give it to my manager by tomorrow!

But in the examples above, you heard that must can also be u:.ed to mean
th .mgs 1·k " b bl " "I'm sure that · · ·" or "I assume that . . .
I e pro a y or

The ground is all wet! It must have rained during the night.
(It probably rained.)
It's 3:00 in the morning. They must all be asleep!
(I'm sure they're all asleep!) 1
You haven't eaten since the morning? You must be hungry.
(I assume you're hungry)

PRACTICE: USES OF MUST

Rewrite each of the following sentences using muSt
1
· I assume that you're John .
2
· It's probably very cold outside.
 I'm sure that she's our new manager....
3,
I assume that you work in the sales d1v1s1on.
4,
It's probably snowing in the mount~ins.
5.
I'm sure that they're getting home right now.
6.
I assume that you 're my new neighbor.
7,
It's certain that the kids are upset about the rain on their vacation .
8.

POSSESSIVES
Susan introduced Bob as "our new colleague." Let's take a moment to
review all of the possessives. As you know, my, your, his, her, its, our, and
their are used right before nouns to show who they belong to.

My commute is great; I live around the corner!

Who 's the head ofyour department?
His name is John Franken.
Her assistant sent me the files.
The company is not proud of its publicity!
Their reputation has been awful.

Th_ere's another set of possessives that never come right before no uns.
Mine.yours, his, hers, ours and theirs are pronouns-you use them to
replace nouns. Take a look at these examples:

Jerry's commute is great. How's yours?

Mine is not so good. Traffic is always bad.
This division is more interesting than his.
But hers makes the most money
Mary's company is better known than ours.
The file here is theirs.

PRACTICE: POSSESSIVES
Choose the right possessive for each of the +oil .
,, owing sentences.
1, Your office is bigger than _ _ _ ( .
2. Joan gave _ _ _ (her/h ) . my/mine).
h ers assistant to h
3- T e people in the sales division don' . o muc work to do.
manager. t like _ _ _ (their/theirs)
4. (Ours/Our) is a much b tt .
5- Who's _ _ _ ( e er manager
6. This is your/yours) boss? .
_ _ _ (my/mine) notebook ,
7. _ _ _ (Their/Theirs) depart .·Wheres _ _ _ (your/yo urs)?
(our/ours). ment IS much busier than _ __

te
8. This is ( .
their/theirs) first t' .
9. If (My/Mine) last job did 't working in an office.
10. he doesn't have a lapt I n . ast very long.
op, end him
---(your/yours).
LESSON 8: THE FIRST DAY IN THE OFFICE
79

VERBS IN THE PAST TENSE

In the last ch.apter you took a look at the present perfect tense. Now let's
focus on the simple past. You heard a few examples of verbs in the simple
past tense in the dialogue:

So, how was your commute this morning?

It only took me twenty minutes to get here.
I arrived here at nine today

The simple past tense is used when both the action and the time are
finished . As you know, it's easy to form most verbs in the past tense.
They're like arrived; you just add -d or-ed to the verb:

We talked for hours last night.

The marketing department developed a new plan last month.
We e-mailed them our resumes last week.
\

Notice that some consonants double up when you add -ed:

He submitted the report on time.

We wrapped his present in recycled paper.
I dropped the Jar on the way to the sink and it shattered.

To form a negative sentence or questions in the simple past tense, use did
or didn't and the verb in its basic form .

We didn't talk at a/I last night.

Did the marketing department develop a new plan?
We didn't e-mail them our resumes.
Didn't he submit the report on time?

You may also hear people asking questions that used cha .nged intonation
to express shock or disbelief. These questions retain the simple past tense
form of the verb and do not use did or didn't:
You wrapped his present in recycled paper? How resourceful!
You dropped the Jar? It was an antique!

that have irregular past

There are many verbs-very common ver bs-
. b orized You probably
tenses like was and took. These JU St have to e mem · , t t
' . h mmon ones. Lets s ar
know most of them, but let's review t e more co
With be, which of course has the forms was and were.

I was at the office while all ofyou were home.

We were awake all night.
80 ENGLISH FOR THE REAL WORLD

You don't need to use did for questions or the negative of be:

I wasn't at the office.

We weren't at work on time this morning.
Was he at school when you were there?
Weren't they best friends?

Now let's look at some of the others. The first few examples also include
the negative.

beat- beat: They beat our team. They didn't beat our team.
become - became: He became angry He didn't become angry
begin - began: It began to rain yesterday It didn't begin to rain yesterday
bite - bit: Your dog bit me! Your dog didn't bite me.
bleed- bled: I have a cut, and Ibled on my new shirt. I didn't bleed .. .
blow- blew: The wind blew all night long. The wind didn 't blow ..
break - broke: I think Ibroke my new computer somehow. I didn't break ...
bring - brought: They brought the sales up.
broadcast- broadcast: They broadcast the news on the radio.
build - built: She built the house herself.
buy- bought: We bought a new car last month.
catch - caught: The police caught the criminals.
choose - chose: Ichose this company for its reputation.
come - came: We came home late last night.
cost- cost: That coat cost too much.
cut- cut: We cut our costs in half.
dig - dug: He really dug himself into a hole!
do - did: You did the right thing.
draw-drew: I drew this picture. Do you like it?
drink- drank: They drank all of the milk.
drive - drove: We drove to California last month.
eat- ate: Iate early last night and watched television.
fall - fell: The temperature fell during the night.
feed - Jed: Ifed the dog before work.
feel - felt: It felt a bit strange in the meeting
fight- fought: They fought during the entir~ trip.
find - found: Ifound the book interesting.
fly- flew: We flew to London last night.
forg~t - forgot: You forgot my birthday/
forgive - forgave: He finall"fiorgave us a,-1+ fi h
t, J 'J,er a ew ours.
Jreeze -froze: It was so cold that the lake froze.
g~t - got: It got much warmer last week.
give - gave: They gave you a great gift.
go - went: She went to Mexicofior th t . .
grow- grew: Igrew up near New York. e raining .
hang - hung: He hung his coat behind the door.
LESSON 8: THE FIRST DAY IN THE OFFICE
81

have- had: We had a great time.

hear-heard: They heard the bad news.
hold- held: They held their new baby all the time.
keep- kept: You kept the reports in the filing cabinet.
know - knew: I knew her when she worked here.
Jay- laid: They laid the towels on the beach.
leave - left: She left early yesterday.
Jet- Jet: We let him stay here too long.
lie- Jay: We lay on the beach all day long.
lose - lost: I lost my cell phone.
make - made: You made the right decision.
meet- met: I think you met my boyfriend.
mistake - mistook: I mistook her for a client, but she's my new manager.
pay-paid: We'paid much too much for that meal!
put- put: I put it on my credit card.
quit - quit: He quit his job yesterday.
read (pronounced "reed"}- read (pronounced "red"}: I read all about it in
the newspaper.
ride- rode: I rode the subway to work.
ring- rang: The telephone rang'at 4:00 in the morning.
rise - rose: The sun rose at 6:42 this morning.
run - ran: We ran out of ideas at the meeting.
say- said: My mother said I should have studied medicine.
see - saw: They saw the plan before we did.
sell - sold: The Richardson's sold their house and moved away
send- sent: He sent me an e-mail, but I haven't opened it.
shoot - shot: The policeman shot in the air.
shut - shut: J shut the door so we could speak privately
sing- sang: She sang at my retirement party.
sink- sank: The boat sank, but the passengers were rescued.
sit- sat: She sat next to me at the meeting.
sleep - slept: I slept for eight hours last night.
speak - spoke: He spoke too long at the ceremony
spend - spent: f spent all of my sayings on this present!
stand- stood: You stood there in the rain?
steal - stole: Someone stole my purse from my office.
swim - swam: I went to the gym and swam at lunch.
take - took: She took a long time to get to work.
teach - taught: Who taught you that?
tear- tore: I tore up the report.
tell- told: My boss told me to be in early today ...
151
think - thought: We thought you worked in another div on.
throw- threw: They threw away all of the old files . .
understand - understood: She understood what I sa,d.
wear- wore: You wore that to an interview?
- ~- -=~~~~~:.: =__.: . =. _:_-=------------~-
82 ENGLISH FOR THE REAL WORLD

win-won: Who won the contest?

write - wrote: I wrote a long letter.

PRACTICE: VERBS IN THE PAST TENSE

Rewrite the following sentences in the past tense."/For example, if you see
"/goto the movies," you'd rewrite the sentence as went to the movies."
1. She thinks about her friend.
2. The advertising department spends a lot of money.
3. John e-mails his friend about the trip.
4. They sleep for nine h6urs.
5. Jason takes the bus to go to his interview.
6. Lisa starts working in the sales division on Monday.
7. We don't take the bus to work every day.
8. Annette sees Harry a lot.
9. Julia does her shopping in the afternoon.
10. Hector chooses his wine carefully.

• tlSTENING EXERCISE

0 Listen to the recorded sentences and rephrase them using must.

1. You're probably our new colleague, Richard.
2. I'm sure the phone book is on my desk.
3- I probably left my keys at home.
4. He's probably sick.
5. / assume you're hungry.