Intensive English 5

Week 7
Online session 1
Unit 12: Too Much Work

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Unit 12: Too Much Work

Session 1 communicative objective 1

• By the end of this session, you will be able to narrate

stories about happenings at work.

Session 1 communicative objective 2

• By the end of this session, you will be able to talk about

what you do when you are overwhelmed with work.
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 Staffing agencies
 In Unit 12 lesson 1 you read an ad for “Assist”, a staffing agency. Here is an extract taken from XCEL, a company
that offers staffing solutions too.

Do you think it is a good idea to

hire a staffing agency?

If your company was experiencing

a staffing shortage, would you
consider hiring a staffing solution
company?

4 minutes
Warm up
whole class 3
 1 2
Situations at work
 Look at the pictures and read the questions.
 Share your answers with the class.

Which of these situations

would cause the most stress at
3 4
work? Why?

How can these problems that

cause stress be solved?

4 minutes
Pre production 1
whole class 4
 Stress at work
 Read your role cards and have a fluent conversation with your partner.
 Make sure to use the Word bank.
Production 1  Exchange roles and continue communicating.

Student A
• You are an employee at a big company.
• You have worked there for 6 months, but you feel
unhappy.
• Talk to a coworker and ask for advice. Mention 3
problems you have at work.

10 minutes Student B
• You are an employee at a big company.
pairwork • You have worked there for 3 years. You don’t love
your job, but cannot risk to change jobs right now.
• Your coworker tells you about his/her problems at
work. Give advice.
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 Stress at work

Feedback

4 minutes

whole class  Present your role play to the class.

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 Storytelling
 Look at the picture of a man at work. Imagine this happened some time ago.
 What happened before what you see in the picture (Use your imagination!)? What happened next (Look at
the picture!)? What happened after that (Use your imagination!)?
 Create a story using the connectors and share it with the class.
Before

After
4 minutes
Pre production 2
whole class 7
 Storytelling
 With your partner, create stories for the pictures below.
 Make sure to use the Word bank and the Connectors of sequence in your stories.
1 2 Word bank
at the expense of
bright and early
deserve the best
isolation
lifestyle change
lose sight of something
paperwork
3 4 position
references
routine
steady job
struggle alone
technical advances

10 minutes
Production 2 8
pairwork
 Storytelling

Feedback

4 minutes

whole class
 Share one of the stories with the class.

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 Overwhelmed

Have you ever felt

like you had too
much to do at work
or at university?

What happened?
How did you manage
to complete all the
tasks?

4 minutes
Lead-in
whole class 10
 Too much work
 Look at the picture of a man at work and his boss.
 Read the questions and share your answers with the class.

What is the situation at work?

What would you do if you

were the employee?

4 minutes
Pre production 3
whole class 11
 Too much work
 Read your role cards and have a conversation with your partner.
 Make sure to use the Word bank.
Production 3  Exchange roles and continue communicating.

Student A
• You work as the assistant of a business manager.
• Everybody in the company is working on a big project and
there is a lot of work to be done.
• Your boss will ask you to do a lot more tasks than what you
usually do, but it’s too much for you to do by yourself.
• Explain this to your boss.

Student B
10 minutes
• Your are a business manager.
• There is a project which will bring a lot of money to the
pairwork company, so it is your top priority at the moment.
• Convince your assistant to work on 4 extra tasks till the end
of the day since everyone else is working overtime.
• Explain the tasks in order and with details.
12
 Too much work

Feedback

4 minutes

whole class  Present your role play to the class.

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 To do, to make
 Look at the expressions below. Are they preceded by do or make?
Pre  Classify the expressions next to the correct verb.
production 4
(part 1) a choice arrangements
an offer housework
damage a job DO
a duty a test
a complaint work
a decision a mistake
a profit money
a suggestion an examination
an exercise
a favor
MAKE
3 minutes harm
a discovery
whole class an effort
an excuse
homework
Then, make sentences about yourself.
MAKE
Use these collocations with DO or MAKE.
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 To do, to make
 Check your answers.
Pre  Now, create questions using these expressions and share the with the class.
production 4
(part 2)
DO damage
MAKE arrangements
a choice
a duty
a complaint
an examination
a decision
an exercise
a discovery
a favor
an effort
harm
3 minutes an excuse
homework
a mistake
housework
whole class money
a job
an offer
a test
a profit
work
a suggestion 15
 To do, to make
 Ask and answer questions like the ones from the previous activity with your partner.
 Make sure to use the expressions with DO and MAKE in your conversation.
 Here are some questions to get you started.
MAKE...
DO…
1. Do you do exercise to release stress? arrangements
damage
a choice
2. What type of exercise do you do? a duty
a complaint
3. Have you ever done a big favor for anyone at an examination
a decision
work? an exercise
a discovery
4. Has anyone at work done a big favor for you? a favor
an effort
harm
5. What kind of arrangements do you make before an excuse
homework
you go on a business trip? a mistake
housework
6. What excuse do you make when you are late for money
a job
work? an offer
a test
Now, ask the questions you a profit
work
have created using DO and a suggestion
MAKE.

10 minutes
Production 4 16
pairwork
 To do, to make

Feedback DO…
MAKE...
arrangements
damage
a choice
a duty
a complaint
an examination
a decision
an exercise
a discovery
a favor
an effort
harm
an excuse
homework
a mistake
housework
money
a job
an offer
a test
4 minutes a profit
work
a suggestion
whole class
 Share some information you have learned about your partner.

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Summary

Now I can…
√ narrate stories about happenings at work.

√talk about what you do when you are overwhelmed

with work.

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Preparation for
next class

Reinforce Units 12 and 13.

Do Grammar Practice component exercises.
Work on the Enrichment Practice component.

Study the Use of English file.

Check out the Practice Resources folder.

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Sources

 https://thenounproject.com/
 https://www.shutterstock.com/
 https://dictionary.cambridge.org
 English Discoveries Student platform

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