A Terrible Boss - Office English Listening and Writing Exercise

A Terrible Boss - Office English Listening and Writing Exercise Ok. I chose another comedic listening exercise, this time from the movie Office Space, where we see the main characters terrible boss. There are some great phrasal verbs used in the exercise and it is about English work and office language. Give it a try and if you have time do the writing exercise too.Fill in the gaps from the video above. Write your answers in comments and well respond.1. Hello Peter. _____   ________?2. What time does he want him to come in?3. Im also going to need you to ___ _____ and come in on Sunday too.4. Why does he need him to work on Sunday?5. We need to sort of play _______   __.6. What does the above phrasal verb mean?These are 5 important phrasal verbs can you put them in the correct sentences below?go ahead,  catch up on,  deal with,  focus on,  draw up1. Alice, will you ____ __ a contract for our new business partners.2. I think we will have to work late, that meeting put us behind and we have a lot of reports to _____   __ __.3. Peter, could you ____   ____ the press and their accusations of mishandling government funding.4. _____ ___ Mary, I didnt mean to interrupt you.5. I really need you to _____ __ your work and not play on the internet all day.Writing Assignment:Do you have to work on the weekends? How often? Why? Do you get paid overtime for working on the weekends? Do you take work home with you at night? Do you think we should work on the weekends? Why or why not? Is it different if it is a small business or a large corporation? Why? Laura Mullokandov 1. Whats happening? 2. Around 9 3. to go ahead 4. The company lost some people this week (in other words, the boss fired some workers) 5. Catch up 6. Cath up means to do additional work for filling the gap. LOIEnglish Good work. cleriston 1 Whats happening? 2 around nine 3 To go ahead 4 we lost some people this week (before Laura comment I thought some died) 5 Catch up 6 Additional effort for filling the gap 7 Filling the blank:Draw up, Catch up, deal with, go ah ead, focus on LOIEnglish Cleriston.Your response to Question #4 is very funny. It is true we can use lost to mean died. For example: I lost my father when I was a teenager. In this context it does mean die.The answer to Question #2 in the gap fill is: catch up ON. This is a 3 word phrasal verb. Catch up on something.I need to catch up on my homework. It can also be with. I need to catch up with the world news. Anna 1. Whats happening 2. Around nine 3. Go ahead 4. They lost some people this week. 5. Catch up 6. It means to do additional someone elses work 1. Draw up 2. Catch up on 3. Deal with 4. Go ahead 5. Focus on LOIEnglish Good Anna.A few quick notes catch up doesnt necessarily mean that it is someone elses work. It could be that you fell behind on your own work and have to catch up. Thanks for answering! Laura Mullokandov Writing Exercise. Ive been working on weekends for many years. Actually, I work every weekend. Why? First of all, Ive been paid overtime for this work. A lso I do another kind of work to compare with ordinary working days during the week, it is interesting for me professionally. And above all that, I like to work in a quite environment, on the weekends it is only me at the office:) Most of people prefer dont work on weekends, and it is normal, all of us need time for families and leisure. But if someone do want to work, why not? LOIEnglish Thanks for taking the time to do the writing assignment! I almost always work weekends too, but I enjoy my work and I work from home so I dont mind it.Your sentence: First of all, Ive been paid overtime for this work. The present perfect tense isnt the best choice here. Youve established that you work every weekend which makes it a habit, so we use present simple The correction should be: I am paid overtime for this work.I do another kind of work.The use of another in this sentence isnt correct. See our video: http://www.skypeenglishclasses.com/skype-english-blog/videos/another-other-or-others-vid eo-with-exercise/A better choice is: I do a different kind of work comparED to my ordinary working days during the week.You have a typo: quiet or quiteWe do not use of between most and our noun. Most people prefer to NOT work on weekends. Prefer never uses the auxiliary do, dont, does, doesnt)Your last sentence you have a problem with the pronoun someone and the verb/auxiliary. If someone DOES want to workSomeone is 3rd person singular.I hope this helps! Laura Mullokandov Thank you so much! I really need this kind of exercises and your corrections are highly important. André Dertrudes de Macena We ´ve working yes to paid our count. If not who will pay LOIEnglish AndréThanks for the short response. Because you are indicating it is something that is habit or regular you should use present simple. Also I think the correct word isnt count but bills (electricity, water, sewer, gas (for heat), etc?) we call these our bills in English. The second part is a 1st conditional sentence. I n English we need to use the auxiliary (dont, doesnt) to make the sentence negative. I hope this helps. We work, yes, to pay our bills. If we dont, who will pay? André Dertrudes de Macena Gosto de todas as lições, e obrigado por mim responder, quero mais videos e exercícios. Silvia Deplano 1)whats happening? 2) 9 3)catch up on 4)soccer LOIEnglish SilviaI think you missed one question. Question #5: the correct answer is, catch up. Which, means to do work that you have delayed for some reason.Question #3: go ahead, another phrasal verb which means to follow through or continue with something.Question #4: He needs him to come into work because they have lost some people. Meaning they have fired people. Silvia Deplano Alice will you draw up a contract 2) catch up on 3)deal with 4)go ahead 5)focus on LOIEnglish Good! Alvaro Willians About the video1. Whats happening.2. At 9:003. Go ahead4. They lost some people5. Catch upPhrasal Verbs1. Draw up2. Catch up3. Go ahead4. Deal wit h5. Focus onWriting Assignment:No. I dont work on the weekends nowaday, but I have alread worked on the weekend on my former job. There I worked twice a month. We worked on the weekend in order to delivering all projects. Yes we got paid overtime for working on the weekends. Sometimes we took work home with us at night. Some projects needs to be done in another place. Yes, because we had lot of project, but I also think that our boss could menage better the week for us. No there is no difference because all always will have people accepting more than we can do.Question:What does Need play to sort of play catch up mean?Thanks LOIEnglish AlvaroGood work on the listening. Lets look at your writing.NowadayS-has an S at the end.but I have alreadY worked on the weekend on my former job. (Im confused about this sentence. You are using the present perfect tense have +participle but I dont think that it is correct. I think you should use used to. If you are not familiar with this past form , Im going to include a link for you here: http://www.skypeenglishclasses.com/skype-english-blog/would-used-to-video-exercise/We worked on the weekend in order to COMPLETE all THE projects.Some OF THE projects needED.because we had A LOT of projectS.but I also thick that our boss could HAVE managED the week better. (This is using a modal verb in the past tense. Modal verbs include: could, would, should, might, may. When we are talking about something in the past the structure is; modal verb + have + participle; could have managed, should have gone, might have been, etc.)No there is no difference because EVERYONE will ALWAYS ACCEPT more than THEY can do.Need to play catch up: This means that there is work that has fallen behind and isnt completed or to the point of progress that it should. For example; if I get sick and cant work for a few days, I might need to play catch up.Thanks for answering. Alvaro Willians Thank you! Nguyen Thi Hoa I dont have to work on the weekend, but almo st technicians have to work on the weekend. They didnt receive overtime for working on the weekends because our boss didnt approve it. I think that we shouldnt work on the weekends because the job performance will be reduce if we dont have to to relax.. Almost large corporation have to work on the weekends but they will have a compensation vacation. LOIEnglish NguyenYou have some confusion between: Almost and most Almost-means not quite, very nearly. i.g. He almost spilled the milk. (He didnt, but he nearly did.) Most-means the majority. i.g. Most people like pizza.So your first sentence: .., but MOST technicians.didnt is for the past simple form. In this case you are talking about something that happens regularly, so we use the present simple. DONT They DONT receive overtime for working on the weekends because our boss DIDNT approve it.because the job performance will be LOWER if we dont HAVE TIME to relax. (lower is a better option here; reduce is a verb.)MOST large corporationS Mr. V.Pires 1-) Whats happening. 2-) around 9:00 am. 3-) go ahead. 4-) because theyve lost some people that weekendI guess some people was fired from job. 5-) catch up. 6-) catch up means doind the job you havent done yet cause youre delayed. WRITING ASSIGNMENTWell, as a matter of fact, I almost never have a weekend free, because of my kind of job. Ill try to explain Im security agent, so I work from 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM in alternates days, I mean, if I work on Monday, on Tuesday Ill be taking a rest..this way, if I work on Saturday, Sunday Ill be at home enjoying my day off. Thats why on the weekends, a have, at least, one day at home. Sometimes I make a deal with a partner ( friend at job) and we go work for each other in our day off and then we can have three days off. isnt too bad, is it? Sounds like good ..having three days off. I almost forgot to sayIve alredy had to go work on hollidays, even on Christmas day or New Years Day Sometimes I do extra time work( but not very of ten ) and of course, I get paid for that In my opinion we all deserves a weekend free from work. .even though only to be restting at home or going out, enjoying our family, sigthseeing, talking to a friends or what else we wanna do..the import iskeep our mind (our brain) away from work on the weekends Thank you everyone LOIEnglish Mr. Pires,Good listening skills! Question #4 has a grammar error; people WERE fired from THEIR jobs. Remember that people is plural, so people are, people were. Also job is countable and must have an article (a, the, an) or a pronoun (his, her, their, our).Your writing:kind of job-you have to be careful using kind of because it can be used as almost For example: I kind of like pop music. In the case above in your writing it is better to use typeIm A security agent. (all jobs need an article) Im A teacher. He is AN engineer. She is A pilot.If I work on Monday, on Tuesday I REST. (this is zero conditional and doesnt need WILL). If I work on Saturday Sunday IS my day off. (again zero conditional)extra time work=the word for this is called overtime Sometimes I work overtime (but not very often) and of course I get paid for it. We all deserve (no S) free from work.The IMPORTANT THING is TO keep our mind away from work on the weekends.Thanks for answering!

Overcoming Test Anxiety with Mindful Relaxation Techniques

Overcoming Test Anxiety with Mindful Relaxation Techniques Improving Academic Performance At MyGuru, we understand full well the importance of confidence and anxiety management in helping students achieve their full potential on standardized tests (and all tests, for that matter). We often talk about testing performance being driven by three factors: How well do you know the content (i.e., the facts, formulas, and concepts to apply to the questions you’ll be asked How strong are your test taking skills (i.e., quick calculations, time management, intelligent guessing, deep understanding of question types and typical traps, etc.) How confident and focused are you on test day (i.e., not stressed, not anxious, fully engaged, calm, etc.) We typically address point 3 above through practice and repetition. Practice creates automaticity, so students are comfortable recalling facts or concepts and working through calculations without second guessing themselves, which reduces the chances that doubt or anxiety will start to appear in any significant way during the exam. The more times you’ve practiced under timed testing environments, the more comfortable you’ll be in the actual environment on test day. This alone can go a very long way in reducing stress and anxiety and buoying confidence for most test takes. However, there have been practitioners of breathing techniques to relax the body and improve focus for thousands of years (i.e., meditation, yoga, mindfulness…even hypnosis), and in our view, these techniques are incredible underutilized by students. This guest post discusses how one practitioner uses these techniques and what the process is all about. The author, John Hankey, is a certified hypnotherapist, Master Practitioner of NLP and registered 200-hour yoga instructor. He graduated with a B.S in applied mathematics from Stanford, an M.S. in Financial Economics from Oxford and spent three years on Wall Street before switching careers to become a coach. He has studied and incorporates Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), Reiki and Conscious Language into his methodology. I specialize in helping students overcome issue-specific stress, usually in 3-5 sessions or less. Sessions begin with 10 minutes of deep relaxation. Entering this state of presence enables the participant to change at deeper levels with greater ease. Relaxation improves the student’s body awareness and gives them a stronger understanding for how they will feel when their situation has been resolved (much more relaxed). From here, I have students imagine that they are actually taking the test. As soon as they do so, their body begins to tense up. Their subconscious mind does not know the difference between fantasy and reality and therefore thinks the test is happening right now. Our work focuses on the body. Where specifically does the student feel tense? Part by part, we use techniques to enable the student to progressively relax while maintaining the visualization. Eventually, students are able to see and feel and experience themselves taking the test feeling totally and completely relaxed. This shift in internal response corresponds to a transformation in how they experience themselves during the actual examination. Once we establish their desired state, they are off and running. Physical relaxation addresses the mental realm as well! Negative thought patterns result from interior tension. Positive thought patterns and mental clarity result from interior relaxation, a concept that yogis, meditators and martial artists have known for millennia. Furthermore, unwinding test anxiety transfers out into all examination scenarios. Once their test-taking state is exactly how they wish it to be, we can focus on another area of their lives: doing homework, relating to friends at school, nutrition…anything. I have had many clients stay with me for a number of sessions as we systematically upgrade and transform their performance in many, many areas of life. This revolutionary approach represents a new paradigm, a shift in focus for our society. The degree to which we can relax in any given moment is the barometer for our overall health, well-being and vitality. Improving this skill, strengthening our capacity for relaxation like a muscle is the foundation for our personal growth for people of all ages. hbspt.cta._relativeUrls=true;hbspt.cta.load(215486, '6baac2ae-05a3-4610-9d1f-265c8cbd809f', {});