CHAPTER 18 – MEETING PEOPLE
Situation: A seminar on Management is held at the Hilton hotel. Tom and Ana are among the many attendants. They try to strike a conversation during break-time.
Tom: Hi, I am Tom.
Ana: I am Ana.
Tom: This is a pretty good seminar so far, huh?
Ana: Yes, I like it. Prentice Hall always delivers good seminars. All of its speakers are very well-known and also very knowledgeable in the subject matter. Did you attend the seminar on Leadership in Long Beach last January?
Tom: No, I missed that one. Who was the speaker?
Ana: John Miller. He is the author of The Seven Habits of a Good Leader. It was a great seminar. John gave us tons of information on how to deal with employees. You should sign up for that seminar next year.
Tom: I will. I am very interested in the subject of Leadership. I was promoted to the position of Supervisor a few months ago, and I have to manage a staff of ten people. It can be quite a difficult situation sometimes. It is the reason why I am here today.
Ana: Same here. I only have seven people reporting to me; yet, sometimes I feel like pulling my hair out. I need to find a way to create harmony and cooperation within my department.
Tom: I also need to learn how to better manage my workload. I always run out of time. It seems like the days are getting shorter and shorter.
Ana: You need to sign up for the Learn How To Delegate seminar. It is coming next month.
Tom: Let’s see whether I will have any free time next month. I know sometime next month I will have to go to Texas on a business trip.
Ana: By the way, what is your company doing?
Tom: Oh, we produce office equipment such as calculators and fax machines. How about yours?
Ana: We are in the service business. We specialize in repairing computers.
Tom: How was business lately?
Ana: It is pretty slow right now. Just like any other company, we are quite affected by this slowing economy.
Tom: Business is slow with my company too. However, people are saying that it should pick up any time now.
Ana: Let’s hope so. We need to keep our employees busy.
Tom: I have some very talented employees, and I would like to keep their minds sharp. They tend to be bored when things slow down, and that is not good.
Ana: Yes, nothing is more frustrating than sitting idle with nothing to do. The days seem so long.
Tom: I hate those types of days. Luckily, it is not that bad in our company. Besides, we are in the process of updating our computer system, and we can use this slow period to finish the process.
Ana: Good for you. Oh, 10:30 AM already. I guess our break-time is over.
Tom: The topic of the next session, How To Make Positive Impression On Others And Gain Visibility And Influence In The Workplace, seems to be really interesting. We better not miss any part of it. Let’s get back to our seats so that we can learn how to bring out the best in ourselves as well as our employees.
Questions/Answers Practice
| G: Good morning, Jane. | A: Good morning, John. |
| Q: How are you? | A: Fine, thanks. And you? |
| Q: Are you from Vietnam? | A: No, I am from America. |
| Q: Where are you from? | A: I am from France. |
| G: Bye, Jennifer. | A: See you later, Tom. |
| G: Nice meeting you, Peter. | A: Same here, Jane. |
| Q: Is he the president of ABC Company? | A: No, he is the Engineering Director. |
| Q: Are you here for the seminar? | A: Yes, I am here for the seminar. |
| Q: Where do they hold the Management seminar? | A: The Management seminar is right next door. |
| Q: How was the seminar? | A: Oh, it was very informative. |
| Q: Why did you sign up for this seminar? | A: I go to this seminar to improve my management skills. |
3) Comprehension test
- What is the name of the seminar that Tom and Ana are attending?
- What is the name of the organization that is offering the seminar?
- Who wrote the book The Seven Habits of a Good Leader?
- What happened to Tom a few months ago?
- How many people is Tom supervising?
- What does Ana want to have within her department?
- Why should Tom learn to better manage his workload?
- What are the products of Tom’s company?
- What is the specialty of Ana’s company?
- How is the economy at the moment?
- What happen to Tom’s employees when they are not busy?
- Why does Ana hate a slow day?
- What is Tom’s department currently doing?
- What does Tom hope to learn in the next session?
4) Discussion
- Why do people go to seminars?
- What is Leadership? Why is it so important?
- How can a slow economy affect us?
- How do you like to spend your day at work?
GRAMMAR REVIEW
CONJUNCTIONS
Conjunctions are words that join words to words, phrases to phrases, or clauses to clauses. There are:
- Coordinating conjunctions
- Subordinating conjunctions
Coordinating conjunctions
Coordinating conjunctions connect sentence elements. Coordinating conjunctions are used to connect similar elements, to indicate a choice, a contrast, a cause or a result.
- Connecting elements: and, as well as, not only…but also.
- need to find a way to create harmony and cooperation within my department. She needs to not only cook dinner but also clean the house.
- Indicating a choice: or, either…or, neither…nor.
My employees can either work on updating the computer system or stay idle. Neither your mom nor I can pick you up at school today.
- Indicating a contrast: but, still, yet.
- have very talented employees, still they can’t function when they are bored. The doll is ugly, yet the baby likes it.
- Indicating a cause or result: for, so, then, as, yet.
Tom went to the Management seminar for his own benefits. The drivers were careless, so they had an accident.
Note:
Words or sentence elements connected by coordinating conjunctions should be of the same type.
For example, nouns should be connected to nouns and adjectives to adjectives.
- took the children and the dogs to the fair.
John is both intelligent and kind.
Questions/Answers Practice
similar questions and answers.
| Q: Will they go to the movies and John’s party? | A: No, they will either go to the movies or to John’s party. |
| Q: Who will take me to school? | A: Neither your mom nor I will take you to school. You will have to walk to school. |
| Q: Who is going to sing tonight? | A: John and Jane will sing tonight. |
| Q: Does she need the book? | A: She does not need the book, still she will buy it. |
| Q: Why did you go to the seminar? | A: I went to the seminar not only for my own benefit, but also for my employees’ benefit. |
| Q: What will you do after work? | A: I need to clean my house as well as cook dinner for my family. |
| Q: What can she do after school? | A: She can either do her homework or clean the house. |
| Q: Is it too late to go to the market? | A: Yes, it is too late to go to the market, but I am going anyway. |
| Q: Why do you work so late tonight? | A: I work late today so I can take off early tomorrow. |
| Q: How does she feel? | A: She feels sad and worried. |