Vocabulary notes

Freedom or slavery

By Alan Cane

Early morning in California, and Elizabeth Safran, a public relations consultant, is dealing with a huge number of e-mails.

Everybody in the small company works from home and relies on e-mail and instant messaging to stay in touch. Elizabeth worries about her work-life balance and thinks that technology 'makes us more productive, but everybody is working all the time - weekends, evenings. It's too much.' Five o'clock Friday afternoon in the UK, Paul Renucci, managing director of a systems integration company, switches off his computer. He now works at home and is off to pick up his children.

In the past, it would take him two hours to get home from the office.

Ms Safran and Mr Renucci represent different sides of a modern problem: the capabilities of the latest communications technologies, such as e-mail, text, instant messaging and videoconferencing, make it difficult to draw the line between work and leisure and raise important questions about the nature of 'flexible working' - where employees can work where and when they choose.

There are three issues here. First, does the rise of portable, networked devices such as the Blackberry and Palm Treo really damage an individual's work and life? Second, what is the effect of these devices on traditional workplace relationships? And third, how do individuals manage them? A Microsoft survey found that where flexibility had increased, so had productivity and employee morale, together with lowered stress levels and staff turnover.

However, individuals can suffer technology-related stress as work moves into their free time and from the complexity of the gadgets they must use, such as mobile phones where manufacturers try to persuade customers to upgrade more frequently.

Financial Times

Vocabulary notes

slavery n. – рабство

rely on v. – полагаться на…

productivity n. - производительность

capability n. – способность, возможность

leisure n. – досуг, свободное время

damage v. – наносить ущерб

device n. – устройство, прибор

survey n. – опрос, обзор, проверка

suffer v. – страдать, испытывать, претерпевать

turnover n. – текучесть рабочей силы

persuade v. – убеждать, склонять

frequently adv. – часто

gadget n. – техническая новинка, приспособление

Translate the expressions:

instant messaging –

to stay in touch –

draw the line between work and leisure –

to represent different sides of a modern problem –

to raise important questions about the nature of ‘flexible working’ –

to damage an individual’s working -

to influence on traditional workplace relationships –

to increase flexibility –

to lower stress levels and staff turnover –

to persuade customers to upgrade more frequently –

technology - related stress –

Give three forms to the following verbs:

deal think make take draw find

To pronounce the following words properly write the transcription to the words:

consultant [

productive [

capability [,

leisure [

individual [,

persuade [

frequently ['

Answer the questions to the text: 1. Who is Elizabeth Safran? 2. In what manner does she work? 3. Why is Elizabeth unhappy with the way she works? 4. Does it take Paul Renucci a long time to get to home now? 5. Did Microsoft find any disadvantages of flexible working? 6. Can technology be stressful for individuals?    

Retell the article using the following expressions:

The article is headlined “Freedom or slavery?”

The author of the article is Alan Cane.

The article was published in the newspaper the Financial Times.

1. The main idea of the article is …

2. The author gives a lot of facts …

3. At the beginning of the article the author tells us …

4. The author stresses that …

5. The author draws our attention to the fact that …

6. Further on the author enumerates …

7. At the end of the article…

8. I didn’t know about … but after I have read the article I have learned …

Here are the possible answers but your answers are appreciated too:

· that technologies can not only make individuals more productive, but also cause stress.

· which prove that some individuals are not happy with their flexible working though being provided with technologies.

· about Elizabeth Safran, a public relations consultant, who worries that she works too much because of technologies such as e-mail and instant messaging.

· technologies have both advantages and disadvantages.

· flexible working allows to choose any time and place for work.

· the main issues of flexible working

· the author tells about Microsoft survey which draws attention to advantages of increasing work flexibility. However, the author realizes the seriousness of moving work into worker’s free time and that the complexity of the gadgets they use demands regular user upgrading.

· the technology-related stress… that people can suffer from communication technologies because it is difficult to draw the line between work and leisure time.

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