Wednesday 03/05/12

The best employers in the world

This text is about the 3 best companies to work for in the world . Useful language is highlighted and explained below. Don’t forget to do the quiz and answer the discussion questions. 

There are good and bad employers in every country. Some companies give their employees long holidays andweekends off. Yet others make their staff work on bank holidays and even on Saturday and Sunday. It is important to find a nice place to work so here is a list of the 3 best employers in the world to work for.

Google

Google is a very famous internet company but it is maybe more well-known because of its amazing working environment. Many employees say working at Google is almost like ‘heaven’ because of the perks. These include free massages, delicious international food, sports facilities and a very relaxed atmosphere. Some employees even take their pets to work with them and are allowed to use skateboards and rollerblades in the office.

Boston Consulting Group

BCG is an international consulting firm which works with clients to create solutions to their problems. The main benefit at BCG is the salary because the average employee earns about $139,000 every year. This does not include bonuses andovertime pay. BCG likes to keep its staff fit and healthy so it organises lots of sports and activities. Another benefit is that employees can do voluntary work forcharities like save the Children.

SAS institute

SAS Institute is one of the best providers of business analytics software and services in the world. It helps other companies predict new business opportunities and use them to make money. Their staff receive many benefits like unlimited sick leaveand high quality child care. They can also use the onsite fitness and health centres. Female staff who become pregnant receive long paid maternity leave but their partners can also take paid paternity leave.

Which company would you work for?

•  Google because they have the best perks.
•  BCG because they offer bonuses and overtime pay.
•  SAS because they help employees with families.

Useful language/Business English Vocabulary

To give/have weekends off

Do not work on Saturday and Sunday

Working environment 

How comfortable it feels to work in a place

Perks

Extra benefits

Sports facilities

Places where you can do sport like a swimming pool

Relaxed atmosphere

A very informal way of working

Consulting firm

A company that gives advice to others

Bonuses

Extra money when you work well

Overtime pay

When you are paid for working more than usual

To keep staff fit 

To help them stay in a good physical condition

Voluntary work

Work you are not made to do but you can choose

Charities

Organisations that help people who need help like Save the Children

Business analytics

Where you look at statistics about a business

Predict

To make guesses about the future

Opportunity

A chance of making money or doing something good

Benefits

Positive things for an employee like free insurance

Unlimited sick leave

You can have as many days off work as you need when you are ill

Child care

When someone looks after your baby or child

Onsite

In the building or grounds

Maternity leave 

When a women stops working to have a baby

Paternity leave 

When a husband stops working because his partner is having or has had a baby

Discussion questions

1. Why are these the best employers in the world?
2. What are the best benefits for employees?
3. What can companies do to become better places to work?

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Decide whether these nouns are countable (C) or uncountable (U)

1. The children are playing in the garden.                             C              U              
2. I don't like milk.                             C              U             
3. I prefer tea.                             C              U             
4. Scientists say that the envirenment is threatened by pollution.                             C              U             
5. My mother uses butter to prepare cakes.                             C              U             
6. There are a lot of windows in our classroom.                             C              U             
7. We need some glue to fix this vase.                             C              U             
8. The waiters in this restaurant are very professional.                             C              U             
9. My father drinks two big glasses of water every morning.                             C              U             
10. The bread my mother prepares is delicious.                             C              U             
11. Drivers must be careful; the road is slippery.                             C              U             
12. Some policemen are organizing road traffic to avoid any accidents.                             C              U             
13. I bought three bottles of mineral water for our picnic.                             C              U             
14. I'd like some juice please!                             C              U             
15. Successful condidates will join the camp later this year.                             C              U              
16. A rise in oil prices is inevitable since there is more and more worl demand for energy.                             C              U             
17. The exercises on this website are interesting.                             C              U             
18. Dehydrated babies must drink a lot of water.                             C              U             
19. Adult illiterates learn through a special government programme.                                 C                U               
20. I met some nice people when I was walking along the beach.                             C              U             

1. Write c for countable and u for uncountable:    time -          books -        sugar -       milk -       pens -          hair -             chairs -     meat -         butter -        pencils -     bread -     jam -           friends -        fingers -    flour -          apples -       oil -             cars -       salt -             houses -          cheese -    rice -           tea -            games -       tomatoes -    cream -     honey -       carrots -   a)  a / an + singular countable noun ( a pen, an apple)     some  + plural countable nouns - positive sentences ( There are some cars)                                                                                       some +  uncountable nouns - positive sentences  ( There is some oil)        any - we use any in negative sentences and in most questions.(countable and uncountable nouns)  I don't have any pens. There isn't any salt.                  Do you have any sisters? 2. Choose a, an, some or any a)  It is anysomeaan dog.                             b) Have you got anysomeaan  friends?                      c)  I bought aansomeany milk. d) Linda has not got aanysomean pets.        e) There is anysomeaan orange on the table.              f) Tim eats aansomeany cheese every day. g) We don't have  aansomeany bread.        h) My brother found aansomeany money.                  i) My sister found aansomeany pen. j) Do you have aansomeany eggs?             k) There are aansomeany students in the classroom.   l) Is there aansomeany pencil on the desk?        b) how much - we use with uncountable nouns               how many - we use with countable nouns. 3. Choose How  much or How many a)  How muchHow many cheese do you buy? b) How muchHow many books are there in your bag? c) How muchHow many films did Tom see last week? d) How muchHow many money do you spend every week? e) How muchHow many friends does Linda have? f) How muchHow many sugar do we need? g) How muchHow many tomatoes are there in the fridge? h) How muchHow many meat are you going to buy? i) How muchHow many milk did you drink yesterday? j) How muchHow many apples do you see?