A Week at Work
Do you know the right terms?
THE SITUATION
Feeding You Best is a large caterer providing services for company canteens, childcare centres, hospitals, meals-on-wheels and private events. Nora Summers is the new assistant to the company’s CEO and is also responsible for coordinating day-to-day business. Let’s join her in her first week at work.
1. Day one (10 points)
It’s Monday morning, Nora’s first day in her new job. She is at reception and is going through her check-in list with Claire, the receptionist. The words in bold are not where they should be. Put them where they belong.
Nora: Good morning, my name’s Nora, Nora Summers. I’m starting work today.
Claire: Welcome, Nora. I’m Claire. I’m sure you’d like to check in with me and get that job ticked off your list. Well, first of all, here’s your (A) phone extension
and your (B) canteen card .
Nora: Do I need a (C) signature
for the building and the underground parking?
Claire: No, you don’t. Just enter the (D) name badge that’s in this envelope here marked “Confidential”. Nora: And how do I log in to the computer? Claire: To have access, enter your (E) key
— this one is not a secret, as it’s the same system for all our employees: first name, dot, family name. The (F) dongle
is allocated by our IT department. It should be in the envelope, too.
Nora: Is there anything else I need at the moment?
Claire: Oh, I almost forgot. Here’s the (G) business card for the photocopier and the (H) user name
that you can use for food and drink.
Nora: And what’s my (I) four-digit code
?
Claire: It’s here, on this sheet of paper: 241. And your email address is here, just below the phone number.
Nora: I see. But there’s a typo in the email
(J) password . My first name is spelled “Nora”, not “Norah”.
Claire: Oh, sorry about that. I’ll have it corrected right away.
Nora: OK. I’m ready to start now!
2. A change of schedule (6 points)
Nora’s boss, Charles Hunter, has asked her to change an appointment with a supplier. Choose the appropriate option.
Nora: Good morning, this is Nora Summers from Feeding You Best. May I (A) talk at / speak to Janet Brown, please?
Janet: (B) Speaking/talking. Ms Summers, what can I do for you?
Nora: Hello, Ms Brown. I’m Mr Hunter’s new assistant. I’m calling about your appointment with him on Friday at 10 a.m. Would it be possible to (C) postpone/ prepone that meeting to the afternoon or to the following Friday?
Janet: Let me just check my agenda. Hmm… (D) I’m afraid / I fear I won’t be in next week, and I’ve got another appointment on Friday afternoon. How about Thursday? I’ll be (E) available / disposable all day then.
Nora: Let me just check with Mr Hunter, then I’ll (F) speak / call you back.
Janet: Thanks, Ms Summers.
Nora: You’re welcome. I’ll get back to you in a few minutes.
3. Meeting a new customer (8 points)
On Wednesday morning, a potential new customer is visiting the company for a meeting with Nora and Mark from customer care. Put their statements in the correct order.
A. Mark: Well, before showing you round our premises, could we talk again briefly about your needs?
B. Nora: And do the children also have a break with, for example, sandwiches, yogurt and fruit and something to drink?
C. Nora: Thanks for coming, Ms Harper. Would you like a coffee?
D. Nora: Yes, they are. Our chef has an excellent track record. Why don’t you let us show you around now, so that you can get a better picture of who we are?
E. Ms Harper: Sure. As you know, we operate three childcare centres in the city with about 100 children in each centre.
F. Ms Harper: Some of them do, but I’d have to check the exact number and let you know. By the way, are all meals entirely home-made in your kitchens?
G. Mark: So that means 300 lunches per day. You can choose among normal, vegetarian and vegan meals.
H. Ms Harper: Thank you. A cup of coffee would be great.
4. Solving problems (8 points)
Docs’ Clinics, a private hospital operator, has complained about the poor quality of the meals it received from Feeding You Best. Nora is discussing the complaint with Diane and Henry from quality management. Complete the sentences with the correct tense of the verbs in brackets.
Nora: Henry, thanks for forwarding the email from Docs’ Clinics to me. I see they have complained about the quality of our products. Meals were cold; the apricots were spoiled; yogurts were sour; bread and rolls were dry… It’s quite a list.
Henry: Yes, I’m not entirely surprised. We’ve had trouble with them before. But if they insist on having the meals delivered at 8.30 a.m., of course, they (A) (be cold) by lunch time. And, of course, if they (B) (not store) the fruit and yogurt properly, they’ll spoil. As for the baked goods, they’ll get dry if you (C) (leave) the boxes open for hours.
Diane: Quite. If they had put the yogurt in the fridge, it (D)
(not spoil). And the apricots wouldn’t have become bruised if they (E) (take) them out of the bags. And…
Nora: I understand. So, what can we do to solve these problems? Couldn’t we talk to them and see if we can find a better solution? After all, we want them to be satisfied.
Henry: True. If they (F)
(change) their internal workflows so that we could deliver later, possibly around 11 a.m., the meals would still be warm enough when served for lunch. Nora: How about the bread and rolls? If we (G) (deliver) them twice, for breakfast and for supper, would that be an option?
Diane: If they hadn’t rejected this option several times, I (H)
(negotiate) new delivery schedules with them. But they are not willing to change anything…
Nora: Well, maybe we should suggest it again. Perhaps they’ll be more flexible now.
5. Making contact by email (6 points)
Nora is drafting an email to the company’s most important business partners to introduce herself. Unscramble the words in bold.
6. The presentation (7 points)
Nora is checking with her colleague Christine whether everything is OK with her presentation for the company outing on Saturday. Complete the sentences with the right word from the box. There are two words that you do not need.
Nora: Christine, could we just check whether everything is ready for the presentation? I hate unpleasant surprises!
Christine: OK. Let’s start with the devices. We’ve brought our own (A) and it’s already been set up.
Nora: How about the (B) ?
Christine: You can retract it from the ceiling. And the (C) can be adjusted by using the switches over there. Nora: Great! Could we also have a quick look at some of my (D) ? Number five here shows the sales figures for the last full (E) , that is, from July to September. What do you think about this (F)
chart?
Christine: I like it. It illustrates the figures very clearly.
Nora: By the way, could all those chairs be removed? They’re blocking the view of the screen.
Christine: I think they’ll be needed for the (G) discussion after your presentation. I’m sure we could move them temporarily, though.
Nora: Thanks, Christine.