PRACTICE YOUR

You are about to read information of two different individuals who work as
secretary. A Text recording is available for your listening practice as well as to

READING
improve your reading.

Make sure that you have enough understanding upon the topic of the text, so

“The Secretary”
that you will get more confidence in our class discussion session

The first secretary, Joyce

The Second Secretary, Ingrid

The first secretary, Joyce, is reliable, responsible and
completes her tasks quickly and to a very high
standard. She's been with the company for nearly
three years. She's very efficient. But she takes
various liberties. For example, when she has time,
she reads books at her desk which have nothing to
do with her job.
She spends long periods on the Internet and sends
innumerable personal e-mails. She often uses the
photocopier to make copies which have nothing to do
with the organization, and makes several short,
personal phone calls on her mobile phone every day.
Although she doesn't steal, small items of stationery
do occasionally find their way into her handbag.
She arrives at 8.30 on the dot and leaves at 5 p.m.
sharp, or sometimes even a bit before. She thinks
nothing of going against company policy if it suits
her. She organizes her work well because she doesn't
like working under pressure. She's a bit of a loner
and doesn't show much interest in her colleagues'
personal problems.
1 The second secretary, Ingrid, is nothing like Joyce.
She works rather slowly, but comes in early and stays
late so as not to get behind. She's been with the
company for fifteen years and has a great deal of
5 experience.
She isn't very good with the computer, but is following
an evening course at her own expense to improve.
She's only just learning to use the Internet effectively
and hardly ever uses the company e-mail system to
10
send personal messages.
She hasn't got her own mobile phone, so if she has to
make a personal telephone call, she uses the
company phone. She doesn't make many personal
calls, but when she does, they're much longer calls
15 than Joyce's.
She never takes any stationery at all, nor does she
make photocopies for herself. She's not as quick as
Joyce, but she is very thorough and she works well
under pressure. Ingrid is a sociable person and is very
20
understanding if one of her colleagues has a personal
problem.

Wordlists:
reliable, responsible, high,
efficient, innumerable,
personal, several
[Adjective]
complete, spend, take,
organize [Verb]
often, quickly [Adverb]
against [Prep]
The first secretary, Joyce, is reliable, responsible and completes 1
her tasks quickly and to a very high standard. She's been with
the company for nearly three years. She's very efficient. But she
takes various liberties. For example, when she has time, she
reads books at her desk which have nothing to do with her job. 5
She spends long periods on the Internet and sends innumerable
personal e-mails. She often uses the photocopier to make copies
which have nothing to do with the organization, and makes
several short, personal phone calls on her mobile phone every day.
Although she doesn't steal, small items of stationery do 10
occasionally find their way into her handbag.
She arrives at 8.30 on the dot and leaves at 5 p.m. sharp, or
sometimes even a bit before. She thinks nothing of going against
company policy if it suits her. She organizes her work well
because she doesn't like working under pressure. She's a bit of a 15
loner and doesn't show much interest in her colleagues' personal
problems.

Wordlists:
sociable, efficient,
thorough, longer
[Adjective]
follow, stay, improve, have
[Verb]
rather, slowly, hardly ever
[Adverb]
So if [Conjunction]
The second secretary, Ingrid, is nothing like Joyce. She works 1
rather slowly, but comes in early and stays late so as not to get
behind. She's been with the company for fifteen years and has a
great deal of experience.
She isn't very good with the computer, but is following an evening 5
course at her own expense to improve. She's only just learning to
use the Internet effectively and hardly ever uses the company e-
mail system to send personal messages. She hasn't got her own
mobile phone, so if she has to make a personal telephone call, she
uses the company phone. She doesn't make many personal calls, 10
but when she does, they're much longer calls than Joyce's.
She never takes any stationery at all, nor does she make
photocopies for herself. She's not as quick as Joyce, but she is
very thorough and she works well under pressure. Ingrid is a
sociable person and is very understanding if one of her colleagues 15
has a personal problem.
PRACTICE YOUR
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“The Secretary”

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“The Secretary”