Episode 116

EPISODE 115
LEVEL A2

READING COMPREHENSION

Pay and benefits

“My name is Marco and I’m a hotel manager in Venice. I get paid a salary every month. In summer we’re very busy, so we work a lot of extra hours, or overtime; the money for this is quite good. Working in a hotel we also get nice perks, for example free meals!”

“I’m Ivan and I work as a waiter in Prague. I like my job even if I don’t earn very much: I get paid wages every week by the restaurant. We get the minimum wage: the lowest amount allowed by law. Be we also get tips, that is money that customers leave for us in addition to the bill. Some tourists can be very generous.“

“I’m Catherine and I’m a saleswoman based in Paris. I get a basic salary, plus commission: a percentage on everything I sell. If I sell more than a particular amount in a year, I also get extra money – a bonus, which is nice. There are some good fringe benefits with this job: I have a company car, and they make payments for my pension, money that I’ll get regularly after I stop working. All that makes a nice benefits package.”

Exercise 1

Find in the text the English equivalents of these words:

1. pensja
2. nadgodziny
3. dodatkowe korzyści
4. zarabiać
5. tygodniówka
6. płaca minimalna
7. kwota, ilość, wielkość
8. napiwek
9. klient
10. rachunek
11. hojny
12. podstawowy
13. prowizja
14. procent
15. premia
16. samochód służbowy
17. płatność
18. emerytura
19. pakiet świadczeń socjalnych

Exercise 2

Match the expressions from the two columns into logical collocations:

1. allowed        amount
2. basic            benefits
3. benefits       by law
4. company     car
5. fringe           extra hours
6. minimum   package
7. particular   paid
8. to get          payments
9. to make      salary
10. to work     wage

Exercise 3

Complete the gaps in the text with the missing words:

“My name is Marco and I’m a hotel manager in Venice. I get p_ _ _ a s_ _ _ _ _ every month. In summer we’re very busy, so we work a lot of e_ _ _ _ hours, or o_ _ _ _ _ _ _ ; the money for this is quite good. Working in a hotel we also get nice p_ _ _ _ , for example free meals!”
“I’m Ivan and I work as a waiter in Prague. I like my job even if I don’t e_ _ _ very much: I get paid w_ _ _ _ every week by the restaurant. We get the m_ _ _ _ _ _ wage: the lowest a_ _ _ _ _ allowed by l_ _ . Be we also get t_ _ _ , that is money that c_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ leave for us in addition to the b_ _ _ . Some tourists can be very g_ _ _ _ _ _ _ .“
“I’m Catherine and I’m a saleswoman based in Paris. I get a b_ _ _ _ salary, plus c_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ : a percentage on everything I sell. If I sell more than a particular amount in a year, I also get extra money – a b_ _ _ _ , which is nice. There are some good f_ _ _ _ _ benefits with this job: I have a c_ _ _ _ _ _ car, and they make payments for my p_ _ _ _ _ _ , money that I’ll get regularly after I stop working. All that makes a nice benefits p_ _ _ _ _ _ .”
Grammar corner…
… I work as a waiter… says one of the people in the text. The word as means jako and is always used with names of professions. As is often confused with the word like, which means jak, for example: I work like a slave.

Grammar corner…

… I work as a waiter… says one of the people in the text. The word as means jako and is always used with names of professions. As is often confused with the word like, which means jak, for example: I work like a slave.

Exercise 4

Complete the sentences correctly with as or like:

1. This exercise is ______ a personal lesson in grammar.
2. He is acting ______ the manager, but the real manager is on holiday.
3. He smokes ______ a chimney.
4. He lives ______ a king, even though he is just a street cleaner.
5. She started work ______ a personal assistant but soon became a manager.

GLOSSARY

salary – pensja
overtime- nadgodziny
perks- dodatkowe korzyści
to earn- zarabiać
to get paid- dostawać, dosł. mieć płacone
wages – tygodniówka
minimum wage- płaca minimalna
amount- kwota, ilość, wielkość
allowed- dozwolony
by law- prawnie, przez prawo
tip- napiwek
customer- klient
in addition to- dodatkowo
bill- rachunek
generous- hojny
basic salary- podstawowa pensja
commission- prowizja
percentage- procent
particular- konkretny
bonus- premia
fringe benefits- dodatkowe korzyści
company car- samochód słuźbowy
payment- płatność
pension- emerytura
benefits package- pakiet świadczeń socjalnych

download lesson (pdf)

 
 hide