Chapter 3 Americans at Work

Pre-listening Warm-up Questions What do you know about Bill Gates? Name some occupations that offer services. Do you think the U.S. workers are more, equally, or less productive than workers in other industrialized countries? How many weeks of vacation do you think the average U.S. workers has in a year? What do you know about child labor laws?

Pre-listening Vocabulary and Key Concepts Read through the sentences and figure out what words would fit in the blanks. Then check your answers by listening to a dictation of the full sentences. (See the sentences in the textbook on page 21---22 )

Pre-listening Predictions Using the pictures in your textbook and the vocabulary exercises as a starting point, write 3 questions that you think you can get answers in the lecture. (See example on page 22. Answers vary)

Pre-listening Note-taking Preparation Abbreviations It is helpful to abbreviate words in order to save time and get down more words when you listen to a lecture. But it is important to abbreviate them in a way that will allow you to remember what the full form is. (See example on page 23. Do more exercises. Rhetorical Cues Order the following rhetorical cues. Answer: b---a---c---d

Listening A. In the first listening, you get down the major subtopics of the lecture. ST1: a historical look at work in America ST2: how U.S. workers are doing today B. In the second listening, write down necessary relevant details. Remember to use proper number notation and abbreviations to save your time.

Post-listening Answer the following questions. What percentage of the workforce was engaged in agriculture in 1900? (38%) What percentage of the workforce was still engaged in agriculture in 1999? (3%) At the end of the twentieth century, which industry had the largest percentage of the workforce? (service industries) Compare the number of women in the workforce in 1900 and in 1999. (19% in 1900; 60% in 1999) Compare the average per capita income in 1900 and 1999. ($4,200 in 1900; $33,700 in 1999)

Post-listening What is one benefit that most U.S. workers received by the end of the twentieth century? (health insurance) Which workers U.S. or European workers, work longer? (U.S. workers) What might be one reason that some European workers out produce U.S. workers per hour? (They are less stressed. They have more vocation weeks.) According to the author of Inequality by Design, are wages in manufacturing and service industries increasing at the same rate as productivity? (No) According to the author of Inequality by Design, where does the money generated by increased productivity go? (to CEOs, the stock market, and the corporate profits)

Oral Activities A. Rehearsal of the Lecture With the help of the above questions and your notes, retell the contents of the lecture to your classmate who might miss the lecture.

Oral Activities B. Group Discussion Discuss with your classmates the following questions and decide what information to include. Write the answers in complete sentences in paragraph form in about 125 words. Do you think most people are happy to leave farms to go work in industry? Explain your reason. Is there ever a good reason for children to work? Why or why not? Should women have the same opportunities to be employed as men, both before and after they are married? Give reasons. Should the government set the number of weeks of vacation workers get each year? Why or why not? Should workers share in the profits of the companies they work for? Explain your answer. Talk on the following topic for 3 minutes: My Ideal Job

Homework Review the main idea of the lecture and make it a complete article. Interview a foreign teacher who has worked at a job for at least five years. Prepare interview questions. Suggestions: where the person works how long he or she has worked there how he or she feels about the job the person’s favorite and least favorite parts of the job ……