Extensive listening: Poverty isn't a lack of character; it's a lack of cash

"Ideas can and do change the world," says historian Rutger Bregman, sharing his case for a provocative one: guaranteed basic income.

Learn more about the idea's 500-year history and a forgotten modern experiment where it actually worked — and imagine how much energy and talent we would unleash if we got rid of poverty once and for all.

Rutger Bregman is one of Europe’s most prominent young thinkers. The 28-year-old historian and author has published four books on history, philosophy and economics. His History of Progress was awarded the Belgian Liberales prize for best nonfiction book of 2013. The Dutch edition of Utopia for Realists became a national bestseller and will be translated in 16 languages this year. Bregman has twice been nominated for the prestigious European Press Prize for his journalism work at The Correspondent. His work has been featured in The Washington Post and The Guardian and on the BBC.

You can read a full transcript here.

Listening test: Google's work environments

Listen to a report on the unique work environments in Google and choose the option A, B or C which best completes the sentences or answers the questions.

1. The Google headquarters, the Googleplex, allows ______ at the office.
A. cubicles
B. pets
C. siestas

2. Employees can
A. choose who they want to work with.
B. decide where they are going to work.
C. personalise their workstations.

3. Google offers its employees
A. free clothes.
B. free food.
C. personalised menus.

4. Which Google programme is so popular that there is a waiting list?
A. company sports league
B. day care for kids
C. on-site medical care

5. Google also offers its employees the service of
A. exercise instructors.
B. massage therapists.
C. psychologists and counsellors.

6. One of Google’s most controversial programmes is
A. allowing employees to work on projects they choose.
B. not working at weekends.
C. the selection of talents for the company.

7. How many of Google's new products and services have resulted from this programme?
A. about 10%
B. almost 50%
C. around 75%

8. In Google's hiring process candidates have to
A. answer unusual interview questions.
B. be physically fit.
C. mainly demonstrate how brilliant their minds are.

What’s the best way to motivate your employees? Most companies use the standard method of offering promotions and threatening dismissal. But Google has taken an unorthodox approach to this challenge by pushing the boundaries of what can be considered a workplace further than ever before. Inside the company’s headquarters, which is known as the Googleplex, the layout itself is far from conventional. Instead of cubicles and conservative décor, Google’s office feels a little like a grown-up playground. Bright colours abound, there are secret rooms with innovative themes around every corner, and pets can accompany their masters to work. Employees are encouraged to express themselves by writing on the walls, and are also given plenty of leeway in designing their own work stations. They can even have a treadmill attached so they can walk or jog while working.
The benefits for Google employees are unmatched – from cafés and vending machines offering free gourmet food to flexible hours and casual dress. One of Google’s principles is that you can be serious without a suit. The company not only offers a healthcare plan, but also includes on-site medical staff to attend to employees. Free haircuts, laundry, and dry cleaning are all part of the package, and children of Google employees can be enrolled in the in-house day care program, which has become so popular that the waiting list now numbers in the hundreds.
If the work gets stressful at times, Google employees can enjoy a subsidized massage service from a licensed therapist. Or they can take a break in one of the recreation areas, with pool tables, ping-pong, foosball, and even a swimming pool. In stark contrast to many other cutting-edge companies in their field, there is the idea that the weekend is strictly family time, and as much as possible of the Google dynasty shuts down on Saturdays and Sundays.
One of Google’s most controversial programmes is called “Innovation Time Off,” in which engineers are allowed to spend up to 20% of their hours on projects that interest them. Although some criticize this policy as a waste of tech talent, the results speak for themselves: almost half of Google’s new products and services have originated in these independent endeavours. Having company-sanctioned time for innovation also energizes employees and increases their work output.
Working at Google sounds like a dream come true – but first you have to get through the hiring process. With such incredible perks, the company can afford to be picky when it comes to recruitment. This has led to their infamous interview questions, such as ‘How many ping-pong balls can you fit in a school bus?’ Rather than searching for the most accurate answer, Google is likely filtering out people who won’t be a good fit with their company culture. They are seeking not only brilliant minds, but also creative types who resonate with their philosophy that work should be challenging and the challenge should be fun.

Key:
1B 2C 3B 4B 5B 6A 7B 8A

The Academy Where Butlers Are Born

Learning to serve as a certified butler is both a skill and an art, and the world’s most elite butlers come from one place: The International Butler Academy in Simpelveld.

Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.



1. What makes the profession of butler so difficult?
2. Where's Simpelvel? 
3. Where do the students come from? 
4. How long does the training course last? 
5. What is the most important quality in a butler? 
6. What three things do all employers want? 
7. What does '17 years' refer to? 

A professional butler is somebody who is loyal, flexible, discreet, hard-working, honest, but most important, it is a person who has the ability to put somebody else's wishes before your own. That is what makes this a profession so very, very difficult.

At the age of 21, I became a butler. Nowadays, I am chairman of the International Butler Academy. The International Butler Academy is located in the beautiful village of Simpelveld in the Netherlands. You have about 135 rooms, 80,000 square feet completely dedicated to the training of butlers.

Our students live here in our building. They come, literally, from every country in the world. Age from 18 to 68.

Okay, five minutes, guys.

Students learn about housekeeping, house management, estate management, regular things, like even suitcase packing, silver shining, shining shoes, the list is enormous. There's an incredible amount of training to be done in 10 weeks.

Discipline here at the International Butler Academy is very, very important. In order to get a job done, you need discipline. I think in order to be successful, you need discipline and discipline here at school is something we embrace and not something that we are afraid of.

Here at school we always joke about what employers want. They need a clean toilet. They want a warm bed and they want a hot meal and those three things are most important for everyone.

You go right, you go left.

My wife and I, we have our own butler. I'm very fortunate; I've had a private butler now for the past 17 years and this person is very, very important to me.

Being a butler can certainly be a wonderful career simply because if you are responsible for the well-being of the family, for their happiness, that is obviously very, very, very important.

Key:
1 The have to put someone else's wishes before their own
2 In the Netherlands 
3 From anywhere in the world
4 Ten weeks
5 Discipline
6 a clean toilet, a warm bed and a hot meal
7 The time the director of the school and his wife have had a butler for

Extensive listening: Know your worth, and then ask for it

Your boss probably isn't paying you what you're worth — instead, they're paying you what they think you're worth. Take the time to learn how to shape their thinking.

Pricing consultant Casey Brown shares helpful stories and learnings that can help you better communicate your value and get paid for your excellence.

Casey Brown is a pricing geek and professional speaker. She leads an organization that helps companies improve profits through better pricing. She speaks at conferences, trade associations and networking groups around the world. She is on a mission to correct the injustice of underpricing.

You can read the full transcript here.

Longest-serving lollipop lady retires

After 45 years on the road, Britain's longest-serving Lollipop lady, Margaret Cattle, has retired.

Self-study activity:
Watch the video and complete the missing words in the transcript.



Every day, every morning, every afternoon, in all (1) ..., winter, summer, autumn and spring, Margaret has patrolled this crossing for four and a half (2) ... and now she's decided to call it a day as Britain's longest-serving lollipop lady. She explains how she felt on her first day.
Very (3) ... , never done it before.
45 years on and the kids she helped that day have all grown up. They remember her well.
So when you’re walking around and somebody (4) ...-headed and older-looking shouts, hey lollipop, you think, oh dear.
She is retiring under (5) ...   ... to put her feet up. For kids and for parents, it's a sad day.
She's really nice and she gives you lollies sometimes and (6) ... ... .
Now we've seen her every morning and every night and she always says hello, she’s always got a big (7) ... on the face.  She's lovely but we're gonna miss her right away.
She makes us feel like we're not gonna get hurt.
Her real (8) ... in 45 years, the number of children hurt on this crossing, not a (9) ... one.
I am proud, very, very, and I really will miss them all but I've got to stop sometime.

Key:
1 weathers
2 decades 
3 nervous
4 bald
5 doctor's orders
6 Christmas cards
7 smile 
8 achievement 
9 single

Working in 140°F heat

Unforgiving temperatures beat down on these hardworking salt miners every single day. The salt mines, situated in the Afar triangle, stretch across 100,000 square kilometres and at their lowest point are more than 300 feet below sea level.

Professional travel photographer and videographer Joel Santos travelled to the area to capture the dry beauty of this brutal expanse of land.

Self-study activity:
Watch the video and complete the missing figures in the transcript.



This breath-taking drone footage of Ethiopia’s Danakil Salt Desert was captured by travel photographer Joel Santos. The desert’s huge salt crusts are often (1) ... meters thick. Each day around (2) ... camels and (3) ... donkeys pass through, transporting salt to a small local town.
It’s a hostile environment over (4) ... feet below sea level. Workers mining in the area toil in temperatures that often reach (5) ...°C. That’s (6) ...°F.
The surrounding landscape is one of volcanos, sulphur caked hot springs and black lava flows.
It’s one of the lowest, hottest places on Earth and definitely, one of the toughest places to work.

KEY:
1. 100
2. 2,000
3. 1,000
4. 300
5. 60
6. 140

Extensive listening – How to get better at the things you care about

Working hard but not improving? You're not alone. Eduardo Briceño reveals a simple way to think about getting better at the things you do, whether that's work, parenting or creative hobbies. And he shares some useful techniques so you can keep learning and always feel like you're moving forward.

Eduardo Briceño leads Mindset Works, which helps people develop as motivated and effective learners through training and resources to foster growth mindset beliefs and behaviors. He co-founded Mindset Works in 2007 with the foremost growth mindset researcher, Carol Dweck Ph.D., and education expert Lisa Blackwell Ph.D. Prior to his current role, Briceño was a Principal at the Sprout Group, a venture capital firm in Silicon Valley, where he was part of the technology investment team.

Briceño grew up in Caracas, Venezuela, before moving to the US when he was in high school. He now lives with his wife in San Jose, California. He holds Bachelor's degrees in economics and engineering from the University of Pennsylvania, as well as an MBA and an MAin Education from Stanford University. Most important, he continues to enjoy lifelong learning every day.

You can read a full transcript here.

Lessons from 60 years as a flight attendant

Watch a CNN video on American Airlines flight attendant Bette Nash, who has been in the job for nearly sixty years.

Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.



1. How old is Bette?
2. When did she decide to become a flight attendant?
3. What is for Bette the most important thing in her job?
4. When was her first flight as a flight attendant?
5. How many hours a day did she use to work?
6. What were some of the requirements to become a flight attendant?
7. What adjective does she use to describe the attire/outfits (clothes) when she started?
8. What thing has changed the flying industry the most?
9. Where is all the flight information kept nowadays?
10. Why does she think flight attendants will never disappear (phase out)?

For nearly six decades, Bette Nash has been sharing her vibrant smile with the world, all from 30,000 feet. At 80 years young, it's safe to say that she's seen it all and served them all. Few people know more about the pace of change in travel than Bette, who's thought to be the world's oldest active flight attendant.
I wanted to be a flight attendant from the time I got on the first airplane. I was 16 years old, the pilot and the flight attendant walked across the hall, and I thought, oh my God! I said that was for me.
At the time, flying was a lavish experience. It was a sophisticated party up in the air. Today, glancing around the tightly-packed plane, it's far from the white-gloved glamor of the golden years. Yet Bette still loves it just as much as ever.
I love my people, and I love being on the same flight all the time that I know my customers. You know what they want. The airline thinks names are important, but I think a lot of times, people's needs are very important. Everybody wants a little love.
After 59 years, there's still no stopping her.
I started with the Eastern Air Lines, November 4, 1957, and the rest is history. Some of the trips that I flew in the beginning. I flew these 13-hour days. I remember going, you know, Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Charlotte, Tampa, Jacksonville, and Miami, and I was the only one on the plane. You worked harder physically in those days.
When she first flew, training was focused more on appearance.
People called it Charm School in those days. They took you to the beauty parlour and cut all your hair off. You could wear mascara. You couldn't wear eyeshadow. You had to be a certain height and a certain weight. And you were constantly being weighed.
And the outfits, as we saw at the Smithsonian, changed with the mood of each era.
The attire was, when I first started, was very conservative. My Gosh! Then we started getting very, you know, out there in the world. You know, we had the hot pants, the go-go boots, you know, a turtleneck shirt that came up to here and buttoned underneath. After that, then things started calming down a little bit.
Yet nothing's changed more in the industry than technology.
When I first started flying, they would chalk everything up on a board. Now you have the computer screens. There's very little left of the manual way of life. Everything was on a piece of paper before, and now everything is on a tablet. Technology really made the difference of ‘am I gonna stay or am I gonna go?’ And even if, when I think I might retire or something, then I come to work and I think, Oh, I couldn't, I couldn't do that. It's stimulating coming out here and even walking through the airport. The airlines are evolving continuously. And I think you have to evolve with them.
And Bette's neither deterred nor threatened by it.
They'll never phase out a flight attendant, because they need the human touch, and people need that human interaction.

Key:
1 80 years young
2 at 16 / the first time she flew / when she saw pilot and flight attendant in the hall
3 people's needs / love
4 November 4, 1957
5 Thirteen
6 You had to be a certain height and a certain weight
7 conservative
8 technology
9 on a table
10 because people need that human interaction

Talking point: Creative environments

This week's talking point is creative environments. Before getting together with the members of your conversation group, go over the questions below so that ideas come to mind more easily the day you get together with your friends and you can work out vocabulary problems beforehand.

Do you work or study at a desk every day?
Is it always the same desk?
If not, where do you work or study?
What does the place where you work/study look like?
What do you think it says about you?
What factors are important to you in your work/study area?

easy access to photocopier/printer
number of people in the same room
size of the room
comfortable chair
lighting
view from the window
colour scheme
coffee making facilities
temperature
privacy
plants
air-conditioning

Which of the above factors does your work/study area have?
What do you miss?
Does the place where you work or study look like the photos below?
What are the main similarities and differences?
Do you think that working/studying somewhere like this would make you more creative and efficient?

 Photo: Wipsen.org

photo: Architecture Art Design

Which of these things do you think are more likely to make someone more creative? Put the list in order, from most likely (1) to least likely (6).

playing music quietly

hearing colleagues'/friends'/family's phone conversations

having the heating turned down

having a messy desk

feeling tired

having a nap

Extensive listening: Are you a giver or a taker

In every workplace, there are three basic kinds of people: givers, takers and matchers. Organizational psychologist Adam Grant breaks down these personalities and offers simple strategies to promote a culture of generosity and keep self-serving employees from taking more than their share.

In his groundbreaking book Give and Take, top-rated Wharton professor Adam Grant upended decades of conventional motivational thinking with the thesis that giving unselfishly to colleagues or clients can lead to one’s own long-term success.

Grant’s research has led hundreds of advice seekers (and HR departments) to his doorstep, and it’s changing the way leaders view their workforces.

Grant’s new book Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World examines how unconventional thinkers overturn the status quo and champion game-changing ideas. 

You can read a full transcript of the talk here.

Reading test: Lark or owl, working nine-to-five will make you tired

Read The Guardian article Lark or owl, working nine-to-five will make you tired on the way our natural circadian rhythms doesn’t agree with the typical working day. Choose the best sentence (A - J) for each gap. There are two sentences you do not need to use. 0 is an example.

A - a stressful commute to reach a fixed point
B - and embracing flexible working
C - individuals have very different sleep-wake patterns – 0 Example
D - many expect workplace flexibility in the workplace
E - to beat their wings to a different rhythm
F - to fit the workplace around the worker
G - to reach peak alertness at around noon
H - what if that commute were simply eliminated?
I - when we experience jetlag, or a lack of sleep
J - which isn’t possible under a fixed structure

Lark or owl, working nine-to-five will make you tired

Every day, 21.18 million people in the UK work nine to five. This may seem intuitive – we all know people tend to work best during daylight hours. But even within these parameters, (0) … .

Our internal body clock is a natural process governed by circadian rhythms that regulate levels of energy and alertness throughout the day. So (1) …, this interferes with our ability to think.

Much research has been done on when we work best, but little of that knowledge has filtered through to the workplace. The average employee will take a few hours after arriving at work (2) … . This peak then subsides until around 3pm. After this low, alertness tends to increase again until a second peak at 6pm. Then it’s a steady decline until the ultimate low at 3.30am. Finally, alertness climbs again and the cycle repeats.

This, however, is the average cycle with people deviating hugely. Some fall into early morning achievers (larks), while others work better in the evening (owls).

Consider the typical working day: a 7.30am start; (3) … before 9am; an hour for lunch often spent at the desk; and a tiring commute home leaving work at 5pm each day.

The notion of the nine-to-five working day was established in Victorian times, not an age much aware of worker welfare, and it is easy to see the conflict between this fixed structure and our natural circadian rhythms. So how can businesses adapt? Already numerous companies are rejecting this outdated idea of a fixed working routine (4) … .

With the early evening peak of alertness occurring precisely when a vast majority of workers are wrestling with motorways or public transport on their commute home, (5) … . It’s won’t work for everyone, but there are a large percentage of professionals travelling unnecessarily to a fixed location.

Solutions are available today. Businesses of every size and in every sector are consuming flexible workspace and a new pattern is emerging which aims (6) …, rather than vice versa. Business leaders are listening to workers struggling with the daily cost and frustration of commuting. And they are embracing flexible working to attract the best employees.

Whether employers are quite ready to allow individuals to nap during the day during low-energy spells is a debatable point. But there is certainly receptiveness for improved workplace wellbeing and for trusting employees to maximise their productivity on their own terms.

Giving a little scientific thought to the process of productivity – and allowing owls and larks (7) …– works best for everyone.

Photo: University of Nebraska - Lincoln

KEY: 
1I 2G 3A 4B 5H 6F 7E

Extensive listening: How to get control of your free time

There are 168 hours in each week. How do we find time for what matters most?

Time management expert Laura Vanderkam studies how busy people spend their lives, and she's discovered that many of us drastically overestimate our commitments each week, while underestimating the time we have to ourselves.

She offers a few practical strategies to help find more time for what matters to us, so we can "build the lives we want in the time we've got."

Tokyo’s station master

Although the Tokyo Olympics are almost four years off, the stationmaster at the city's landmark train station already seems to be running his own kind of marathon every day.

Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions.



1 How many trains run through Tokyo station every weekday?
2 What Japanese saying does Takashi Etoh say?
3 What do his employees call him?
4 Why does he bow when he enters or exits the station?
5 Why does he sing Happy Birthday to his employees?
6 What happened to the station in 1980?
7 Which two worlds can be seen on both sides of the station?
8 Why does the station master show people the rubbish he picks up?

It’s home to Japan’s super-sleek shinkansen, or bullet train, and is a stop for nearly two million passengers riding 3,700 trains every weekday. This is Tokyo Station. And at the center of this universe, clad in white, is the station master. Like his trains, Takashi Etoh keeps a tight schedule.
We raced around trying to keep up with him. It’s vital for me to check on things with my own eyes, he said.
Let’s make it nice and tidy, he instructed a cleaner. On the platform he told another worker, Don’t catch cold!
You seem to really love your job.
I do! Etoh agreed. Adding, well, after my wife! But I’ve been with trains longer.
Does your wife ever get jealous?
No, he said. We have a saying in Japan: It’s good to have a husband who’s healthy and absent!
This station, really, is his second family. His employees call him Oyakata, Japanese for parent.
At the start of his day we found Etoh doing calligraphy, painting the character ‘en’, which means connection, his favorite word.
From cradle to grave, we encounter millions of people, he said. The few we share our workplace with are precious. And get this, he bows whenever he enters or exits the station.
It mentally prepares you for customers, Etoh told us, and shows them appreciation.
We watched as he saluted trains, stopped for a quick picture, and monitored the cleaners who turn around these trains in seven-minutes flat. And no, this video is not sped up.
He has almost 500 employees; he says he considers them his kids, and one of the most important parts of each day is about to happen: He serenades each and every employee on their birthday.
It creates a connection, he said. Everyone’s birthday is that person’s most special day.
The station itself, built in 1914, recently celebrated its 100th birthday. It’s lucky to be standing.
In the 1980s it came within a hair’s breath of being demolished.
Azby Brown, an architecture professor and New Orleans native has lived in Tokyo for 30 years.
You would not think this is the same station; it’s sort of schizophrenic.
Brown showed us how one side of the newly-renovated station is modern. The other is more traditional and faces Japan’s Imperial Palace.
It was really a symbol of the Japanese empire. It has this grandiose, classical, kind of dignified appearance. The other side was really like the backside of the city. It was always a little dustier and just more business-like.
You have the super-modern on one side meeting the almost old-fashioned on the other.
Definitely old-fashioned. And yet when this building was built, this was the peak of modernism.
Today, it boasts a labyrinth of shops, its own hotel and bar, even a signature Tokyo Station cocktail.  And it’s remarkably clean, save for some wrappers Etoh snatched up, and a little dust he noticed behind a computer.
We watched you go around and pick up the trash, at one point you went down, you picked up a piece of trash and you showed it to people nearby. Why?
I’m trying to set an example, he told us. Tokyo is the gateway to Japan. For the Olympics, we’ll have visitors from 200 countries. We can’t speak the same language, but we can show a spanking-clean station.
Sipping one of those Tokyo Station cocktails, we toasted to the whole idea of this place [And to connections] making a connection.

Key:
1 3,700
2 It’s good to have a husband who’s healthy and absent.
3 Parent
4 It prepares him for customers and shows them appreciation.
5 To create a connection because everyone’s birthday is that person’s most special day.
6 It was almost demolished.
7 Traditional, old-fashioned Japan vs modern Japan
8 To set an example.

Living paycheck to paycheck

The Vories family lives on a volatile income — not knowing how much each paycheck will contain month-to-month.

Self-study activity:
Watch the video and say whether the statements below are true or false.



1. The Vories have to pay the electricty bill on the 8th of each month.
2. The Vories have been unemployed for a long time.
3. The Vories don't own a car.
4. The Brighton Center is a charity.
5. The Vories have ups and downs in their day-to-day.
6. The Vories spend around five hundred dollars a month in medications.
7. They didn't buy their son basketball shoes because they had no money.


I just look at what’s the day that it is due, what’s the mercy day, what’s the actual day that I have to pay this bill by. I don’t even look at it month to month. The electric bill is due like the 8th but I can pay it on the 25th, you know when we’re paying bills this Monday, and that’s one of the bills I’m gonna be paying.
The Vories family is one many in America that lives on a valid all income. Like thousands who rely on seasonal or contract work, money comes in each week but it’s rarely the same amount. Financial planning becomes about the near future, about paying the bills when, not if the paychecks stop. Erica works full time at the IRS as the family’s primary source of income. Her husband Alex was laid off last year from Fidelity Call Center and can only find seasonal work. His last contract ended right before Thanksgiving, so Alex returns to an employer he’d had in high school, The Rosa’s Pizza.
Hopefully the Rosa’s is enough to keep us going. An accident and a breakdown left the family carless, so Alex borrows his father’s car to deliver pizzas at night. Every week is a delicate balancing act of time, money and resources.
We don’t have a savings account or anything like that. And we have one, but there’s no money in there.
And we have like 401k’s at our work where we can put it. I have never been able to put in because…
I had to cash mine out from Fidelity to pay bills.
Hey, Josh, I brought food to eat? Are you hungry?
A little bit of income, some odd jobs, help from parents, the Vories are hardly the only family in this position. A local non-profit, the Brighton Center, provided emergency help to the Vories and over 6800 households last year. Nearly 71% of those families had income.
I started praying and asking the Lord, Lord, you know, will you give me an idea to write a play? It’s a way to tell people what I’ve been through without having the opportunity to tell somebody one on one.
And when the housing bubble came down it just crashed everything I had. I lost my job, my house.
Before that bad stuff happened to you, why would you believe all the Jesus stuff?
We will have one good, two weeks and we’ll be like okay we know these two weeks it’s going to be great but we won’t even know in advance we’ll be okay. But next two weeks, nothing.
I don’t have nothing right here, right now.
It will be hard to go to the grocery store and say, okay I only have, you know, 20 to 30 dollars to spend and I have to make it so that four of us can eat.
No, no ice-cream.
Yes! Ice-cream! I don’t want anything else.
They’ll ask for stuff all the time. ‘Can we go get an ice-cream’, and we have to be… the parents let’s say, guys you don’t understand, we just don’t have money.
Family health issues further complicate things. Alex has diabetes, Erika fibromyalgia, their oldest kid has severe ADHD and their youngest, Josh, has mild autism. It costs the family a couple hundred dollars monthly in medications alone. At time the Vories borrow ahead of their next pay cheque at a steep interest rate just to make minimum payments.
You see how things are going up and it’s like how am I gonna be able to give them a meal that is going to nurture them because, you know, cereal is not going to cut it.
I’m tired too, pal.
I was gonna pay some bills today and our son needed some basketball shoes and grandma gave us some money to buy some, but we didn’t have the chance to cash the cheque, so we took it out of the account and then we’re not going to put the money until tomorrow, and tomorrow is like the last day to pay the electric bill, so, oh thank God it ain’t raining, that’s what stinks about one car, if it’s pouring rain we are going to get soaked.
I have this tendency to say to her ‘I think we are almost there, I think we are almost there’ and then we just don’t get there.

Key: 
1F 2F 3T 4T 5T 6F 7F

Listening test: The risks of office work

Listen to part of a BBC radio programme where Professor Ulf Ekelund, from the Norwegian School of Sports Sciences,  answers questions on the risks of office work and choose the option A, B or C which best completes each of the sentences below.



1 Sitting at a desk for eight hours
A demands the same physical activity as an hour’s walk.
B is harmful for a person’s health.
C leads to premature death.

2 Professor Ulf Ekelund thinks the really harmful thing for a person’s health is
A lack of activity.
B office work.
C smoking.

3 Standing from a desk
A is a form of physical activity.
B is not a form of physical activity.
C has not been demonstrated that it is physical activity.

4 Workers who spend their day sitting at a desk
A must cycle or go out for a walk for an hour every day.
B should drink more coffee.
C should try and do physical activity in the workplace.

5 Increasing physical activity by 10 to 20 minutes would
A diminish the risk of chronic diseases.
B motivate the population to live a healthier life.
C put an end to premature death.

6 Professor Ulf Ekelund says
A five million people die because of lack of activity every year.
B five million people die because of smoking every year.
C the research on the effects of inactivity started 4 years ago.

7 The research
A hasn’t reached conclusive results.
B monitored 1 million people.
C monitored 13 million people.

It’s crazy to smoke, we all know that because it’s so bad for your health, but going to work and sitting at a desk? The Telegraph’s headline this morning is: Working in an office - as bad as smoking. They’ve picked up on a study published in The Lancet, it’s of a million people and it suggests that if you sit at a desk for eight hours a day then you increase your risk of premature death by 60%, but if you’re active for one hour, even just going for a walk, then you undo that damage. Well the man leading the research was Professor Ulf Ekelund from the Norwegian School of Sports Sciences and he’s here in the studio. Good morning.
Good morning.
Let’s start with that headline, is it true that sitting at a desk for eight hours is as bad as smoking?
Well, I would say physical inactivity is as bad as smoking, so if you compare smokers with non-smokers and if you theoretically could take all smokers to be non-smokers and you could take all of those of us who are inactive to become active then the risks are more or less the same.
OK, I think I’m following you there. And you particularly, well there’s a number of things you pick up there but one, it’s the inactivity, so it’s being written up as going to work for eight hours, but if you were sitting on your sofa for eight hours it’s obviously the same thing?
Yes. Now, I mean, what we found in our research was basically that if you are physically active for an hour a day, at least an hour a day, such as walking or bicycling you could offset the risk of prolonged sitting, or sitting for more than eight hours. That was the main finding of our study.
OK, there are also fashions at the moment for people to raise their desks and stand, does that undo some of the problems?
I don’t think there is much evidence for that. I think there is strong evidence that you should break up your sitting time by doing activity. I mean, I think it’s actually okay to just take a short walk to go and get some coffee at the coffee machine or something similar, but just standing up may not be associated with any improved health.
OK, so you’re not necessarily talking about head out for an hour, brisk fast walk or a cycle, you can break up this hour by lots of walks to the kitchen?
You can do that, but I would also recommend trying to engineer physical activity into your everyday life and using the stairs rather than the escalators or the lift.
So there are, and that will make a huge difference from the sounds of this?
It will make a difference. I mean, we know that on the population level if we could increase physical activity by 10 to 20 minutes we would have a very much reduced risk of many chronic diseases and also premature mortality.
I thought you were going to say that you couldn’t compare it to smoking, but the idea that they are comparable is extraordinary, isn’t it, because one you’re obviously taking in carcinogens, pollutants, a whole series of bad things, the other you’re just sitting?
Yes, but I mean the number of deaths attributable to physical inactivity which we published in the first Lancet series four years ago is more than five million people globally, and that is very comparable to the number of deaths from smoking.
So all it takes is a bit of activity and that will make the significant difference, and we should talk about the scale of course, it’s a million people you looked at here, so it’s a…
That’s true, we summarised data from 13 studies including a million people, and I think the public health message is sit less, move more, and the more the better.

KEY:
1B 2A 3C 4C 5A 6A 7B

Japan's retirees: industrial waste or a silver lining?

Working after retirement is not something many plan for, especially in Japan, where most white collar workers - known as salarymen - still devote their lives to one employer for an average of four decades.

Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions.

1 What is the retirement age in Japan?
2 What does Koreisha mean in Japanese?
3 What are some of the occupations retirees can choose from in Koreisha?
4 What is the reason why Japanese retired workers want to work?
5 What does 'one third' refer to?
6 What is one of the problems retirees have to face when working after retirement?

Tending to a client's rooftop garden in central Tokyo. Three years after retiring from his lifelong employment with Tokyo Gas, 68-year-old Rikizo Takano signed up for part-time work. This is the company which got him the gig. Koreisha means "the elderly" in Japanese. Its mission is to help retirees who are still keen to be part of the country's workforce. Today it has over 750 registered members. The average age is 69, with the oldest at 81 years old. They can choose from various assignments, such as cooking at restaurants or being personal drivers.
At our age, most of us don't want to work full-time, but putting in two to three days a week doesn't affect pensions, and being able to earn an extra 1000 US dollars a month is nice. But more than that, our members say it's great to be able to work again, because myself included, we feel like our energy and talent is wasted.
Japan has one of the fastest ageing populations in the world, and it is a burden on the economy, with a falling birth rate, it means there are fewer people paying social security. Spending on health care and pensions already accounts for a third of the national budget, and it's ballooning fast. But instead of doing away with the old, the Government wants companies and communities to see them as a silver lining.
Here in Kashiwa, these retired businessmen greet the children every morning and make sure they get to school safely. 75-year-old Masatoshi Tsuneno is the leader of the group, and he's been volunteering for ten years.
He says the key to a successful transition after retirement is to shake up the hierarchy entrenched in the working world.
I was an engineer for a company, he told me. But he won't discuss his professional past. He says it's important for people in his group to be able to treat each other equally, even if someone was a chief executive or diplomat.
It’s the end of the academic year and the school children have put together this surprise ceremony to thank the volunteers. The mix of young and old has been a hit for this community, but it's still a rare success story.
Mariko Oi, BBC News, in Kashiwa.

Key:
1 65
2 the elderly
3 cooking at restaurants or being personal drivers
4 they feel their energy and talent is wasted
5 public spending out of the national budget on health care and pensions 
6 the traditional hierarchy of Japanese companies is difficult to get rid of 

The Pint-Size CEO

Moziah Bridges started making bow ties when he was 9 years old. Now he is 13 and at the helm of his own company, Mo’s Bows. But when it comes to the business, who is really in charge?

Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.



1 How much money has Mo made so far?
2 How long has Mo's grandmother been in the sewing business?
3 What does $5 and $40 to $60 refer to?
4 Who is the most important person is Mo's life?
5 Where does most of the money the business makes go?
6 What's the biggest challenge for Mo's mom?
7 Why does Mo have problems at school?
8 What are boys who are Mo's age into?
9 What criticism do Mo's parents get?
10 Why does Mo feel he has a lot more freedom at 13?

I'm a little guy. But I'm a little guy with the big business.
He's the bow tie guy.
Let me tell you something about bow ties.
You've made about $165,000.
He does have a CEO of Mo. And that's Mama. And Mama makes the decisions.  We are not going to sacrifice his childhood for the business.
Bow ties make you look good and they make you feel good.
When they asked me about my bow ties, I told them my story. When I was nine, I just wanted to look good.
I asked my lovely, lovely grandmother, who's been sewing for over 50 years, to teach me how to sew. And after that, ba-zam. My company took off.
He was his own walking model. He started selling them for $5.  And fast-forward to three years later, he's selling them for $40 to $60. I worked in sales when we started Mo's Bows, and it quickly took off. And I decided that my boss could be 12.
I have five seamstresses -my mom, my grandmother, my whole family, basically.
Also, if you're getting it for a gift for someone, he can certainly include a personal note.
You have people loving each other, and still achieving a dream or a goal. I don't think I would be able to be where I am without my mom. She's the one who holds Mo's Bows together. She's doing pretty good, I can say.
We don't live an elaborate life. We're still very conscious of what we have and where we want to go.  So a lot of the profit definitely goes back into the business.  Ultimately, he wants to have a clothing line. We're looking into neckties.  We recently added pocket squares. We definitely want to make Mo's Bows a household name.
Red.  You out of green.
Oh, really?
Yeah. They took them all.
Dealing with my mom, that's probably the most challenging part.
Maybe 20 more times be good?
We didn't sell too many.
By we you mean?
Me.
Really.
We're like fire and ice.
Ma, I love you.
But at the end of the day, we come up with a good solution.
Sometimes we have to walk on eggshells. You just never know what day it is for him. So it's kind of having to work around him as a teenager, as a child, and as a student and a businessman. Just really keeping the balance has been the biggest challenge.
What is this on your tie?  Is that toothpaste?
Yes, it is.
Good morning, Mr. Bridges.
How you doing, sir?
Great.
Great.
Belt?
Thank you, sir.
Socks?
Hands.  Feet.  Lips.  Go ahead.
We've run into problems at school with him sitting in business meetings, and then having to sit in class and be quiet.
Dimples is a recessive trait.
It seems ridiculous to me, because I want to talk.  But you have people who tell you, it's time to be quiet. No, it's not time to be quiet.  So I think I should talk.  So I'm going to talk.
Boys his age, they're not really into fashion.  A lot of them are into sports, rap music, and all that good stuff.  And it's just not what he's into.
Can you talk a little bit about some of the bow ties you brought with you today?
Well, some of the bow ties…
I would hope to see that Mo will grow up to live out his dreams, no matter what it is.  I feel like Mo is the future we want to see in our children. And I believe that's why everyone is so proud of him.
I was going to try to get you to make a sale before you leave here.
He called you an innovator. Do you know what that is?  Something that not everyone else is doing. Right?  What do you think?  Does that fit you?  You can understand what a big deal this is. You're the youngest inductee.
I'm being inducted into the Tennessee State Museum.  And that's a big thing, because it's my family history that is going to be in the museum.  It's going to be here forever.
Our first recipient tonight- we've just hugged him all night long. He's probably got sore bones by now… is Moziah Bridges.
Thank you for having me, everyone.
Bring this here, Mo.
Gonna sit here, at the head of the table?
You're an official teenager.
Dear Father, we come to you through your son Jesus Christ.
We get criticism not very often, but sometimes it's the fact that this is not Mo's business, it's his parents putting him in the spotlight. But I always tell Mo, any time you feel like you are overwhelmed and you need to pull the plug, it's OK.  I will need to be prepared for that.
I appreciate y'all coming over and helping us celebrate 13 years.  I was telling Mo this morning, I was like, Mo, you don't understand. This is a big deal.  When I brought you home, you were this little. And I had no idea what I was doing. I had to feed you and clothe you. And with a lot of love and nourishment, you turned out pretty good.
13 feels great. I have a lot more freedom, like staying up past eight. That's the main thing. 

Key:
1 $165,000
2 fifty years
3 the price he started selling his ties for ($5) and the price he's selling them for now ($40 to $60)
4 his mom 
5 into the business
6 keeping the balance, as Mo is a teenager, a child, a student and a businessman.
7 he has to keep quiet
8 sports, rap music, and all that good stuff
9 this is not Mo's business, it's Mo's parents putting him in the spotlight
10 He can stay up past 8.