Lesson 19 – Great perks

Warm up

Perk, ask what it means. If students do not know, describe examples to elicit the meaning. (Flexi-hours means flexible working hours; workers can vary them.)
Ask for other examples of perks, and ask if they have ever had any perks in jobs that they have done.

Tell students that they are going to look at other examples of perks. Put them in groups of four.
Direct their attention to question 1. Ask them to read the information quickly and underline any words that they do not know.
Tell them to work together and answer the question. There may be more than one answer for some perks.
Tell them to work together in your groups to choose the best jobs for the people and prepare notes, not sentences, explaining the reasons for your decisions.

Which jobs would be most suitable for which people?

Mark Having young twins is really demanding, but they\’re worth it! They\’re my whole life now really. When my wife died, I couldn\’t manage at first. Of course, I had to give up college, which limits my future. That\’s worrying.	Jeff My wife Mary is a registered Disabled Person, but we don\’t get much help from the state. She\’s fine if I don\’t leave her on her own too much, as long as I check she\’s OK now and then. The hospital appointments can be awkward to fit in.
Sheila I was divorced six years ago when our kids left home. I got the house, but he\’s got the pension! I do feel lonely, though. I\’ve got my own little hairdressing business, going to people\’s houses, but I\’d like to meet someone special.	Angela Seven children take a lot of looking after. But now they\’re all at school, I can go back to work. We need the money! Living out in the countryside gives us room to grow our own vegetables, but we\’re so isolated. Four of the kids travel nearly two hours to school.

In their groups of four, students imagine how life has changed for the people since they took one of the jobs. They should include descriptions of their working life and developments in their personal life that have happened as a result of taking the job.
Each group member adopts the role of one of the characters, a different one each. They play the part of the class, speaking as if the characters themselves, describing the changes to their working and personal lives.