At work - Video for English Classroom

At work there’s no rest for the wicked! There’s more than enough work! 

The proof: the telephone rings while you’re right in the middle of rereading a document you have drawn up for your superior, who wants it on her desk before eleven o’clock. 

The director is on the other end of the line. She wants you to confirm the time of her meeting in Japan next week. You’ll also have to reserve her a seat on a flight to Tokyo. 

In addition, she wants you to let her know the sales figures for the month. It can’t wait a moment longer. 

You explain to her that the figures aren’t definitive yet. 'Never mind!' replies your superior. 'Time is money!' 

You must fax the document to your Japanese partners immediately and also send a copy to Hong Kong. 

You’ve got to get the sales figures together in time for the presentation at the end of the morning. It’s imperative, or you risk losing the contract in hand! 

It’s time for the meeting. You meet your colleagues in the conference room. Everyone has brought their computer. There’s paper everywhere. How do you manage to work among all this chaos? 

The contract which you are working on at the moment is of great importance. Some of your colleagues are very fidgety. It’s the rush of adrenaline! 

The director’s been on the phone for over an hour. She’s talking to three different countries at the same time. She seems overloaded with work. It looks like she’s had a portable phone grafted on to her ear! 

Fortunately, you managed to put together the sales figures before the meeting and everyone has a copy of the document you’ve prepared. They all seem satisfied with your work. 

You haven’t been working long in the company and you still have to prove yourself. The slightest delay in your work could cost you dearly. 

If everything goes well and if the contract is signed by the end of the day, your efforts will be rewarded. Maybe you’ll even get a raise in salary! The ideal thing would be two weeks’ holidays in the West Indies to recover. 

But there’s no time to daydream, you’ve still got a lot to do. If we didn’t know what was happening, we could think you’re all making a lot of noise for nothing. 

All these comings and goings, these gestures, this constant frenzy... It looks like you’re saving the world from some terrible disaster. 

But, in fact, it’s a lot more personal than that. You’re proving that you can land this new contract. Either way, if you fail, another company will sign it and you, you’ll lose a great deal of money. 

Your boss has announced that you won’t have time to go and have lunch, so you’ve all got to eat on the go. You’ve been brought some salads. 

You’re not very hungry anyway, your stomach’s still knotted with apprehension. The atmosphere, however, is less tense now because most of the work has been done. The project’s well under way. 

You hope to receive, during the day, news of whether your partners have agreed on the contract’s conditions. You’ll just have to wait! And what’s worse than having to wait? You can thus take a quick breath, relax a little and calmly polish up your work. 

What a day! You began the morning quietly sitting at your desk when, suddenly, the entire team was invaded by stress and pressure. You’ve all faced up to the situation in hand and truly deserve to be congratulated by the Chairman.



See other video scripts of the same level (Intermediate+):
The Value of Money
Progress in the Field of Communications
Work in A Hospital
At work 
Let's go food shopping!
The Market

Other script of different level can be found here:

Video for Listening Comprehension from Tell me More Intermediate+ Level
Video for Listening Comprehension from Tell me More Intermediate Level
Video for Listening Comprehension from Tell me More Beginner Level

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