Job routines
Present simple and expressions of frequency
1. Listening
You will hear an interview between a journalist and a top businessman. The journalist is going to write an article called ‘A day in the life of Paul Johnson’.
First look at the different activities below. Then, as you listen, number the sequence of events in Paul Johnson’s typical day. Some of them have been done for you.
a. ( ) Visit the plant
b. ( ) Look at the post
c. ( ) Have breakfast
d. ( ) Meetings with Finance and Sales Directors
e. ( ) Read a book
f. (1) Get up
g. ( ) Dinner engagement
h. ( ) Leave for the office
i. ( ) Go for a jog
j. ( ) Lunch in the canteen
k. (11) Management/Board meetings
l. (4) Read the newspapers
m. ( ) Meeting with deputy
n. ( ) Finish work
o. ( ) Go to sleep
Listening Task
PJ：Oh, I usually get up about five, go for a jog before breakfast. We usually have breakfast around 6.30. Then I have time to read the papers.
J：Which papers do you take?
PJ：Well, The Financial Times, The Times and The Independent. I don’t exactly read them from cover to cover.
J：No, of course not.
PJ：Well, after the papers, I leave for the office. I’m usually behind my desk by 7.30. The first job of the day is the post. My secretary sorts out those letters, which need immediate attention. Then round about 9.00, I have a daily meeting with Pete Sykes, he’s my deputy. We run through the agenda for the day.
J：What about lunch?
PJ：Well, I try to have lunch in the company canteen as often as possible. But, of course, sometimes I have lunch out with customers or the bank manager. People like that.
J：What about the afternoons?
PJ：If I’m in the country, I often go down to our plant and see how things are going. We have weekly management committee meetings on Friday afternoon. Then, of course, there are monthly board meetings, usually the first Monday of the month.
J：When do you finish work?
PJ：Round about seven. Then, if there’s nothing on in the evening, I’ll go home. More often than not, there’s a dinner engagement. My wife comes to quite a lot of these, so at least we see each other.
J：When do you get to bed?
PJ：Rarely before midnight. I always read a book for half an hour before going to sleep.
J：Right, thank you, Mr. Johnson…
2. Presentation
There are two important features of the language used in the interview:
# the present simple tense
# expressions of frequency
2.1 The present simple tense
This is used when we talk about characteristic/typical actions.
e.g. He gets up at 5.
I read the newspapers after breakfast.
Note: The third person singular form ends in s.
We form questions in the present simple by using the auxiliary do.
e.g. When do you go to bed?
Does your wife work too?
Note: The third person singular form is does.
2.2 expressions of frequency
Expressions of frequency are divided into indefinite and definite frequency.
请见附图
Notes:
1. The percentage triangle shows the relative frequency of these expressions. Of course, these percentages are only a general indication, not exact values.
2. Expressions of indefinite frequency are usually used with the present simple.
e.g. I often go down to our plant.
3. Notice the position of the adverbs of indefinite frequency with the verb to be and other verbs.
e.g. I’m usually behind my desk by 7.30.(adverb after verb ‘to be’)
We usually have breakfast around 6.30. (adverb before the verb)
Some times I have lunch out with customers. (adverb at the beginning of the sentence)
Definite frequency
Every day or daily
Every week weekly
Every month monthly
Every year yearly/annually
Once/twice/three times a day /week /month/year etc.
3. Controlled practice
A. Complete the dialogue with an appropriate question. The first one has been done for you.
A: When do you get up?
B: Usually at six. At least, my alarm clock goes off at six!
A:
B: No, I don’t have breakfast straight away; first I go for a run.
A:
B: I sit down for breakfast about seven.
A:
B: After breakfast I read the papers.
A:
B: Oh, The Guardian and The Independent.
A:
B: I usually leave for the office about eight and I’m behind my desk by eight-thirty.
A:
B: I sort through the mail first.
A:
B: No, I don’t have a secretary. I wish I had!
A:
B: No, I sometimes travel abroad.
A:
B: Oh, about four times a year. Usually to America.
B. Change the following sentences using an expression of indefinite frequency as indicated by the number in brackets.
1. I travel abroad. (40%) __________________________________
2. I have meetings. (75%) _________________________________
3. I see the Managing Director. (50%) ________________________
4. I see the Chairman. (10%) ________________________________
5. I catch the seven o’clock bus. (100%) _______________________
课文注释及词汇讲解：
* go for jog （去）跑步[多指慢跑]，也可以说成go jogging
go for a walk （去）散步
* take 订阅
eg. Which papers do you take?
你订阅哪些报纸？
* paper 报纸，为可数名词。复数形式可表示多份报纸，也可表示各种各样的报纸。
本课提到的报纸有：
The Financial Times《金融时报》
The Times《泰晤士报》
The Independent《独立报》
The Guardian《卫报》
* read from cover to cover 从第一页看到最后一页
cover 封面或封底
eg. Please read the catalogue from cover to cover before you decide which model to purchase.
请先将商品目录通读一遍，再决定买哪个型号。
* leave…for…离开……去……[介词for 在此表示目的地]
eg. After the papers, I leave for the office.
看完报纸，我离家去上班。
The plane will leave Paris for New York at 10 a.m.
飞机将于上午10点钟从巴黎飞往纽约。
* be behind one’s desk = start to work （开始）办公
* sort out 整理（信件），处理（问题），落实（细节），将……分类
eg. My secretary sorts out my mail every morning.
我的秘书每天早上整理我的邮件。
I’ll leave Miss Smith to sort out the details.
我要让史密斯小姐来落实细节。
At the customs the goods are sorted out according to their value.
在海关，这种货物按价值分类。
* attention 注意，关心，处理
eg. These letters need immediate attention.
这些信件需要马上处理。
He called/invited our attention to the problem of inflation.
他让我们注意通货膨胀问题。
* deputy 副职，代理
eg. deputy-chairman 副总裁，代理总裁
* run through 浏览，过目
eg. They ran through the agenda at the beginning of the meeting.
他们在会议开始时先浏览了一下议程安排。
* typical 典型的，有代表性的
eg. He is a typical American businessman-very aggressive.
他是个典型的美国商人，咄咄逼人。
* up-to-date 最新的，跟随得上形势的，时髦的[相当于up-dated]
eg. We have to keep ourselves up-to-date with market conditions.
我们必须掌握最新的市场情况。
* Board meeting 董事会的会议
Board of Directors 董事会，可简称为the Board
eg. The MD has to report to the Board regularly.
总裁要定期向董事会汇报工作。
* more often than not = often 经常
* engagement 约会，预约
eg. make an engagement定约会[注意：engagement 与动词make搭配]
More often than not, there’s a dinner engagement.
经常会有晚餐约会。
Miss Smith, please make an engagement for me with the bank manager.
史密斯小姐，请替我安排一下与银行经理的约会。
* canteen （单位的）食堂，餐厅
* go off （闹钟）响
eg. My alarm clock goes off at 6:00every morning.
我的闹钟每天早上6:00响。
* straight away 立刻，马上
* I wish I had (a secretary)!
我真希望自己有个秘书！
这句话为虚拟语气，表示一种愿望。Wish后面的从句要求谓语动词用过去时形式[对现在情况的愿望]或过去完成时形式[对过去情况的愿望]。
eg. I wish we hadn’t signed that contract.
真希望没签那个合同。
* a dinner engagement 正餐约会
* hardly 几乎不
eg. We can hardly meet the deadline.
我们几乎不能如期完成。
Unit 9
听力译文：
PJ：我通常5点钟起床，早餐之前要跑步。我们通常6:30吃早饭。然后我会有时间看一下报纸。
J：您订了哪些报纸？
PJ：嗯，有《金融时报》、《泰晤士报》和《独立报》。我并非一页不漏地从头翻到尾看。
J：当然不会。
塞克斯有个每日例会。我们一起浏览一遍当天的日程安排。PJ：看完报，我就离家去上班。我通常在7:30开始办公。每天的第一件工作是处理邮件。我的秘书将需要马上处理的信件整理出来。然后，在大约9点钟我与助手彼提
J：您的一天通常是怎么过的？
PJ：嗯，没有什么“通常”，但我每天上午都有要和财务主管、销售主管开例会。当然，我常到国外出差，那时我就通过电话了解公司的最新情况。
J：午餐呢？
PJ：嗯，我尽可能在公司餐厅里吃午饭。可当然有时候我和客户或银行经理等人共进午餐。
J：下午呢？
PJ：如果在国内，我通常去我们的工厂了解一下情况。每周五的下午我们召开管理委员会的周会。然后，当然还有董事会的月会，通常在每月的第一个周一。
J：您什么时候下班？
PJ：大约7点钟，然后，如果晚上没有安排，我就回家。多数情况下有晚餐约会。这种约会我妻子也常常参加。这样我们至少能见个面。
J：您什么时候就寝？
PJ：很少在午夜之前。我通常在入睡前读半个小时的书。
J：好了，谢谢您，约翰逊先生……
Exercise
请用括号里的词或短语，翻译下列句子。
1． 我通常5点钟起床，早餐前跑步。（usually, go for a jog）
2． 你订了哪些杂志？(take)
3． 从头到尾地看报纸要花很多时间。(read from cover to cover)
4． 看完报之后，我离家去上班。(after, leave for)
5． 我让秘书整理出那些需要马上处理的邮件。(sort out, need immediate attention)
6． 我每天上午都要和财务主管、销售主管开例会。(have regular meetings with…)
7． 我常到国外出差，通过电话了解公司的最新情况。(travel abroad, keep up-to-date)
8． 我经常在周末也有约会。(more often than not)
Translation
汤姆森先生是位银行家。他每天6点钟起订，做早操之后，一面吃早饭，一面看报纸。7点半离家去上班。通常8点半开始办公。先在微机上读一下急需处理的电子邮件。9点钟接见各部门经理，开20分钟的例会。午餐一般与客户或高级职员一起吃。下午，他通常去分行查看，而且每周一下午有管理委员会议。一般5点钟下班。他通常有晚餐约会。回家常常已接近午夜了。
Key to Exercise
1. I usually get up at five and go for a jog before breakfast
2. Which magazines do you take?
3. It takes a lot of time to read the papers from cover to cover.
4. After the papers, I leave for the office.
5. I asked my secretary to sort out those letters, which need immediate attention.
6. Every morning I have regular meetings with my Finance and Sales Directors.
7. I travel abroad on business a lot and keep up-to-date with the company y telephone.
8. More often than not, I have engagements on weekends.
Key to Translation
Mr. Thomson is a banker. He gets up at about six every morning. After morning exercises, he reads newspapers over breakfast. At 7:30 he leaves for the office and usually he is behind his desk at 8:30. First he reads on the computer E-mails that need immediate attention, and then meets department managers for a twenty-minute regular meeting at 9:00. Usually, he has lunch out with his customers of in the canteen with some senior staff members. In the afternoon, more often than not, Mr. Thomson goes over to some branches for inspection. And the management committee meeting is held every Monday afternoon. Work finishes at five but there are always dinner engagements. When he gets back home it is often midnight