7 At work: colleagues and routines

Question 1

Clock in/out

Answer 1

to record the time you arrive at work on a special machine

to leave work, especially by recording the time you leave on a special machine

Question 2

Day shift

Answer 2

a shift of workers who work during daylight hours

Question 3

Dead-end jobs

Answer 3

a job in which there is no chance of progressing to a better, more important job

Question 4

Do a job-share

Answer 4

to divide the duties and the pay of one job between two people who work at different times during the day or week

Question 5

Freelance

Answer 5

doing particular pieces of work for different organizations, rather than working all the time for a single organization

Question 6

Glamorous job

Answer 6

attractive in an exciting and special way

Question 7

Hierarchical

Answer 7

arranged according to people’s or things’ level of importance, or relating to such a system

Question 8

Knock off

Answer 8

a cheap copy of a popular product

Question 9

Manual work

Answer 9

work involving the hands, as opposed to an office job, for example

Question 10

Meet a deadline

Answer 10

to finish work at the time or by a date that has been previously agreed

Question 11

Monotonous job

Answer 11

is very boring because it has a regular, repeated pattern which never changes

Question 12

Night shift

Answer 12

a period in the night during which a particular group of people work

Question 13

Nine-to-five job

Answer 13

a job during regular business hours usually in an office

Question 14

Opposite number

Answer 14

a person who has a very similar job or rank to you but in a different organization

Question 15

Paperwork

Answer 15

the part of a job that involves writing letters and reports and keeping records

Question 16

Pecking-order

Answer 16

an informal social system in which some people or groups know they are more or less important than others

Question 17

Rapport

Answer 17

a good understanding of someone and an ability to communicate well with them

Question 18

Repetitive work

Answer 18

a motion that occurs every few seconds with little or no variation

Question 19

Self-employed

Answer 19

not working for an employer but finding work for yourself or having your own business

Question 20

Shift worker

Answer 20

work comprising recurring periods in which different groups of workers do the same jobs in relay.

Question 21

Shift worker

Answer 21

A shift worker is an employee who works shifts and gets an extra payment for working shift hours

Question 22

Shiftwork

Answer 22

a system in which different groups of workers work somewhere at different times of the day and night

Question 23

Stuck in a rut

Answer 23

too fixed in one particular type of job, activity, method, etc., and needing to change

Question 24

Stuck behind a desk

Answer 24

holding a job which is all desk work

Question 25

Talk shop

Answer 25

to talk about things relating to your work when you are in a social situation, especially in a way that is not interesting to other people

Question 26

Teleworker

Answer 26

someone who works at home, and communicates with their office by phone, email, or internet

Question 27

Work freelance

Answer 27

one where a person works for themselves, rather than for a company.

Question 28

Working relationship

Answer 28

an ability to work together

Question 29

Workmates

Answer 29

a person who works in the same place as you, especially one who you are friendly with

Question 30

Works/ on flexi-time

Answer 30

a flexible hours schedule that allows workers to alter workday start and finish times