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A Toxic Workplace Lower-Intermediate

Heads Up English - 1

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the ARTICLE (for teachers)

A Toxic Workplace

According to a recent article, Amazon's work environment is toxic. To start, employees

complain about pressure, stress, and job insecurity. They work past midnight, receive

complaints if too slow to respond to emails, argue during meetings, and betray colleagues.

More than one hundred former employees gave information for the article. They told stories

about grown men crying after meetings. And each month, the employees with the lowest

performance ratings are fired.

The result is an extremely competitive environment. It has been called "rank and yank,"

which means employees are ranked and the least productive members are fired. Such a

system creates distrust, and goes against all of the ideas of good management practices.

After all, if colleagues are likely to stab you in the back, no one values teamwork or

knowledge sharing.

Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon, quickly responded to the article. He explained that the

environment at his company is friendly but intense. People work hard, and he couldn't

recognize the toxic environment in the article. In fact, it would be hard for any tech company

to survive with these kinds of policies. He wrapped up his response by stating that these

management practices are untrue and unacceptable.

Teacher's Notes:

* Underlined words in red typeface are the recommended vocabulary for this lesson.




WARM-UPS

Select one or all of the following warm-up activities.

1: Define: What does "toxic" mean? Can you use it in a sentence? Can you give

examples?

2: Brainstorm: Brainstorm with a partner words and ideas for "toxic workplace" for two

minutes. Next, talk about the words and ideas for five minutes.

3: Title: Today's article is: "A Toxic Workplace." What will you read about?

4: Do you agree or disagree? Why?

a. A company's work environment should be supportive.

b. The turnover rate of employees isn't very important.

c. Money and stock options strongly motivate employees.

d. I want to work for an international company like Amazon or Apple.

e. I want to start my own company someday.




VOCABULARY

Select one of the following vocabulary acquisition activities.

1: Vocabulary match: Individually or in pairs/groups, match the words in column A (from

the article) with the best choice in column B.

a. secure u. passionate

b. betray v. very

c. extremely w. safe

d. distrust x. reply

e. respond y. doubt

f. intense z. not loyal

2: Fill in the Blanks: Fill in the blank with the correct word.

intense extremely insecurity

betray responded distrust

a. Employees complain about pressure, stress, and job ( ).

b. They argue during meetings and ( ) colleagues.

c. The result is an ( ) competitive environment.

d. Such a system creates ( ).

e. Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon, quickly ( ) to the article.

f. He explained that the environment at his company is ( ).

3: Define: Look in your dictionary for each word. Write the definition, correctly pronounce

the word, and give an example sentence to the class.

a. secure:

b. betray:

c. extremely:

d. distrust:

e. respond:

f. intense:




WORD RECOGNITION

These activities are optional. They reinforce vocabulary and increase reading speed.

1: Word Search: Find only the target words (in bold). Time yourself, and see how long it

takes to find all the words.



B Y A R T E B Z E D K V B L I

D C T R S B O S U E I I U N C

E B X R X K N Q B S N G S B U

D O E K U E N H J T U E X U A

N V D L T C J D E R C J L J F

O G V S P O E N H U Q O A Z J

P D N B O P S S R S A W A R V

S I I V I E M I N T Q Y U A K

E T Y S W B T H G I U J S G Z

R F V C T Y L E M E R T X E G

H G A V Q R E X T R E M L Y J

K T V C T P U C D D B A N W I

B F L B W B M S H F C J B V V

T N Y C J K J A T J J U B P A

G P E W A P O T K O O J E T S

2: Target Word Pool: Find only the target words (in bold) with their exact match. Time

yourself, and see how long it takes to find all the words.



intense

intensity

intends

interest

intenseness betray

betrayal

betrays

betrayed

betraying

extremely

extreme

extremity

extremes

external

responded

responses

responsible

responding

response

insecurity

security

insecure securities

insecurely

distrust

distrustful

distrusts

distrusted trust




pre- or post-COMPREHENSION

Select one or more activity to direct students before the article is read, or to check

understanding after the article is read.

1: Brainstorm Questions: Brainstorm questions that you would like to ask about today's

topic. Answer a partner the questions. He shouldn't look at the article when he answers.

2: True or False?: Guess (before the article) or answer (after the article) if the sentence is

true or false. If false, correct the sentence.

a. The truthfulness of the article can be trusted. T /F

b. Amazon staff must work after midnight, and also disagree during meetings. T /F

c. More than one hundred current employees gave information for the article. T /F

d. "Rank and yank" causes a lot of negative results in a company. T /F

e. Bezos said the article was completely untrue. T /F

3: Questions: Answer the questions to check comprehension.

a. According to the article, what are the problems at Amazon?

b. What is mentioned about good management?

c. What happens every month at Amazon?

d. What is "rank and yank?"

e. What did Bezos say about the article?

4: Fragments: Remember how the fragments were used, and complete the sentence.

a. According to a recent article, Amazon's work...

b. More than one hundred former employees gave...

c. It has been called "rank and yank," which means employees...

d. He wrapped up his response by stating that these...




post-COMPREHENSION

Select one or more activity to discuss the contents of the article.

1: Vocabulary: Circle any other unknown words/phrases in the article. In pairs/groups, use

your dictionaries to understand these words. Write an example sentence for each one.

2: Class Questions: Read through the article once more, and write down any questions

that you would like to talk about in pairs/groups or as a class. Answer the questions.

3: Summarize: Work with a partner to summarize the article in your own words.

4: Discuss: Talk about the following questions in pairs/groups. Remember to support your

answers and ask more questions with your partner.

a. Did you like this article? Why/not?

b. Do you think the negative article about Amazon is true? Why/not?

c. If the article were true, why would anyone want to work in such an environment?

d. Would you want to work at a company like Amazon? Why/not?

e. What is the best place you have ever worked at? How about the worst place? Why?

f. What are some ideas and practices to maximize employee productivity?

5: Discuss (part II): Assume you were interviewing for a new position in your company.

What three questions would you ask to determine if the company had a positive or negative

atmosphere? Next, go around the class and ask your questions, and see what sort of

answers you receive.

a.

b.

c.

6: Google Search: Type "work environment" into Google news and read additional articles

on this topic. Discuss or write an essay about your findings.




STUDENT HANDOUT (the article)

A Toxic Workplace





about grown men crying after meetings. And each month, the employees with the lowest

performance ratings are fired.




After all, if colleagues are likely to stab you in the back, no one values teamwork or

knowledge sharing.


environment at his company is friendly but intense. People work hard, and he couldn't

recognize the toxic environment in the article. In fact, it would be hard for any tech company

to survive with these kinds of policies. He wrapped up his response by stating that these

management practices are untrue and unacceptable.

Notes:




STUDENT HANDOUT (fill in the blank)

Fill in the blank with the correct word.

knowledge insecurity unacceptable extremely intense

distrust performance responded toxic betray

A Toxic Workplace

According to a recent article, Amazon's work environment is (a. _______________). To

start, employees complain about pressure, stress, and job (b. _______________). They

work past midnight, receive complaints if too slow to respond to emails, argue during

meetings, and (c. _______________) colleagues.

More than one hundred former employees gave information for the article. They told

stories about grown men crying after meetings. And each month, the employees with

the lowest (d. _______________) ratings are fired.

The result is an (e. _______________) competitive environment. It has been called

"rank and yank," which means employees are ranked and the least productive members

are fired. Such a system creates (f. _______________), and goes against all of the

ideas of good management practices. After all, if colleagues are likely to stab you in the

back, no one values teamwork or (g. _______________) sharing.

Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon, quickly (h. _______________) to the article. He

explained that the environment at his company is friendly but (i. _______________).

People work hard, and he couldn't recognize the toxic environment in the article. In fact,

it would be hard for any tech company to survive with these kinds of policies. He

wrapped up his response by stating that these management practices are untrue and

(j. _______________).




STUDENT HANDOUT (extended listening)

Listen and fill in the missing sentences. Compare your answers with a partner, and

then listen once more.

A Toxic Workplace





about grown men crying after meetings. And each month, a) ________________________

________________________________.




After all, b) ________________________________________________________, no one

values teamwork or knowledge sharing.


environment at his company is friendly but intense. People work hard, c) _______________

_________________________________________. In fact, it would be hard for any tech

company to survive with these kinds of policies. He wrapped up his response by stating that

these management practices are untrue and unacceptable.

Sentence #1:

Sentence #2:

Sentence #3:




ANSWER KEY

Vocabulary

1: Vocabulary Match: 2: Fill in the Blanks:

a. insecurity

b. betray

c. extremely

d. distrust

e. responded

f. intense

pre- or post-Comprehension

1. True or False: 2. Fragments:

Student Handout

1: Fill in the Blanks:

a. toxic f. distrust

b. insecurity g. knowledge

c. betray h. responded

d. performance i. intense

e. extremely j. unacceptable

2: Extended Listening:

a. the employees with the lowest performance ratings are fired

b. if colleagues are likely to stab you in the back

c. and he couldn't recognize the toxic environment in the article

a. w

b. z

c. v

d. y

e. x

f. u

a. F

b. F

c. F

d. T

e. T

a. environment is toxic.

b. information for the article.

c. are ranked and the least productive members are fired.

d. management practices are untrue and unacceptable.

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