THE WORKFORCE OF
ST
THE 21 CENTURY
Unit 3, reading 2
p. 98 – 105
Skills to be practised in today’s lecture:
• How to understand the main idea of the entire article (in a
new way).
• How to understand the main idea of a paragraph.
• How to understand specific information / details about a
main idea.
• Understanding pronoun references.
What does ‘workforce’ mean?
The group of people who work in a company, industry,
country, etc.:
Example: The majority of factories in the region have a
workforce of 50 to 100.
Lead-in
• Think about three items that you have. Where do you
think they were made?
Making predictions
1. Supply and Demand for Skilled Workers.
2. Outsourcing: a practice that saves money.
3. A mobile, global workforce
Pre-teach vocabulary
• Supply
• Demand
• Manufacture
• Flexible
• Developing countries vs. Developed countries
• Mobile
• Foreigners
Supply (n)
• an amount of something that is available for use; the act
of providing something:
Example: The refugees are urgently in need of food and
medical supplies.
Demand (n)
a need for something to be sold or supplied:
• Example: There was little demand for tickets.
• Good teachers are always in (great) demand
Developing countries (noun phrase)
a country with little industrial and economic activity and
where people generally have low incomes:
Example: Ministers insist that freer trade could reduce
poverty in developing countries
Developed countries (noun phrase)
• a country with a lot of industrial activity and where people
generally have high incomes
Manufacture (v)
• to produce goods in large numbers, usually in a factory
using machines.
Example: He works for a company that manufactures car
parts.
Flexible (adj)
able to change or be changed easily according to the
situation:
Example: My schedule is flexible - I could arrange to meet
with you any day next week
Mobile (adj)
moving or walking around freely:
Example: You've broken your ankle but you'll be fully
mobile within a couple of months.
Foreigner (n)
a person who comes from another country
• Examples:
• It will soon be impossible for foreigners to enter the
country.
• I can't speak a word of French so everyone can tell I'm a
foreigner as soon as I arrive in France.
Prediction for section 1
• What do you expect in a section entitled:
‘Supply and Demand for Skilled Workers.’
Paragraph 1
• What is the main idea of this paragraph?
Prediction for section 2
• What do you expect in a section entitled:
‘Outsourcing: a practice that saves money.’
Paragraph 2
• What is the main idea of this paragraph?
• What does ‘outsourcing’ mean?
Paragraph 3
• What is the main idea of this paragraph?
• How many advantages of outsourcing does this
paragraph include? What are they?
Paragraph 4
• What is the main idea of this paragraph?
Prediction for section 3
• What do you expect in a section entitled:
‘A mobile, global workforce.’
What is the
Paragraph 5 main idea of
this paragraph?
•
What is ‘as an
example’ in the
last sentence
used to signal?
Paragraph 6
• What is the main idea of this paragraph?
• What does ‘this’ and ‘their’ in sentence 3 refer to?
• What is the example about Canada, New Zealand and
China used to illustrate?
Paragraph 7
• What is the main idea of this paragraph?
• What does ‘remittances’ mean?
Paragraph 8
• Does this paragraph introduce any new arguments? Why
is that?
Main idea check
Identify the verbs and nouns in the
following sentence:
• Can you can a can like a canner can
can a can. I can can the can but the
can cannot can me.
Word families
Noun Attraction Employment Flexibility Manufacturing Prevention
Verb Attract Employ - Manufacture prevent
Adjective attractive - Flexible -
Identify the verbs and nouns in the
following sentence:
Will, will Will will Will Will's will?
Answers
1 2 3 4 5 A closer look,
c b True c a, c p. 101
1. create 2. developing 3. willing 4. Specialists 5. practice
6. blame 7. precisely 8. Workforce 9. hire 10. Challenges
Definitions, p. 103
1. Prevents 2. manufactures 3. flexible 4. employ 5. attractive
6. attract 7. Manufacturing 8. prevention 9. flexibility 10. employment
Word families, p. 103-104
1. Affects 2. challenge 3. illustrate 4. 5. consumption
Approximately
6. energy 7. Previously 8. Precisely 9. major 10. flexible
Academic word list, p. 104
