Job Promotions Unhealthy April 12, 2009

Upper-Intermediate

the ARTICLE (for instructors)

Job Promotions Unhealthy
Ambition pushes people at work to succeed, receive praise, and eventually move up in the company. With the promotions and increased responsibilities, people also dream about new cars, bigger homes, more exotic vacations, and perhaps an earlier, more fulfilling retirement. But new research out of Britain showed without a doubt that promotions at work may actually harm the health of people.

Research indicated that the mental health of people worsened with a promotion. The negative effects weren't for the short term, and continued for a long time. Mental strain increased by an average of 10%. In addition, people were more likely to skip visits to the doctor. These people most often cited stress and not enough time because of the new job. The research also showed that a promotion didn't offer any health benefits at all.

Past studies have shown that stress can be a silent and deadly killer. It affects every part of the body. Stress can lead to heart disease, cancer, depression, and even more cases of the common cold. All of this occurs because stress slows or shuts down important bodily functions like digestion, physical growth, and parts of the immune system. Although the negative effects are just temporary if the stress is removed, frequent and severe cases cause the slow down to occur again and again. The effects add up over time.

The findings came from an annual survey which also included information from roughly 1,000 newly promoted people. And although the poor economy and the threat of joblessness are presently large enough to cause stress for some, there's now something else to worry about too: recognition and job promotion.

Teacher's Notes:

* Underlined words in red typeface are the recommended vocabulary for this lesson. Heads Up English - page 1 www.headsupenglish.com

Job Promotions Unhealthy April 12, 2009

Upper-Intermediate

WARM-UPS
Select one or all of the following warm-up activities.
1. Define: What does "promotion" mean? Can you use it in a sentence? Can you give examples?

2. Brainstorm: Brainstorm with a partner(s) words and ideas associated with "stress" for 2 minutes. Spend another 5 minutes or less discussing the words and ideas together.

3. Title: Speculate and/or discuss the contents of today's article from its title: "Job Promotions Unhealthy."

4. Speculate: Write in the missing word for today's article title: "Job ( this word for the blank?

) Unhealthy." Why did you choose

5. Do you agree ordisagree? Why? a. I love my job! b. I am an ambitious person. c. I want to get a promotion at work. d. Managers have the most stress at work. e. Work stresses me out!

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Job Promotions Unhealthy April 12, 2009

Upper-Intermediate

VOCABULARY
Select one of the following vocabulary acquisition activities.
1. Vocabulary match: Individually or in pairs/groups, match the words in columnA(from the article) with the best choice in column B. a. ambition b. fulfilled c. indicate d. strain e. skip f. cite g. temporary h. severe i. annual j. recognition 2. Fill in the Blanks: Fill in the blank with the correct word. severe ambition a. ( c. Research ( d. Mental ( indicated temporary skip recognition cited fulfilling strain annual ) retirement. q. struggle r. t. drive point to s. refer to u. serious v. appreciation w. satisfied x. yearly y. miss z. short term

) pushes people at work to succeed, receive praise, and eventually move up in the company. ) that the mental health of people worsened with a promotion. ) increased by an average of 10%. ) visits to the doctor. ) stress and not enough time because of the new job. ) if the stress is removed. ) survey which included information from newly promoted people. ) and job promotion. ) cases cause the slow down to occur again and again.

b. With the promotions and increased responsibilities, people also dream about a more (

e. People were more likely to ( f. These people most often ( g. The negative effects are just ( h. Frequent and ( i. The findings came from an (

j. There's now something else to worry about too: (

3. Define: Define each word, correctly pronounce it, explain the meaning and/or usage, and offer an example sentence to the class. a. ambition b. fulfilled c. indicate d. strain e. skip f. cite g. temporary h. severe i. j. annual recognition

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Job Promotions Unhealthy April 12, 2009

Upper-Intermediate

WORD RECOGNITION
1. Word Search: Find the target words (in bold). Time yourself, and see how many words you can find in three minutes. In five minutes. In ten minutes. severe ambition indicated temporary X R D D R J M P B Q L Q Q M P R V Z E E Z R D I U Z M K S E V S X T C B I F A K A I E O G T W S I O S F N F D S V U F V skip recognition F N U C G C N T E Y E L V N M W U O U N A Y T J R S M X C O X V L I I Y A J A A E V V H H E W I F T C Q L K R V W V M O X S B R I I L T K O E L D K X T N T D O L B C B P R A B M J K U N R N Q L M J M E V Q A U cited fulfilling L I V N A Q C I A E H N A T O N O T I B I M A N T W Z V L X A N N U A L N V H G X D F B X Y H R E C O G N I T O N N K Z strain annual

2. TargetWord Pool: Find the target words (in bold) with their exact match. Time yourself, and see how many words you can find in three minutes. In five minutes. In ten minutes. severe ambition unrecognizable ambitious severance recognized strained ambitions indicator fulfilling temp citation annuals skipper ambitiously indicated temporary skipped indicated fulfilled strains recognition indicating annulment unfulfilling unrecognized severed citizen skip recognition cited fulfilling tempted annul cites severely ambition cited unambitious annual temptation recognitions straining indicate temporarily annually strain annual several skippers

temporary skipping citing straight

severe strain

fulfillment skip unfulfilled indicted

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Job Promotions Unhealthy April 12, 2009

Upper-Intermediate

pre- or post-COMPREHENSION
1. WordAssociation: Brainstorm words associated with today's topic for two minutes. Present to the class.

2. Brainstorm Questions: Brainstorm questions that you would like to ask about today's topic.Answer the questions without looking at the article.

3. True orFalse?: Guess (before the article) or answer (after the article) whether the sentence is true or false. If false, correct the sentence. a. According to the article, ambition directly causes people to become unhealthy. b. The health problems lasted only a short time. c. Stress causes people to skip visits to the doctor. d. Stress affects every part of the body. e. Job promotion causes more stress than joblessness. 4. Questions: Answer the questions to check comprehension. a. According to the article, what sort of dreams comes with promotions? b. What worsened for people who received a promotion? c. What health benefits were the for people who received a promotion? d. How does stress affect the body? e. Where did researches get the information for their research? 5. Vocabulary: In pairs/groups, remember how the words were used in today's article. a. ambition b. fulfilling c. indicated d. strain e. skip f. cited g. temporary h. severe i. annual j. recognition T/F T/F T/F T/F T/F

6. Fragments: Remember how the fragments were used, and complete the sentence from today's article. a. Ambition pushes people at work to succeed... b. But new research out of Britain showed without a doubt that promotions... c. Research indicated that the mental health of... d. Stress can lead to heart disease... e. The findings came from an annual survey which also included...

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Job Promotions Unhealthy April 12, 2009

Upper-Intermediate

post-COMPREHENSION
1. Vocabulary: Circle any additional unknown words/phrases in the article. In pairs/groups, use your dictionaries to understand the meanings. Present to the class.

2. Class Questions: Read through the article once more, and write down any questions that you would like to discuss in pairs/groups or as a class. Discuss.

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! a. Did you like this article? b. What was your general impression after reading this article? c. What are some areas that generally cause stress at work? How about areas for you at your job? d. What causes the greatest amount of stress in general? How about areas for you at your job? e. Do you agree that the new job responsibilities that come with a promotion are stressful? f. Based on this information, would you refuse a promotion at work to stay healthier? Why/not? g. Why are some people so ambitious that they seek promotions again and again? Please explain. h. Have you ever heard the term "work-life balance?"What do you think it means? i. How do you balance your professional and personal life? Do you balance it effectively? Why/not? j. What sort of jobs would cause the most stress? What sort of jobs would cause the least stress? 5. Discuss: What causes stress at work? Brainstorm five reasons with a partner, rank the reasons, and then provide possible solutions. Be sure to support your answers. Reason #1: Reason #2: Reason #3: Reason #4: Reason #5:

6. Google Search: Type "stress" into Google news and read additional articles on this topic. Discuss or write an essay about your findings.

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Job Promotions Unhealthy April 12, 2009

Upper-Intermediate

STUDENT HANDOUT (the article)

Job Promotions Unhealthy
Ambition pushes people at work to succeed, receive praise, and eventually move up in the company. With the promotions and increased responsibilities, people also dream about new cars, bigger homes, more exotic vacations, and perhaps an earlier, more fulfilling retirement. But new research out of Britain showed without a doubt that promotions at work may actually harm the health of people.

Research indicated that the mental health of people worsened with a promotion. The negative effects weren't for the short term, and continued for a long time. Mental strain increased by an average of 10%. In addition, people were more likely to skip visits to the doctor. These people most often cited stress and not enough time because of the new job. The research also showed that a promotion didn't offer any health benefits at all.

Past studies have shown that stress can be a silent and deadly killer. It affects every part of the body. Stress can lead to heart disease, cancer, depression, and even more cases of the common cold. All of this occurs because stress slows or shuts down important bodily functions like digestion, physical growth, and parts of the immune system. Although the negative effects are just temporary if the stress is removed, frequent and severe cases cause the slow down to occur again and again. The effects add up over time.

The findings came from an annual survey which also included information from roughly 1,000 newly promoted people. And although the poor economy and the threat of joblessness are presently large enough to cause stress for some, there's now something else to worry about too: recognition and job promotion.

Notes:

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Job Promotions Unhealthy April 12, 2009

Upper-Intermediate

STUDENT HANDOUT (fill in the blank)

Fill in the blank with the correct word. cited disease recognition doubt strain ambition promotion severe skip fulfilling deadly temporary annual indicated common

Job Promotions Unhealthy

(a. _______________) pushes people at work to succeed, receive praise, and eventuallymove up in the company. With the promotions and increased responsibilities, people also dream about new cars, bigger homes, more exotic vacations, and perhaps an earlier, more (b. _______________) retirement. But new research out of Britain showed without a (c. _______________) that promotions at work may actually harm the health of people.

Research (d. _______________) that the mental health of people worsened with a promotion. The negative effects weren't for the short term, and continued for a long time. Mental (e. _______________) increased by an average of 10%. In addition, people were more likelyto (f. _______________) visits to the doctor. These people most often (g. _______________) stress and not enough time because of the new job. The research also showed that a (h. _______________) didn't offer any health benefits at all.

Past studies have shown that stress can be a silent and (i. _______________) killer. It affects every part of the body. Stress can lead to heart (j. _______________), cancer, depression, and even more cases of the (k. _______________) cold. All of this occurs because stress slows or shuts down important bodily functions like digestion, physical growth, and parts of the immune system. Although the negative effects are just (l. _______________) if the stress is removed, frequent and (m. _______________) cases cause the slow down to occur again and again. The effects add up over time.

The findings came from an (n. _______________) survey which also included information from roughly 1,000 newly promoted people. And although the poor economy and the threat of joblessness are presentlylarge enough to cause stress for some, there's now something else to worry about too: (o. _______________) and job promotion.

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Job Promotions Unhealthy April 12, 2009

Upper-Intermediate

STUDENT HANDOUT (extended listening)

Listen and fill in the missing sentences. Compare answers with a partner, and then listen once more.

Job Promotions Unhealthy

Ambition pushes people at work to succeed, receive praise, and eventually move up in the company. With the promotions and increased responsibilities, a) ___________________________________________________________ __________. But new research out of Britain showed without a doubt that promotions at work may actually harm the health of people.

Research indicated that the mental health of people worsened with a promotion. The negative effects weren't for the short term, and continued for a long time. Mental strain increased by an average of 10%. In addition, people were more likely to skip visits to the doctor. b) __________________________________________________________________. The research also showed that a promotion didn't offer any health benefits at all.

c) ____________________________________________________________________. It affects every part of the body. Stress can lead to heart disease, cancer, depression, and even more cases of the common cold. All of this occurs because stress slows or shuts down important bodily functions like digestion, physical growth, and parts of the immune system. d) ____________________________________________________________________, frequent and severe cases cause the slow down to occur again and again. The effects add up over time.

The findings came from an annual survey which also included information from roughly 1,000 newly promoted people. e) ____________________________________________________________________, there's now something else to worry about too: recognition and job promotion.

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Job Promotions Unhealthy April 12, 2009

Upper-Intermediate

STUDENT HANDOUT (activities)

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Job Promotions Unhealthy April 12, 2009

Upper-Intermediate

ANSWER KEY
Vocabulary 1. Vocabulary Match: a. b. c. d. e. r w t q y f. g. h. i. j. r z u x v 2. FillintheBlanks: a. b. c. d. e. ambition fulfilling indicated strain skip f. g. h. i. j. cited temporary severe annual recognition

pre-orpost-Comprehension 1. TrueorFalse: a. b. c. d. e. F F T T F 2. Fragments: a. b. c. d. e. receivepraise,andeventually moveupinthecompany. atworkmayactuallyharmthehealth ofpeople. people worsened withapromotion. cancer,depression,andevenmorecasesofthecommoncold. informationfromroughly1,000 newlypromotedpeople.

Student Handout 1. FillintheBlanks a. b. c. d. e. f. g. h. ambition fulfilling doubt indicated strain skip cited promotion i. j. k. l. m. n. o. deadly disease common temporary severe annual recognition

2. ExtendedListening a. b. c. d. e. peoplealsodreamaboutnewcars,bigger homes,moreexoticvacations,andperhapsanearlier, morefulfillingretirement Thesepeoplemostoftencited stressand notenoughtimebecauseofthenewjob Paststudieshaveshownthatstresscanbeasilentanddeadlykiller Althoughthe negativeeffectsarejusttemporaryifthestressisremoved Andalthoughthepoor economyand thethreatofjoblessnessarepresentlylargeenoughto causestressfor some

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