Unlocking Word Meanings
Read the following words/expressions found in today’s article.
1. let go (v.) [let][goh] – to remove somebody from work
Read the following words/expressions found in today’s article.
1. let go (v.) [let][goh] – to remove somebody from work
Example: The board of directors
decided to let go of half the
company’s staff.
2. employ (v.) [em-ploi] – to hire or ask to work in exchange for money
Example: Uniqlo employs hundreds of employees for each
of its stores.
3. severance (n.) [sev-er-uhns, sev-ruhns] - a formal term for the removal of an
employee from a job
Example: The manager explained
the reasons for the worker’s severance from
the company.
4. enterprise (n.) [en-ter-prahyz] – a business organization
Example: Apple is an enterprise that started in Steve Jobs’
garage.
5. strategy (n.) [strat-i-jee] – plan made to reach a specific goal
Example: The soccer team
followed their coach’s strategy and
won the game.
Article
Read the text below.
France’s current
unemployment rate is now at its highest in 12 years. For the past seven months, the rate has
been increasing non-stop. Due to a weak economy, companies had to either let go of their workers or shut down completely.
Even companies like
140-year-old Veninov have been forced to close due to the weakened economy.
Veninov used to print 15 million plastic tablecloths a year and employed thousands of people in its
factories over the years it was in business.
This situation
represents what’s happening all over the country. More and more people are
losing their jobs. Meanwhile, those who still have jobs have to pay
increasingly high taxes in order to support the jobless.
As a matter of
fact, French workers now pay 20% more in taxes than workers in Germany, even
though Germany has twice the number of workers in some sectors.
But employers are
also suffering from France’s poor economic policies, says Philip Magne, CEO
of a small company called Arcad Software. He says small enterprises are afraid of hiring new employees, because if
business goes bad, workers would have to be let go and companies would also
have to give the workers very high severance
payments as required by law.
Meanwhile, French president
Nicolas Sarkozy has promised economic policy changes and to reserve 500
million Euros to help France’s unemployed.
However, French
citizens say his promises are not enough and are coming too late. Many critics
also believe that the promises are part of a strategy
to gain more votes in the coming election.
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Viewpoint Discussion
Enjoy a discussion with your tutor.
Discussion A
·
How will you describe your country’s economic
situation?
·
Do you think there will be enough jobs and
employment for people in the future? Please explain your answer.
Discussion B
·
Do you trust politicians? Why or why not?
·
If you were a politician, how would you
convince people to vote for you?