Vocabulaire

We are currently looking for _____________ _____________. If you are interested, please keep in mind the following:
- You will receive _____________ in every aspect of the job.
- Only the applications of _____________ candidates will be considered (a Bachelor's Degree being the minimum degree we require).
- Computer _____________ are required too.
- Living near our offices would also be _____________.
- You will also have to consider working _____________ now and then as our staff is mainly composed of _____________.
- As for _____________, the starting salary amounts to £ 1,500.
This job is a real _____________ for young workers insofar as _____________ will be offered to the most serious and harworking ones.

Nowadays, _____________ has become a necessity in most companies.
_____________ is so fierce that managers try and reduce their costs as much as possible.
This strategy has direct consequences on employees: indeed you may be _____________ one day and _____________ the following day if your employers are not satisfied.
Labour costs lead managers to reduce their staff. Although trade unions still fight for _____________ and _____________, unemployment has led workers to minimize their demands and to accept _____________ as well as _____________ overtime.

--> Exercise

-->Listen to the full text.

                                    Free time:

annual leave	a sickness leave	a break	to reduce hours	a pastime	entertainment	idle	availability	a benefit	a pensioner
a maternity leave	a day off	holidays	leisure / leisure time	time off	to rest	a couch potato	stay-at-home	a pension	to retire

Every year in western societies, employees are allowed a _____________ from work. This is called _____________. For _____________ people or _____________, this time is spent _____________ at home. But for most people, these few weeks are devoted to _____________ and _____________.
Annual leave is a real progress. And yet, for many workers it is not enough. Many would like to _____________ and have more _____________ for their _____________. Nevertheless, most of them will have to wait the time when they _____________. Indeed, when you are a _____________, you have all the time you want... And yet, many will not be satisfied with it as _____________ are often far too small to enable them to fulfill their desires.

My grandparents were poor farmers so that my father did not have the opportunity to go to school. And yet, he's always impressed me with his huge culture. Unlike my father who was _____________, I had the opportunity to go to school. I went to Thomas Becket _____________ and managed to pass my A-Level. I hesitated a lot, thought about short studies such as _____________ but as I _____________ and money was therefore no longer a problem for me, I went to a _____________. Indeed, I wanted to become a salesman. It was really hard and I thought about _____________ several times but I resisted. In this school, I did not spend my time listening to teachers only. I also had to _____________ to discover life in big companies.

Once I had finished my studies, the worst was still to come. I had to look for a job. As I had no idea about what to do, I went to a _____________. He asked me a series of questions and his conclusion was that the best thing for me to do was to try and find a job a s a salesman. So I decided to go to a _____________. There, they gave me some advice. First, I should chck for _____________ regularly in newspapers. Then, when I found something interesting, I had to write a _____________ (they told me how to write one) ad then send it. After that, _____________ were generally received for an _____________. If there happened to be a _____________, I might be oofered a _____________ job or a _____________ job. And my life as an _____________ worker would be over. No more money problems. Life would be easier.

Today, I am the boss but it took me quite a long time before becoming the _____________ of this company. My professional career is a long series of odd jobs. I went from being a mere employee in a small company taking care of _____________, to working with a _____________ (a joiner more precisely). As I was an _____________ and therefore could not get a _____________ straightaway, I had to convince bosses of my abilities and skills. I worked as a _____________ in various companies trying to convince them I could be given more responsibilities but to no avail.
Life was so difficult I even had to resort to _____________ to make some more money. And from odd jobs to odd jobs, I decided one day to take things into my hands and create my own company. And, amazingly, it was a huge success and I recruited 50 employees to face the development of our market.

When I first started working, I had no idea what the use of _____________ was. Everyone told me to _____________ if I wanted to be able to defend my rights and not be exploited. So, I became _____________.
My first action as a union member was to take part in the vote: it was a _____________ which was quite frightening. Indeed, I didn't want everybody to know what my opinions were. I would have preferred a _____________.
I discovered _____________ was very difficult as the manager's desires and the employees' wishes were often clearly opposed. But, unfortunately, the _____________ do not often have the last word.

Last week, we decided to _____________. Indeed the C.E.O. had taken the decision to _____________ in order to increase benefits. Some employees would therefore be _____________ in the weeks to come. There were some _____________ between the trade unions and the boss but we did not reach any _____________. Besides, the boss's project was to enforce _____________ and he insisted on the fact that no _____________ would be given before at least two years.
So we decided to organize a _____________ in Paris to let people know that Danone  was planning to _____________. Unfortunately, days and days, weeks and weeks did not change a thing and, as we didn't want the company to be shut or relocate abroad, we decided to _____________ and accept the _____________.

I had never really worried about my insurance but last year, I had a car accident and suddenly I realized how important these things are. When everything's all right, you're always annoyed by a too expensive insurance but when events turn tragic, you become aware that spending your money that way is not such a stupid idea.
When I had my accident, I didn't have an _____________ as it was an old car. Actually, it was an _____________ as I was on my way to a customer's house. Unfortunately, both my boss and the loss adjuster disagreed on that point. i did not pay much so i did not get much in return. I was all the more furious as the accident hurt my arm badly and made it hard for me to use it. I tried to obtain a _____________ but I was told mu injury was not serious enough.
Obviously, when my car insurance _____________, I decided to get a more _____________ contract. I also took advantage of my visit to my insurance adviser to have a look at other policies. I took an _____________ thinking about my life when I retire (something I had never done before) as well as a _____________ so that my wife and my children would not be left penniless if something more serious than this accident happened to me.

When I had my car accident, there was no other car implied so there was no need for an _____________. I discovered that the process before being granted money may be quite long: first, you have to get a _____________ done on your car. A _____________ is therefore sent to the garage to have a look at the car. (Obviously if you're not _____________, you'd better not be driving!!!!) Sometimes, you get sufficiently _____________ and can get it mended or even buy a brand new car. Not to mention _____________ as the car is not always the only one to need mending... Your body might have been injured too. And insurances do not always cover _____________.
But there was one more element in my case. I was convinced the farmer who lived near the road where I lost control of my car, was partly responsible for the accident. Indeed, he had dropped a bale of straw on the road. It was pitch dark that evening and I only saw it far too late for me to brake and avoid it. But amazingly, justice did not side with me and I was not _____________.

Two years ago, something horrible happened to my neighbours. I still cannot believe it. They were on their way to the beach. The weather was beautiful. Everything seemed so peaceful and everybody was happy about swimming in the sea and sunbathing. Unfortunately they did not manage to get there. A drunkard did not give them a chance. He was driving on his way back home and fell asleep. His car hurt my neighbours' violently and both Mary and John were sent out of their vehicle. They had forgotten to fasten their belts. Mary was only very slighly hurt, having broken her left leg and therefore having it put _____________. As for John, things were far more serious as he ended up _____________.
They _____________ against the man they had collided with. Obviously the drunkard was _____________ for the accident. John and Mary _____________ so as to _____________. Indeed, John had to undergo major surgery and as he _____________, he didn't have enough money to cover these costs.
This accident was a real _____________ for the two of them and Mary has never got behind the wheel again.