Answer Key: Returning to Work After Covid

Lesson Plan: Returning to Work: Some are Happy Others Not So Much

II. While Reading Activities

Word Inference

  1. setup|ˈsedˌəp| noun [usually in singular] informal • an organization or arrangement: in the present-day family setup, both the parents may be employed.
  2. high-rise |ˈhīˌrīz| adjective (of a building) having many stories: office towers and high-rise apartments.
  3. wane 1 |wān| verb  phrase “on the wane” becoming weaker, less vigorous, or less extensive: the epidemic was on the wane.
  4. flexible |ˈfleksəb(ə)l| adjective able to be easily modified to respond to altered circumstances or conditions: flexible forms of retirement.
  5. cooped up |ko͞opko͝op| verb [with object] (usually be cooped up) confine in a small space: being cooped up indoors all day makes him fidgety.
  6. colleague  |ˈkälēɡ| noun a person with whom one works, especially in a profession or business.
  7. ordeal |ôrˈdēl| noun 1 a painful or horrific experience, especially a protracted one: the ordeal of having to give evidence.
  8. sanguine |ˈsaNGɡwən| adjective 1 optimistic or positive, especially in an apparently bad or difficult situation: he is sanguine about prospects for the global economy | the committee takes a more sanguine view.
  9. lament |ləˈment|  verb [with object] express regret or disappointment over something considered unsatisfactory, unreasonable, or unfair: [with object] : she lamented the lack of shops in the town
  10. distraction |dəˈstrakSH(ə)n| noun 1 a thing that prevents someone from giving full attention to something else: the company found passenger travel a distraction from the main business of moving freight.

Sources:

New Oxford American Dictionary

 Grammar Focus: Structure and Usage

I-3- to

Waking up at the crack of dawn to go back to the office is almost impossible.

II-1- at

Wednesdays are mandatory at this firm.

III-3 – are

Bosses are allowing flexibility because there’s a danger in being too hardline.

 

Reading Comprehension: Identify The  Speakers

  1. Steve Tordone  a financial advisor. “I’m an outdoor cat and I just want I want to see people, I can’t wait for it to get crowded.”
  2. Samrawit Embaye, an attendant at a garage. “It makes you so happy…If you see people coming, you feel like you are living real life.”
  3. Maureen McLallen, a legal secretary. “I love being around people, and not being cooped up in my bedroom.”
  4. Pragadish Kalaivanan, a marketing analyst. “Waking up at the crack of dawn to go back to the office is almost impossible and not fun.”
  5. Luis von Ahn, co-founder and CEO of  Duolingo,  a language-learning platform.  “Top talent wants some amount of flexibility.”
  6. Andy Waugh, a managing director at a large insurance broker in Boston.  “How we operate, what our ethos is, how to do their jobs, how to treat clients – they’ve got to learn all that, and they won’t see it from their kitchen.”