Fill the gaps using these words from the text: warehouse shelf 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

workplace wrist

delivery theft

vest measure

A ____________ is a shirt with no sleeves that people often wear under an ordinary shirt, especially in winter. The joint between your hand and your arm is called your ____________. ____________ is stealing things from another person or from a company. People often keep books on a ____________ . A ____________ is a large building used for storing goods and food. A ____________ is an action which a government takes. ____________ means taking goods from one place to another. The place where people work is called their ____________ .

The text talks about the use of computers in supermarkets. How many of the uses of computers below can you find in the text? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

to reduce costs to increase the efficient delivery of goods and food to stores to supply prisons to send messages to workers to check what workers are doing to find out what time workers finish work to send orders to workers’ computers to check if workers are taking breaks without permission to control humans to remove waste and reduce theft

© Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2005 Taken from the news section in www.onestopenglish.com

Firms tag workers to improve efficiency David Hencke Some British supermarket companies are asking their warehouse workers to wear small computers, called “electronic tags”. The companies say that these tags will help them to reduce costs and increase the efficient delivery of goods and food to stores. The system uses American satellite and radio technology to send messages to the workers. In a report Professor Blakemore from the University of Durham said that the use of these tags was making some workplaces more like prisons. The technology arrived from the US at the start of the year and more and more companies are using it. Almost 10,000 employees are using it to supply goods to well-known British supermarkets. Trade unionists representing workers are worried that companies could use the technology to check what workers are doing. They are asking for special measures to make sure that this does not happen. Under the system workers have to wear computers on their wrists, arms and fingers, and sometimes they have to wear a special vest containing a computer that instructs them where to go to collect goods from warehouse shelves. The system also allows the store to send orders to workers’ computers. The computer can also check if workers are taking breaks without permission and can calculate the shortest time a worker needs to complete a job.

Britain already has more street security cameras than any other country in the world, and some experts are worried that this new system could make Britain the most watched country in the world. In his report Professor Blakemore said there was a danger that computers were controlling humans rather than humans using computers. Some people are also worried that the new technology could cause industrial injuries because workers had to make the same movements with their arms and wrists again and again. But the companies say that the system makes the delivery of food more efficient. It also removes waste, reduces theft and can reorder goods more quickly. A spokeswoman for a supermarket said that the company was not using the technology to check what its staff were doing. She said it was making employees’ work easier and reducing the need for paper. But a trade union spokesman, Paul Campbell, said: “We are getting reports of people leaving their jobs after just a few days and in some cases just a few hours. They are all saying they don’t like the job because they have no input. They are just following a computer’s instructions”. American companies are working on new computer equipment that can check what workers are doing. One system will check how many times secretaries hit the keys on their word processors, and another will check how much work workers are doing. The Guardian Weekly 10/06/2005, page 9

© Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2005 Taken from the news section in www.onestopenglish.com

Choose the best answer 1. a. b. c.

Trade unions are worried about the new technology because it removes waste and reduces theft it could cause industrial injuries companies could use it to check what workers are doing

2. a. b. c.

Supermarket companies like the new technology because it makes the delivery of food more efficient it is cheap and easy to use workers have to follow a computer’s instructions

3. a. b. c.

The new technology could cause injuries because people have to wear a special vest people have to make the same movements again and again it is very heavy

4. a. b. c.

Some people are leaving their jobs after just a few hours because they don’t like the jobs they don’t like following instructions from a computer they have industrial injuries

Match the verbs with the nouns. Then check your answers in the text. 1. wear 2. reduce 3. supply 4. send 5. take 6. complete 7. cause 8. follow

a. goods b. a job c. a message d. a vest e. an injury f. costs g. instructions h. a break

© Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2005 Taken from the news section in www.onestopenglish.com

Look in the text and 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Find a verb which is the opposite of ‘increase’. Find three parts of the body. Find a verb which means ‘to order again’. Find a noun which means ‘workers’. In the third paragraph, find 5 verbs beginning with the letter ‘c’.

Look at these examples from the text: These tags will help companies to reduce costs. (prediction) Companies could use the technology to check what workers are doing. (possibility) Fill the gaps in these sentences using will or could 1. The new technology _________ cause industrial injuries. 2. The new system _________ remove waste and reduce theft. 3. Britain _________ become the most watched country in the world. 4. Trade unionists think companies _________ use the technology to check what workers are doing. 5. Companies say the new technology _________ increase the efficient delivery of food to stores. 6. New American computer equipment _________ check on how much work workers are doing.

© Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2005 Taken from the news section in www.onestopenglish.com

KEY 1

Key words

1. vest 5. warehouse

2

2. wrist 6. measure

3. theft 7. delivery

4. shelf 8. workplace

Scanning

1. Y; 2. Y; 3. N; 4. Y; 5. N; 6. N; 7. Y; 8. Y; 9. N; 10. Y

3

Comprehension Check

1. c;

2. a;

4

Vocabulary 1

1. d;

2. f;

5

Vocabulary 2

3. b;

3. a;

4. b Collocations 4. c;

5. h;

6. b;

7. e;

8. g

Find the word

1. reduce 2. wrists, arms and fingers 3. reorder 4. employees 5. contain, collect, check, calculate, complete 6

Grammar

1. could 4. will

Prediction and possibility 2. will 5. will

© Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2005 Taken from the news section in www.onestopenglish.com

3. could 6. will