Women at Arms: On the Ground – Life at Camp Warhorse Baquaba, Iraq

Vocabulary

Writing tips: Avoiding Padded Sentences

Answer Sheet: Corner Office-Lloyd Blankfein

“Women at Arms: On the Ground – Life at Camp Warhorse Baquaba, Iraq”

Video podcast

Category: News and Politics
Type: Video
Broadcaster: The New York Times
Series: The New York Times /US News (Video)
Episode: Women at Arms: On the Ground
Time: 04:19
Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7wHi9jFzyc

Quote of the Day:

“A society that puts equality… ahead of freedom will end up with neither.“
Milton Friedman (1912 – 2006)

Visit The Quotations Page for more quotes

Vocabulary

a bitch, a slot, or a dyke	A woman considered to be spiteful or overbearing; a prostitute; a lesbian.
To be crude	Lacking tact or taste; blunt or offensive: a crude, mannerless oaf; a crude remark
Break through ceiling	To overcome imposed constraints or stereotypes
hygiene	Conditions and practices that serve to promote or preserve health: hygiene in the workplace; personal hygiene.
Disrupt unit cohesion	To interrupt or impede the progress, movement, or procedure of the unit’s unity
Outweigh	To be more important, significant, or influential than: these niggles are outweighed by the excellent cooking and service
Birth control	Limitation of child-bearing by means of contraception
To be at the forefront of	The position of most importance, prominence, or responsibility; the vanguard: in the forefront of the liberation movement. Also called foreground
Blind and club over with	To dazzle and to use (a firearm) as a club by holding the barrel and hitting with the butt end
Coalition forces	The Multi-National Force – Iraq (MNF-I), is a military command, led by the United States, that is fighting the Iraq War against the multitude of Iraqi insurgents

Listening Comprehension Answer Sheet

Instructions for completing the listening exercise

Listen to the recording once and answer the questions below.
Read the Vocabulary, and listen to the recording the second time. Correct and complete your answers.
Read the Script and check your answers

Detail questions

What stereotypes do female soldiers have to deal with in the Army?
What reasons are given to prevent women to serve in the military?
Have women contributed to or only complicated the cohesion of ground forces?
Are soldiers allowed to date each other?
Is sexual intercourse prohibited among unmarried soldiers?
Have there been cases when female soldiers were physically attacked by male soldiers?
What issues are female soldiers being confronted with in Iraq now?

Listening Comprehension Summary
Summarize in 50 words or less the main point of the recording you have listened to.

Writing tips – Avoiding Padded Sentences

A padded sentence contains useless phrases that bury the main idea. Improve a padded sentence by eliminating the useless expression or by revising the sentence totally.Some groups of words using “who is, which is, or that is” may also be used unnecessarily in sentences. Use such expressions only when they add to the meaning of the sentence.

Phrases that signal padded sentences:

what I mean is well, you see

what I’m saying is you know

the reason that in my opinion, I think

my feeling is that because of the fact that

the point is owing to the fact

the thing is on account of the fact that

Padded: In my opinion I think that television programming should be improved.

Improved: Television programming should be improved.

Padded: Cara, who is my best friend, is moving to Iowa.

Improved: My best friend, Cara, is moving to Iowa.

Try it

Improve these sentences

For three years we lived in New Orleans, which is as you know, in the state of Louisiana.
I think that Gwen should be elected because she is, in my opinion, the most qualified of the candidates running for treasurer.
Jack is a dependable employee owning to the fact that he is always at work on time.
Bob will be late for work due to the fact that he overslept.

Answer Sheet: “Corner Office: Lloyd Blankfein”

Listening Comprehension Answer SheetDetail questions

I. What helped Mr. Blankfein to retain the unity and integrity of his company during the crisis?

Principle oriented management based on promoting communication, teamwork, partnership and expansive thinking across the company.

II. What kind of corporate culture does he inspire in his firm?

A walk around, flat corporate culture where everyone is inspired to share his/her ideas and opinions, as well as communicate directly with the top management.

III. What kind of staff is he interested in hiring?

People who can work as a team, communicate and respond to the overall need of the firm.

IV. What principle(s) does he believe are important to ensure successful cooperation with others?

Most of our relationships are implicit, evolving out of the course of the dealing and understanding. Provide value to people and people will help propel you up in your career.

Listening Comprehension Summary

Write a 50 words or less summary of the recording you have listened to.

The time has proved for Goldman Sachs that its principle oriented management approach based on direct, unrestricted communication, teamwork, partnership and expansive thinking helped the company to push through one of the most challenging economic upheavals in the US history.

Writing tips – The Four Kinds of Sentences

Declarative sentence – makes a statement ending with .

Interrogative sentence – asks a question ending with ?

Imperative sentence – gives a command or order ending with .

Exclamatory sentence – shows strong emotion ending with !

Try it

Indicate which sentences contain Indirect Objects:

For each sentence below, decide what kind of a sentence each is:

– How polite you are! – Exclamatory

– The company expanded two years ago. – Declarative

– Compare these two brands. – Imperative

– Show me your ID card. – Imperative

– Who won the match? – Interrogative

– It is wonderful weather. – Declarative

– Have you cleaned your room? – Interrogative

Grammar – Perfect Aspect

Try It

I. He has won 10 chess matches.
II. She learned how to drive when she was 16 years old.
III. I bought two ice-creams yesterday.
IV. She has just had a breakfast.
V. By the time she retires, she will have worked at this company for 10 years.
VI. He didn’t read a newspaper on June 2.
VII. She will not have eaten the ice-cream when I return.

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Listening Comprehension Answer Sheet

Detail questions

What activities are mentioned as some of the most frequent distracters of driving?
Cell phone, lighting/smoking of a cigarette, eating, texting, reading, clipping nails, putting on a make up.
Why are drivers who talk on the phone while driving considered being intoxicated?
Because drivers who talk on the phone often become so distracted as if they were really drunk.
What findings did the research of Ph.D. David Strayer reveal?
Distracted drivers can’t multitask as well as they would have if they paid all their attention to driving.
What was the reaction of the general public to these findings and statistics?
Largely, by ignoring.

Listening Comprehension Summary

Write a 50 words or less summary of the recording you have listened to.

We often get distracted at the wheel, especially by calling and texting.
This reduces our attention, impedes our ability to multitask and substantially increases the risk of an accident.

Writing tips – The Sentence and Its Parts

A sentence expresses a complete thought, whereas a sentence fragment does not.
All sentences have two basic parts: the subject and the predicate.
A sentence often contains a subject, verb and an object in order to complete a thought.
A Direct Object receives the action of the verb.
An Indirect Object provides us extra information, such as to whom, to what, or for whom, for what. Indirect Objects appear between the verb and the Direct Object.

Try it
Indicate which sentences contain Indirect Objects:

The participants showed to the presenter their progress.
Yes
John studies English every day.
No
The company did not pay out dividends to its shareholders last month.
No
The manger awarded the most dynamic team member with an incentive bonus.
Yes
The General Manager instructed the staff of new policy changes.
No

Grammar – Present Continuous and Present Simple

Present Simple, in general, is used to express facts, laws, general events, routines and states of mind, sense, emotion, etc. (permanent situations)
Auxiliary verbs:
Be: am, is, are
Do: do, does

Present Continuous is usually used to emphasize that the situation is temporary or is in progress now (transitional situations).
Auxiliary verbs:
Be: —-
Do: be verb+ing

Try it
Put the verbs in brackets into the Present Simple or Continuous form:

You can’t talk to John now. He (have) meeting.
He is having a meeting.
When she often (go) to cinema?
When does she often go to cinema?
I (take) the bus today because my car is at the service station.
I am taking the bus today because my car is at the service station.
You (leave) now?
You are leaving now.
How often you (read) books?
How often do you read books?
Tom (call) the customer at the moment. He usually (meet) customers in person.
Tom is calling the customer at the moment. He usually meets customers in person.
I (see) that a new complaint has just been posted in our system. But, I can’t read it because I (not wear) my glasses.
I see that a new complaint has just been posted in our system. But, I can’t read it because I am not wearing my glasses.
The cake (smell) great.
The cake smells great.
I (hear) a loud noise outside.
I hear a loud noise outside.

“Women at Arms: On the Ground – Life at Camp Warhorse Baquaba, Iraq”

Quote of the Day:

Vocabulary

Listening Comprehension Answer Sheet

Writing tips – Avoiding Padded Sentences

Answer Sheet: “Corner Office: Lloyd Blankfein”

Listening Comprehension Answer Sheet

Listening Comprehension Summary

Writing tips – The Sentence and Its Parts

Grammar – Present Continuous and Present Simple

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