6 Choose the best word to complete the sentence. 1 accept/except Do you _______ credit cards? / The government has few options _______ to keep interest rates high.
2 all together/ altogether That'll be £52.50 _______, please. / It is wonderful to be ________ to celebrate your birthday. 3 appraise/apprise The President has been ________ of the situation. / He coolly ________ the situation, deciding which person would be most likely to succeed.
4 assure/ensure/insure Many companies won't ________ new or young drivers. / The airline is taking steps to ________ safety on its aircraft. / The unions _________ the new owners of the workers' loyalty to the company.
5 biannual (semiannual) /biennial happening twice a year / happening once every two years
Discussion Topics
1 People think that HR requires low-status 'soft' skills. But it's HR managers who appraise, negotiate compensation, fire people and deal with the unions. That's not 'soft'.
О Agree О Disagree
3 Performance-related pay is a horrible invention that creates enormous stress and insecurity in the workplace.
О Agree О Disagree
2 Shortlisting and interviewing should be the responsibility of HR. Other people (from the functional department involved) should only have a minimal input. This ensures fairness and equal opportunities.
О Agree О Disagree
4 Most training programmes are a waste of time. You just put the handouts in a file and forget about them.
О Agree О Disagree
3 Listening
Task 1. Listen to the interview with a HR manager and do the following exercises.
