The international organization where you work has a sum of money available for making improvements to the work environment in your office to make it more productive. You have been asked to write a report for your manager in which you: 

 

-          Outline the problem with your work environment 

-          Summarise the improvements you and your colleagues suggested 

-          Recommend two changes. 

 

 

Report on workplace improvements 

 

Introduction 

 

It is a well-known fact that a good office environment is a crucial factor (that is required- you need this part) to achieve a high organizational performance. In examining the problems that affect our office environment, this report will outline the staff recommendations and suggest two action lines in order to improve the workplace and thus achieve a better work performance. 

 

The workplace environment 

 

The first observation to make concerns the condition of computers. Despite the fact that they were renewed four years ago, most of them are not functioning correctly due to ordinary wear and tear under normal use. Besides, the dining room walls are in bad state, with humidity stains, which gives an unpleasant impression. It must be also mentioned that one microwave oven is not enough to warm food during the lunchtime break and this problem results in unnecessary delays. 

 

The staff viewpoint 

 

Having been the stuff consulted, (? I don't get this- Having consulted the staff?) the main request was to replace the computer equipment. Moreover, an appeal was made to improve the conditions of the walls in the canteen. It was also noted the need to buy an extra microwave and a water cooler machine.  (The need to buy an extra microwave and a water cooler machine was also noted) Some organizational issues were mentioned, such as a more flexible work schedule and a different system of incentives, but that (those) matters go beyond the objective of this report and should be addressed in a specific inquiry.  

 

 

In pursuance of a better work environment, two actions should be prioritized. First of all, I would hardly (no- use strongly here) recommend replacing all the computers of the office. This will enable us to improve work performance. Secondly, I am in favour of the idea of a complete dining room renovation. In this matter, I find it crucial to keep in mind one of the key principles of human resources management: “Should you give employees the benefits they value, they will be more satisfied and have a higher commitment to meeting the company’s goals”. 

Dear Editor,
Different people own different life-LIVES. Not everyone's life is smooth and full of happiness. Everyone has to make some crucial decisions at some stage of his/her life, these decisions sometimes can make-HAVE a knock-on effect on the future of his/her life, especially in the turning point of his/her life. Thus far, I have made plenty of crucial decisions and life choices in my life. The paramount decisions that I have ever made are the career choice and the career path I am pursuing.

Every child has his/her head in the clouds and dreams what (s)he would like to become when (s)he grows up. No exceptions, same as other children, I had plenty of infeasible and unrealistic dreams, like becoming a doctor, an engineer, an architect and so on. As I grew up, under my parents' influence, their life experiences told me that I no longer could live in these dreams, it was time for me to wake up from my unrealistic fantasies. When I finished my leaving cert,  I was facing the most headachy-(doesn't exist nail-biting) problem that was what course I should study in university. A wrong decision could destroy the rest of my life, meanwhile, this decision also determined what kind of career path and life style I would pursue. My parents had cautiously warmed (sp) me that this was the turning point of my life and the decision should be approachable and realistic, being too ambitious will fail likely and easily (would likely end in failure).

Taking (Giving) my parents advice into (remove) serious consideration, I did a rough research on the job market. Based on the research, I speculated that I could study medicine, pharmacy, electronic engineering, and computer science. Although medicine was in my favor, I ultimately chose to study computer science due to the financial difficulties and the foreseeable future for the IT sector. I have never regretted about (remove) this decision. This decision has turned my life around, so far, I have completed all my education and became a professional lecturer. In addition, I will move up my career ladder, hopefully I will run my own researcher (research company) in the near future.

In all my life, not only do I not want to become a billionaire, but also I do not want to make ends meet. (confusing sentence- revise) This is the life I choose to live in and important decision does potentially affects the life to be in the turning point.

Yours faithfully,
Jing Hua Ye

Dear Paul, 

I’m happy to hear from you, long time no talk. It’s great news that you’re going to spend the next summer here in Italy. It’s such a pity you are not going to stay in Como, but anyway I can come to Lucca for a few days to visit you. Even though we are going to meet just for a little time I’m pretty sure that your stay IS going to be fun. 

Anyway, you SHOULDN'T be scared of the language. Here people are really easygoing and welcoming, and they love when foreigners make the effort to speak Italian. So, they’ll try to help you improve your speaking skills if you ask them for some tips. You just have to smile at people and behave like you were in your town in Ireland, you needn’t be shy. 

If you really want to make new friends I strongly recommend you attend Italian lessons in a language school, since you’ll be put in touch with other people who share your goal of learning the language. Another way to meet new people is actually going to places where the young locals go. There you’ll certainly get the chance to have some chit-chatting- (NEGATIVE CONNOTATIONS) with guys of our same age. As I told you, Italian people tend to be very friendly if you approach them the right way. 

Can’t wait to see you in Lucca! 

Best wishes, 

Gabriele 

Players take turns, placing one of their stones on a vacant point at each turn, with Black playing first. Stones are placed on the intersections of the lines rather than in the squares and once played stones are not moved. However they may be captured, in which case they are removed from the board, and kept by the capturing player as prisoner. At the end of the game, the players count one point for each vacant point inside their own territory, and one point for every stone they have captured. The player with the larger total of territory plus prisoners is the winner.

Demands on Go Game Club
This university has well-facilitated various societies, like rugby, tennis, photography and so on. Comments made at the end of the questionnaires suggest that it would be desirable to establish a club to promote this game. 
Mainly this club can assist students to improve their problem solving skills and building up concentration. It would likely to create a marvelous social circle to integrate international students. Additionally, to set up this club, it would not be costly. The expenditure of setting up this club would only include the room rental. 

Recommendation
I have no hesitation in making the following recommendations:

Introduction 

The aim of this proposal is to suggest the introduction of a statistics club among the students societies which are already existing in the campus. 

 

An increasingly-popular topic 

This university already has clubs for the most important and studied subjects, from humanities to mathematics as an example. In spite of this, unfortunately, it has not got a statistics society yet, and that is a pity since the world is becoming every day more data-driven statistical topics are attracting a lot of interest. 

 

The club’s activities 

Signing up to the club would be possible for every student of the campus and without any entry requirement, unless the passion for data and numbers. The society’s members would gather on Wednesday evening at 8.30 in the data science lab of U7 building so that the presence of computers can make the meeting more interactive. Sometimes, a lecturer could be hosted to bring the students some news and information about new trends in data analysis and statistical models and tools. 

 

An annual conference 

At the end of every academic year, the club members would give a presentation in the Main Lecture Room on the most significant and interesting case studies they have discussed during their meetups, so that all the university staff and students can be, at least partially, involved in the society activities. 

 

Conclusion 

Summarising, my recommendation is would be to allow the setting up of the Statistics club since, on the one hand, many students are really keen on that subject, and, on the other hand, because any discovery made during the meetings could boost the university's image. 

The aim of this proposal is to evaluate the study and work programme that I have completed in an English-speaking country.

  CURRENT SITUATION 

As the programme organiser must be aware, three-weeks is not much time for achieving all your goals and giving the best of you. Besides, having classes during the mornings and a job in the afternoons, requires a huge effort from you. In any case, the fact that the programme offers being constantly with English language, makes that your fluency improves noticeably.

  SUGGESTIONS

It is suggested a long-lasting programme, in order to immerse yourself in the English-speaking country. 

On the other hand, having all day busy prevents you from sightseeing and knowing better the culture. So, it is recommended to make some trips with the class or with the company. In that way you can fill two needs with one deed, due to the fact that it will be easier and manageable the work environment, whereas at the same time you could provide tourism to your employees. 

  CONCLUSION

If these recommendations are implemented, the current situation with the programme is bound to improve. It is already a profitable one, but I am sure that it could be better the next year.  

The aim of this report is to evaluate the three-week study and work programme that I have attended in Cork, Ireland, making suggestions for any improvement which needs to be made.

During the mornings, I have attended English courses tailored for my level of language. The lessons were focused on every aspect that needed to be covered, from listening to vocabulary. Furthermore, teachers used a incredibly interactive method, in order to involve students as much as possible and to achieve a better learning.  Last but not least, once a week every student had to give a presentation on a precise topic related to his/her country’s culture, as to significantly improve his/her speaking skills.

Besides, I spent every afternoon of my stay working for Crawford & Co, a Corkonian company specialized in providing quantitative consulting to financial firms. This experience has been extremely useful for my language,  in particular since executing my tasks I have learnt a wide range of technical vocabulary. On top of that, I have also improved some soft skills as team working and time management, which could be useful for my CV.

In conclusion, even though both parts of the programme are worth being attended, I preferred working for a local company, since my tasks were totally interesting and it helped me to improve my English. However, I would strongly recommend the organisers to add some Busines English classes during the morning in order to provide basic knowledge to the students so that they do not find problems in understanding their tasks at work as I did.

 

One of those could be the establishment of protected zones, as to keep the wildlife safe in its habitat and far from the polluted environment. Under no circumstances should people be allowed to enter these areas, unless they are researchers or authorized visitors. This could certainly increase the population level of some of the endangered species, since they would be free to live their lives without any external threat. Furthermore, guided visits of the protected areas could be scheduled, in order to raise funds to improve them.

 

Another way of protecting the fauna could be raising awareness of the extinction risk that some species are facing by education. Schools and media should show people how sensitive wildlife is to the modern environmental issues and how they can help to preserve it. However, people on their own can not do a lot to defend endangered species, since more significative efforts need to be made, particularly in terms of economical resources.

 

On balance, if I had been a policy maker, I would definitely opt for the establishment of protected areas, because this brings immediate and significative benefits to the wildlife. Furthermore, long time could be needed by people to really understand the risk of extinction of some species.

 Firstly, only when the government, through its educational infrastructure, starts taking measures will people be aware of the endangered species. For instance, having a specific subject, in which children could learn features, examples about species that where in the earth years ago and why they are not anymore. Thanks to that, governments would be making people aware in early ages, so they would take care of the species and the animals as they have been taught in their school years. Moreover, schools and the media should show the public how they can help conserve wildlife. 

 Another approach would be create protected zones. Delimiting barriers would make easier to preserve a long life for these animals. Institutions like these could protect these species offering unspoilt nature, where only harbour these species and the needed food for surviving. 

 To conclude, invest money on education can be considered by the majority of people more effective, due to the fact that the earlier citizans realised about the importance of taking care of animals, the better. They will try not to hunt, contribute to make a better world for avoiding the climate change and the pollution. One person doing that is a drop in the ocean but if everyone does so it will make a difference. 

Here is a link to the extended reading & listening assignment: Bill Bryson's 'A Short History of Nearly Everything'. I will print out the first 3 chapters for you and give them to you tomorrow.

Here is a link to the audiobook version: part 1: 
https://youtu.be/owDoe9dYAac 
& part 2 
https://youtu.be/qOQBqWN-56w

We will be reading 2/3 chapters a week (let's see how we get on). We will be having in class discussions on the previous weeks' chapters as we go. It’s a great book! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

• How big is the universe? What’s “outside” the Universe? Is it “open” or “closed?”

• Where did the elements come from?

• Is there life on other worlds? Is life rare or “inevitable?”

• How old is the Earth? How big is the Earth?

• Where is the Earth in the universe?

• How do we know the earth’s crust is moving? How does that affect the world?

• How small is an atom? What is an atom?

• What is life made up of? What is a cell?

What is the most successful life form on Earth?

• How diverse is life? How many species are there?

• Why/How did life begin? Why/How did it begin just once?

• Why did the dinosaurs die out? What causes extinctions? How do extinctions

affect life?

• What is DNA? Why is 97% of DNA “useless?”

• What is the “Human genome?” What is “human?”

• Why was our human evolution (or any evolution) “risky?”

• What influences the Earth’s climate? Why is today’s climate abnormal?

• What may be the effects of global warming?

• Why are there no “missing links” in the fossil record?

• Where did humans come from? What is our human ancestry? How did we

migrate around the world?

• Why is your life amazing?

• Are we both the living universe’s supreme achievement and its worst nightmare?

Ruyu Xie, Wang Mei, Chantal, Maggie 

The Process of making Chocolate 

The process of making chocolate begins with the cultivation of the Cacao tree. These are grown in tropical climate such as in S. America, Africa and Indonesia. The cocoa tree produces ripe red pods. First of all, when the pods are harvested, people collect the white cocoa beans after breaking the pods in half. Secondly, these beans are fermented and then spread in the sun to dry. After these procedures, the dried beans are put in large sacks. Then, they are transported by train or lorry to a factory. 

after 20 years, the difference in the number of visits between the UK and overseas residents is more marked/ pronounced. The nb of the UK   

The number of visits of British visitors increased steeply, compared to the visits of tourist from abroad, which increases only slightly. The residents of the United Kingdom went from 20 million stays in 1982 to 60 million stays over a 20 year period. The number of visits of tourists from abroad only rose from about 11 million stays to almost 26 million visits over the same period. 

In contrast, the quantity of nights spend in the United Kingdom has decreased steadily between over the same period of time for both the foreigner visitors as well as the residents of the United Kingdom.

Loss of vegetation results in mudslides and flooding, which, in turn, are causing further deforestation. 

The burning of fossil fuels causes diseases like pulmonary and respiratory in Chinees cities. 
Diseases like pulmonary and respiratory illnesses in Chinees cities are a result of burning fossil fuels by the industry. 
Due to the rise in temprature glaciers are melting. 

INCREASING TEMPERATURE

Flooding

DRY SOIL

FOREST FIRES

DISEASES- PULMONARY/ RESPIRATORY ETC. IN CHINESE CITIES

GREENHOUSE EFFECT – RISING TEMPERATURES (C +E)

VICIOUS CIRCLE 

Loss of vegetation causes the earth to warm up quicker as there is no barrier to take up some of the heat. This then leads to the soil getting dry, making it nearly impossible to grow back the trees that were lost in the first place. Other than that trees are of great importance to the earth's ecosystem as it converts the CO2 (which is again a big problem causing the average temperature to increase) into oxygen used by the animals in this ecosystem. Deforestation, in turn, can be caused by either human tree cutting, or, an actual forest fire, but whatever the cause the results are just as damaging.  

Deforestation is problematic as it will cause mudslides, flooding and suffering to biodiversity. Whenever a loss of vegetation occurs, due to, for example, an increase in the demands for meat or wood, the soil will be harmed. This deforestation, gives rise to water not being able to sink into the ground which will result in flooding and mudslides. Another major effect of trees being cut down is the reduction of photosynthesis, which causes less CO2 to be absorbed, and, transformed into oxygen. All together deforestation is a huge cause of climate change. 
 

The increasingly high demand for meat has caused the need for fields where cattle can pasture, contributing to deforestation. Not only has this led to a loss in vegetation, but cattle are also responsible for higher levels of methane released in the atmosphere. Along with any other greenhouse gas, methane results in global warming, bringing about an overall increase in temperatures and, consequently, in ice caps melting.