E:Er...traditionally people go to work at 9o'clock in the morning and they finish at about 5,so sort of a 9to 5.
P:And,and Penny I...I know you're English but you work in Brazil,what are the hours in Brazil?
Penny:Um varies slightly,sometimes you can start um on an early shift,say,8o'clock in the morning to 5 um or 9 until 6.But in Brazil often people will work longer hours than this.
P:Right,right ok.And what kind of clothes do you wear?I mean do you dress up formally or in a relaxed way?
E:It used to be that you would wear a jacket and tie to work for...for men but er nowadays an open shirt is ok.You don't necessarily have to wear a tie and sometimes on a Friday you can wear a pair of jeans to work. P:Oh,right the dress down Friday? E:The dress down Friday that's right. P:Does that still happen? E:Yes, yes sure it does.
P:And how about in Brazil?
Penny:Um, it's fairly casual,quite informal,um I mean you need to look neat and tidy obviously,but you,you have your own choice rely on what you would wear,there are no rules and regulations.It's important to look smart but comfortable.
P:Right,yeah do you have meal breaks or is that...you just fit in meals when you can or...? E:Lunch,lunch is usually an hour sometimes a little shorter if you have to do a lot of work from your desk.
P:Yeah,how about Brazil?
Penny:That's the same, about an hour.
P:And,and with overtime,I mean,if you...I mean you're obviously contracted to do a certain number of hours.What happens if you do more than the hours that you...that's in you...that are in your contract?
E:I have to make a fairly strict record of my hours so if I go beyond 5 o'clock on most days I put in for overtime. P:Right.
E:And it's...the first hour is one of overtime and then there's I think 15minute periods after that.So I could work an hour and a quarter. P:And you'd be paid for the quarter hours? E:That's right,by the quarter hour. P:How about in Brazil?
Penny:It's,it's a lot looser in Brazil actually.We we often end up doing overtime but unfortunately not paid.
P: Fine.That's hard luck.And what about holidays,what about in the States?You don't have much holidays in the States do you?
E:No.When you start at a company you get two weeks holiday or two weeks vacation as we say... P:Yeah
E:Um then it's usually not until you've been at the company for about five ears that they give you another week.So you get three weeks after you've been there for five years.
P:And what about in Brazil?
Penny:Um it's quite good actually-30days. P:Sounds very generous.
Penny:Yeah I can pop back to...
P:Is that 30 working days or 30 days in total? Penny:That's 30 working days P:Wow,that's
Penny:Yes,yeah it's a good deal.
P:What about retirement?I know it's a long way of there!When do you retire? E:Generally speaking it's at 65. P:And the same for women.
E:Um it's I think a little sooner than that for women.Women I think 62or 63. P;Right ,good.And in Brazil is it similar?
Penny:Similar to the States.It's um after 60 for women.65 for men,or if you've clocked up about 30 or 35 years of service then you can retire after that. P:Right and when...do you have a pay day?When is pay day?
E:Um,well ,we gt paid twice a month,so we get paid at the beginning of the month and then we get paid in the middle of the month at the 15th give or take(大约). P:Yeah,and what about in Brazil?
Penny:I think it all depends which company you're working for.For the one I am working for right now I get paid twice a month but when I began,with a different company that was once a month,so,it varies.
P:And are there any company benefits that you have in the States?Do you have a company car or a pension?
E:Yeah,we get a company car.We're able to...we lease a car in effect but it's a company car that we get for 18 months to two years and then we...we can move on to another model from that.There's a fairly good pension scheme,that's still working,and hospitalization as well. P:Oh,that's important
E:Yeah,a health plan through work is very important. P:Right.And what about in Brazil?
Penny:Yeah,excellent benefits like that.Well I mean it does depend on the company and the status of your or your job but you might get a car,living accommodation,school for the children,they'll pay for your lunch,travel passes,gasoline,health insurance,all sorts of benefits actually it's very good.
P:Sounds very good,with the holiday and all those benefits it sounds a great place to work.
Unit 2
Outside view
Conversation 1
Joe: OK, when you finished chatting, let's get down to work. Andy: OK, sure.
Janet: Fine by me. What's on the agenda?
Joe: First up today is Read all about it! Now, I assume everyone has read all the books for the
future? Has anyone read any of the books?
Andy: Well, Joe, there are over 20 new books coming out next month, so…
Joe: I'm sorry, I really think that's quite unacceptable. It's your job! What about you, Janet?
Janet: I'm sorry but this is the first time I've worked on Read all about it! And I didn't know I was
meant to read all the books. Andy: Have you read them?
Joe: No, but that's why you're my assistants. You're meant to assist me. Andy: It's true that we need to read the books, Joe, but we haven't… Joe: OK, there you go. You are always making excuses!
Andy: And what's more, we haven't even chosen the books yet. Joe: OK, let's get down with it. What's on the list?
Janet: I suppose we're looking for books with a London angle（伦敦视角）? Andy: Not necessarily.
Janet: Is it OK to look for non-fiction too? Joe: Absolutely.
Janet: OK, here's an idea. There's a new biography（自传） of Charles Dickens which I'm reading. Andy: Sounds good-his books are always on TV.
Janet: You see I'm studying Dickens at university, and I noticed it in the bookshop last week. It's
really interesting.
Joe: OK, tell us more.
Janet: Well, it's a description of the London locations where he set many of his books like Oliver
Twist and David Copperfield.
Andy: Sounds right up your street（拿手的）! Joe Well done, Janet. Maybe you can show Andy how to plan the feature. OK, that's it
everyone. Let's get to it!
Conversation 2
Janet: What's the matter with Joe today?
Andy: No idea. He's a bit like that sometimes. He gets annoyed with me, but I don't really know
why.
Janet: He wasn't being at all fair. How often does he get like this?
Andy: Well, I suppose it's not very often. But sometimes he really gets on my nerves（使某人心烦意乱）.
Janet: Don't let it get to you. He's probably got too much work, and he's stressed.
Andy: Well, he should keep his problems away from the studio. Anyway, you're the expert on
Dickens, tell me something about him.
Janet: Well, Charles Dickens was one of the most popular novelists in 19th century Britain.
Many of his novels first appeared in magazines, in short episodes. Each one had a cliffhanger at the end that made people want to read the next episode（集，一集）. Andy: And was he a Londoner?
Janet: He was born in Portsmouth but his family moved to London when he was ten years old. Andy: And he set most of his stories in London, didn't he? Janet: That's right. He knew the city very well. Andy: Whereabouts in London are his stories set?
Janet: Around the Law Courts in the centre of London. He worked as a court reporter and many
of the real life stories he heard in court inspired some of most famous characters in his novels.
Andy: I think some of his stories take place south of the river?
Janet: That's right, especially around Docklands. The thing was…Dickens was a social commentator（社会评论员） as much as he was a novelist-his stories describe the hardship, the poverty, and crime which many Londoners experienced in the 19th century. It makes me want to read some Dickens again. Maybe I'll just go shopping for a copy of Great Expectations.
Andy: Anyway, you did me a huge favour. That was a real brainwave（突然想到的妙计，灵感）
to suggest the new biography.
Janet: Cheer up Andy. It wasn't your fault.
Andy: No, it's OK, I'll get over it. Go on, off you go and enjoy your shopping!
Outside view
British people read a lot. They read books, newspapers and magazines. And of course they read text messages on their mobile phones. Sixty-five percent of British people list \pleasure\A quarter of the population reads more than 20 books each year. So where do these books come from? Well, there are bookshops where you can buy books. And there are lots of public libraries where you can borrow books for free. In this library you can borrow books, but you can also buy a cup of coffee, look at an art exhibition, sit in a quiet study area or connect to the Internet. You can also now borrow CDs, videos or DVDs of films and television programmes. Some libraries even let you borrow computer games. There are often reference rooms where you can go to look something up or go to study. Many libraries have also got special rooms with books and photograghs about the historu of the area. Libraries are very important in schools and universities both for study and for reading for pleasure. The British Library is one of the world's greatest libraries. The queen opened its new building in 1998. It receives a copy of every book published in Britain, and adds three million new items every year. It's got books of