64
8.2
THE NIGHT SHIFT
READING
1
a
Which of these jobs regularly involve working
when most people are asleep?
astronomer baker call-centre worker cleaner
engineer lorry driver nurse office worker
police officer security guard teacher
1
b
Ordering ideas
Discuss these questions in pairs.
1
What do you think are the advantages and
disadvantages of working at night? Make
comparisons with working during the daytime.
Make a long list if you can.
2
Compare your ideas with another pair of students.
Put the different advantages and disadvantages in
order of seriousness.
2
Read the first paragraph of an article about night
workers. Does it mention any of your ideas from
Exercise 1b?
3
a
Read the rest of the article about four people who
work the night shift. What problem does each person
have with their job?
3
b
Read the extracts again and match the people with
these questions. (Sometimes more than one person is
possible.)
1
Who couldn’t get another job at first?
2
Who is doing a job that he/she loves?
3
Who wants to stop working at night?
4
Who enjoys working with his/her colleagues?
5
Who has a job helping people in another country?
6
Who talks about the money that he/she earns?
7
Who talks about people in other countries?
8
Who plans to use some of his/her work time to do
something else?
3
c
Would you like to have any of these jobs? Why?/
Why not? Would you mind working a night shift? Do
you know anyone who has worked on a night shift?
VOCABULARY
-
ING/-ED
ADJECTIVES
4
a
Underline the adjectives in these sentences and
answer the questions below.
Night-shift work is tiring, so he is often tired.
I am bored because my job is boring.
1
Which adjectives describe how we feel, often
because of something else?
2
Which adjectives describe what something is like?
4
b
Choose the correct adjectives.
1
We were
frightened / frightening
because the film
was
frightened
/
frightening
.
2
The lecture was
interested / interesting
, so the
students were
interested / interesting
in it.
4
c
We can make
-ing/-ed
adjectives from verbs, e.g.
bore
→
bored/boring. How many
-ing/-ed
adjectives can
you find in the text in Exercise 3a? What are the verbs?
4
d
Complete these questions with the correct
adjective. Then ask and answer the questions with
a partner.
1
Have you seen an
TV programme
recently? (interest)
2
What’s the most
thing you have done?
(excite)
3
When did you last feel really
? (tire)
4
Is there anything that you are
by?
(fascinate)
5
What’s the most
thing you have seen?
(amaze)
6
What’s the most
thing that has
happened to you? (embarrass)
7
When did you last feel
? (surprise)
8
Is there anything you are
of? (frighten)
Robert Moore
“I work at night because I’m fascinated by the stars, and
I have been since I was a little boy. I’m happiest when
I’m looking down my telescope. The stars are amazing,
and it’s great taking pictures of them. Honestly, I’m never
going to change my job – I’m going to be an astro-
photographer for life. Of course, my social life is poor,
but I think I’ve found a solution to this problem. I’m going
to bring my laptop to work and join a chat room online.
I’m hoping to make friends with people abroad. They’re
the only people awake when I’m working!”
Working
in the
dark
9–5: the standard working day. However, for some
people, it’s bedtime. These people are the night
workers – nurses on the night shift, lorry drivers
crossing continents and bakers preparing our breakfast
bread. Working at night brings particular problems:
family life is difficult, social life is limited, cafés are
closed, there are few buses and it’s bad for your health.
With all these problems, who chooses to work the
night shift, and are they planning to stay in their jobs?
