Advanced English Conversations (2) - Robert Allans, Matt Edie, A. Mustafaoglu 2020

Set 77 - Qualifications are the game changer

Jim: It’s totally ludicrous, isn’t really! I mean the salaries these company directors and corporate lawyers are getting paid. It’s completely out of proportion to what they actually do.

Paul: Yeah; not to mention the phenomenal sum that celebrity athletes and movie stars and so on get, too. I suppose it’s all about market forces.

Jim: Well; when you consider that nurses or ambulance drivers get paid a pittance, relatively, for what they do. I mean how could we get along without them? What about those who clean the streets and collect the rubbish? I think anyone who has got a hard job must be paid well.

Jessie: Excuse me, guys! I beg to differ. Historically, people expect to get paid less if they have no qualifications which are the game changer. Moreover, footballers and film stars are working in the entertainment industry and reaching millions of people. That’s why they are paid this way.

Paul: But, how come, though? Is it their faults, I mean ordinary people, if they’re no good at exams, or financially they couldn’t afford their higher education?

Jessie: Yeah, of course not, but I don’t understand how would it work in practice?

Vocabulary;

ludicrous: (adjectives) so foolish, unreasonable, or out of place as to be amusing.

out of proportion: not in proper relation to other things

celebrity: someone who is famous, especially in the entertainment business.

market forces: the forces that decide price levels in an economy or trading system whose activities are not influenced or limited by government.

pittance: a very small amount of money, especially money received as payment.

get along: to manage to live or survive.

beg to differ: politely disagree.

entertainment industry: the businesses connected with music, films, TV etc.

qualification: knowledge, skill, or some other characteristic that gives a person the ability or the right to do or have something.

game changer: something or someone that affects the result of a game very much.

in practice: as something actually is or is done in reality, as opposed to in theory.

Exercise;

Fill in the gaps with the appropriate phrases or words;

1. Of the many drawbacks the most .......... is that applications can be made only once a year at a certain time.

2. Things can get .......... without you, as history and many facts of life can testify.

3. The action of market .......... means that the cost of something rises if demand for it rises and the amount available remains constant.

4. The country's most senior doctor said the new approach would be a "game ..........," helping to identify risks far earlier, with advice on lifestyle overhauls as well as targeted medication.

5. I assume my .......... for the job will be considered along with theirs.

6. Yes, that was the hypothesis, but these things often turn out quite different in ..........

7. She could barely survive on the .......... she received as a pension.

8. I'm sorry, headmaster, but I beg to .......... Students at this school should have more access to financial aid and scholarships, not less.

9. He criticized the entertainment .......... for the glorification of violence.

10. Being recognized in the street is part and parcel of being a ..........

11. Why is she tearing down the industry with her claims regarding safety that are out of .......... to the risks involved?

1. ludicrous 2. along 3. forces 4. changer 5. qualifications 6. practice 7. pittance 8. differ 9. industry 10. celebrity 11. proportion