The size matters!

20 marca 2014

The topic for today is ‘’weight discrimination’’.

Lekcje angielskiego przygotowuje firma

Możesz pobrać lekcję klikając tutaj.

Task 1
Read the text below to get the general idea:

According to the Constitution of the Republic of Poland (Art. 33), men and women should have equal rights regarding employment and work compensation. By the book, all people ought to be treated exactly in the same way regardless of their race, origin, sex, age, religion, size or looks. In practice, however, the laws are frequently broken on discrimination grounds commonly referred to as sizeism or lookism. These are the latest forms of prejudice which nowadays can be observed in many companies around the world. It is said that they have recently even outpaced things like racism, sexism or ageism.
In general, sizeism or weight discrimination is based on the idea that what really matters in the workplace is your size or body shape (subjectively described as bigger than the average?!) not your knowledge, experience or skills. It means that overweight people are unfairly treated only because they look larger, they are fatter, or what is worse, they tend not to fit the so called physical requirements of the company profile. As a result, oversized workers are usually underpaid and have fewer career prospects than their slimmer colleagues, because they are merely judged on their looks instead of their performance.
The latest research conducted by a law firm in America has revealed cases of appearance discrimination in more than 16% of companies. Moreover, 33% of American citizens believe that the physically attractive are more likely to get promoted or receive payrises in comparison with their obese co-workers. Therefore, some kind of legal remedy or beauty bias legislation is definitely needed to help the victims of lookism to fight for their rights in courts.

Task 2.
Study the text carefully and use the underlined expressions to complete the sentences below:

1.   The government has promised to introduce new ………………………. on discrimination soon.
2.   …………………………………… are synonyms of ‘’fat people’’
3.   Job openings have ……………… the supply of fully qualified staff and their applications.
4.   The ratings were based on the ……………………….. interpreted results coming from individual agencies.
5.   Men and women should have ……………………….. in the workplace.
6.   All the competitors will be …………………… speed and accuracy.
7.   The law requires equal medical and dental treatment for all, ……………………. of their race, age, religion or sex.
8.   Paparazzi might be prosecuted for ……………………… secrets of celebrities.
9.   The verdict has been rejected on …………………………………..
10.   The new social program is said to be the best ……………………. for single-parent families.

Task 3
Watch the video ‘’Weight discrimination in the workplace ‘’ and answer the questions below:

)

1.   What kind of problems do overweight women have to face in the workplace?
…………………………………………………………………………….
2.   What exactly is ‘’fat discrimination’’?
…………………………………………………………………………….
3.   What are other examples of discrimination mentioned in the video?
…………………………………………………………………………….
4.   When was the woman (Ruth) discriminated against for the first time?
…………………………………………………………………………….
5.   What happened then?
…………………………………………………………………………….
6.   What is an average size for Australian women nowadays?
……………………………………………………………………………..
7.   What conclusions did the woman (Ruth) draw after the job interview?
…………………………………………………………………………..
8.   How should overweight workers behave at a job interview according to the second female speaker (Kate)? List three guidelines below:
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
9.   What did the first woman (Ruth) say about employers?
…………………………………………………………………………….
10.   How should future employees be treated according to Ruth?
……………………………………………………………………………..

The size matters! KEY TO EXERCISES

Task 2.
1.The government has promised to introduce new …legislation……. on discrimination soon.
2.…Obese, overweight, oversized…… are synonyms of ‘’fat people’’
3.Job openings have ……outpaced… the supply of fully qualified staff and their applications.
4.The ratings were based on the ………subjectively…….. interpreted results coming from individual agencies.
5.Men and women should have ………equal rights….. in the workplace.
6.All the competitors will be ……judged on…… speed and accuracy.
7.The law requires equal medical and dental treatment for all, ……regardless………. of their race, age, religion or sex.
8.Paparazzi might be prosecuted for ………revealing…… secrets of celebrities.
9.The verdict has been rejected on ………discrimination grounds………..
10.The new social program is said to be the best ……remedy…. for single-parent families.

Task 3
1.What kind of problems do overweight women have to face in the workplace?
……They face shrinking salaries, the lack of payrises and promotions………….
2.What exactly is ‘’fat discrimination’’?
……It is one of the most prevalent forms of discrimination in society today….
3.What are other examples of discrimination mentioned in the video? ……Racism, sexism and ageism………….
4.When was the woman (Ruth) discriminated against for the first time? ……In 1999, when she applied for the position of a trainee specialist……….
5.What happened then? ………She was told that she did not fit the physical description of the job……….
6.What is an average size for Australian women nowadays? …………16……..
7.What conclusions did the woman (Ruth) draw after the job interview? …………That she was not eligible for the job due to her weight………..
8.How should overweight workers behave at a job interview according to the second female speaker (Kate)? List three guidelines below: ……You have to play against the stereotypes………… ……You have to go with energy, enthusiasm and confidence………… ……You should not let somebody else define you…………
9. What did the first woman (Ruth) say about employers? ……They should give overweight employees the same deserved respect that everybody else is entitled to……….
10.How should future employees be treated according to Ruth? ……They should be judged not on their size but performance……..

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