Today's picture: Scene from Massey University, Auckland Campus

Your ‘status’ is your position in society – in other words, the amount of respect that you receive from other people. If you have a high status, people respect you. Generally, doctors, architects and lawyers are seen as high status professions. Expensive cars, watches etc are seen as status symbols, because they show that you are rich enough to afford them.

He enjoys a high status among his colleagues.

For more examples and links to exercises, click here www.academicenglishgenerator.com and go to Unit 14

Test

Here are four sentences with the word of the day. But only three of them are correct. So, which is the ODD ONE OUT?

The success of ‘Lord of the Rings’ undoubtedly contributed to the status of New Zealand film-making in a worldwide context.

The company suffered a substantial loss of status following the scandal.

The university enjoys a high status, particularly in the fields of management and economic research.

The company is looking for a new status in the South Island in response to the growing demand there.

Here are four more questions from yesterday's interview with a trainer from an outdoor education organisation. He specialises in team-building programmes for major companies, in which employees from different sectors of the company come together and spend a week together far away from their normal workplace and roles performing a number of tasks together. These interview questions have been cut in half. You have three different second halves - which one matches the first half of the question.

How can you be sure that your programmes are compatible ______

to such a fast-moving global environment?
in terms of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats?
with the needs and goals of your business partners?

You have worked with a wide range of organizations. Are your programmes similarly ______

organised?
working?
diverse?

When senior managers participate in programmes with more junior members of staff, does this lead to difficulties related to ______

reassurance?
status?
familiarisation?

During the short time frame available on your courses, what can be done to facilitate ______

long-term team-building?
the difficulty of achieving crucial objectives?
the participants of the significance of their progress?

Kiwi Quiz Question

Which of these is NOT a greeting in Te Reo (Maori language)?

Kia ora
Haere Mai
Tena Koe
Pakeha

Interesting article of the day: Show me the Child
http://www.listener.co.nz/issue/3532/features/10321/show_me_the_child.html

Vocabulary for the article:

personal trait / incarcerated / offspring / one-off assessment / a constellation of factors / delinquency / a close-knit homogenous community / confidentiality is paramount /

Questions for the article:

What is the name of this research project?
Is it nearly finished?
How much does it cost to run the project every year?
How successfully have they managed to keep in touch with the participants over a long period?
Why did Professor Silva refer to car testing when he published his first findings?
Which children's illness was found to have serious long-term effects on their development?
When, according to the study, is someone's personality mainly formed?
Which TWO causal factors were the researchers able to link to criminality?
The 10% of adult males who are 'life-course persistent criminals' are responsible for what percentage of total crime?
What practical response has been taken by schools to counter the development of criminal tendencies in children?
As a general rule, children need affection and what two other factors?
Why does the project director refer to ambulances at the bottom of cliffs?