Question

[Dương Minh]

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or V to indicate the correct answer to each of the question.

How busy is too busy? For some it means having to miss the occasional long lunch; for others, it means missing lunch altogether. For a few, it is not being able to take a "sickie" once a month. Then there is a group of people for whom working every evening and weekend is normal, and frantic is the tempo of their lives. For most senior executives, workloads swing between extremely busy and frenzied. The vice-president of the management consultancy AT Kearney and its head of telecommunications for the Asia-Pacific region, Neil Plumridge, says his work weeks vary from a “manageable” 45 hours to 80 hours, but average 60 hours.

Three warning signs alert Plumridge about his workload: sleep, scheduling and family. He knows he has too much on when he gets less than six hours of sleep for three consecutive nights; when he is constantly having to reschedule appointments; "and the third one is on the family side", says Plumridge, the father of a three-year-old daughter, and expecting a second child in October. "If I happen to miss a birthday or anniversary, I know things are out of control." Being "too busy" is highly subjective. But for any individual, the perception of being too busy over a prolonged period can start showing up as stress: disturbed sleep, and declining mental and physical health. National workers' compensation figures show stress causes the most lost time of any workplace injury. Employees suffering stress are off work an average of 16.6 weeks. The effects of stress are also expensive. Comcare, the Federal Government insurer, reports that in 2003-04, claims for psychological injury accounted for 7% of claims but almost 27% of claim costs. Experts say the key to dealing with stress is not to focus on relief - a game of golf or a massage - but to reassess workloads. Neil Plumridge says he makes it a priority to work out what has to change; that might mean allocating extra resources to a job, allowing more time or changing expectations. The decision may take several days. He also relies on the advice of colleagues, saying his peers coach each other with business problems. "Just a fresh pair of eyes over an issue can help," he says.

Executive stress is not confined to big organizations. Vanessa Stoykov has been running her own advertising and public relations business for seven years, specializing in work for financial and professional services firms, Evolution Media has grown so fast that it debuted on the BRW Fast 100 list of fastest-growing small enterprises last year - just after Stoykov had her first child. Stoykov thrives on the mental stimulation of running her own business. "Like everyone, I have the occasional day when I think my head's going to blow off," she says. Because of the growth phase the business is in, Stoykov has to concentrate on short-term stress relief - weekends in the mountains, the occasional "mental health" day -rather than delegating more work, She says: “We're hiring more people, but you need to train them, teach them about the culture and the clients, so it's actually more work rather than less.”

According to the vice-president of the management consultancy AT Kearney and its head of telecommunications for the Asia-Pacific region, Neil Plumridge, what is NOT the warning sign about his workload?

A. not having enough time to sleep

B. continuously rearranging his appointments

C. not being able to attend his family's celebrations

D. spending too much time for his family and children

Answer 1

[Nguyen Hoang Hai]

Đáp án D

Theo phó chủ tịch của Công ty tư vấn quản lý AT Kearney và người đứng đầu bộ phận viễn thông khu vực Châu Á - Thái Binh Dương, Neil Plumridge, câu nào sau đây không phải là tín hiệu cảnh báo về khối lượng công việc của ông ấy?

A. không đủ thời gian để ngủ

B. liên tiếp sắp xếp lại các cuộc hẹn

C. không thể tham dự các lễ kỉ niệm trong gia đình

D. sử dụng quá nhiều thời gian cho gia đình và con cái của ông ấy

Từ khóa: Neil Plumridge/ not true / the warning sign about his workload

Căn cứ vào thông tin đoạn 2:

“Three warning signs alert Plumridge about his workload: sleep, scheduling and family. He knows he has too much on when he gets less than six hours of sleep for three consecutive nights; when he is constantly having to reschedule appointments; “and the third one is on the family side”, says Piumridge, the father of a three-year-old daughter, and expecting a second child in October. “If I happen to miss a birthday or anniversary, I know things are out of control.”

(Ba tín hiệu cảnh báo Plumridge về khối lượng công việc của ông ấy là: giấc ngủ, lịch trình công việc và gia đình. Ông ấy biết mình đang phải làm việc quá nhiều khi ông ấy có 3 đêm liên tiếp ngủ ít hơn 6 tiếng; khi ông ấy liên tục phải điều chỉnh lịch các cuộc họp; và mặt thứ 3 là về phía gia đình, ông Plumridge, bố của một đứa con gái 3 tuổi và đang chờ đợi đứa con thứ 2 vào tháng 10, cho biết “Nếu tôi bỏ lỡ một ngày sinh nhật hay một lễ kỉ niệm, tôi biết mọi thứ đang vượt ngoài tầm kiểm soát.