PROBLEMS 

 
WARM UP 
 
Exercise 1: Problems 
What sort of problems might these people have at work? Match the problems in the box which 
you think goes with each person. 
 

Workers    Problems 
  Always busy 
Person 1 - An office worker 
  Difficult customers 

  Changes to orders 
Person 2 - A factory worker 
  Computer crashes 

  Rude people 
Person 3 - A shop / sales assistant 
  Missing documents 

  Delivery delays 
Person 4 - A call-center worker 
  Machinery not working 
 
Exercise 2: Listening 
Listen to four people talking about their work and their problems. What kind of job do they have 
and the problems they have in their jobs? Use Exercise 1 to help you. 
 
VOCABULARY 
 
Exercise 3: Adjectives 
Complete the sentences below using adjectives from the box. 
 
broken  clean  confusing  fast  flexible  noisy 
 
1. Our employees enjoy having _________ hours. 
2. The new sales assistant got a _________ promotion. 
3. We want a _________ and well-furnished apartment. 
4. Their old printer is _________, so they want a new one. 
5. The instructions are not clear. They are very _________. 
6. When the machinery in the factory starts, it is very _________. 
 
Exercise 4: Write sentences using ​too​ or ​enough​ with the adjective in the parenthesis relating 
to the given sentences. 
 
E.g. The report doesn’t give much information. (short) 
It’s t​ oo​ short. 
The report doesn’t give much information. (long) 
It isn’t long ​enough​. 
 
1. I can’t carry these suitcases. (heavy) 
2. I can’t meet you at six o’clock in the morning. (early) 
3. I don’t want this car. Its top speed is only 100 kilometers per hour. (fast) 
4. Don’t take any visitors to those areas late at night. (safe) 
5. That camera doesn’t fit in my pocket. (big) 
6. The hotel room is $1,000 dollars a night. (expensive) 
7. I can’t sleep because of the music from the party. (loud) 
 
PROBLEMS 
 
LISTENING 
 
Exercise 5: First Part 
Listen to Jeremy Keeley, a specialist in change leadership, as he talks about problems he has at 
work. Then, decide whether these statements are TRUE or FALSE. 
 
1. Jeremy often works with a large number of people. 
2. His clients have quite complicated problems. 
3. Jeremy’s biggest problem is having enough time to do a good job. 
4. He also faces urgent requests for help when he is already very busy. 
 
Exercise 6: Second Part 
Listen to the second part of the interview where Jeremy talks about the biggest problems in 
companies and complete the following notes: 
 
● Biggest problem - amount of ______ they have to go through at speed. 
● Second problem - difficult to plan their needs and resources (staff, ______, ______, 
money they need to satisfy their customers). 
● Another problem - customers expect them to reduce ______ at the same time as 
companies having increasing ______. 
 
Exercise 7: Third Part 
Listen to the third part of an interview and answer these questions: 
 
1. What sort of problem is Jeremy asked to solve? 
2. What was the problem Jeremy had to solve? 
3. Which different groups did he bring together to solve the problem?  
 
 
GRAMMAR 
 
Exercise 8: Grammar Functions 
Match the words according to their functions in the sentences. 
 
WORDS  FUNCTIONS 

● have   a. Used with plural in questions and 

e.g. I ​have​ a new printer but it doesn't  negative sentences. 
work well.   
  b. Used with plural in positive sentences. 
● some    
e.g. We have ​some​ problems with  c. Used to talk about possession. 
deliveries.   
  d. Used in British English. 
● any 
e.g. Do you have ​any​ meetings today? 
 
● have got 
e.g. The office ​hasn’t got​ a lift. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
PROBLEMS 
Exercise 9: Marco’s Possessions 
Make sentences about what Marco has and doesn’t have. 
 
ITEMS  HAS  DOESN’T 
HAVE 

1. Company car  ✔   
2. An iphone    ✗ 
3. An ipad    ✗ 
4. Interesting job  ✔   
5. A high salary    ✗ 
6. A nice boss    ✗ 
7. Some great colleagues  ✔   
8. A desktop computer at work    ✗ 
 
 
CONVERSATION 
 
Exercise 10: Listening 
Listen to the conversation between Marcia and Harry and answer the following questions: 
 
1. Why is Marcia phoning Harry? 
2. How do you spell the name of the new marketing assistant? 
3. What does Marcia say to: 
a. introduce herself? 
b. ask Harry to spell the man’s name? 
c. ask Harry to give the information again? 
d. end the conversation? 
 
Exercise 11: Matching Type 
Listen to four phone calls. Find the problems of the callers among the choices below.  
 
a) There is a problem with the invoice. 
b) The date of the meeting is not suitable. 
c) The quantity is not correct. 
d) There are no instructions. 
 
Exercise 12: Cloze Test 
Complete the extract below from the four phone calls in Exercise 11. 
 
1. I can’t meet your ______, Vanessa Gordon, next Wednesday. 
2. I’m sure we can ______ another time. 
3. It’s about the ______ of mobile phones. 
4. Sorry about that. I’ll ______ with it immediately. 
5. There are no ______ in the package. 
6. Sorry, I didn’t ______ that. Could you ______ it, please? 
7. Also, I think the ______ are wrong. 
8. I’ll ______ the matter and send you another ______. 
 
 
 
 
PROBLEMS 
 
Exercise 13: Role-play 
Use the role card below to role-play a conversation. 
 
You are the customer: 
● Introduce yourself, say you have some problems with an order. 
● Give details of the first problem (ordered grapefruit juice, not orange juice). 
● Give details of the second problem (want 1,000 bottles, not 100 cans, as soon as possible) 
● Thank the sales representative. 
● Say goodbye. 
 
Use some of the expressions below to help you in the role-play. 
 
GETTING THROUGH  STATING THE PROBLEM  GIVING DETAILS 

Can I speak to (name),  I have a problem (with….)  The invoice is incorrect. 

please?     
  There are some problems  It’s the wrong part/model/item. 
Call me back later, please.  with ….   
There’s a piece missing. 

ANSWERING  APOLOGIZING  FINDING SOLUTIONS 

Hello, this is (name).  (Oh dear! I’m) sorry to hear  We can give you a refund. 
  that.   
Good morning, (name)    We can send you new ones. 
speaking.  (I’m very) sorry about that.   
I can talk to the manager. 

INTRODUCING YOURSELF  GETTING DETAILS  FINISHING THE 

CONVERSATION 

Hello, this is (name), (company  Can you give me some more  Thank you. 
name).  information?   
    Thanks for your help. Bye. 
Hello, (name) here.  Which model is it?