LESSON 4A VOCABULARY |Workplaces

|
Word |
Meaning |
|
Agriculture |
Growing crops and raising animals for food and products. |
|
Ambulance |
A vehicle that takes sick or injured people to the hospital. |
|
Bank |
A place where people keep money, save, and take loans. |
|
Building Site |
A place where buildings or structures are being built. |
|
Construction |
The work of building things like houses, roads, and bridges. |
|
Corner Shop |
A small store that sells everyday items like food and drinks. |
|
Department Store |
A large shop that sells many different types of products in one place. |
|
Design Studio |
A workplace for designing things like clothes, buildings, or websites. |
|
Doctor's Surgery |
A place where doctors see patients to give medical care. |
|
Education |
Schools, colleges, and other places where people learn. |
|
Factory |
A building where products are made using machines. |
|
Farm |
Land where crops are grown, and animals are raised. |
|
Finance |
The management of money, including banks and investments. |
|
Fish Farm |
A place where fish are raised to sell as food. |
|
Fishing |
Catching fish from rivers, lakes, or the sea. |
|
Food Processing Plant |
A factory where food is prepared and packaged for sale. |
|
Forestry |
The care and management of forests for wood and other resources. |
|
Garage |
A place where vehicles are repaired or stored. |
|
Hair Salon |
A shop where people go to get their hair cut or styled. |
|
Health Care |
Services that help people stay healthy, like hospitals and clinics. |
|
IT (Information Technology) |
Work with computers, software, and networks. |
|
Laboratory |
A place where scientists do experiments and research. |
|
Library |
A place where people borrow books or study. |
|
Manufacturing |
Making goods in factories using tools and machines. |
|
Mine |
A deep hole where people dig to find materials like coal, gold, or diamonds. |
|
Mining |
The work of digging underground to find valuable materials. |
|
Nursery |
A place where young children are cared for during the day. |
|
Office |
A workplace where people do desk jobs like writing or managing. |
|
Oil Platform |
A structure in the sea where oil is drilled and collected. |
|
Sales |
Jobs where people sell products or services to customers. |
|
Sawmill |
A factory where logs are cut into wood for building or furniture. |

|
Word |
Meaning |
|
Bike Courier |
Delivers packages or food using a bicycle. |
|
Building Engineer |
Designs and maintains buildings and their systems, like heating or electricity. |
|
Car Mechanic |
Repairs and maintains cars and other vehicles. |
|
Estate Agent |
Helps people buy, sell, or rent houses and apartments. |
|
Flight Attendant |
Helps passengers on airplanes and ensures their safety and comfort. |
|
Hairdresser |
Cuts, styles, and colors people’s hair. |
|
Lawyer |
Gives legal advice and helps people in court. |
|
Librarian |
Manages a library and helps people find books or information. |
|
Nurse |
Cares for sick or injured people, often in hospitals. |
|
Paramedic |
Provides emergency medical help and takes patients to the hospital. |
|
Personal Secretary |
Helps someone with their work tasks, like scheduling and organizing. |
|
Politician |
Helps someone with their work tasks, like scheduling and organizing. |
|
Receptionist |
Represents people in government and makes laws or decisions. |
|
Sales Manager |
Welcomes visitors and answers phone calls in offices or businesses. |
|
Shop Assistant |
Leads a team of salespeople and helps sell products or services. |
|
Shop Assistant |
Helps customers in a shop and handles sales. |
|
Social Worker |
Helps people with personal or social problems, like housing or family issues. |
|
Surgeon |
A doctor who performs operations to treat injuries or diseases. |
|
Tour Guide |
Shows visitors around places and gives information about them. |
In compound nouns, the stress typically falls on the first word of the compound.
Example
|
Compound Noun |
Stress |
Example Pronunciation |
|
Bike courier |
Bike |
BIKE courier |
|
Building engineer |
Building |
BUILDing engineer |
|
Car mechanic |
Car |
CAR mechanic |
|
Estate agent |
Estate |
ESstate agent |
|
Flight attendant |
Flight |
FLIGHT attendant |
|
Hairdresser |
Hair |
HAIRdresser |
|
Paramedic |
Para |
PARAmedic |
|
Receptionist |
Recep |
RECEPtionist |

1 Study the encyclopaedia entry and match the workplaces from the box below with the correct economy sectors. Can you think of any other workplaces for each sector?
|
ambulance bank building site corner shop fish farm food processing plant garage hair salon mine nursery |
Suggested answers
Production of raw materials: fish farm, mine Processing: building site, food processing plant Services: ambulance, bank, corner shop, garage, hair salon, nursery
2 In pairs, say in which workplaces from Exercise 1 you would like/not like to work and why.
I wouldn’t like to work in a mine. It’s really hard work and I don’t like enclosed spaces.
Students’ own answers
3 THINK BACK In groups, check you understand the jobs in the box. What other jobs can you think of?
|
bike courier building engineer car mechanic estate agent flight attendant hairdresser lawyer librarian nurse paramedic personal secretary politician receptionist sales manager shop assistant social worker surgeon tour guide |
Students’ own answers
4 PRONUNCIATION Listen to the pronunciation of the words in the table.


5 PRONUNCIATION Put the underlined words from the box in Exercise 3 in the correct column of the table above. Listen and check.

Oo lawyer, surgeon
Ooo hairdresser, manager
oOo mechanic, attendant
ooO -
oOoo receptionist
ooOo secretary, politician
6 Look at the phrases in the box below which collocate with the verb work. In pairs, use them to talk about the jobs from Exercise 3.
|
as (a journalist) at night for (a big company) from home from 9 to 5 hard in a team in (an office) long hours part-time/full-time to a deadline under pressure |
If you work as a surgeon, you often have to work at night.
Students’ own answers
7 In pairs, describe people you know. Use the collocations from Exercise 6.
My dad usually works in an office but he sometimes works from home. He works in a team and he often works long hours. He works for the government. He’s a politician.
Students’ own answers
8 Using the information from Exercise 7, make a short presentation on someone you admire to the class.
Students’ own answers