Short Stories
A TYPICAL MANAGER DESK
Managers often have desks that are surprisingly empty! These empty desks can show that the manager often travels and is out of the office most of the time. An empty desk can also demonstrate how powerful the manager is by its representative status. Sometimes, in the USA, you can see footmarks on the desk because some managers like to put their feet up on the desk when they are talking on the telephone! In the States, managers put their feet up on the desk to show that they are in control in their office. Managers usually have a laptop computer on their desk. In fact, this laptop computer is their true desk. These days, most managers do almost all their work on their laptops. Another thing you might find is a cell phone - another sign of the mobility most managers demand.
MY FRIEND PETER
My friend's name is Peter. Peter is from Amsterdam, in Holland. He is Dutch. He is married and has two children. His wife, Jane, is American. She is from Boston in The United States. Her family is still in Boston, but she now works and lives with Peter in Milan. They speak English, Dutch, German and Italian! Their children are pupils at a local primary school. The children go to school with other children from all over the world. Flora, their daughter, has friends from France, Switzerland, Austria and Sweden. Hans, their son, goes to school with students from South Africa, Portugal, Spain and Canada. Of course, there are many children from Italy. Imagine, French, Swiss, Austrian, Swedish, South African, American, Italian, Spanish and Canadian children all learning together in Italy!
A SECRETARY'S DESK
Secretaries usually have an older computer and a telephone on their desk. The usually have an older computer because the managers are often the first to receive the latest technological equipment. Secretaries' desks are often tidy as they are usually tidier than the bosses. You will also find an agenda of some sort because secretaries need to make appointments for their bosses. Secretaries' desks often have pictures of their children and families that they look at from time to time during the day. In the past, secretaries were usually women. Today, however, more and more men are becoming secretaries as more and more women become managers and the workplace becomes more equal.which there are some industry magazines.
MY OFFICE
Like most offices, my office is a place where I can concentrate on my work and feel comfortable at the same time. Of course, I have all the necessary equipment on my desk. I have the telephone next to the fax machine on the right side of my desk. My computer is in the center of my desk with the monitor dire
y in front of me. I have a comfortable office chair to sit on and some pictures of my family between the computer and the telephone. In order to help me read, I also have a lamp near my computer which I use in the evening if I work late. There is plenty of paper in one of the cabinet drawers. There are also staples and a stapler, paper clips, highlighters, pens and erasers in the other drawer. In the room, there is a comfortable armchair and a sofa to sit on. I also have a low table in front of the sofa on which there are some industry magazines.A TYPICAL SHOPWORKER'S DESK
Shop workers probably have the untidiest desks of all. The desks of shop workers are used for a number of purposes. They often have a computer and telephone to take care of paper work, but they also use their desk as a place to lay their various tools as they work at their different tasks. In many machine shops, you will also be surprised at how dirty a shop worker's desk is! Shop workers have to do a variety of physical tasks that often involve greasy equipment. Of course, the grease from the tools and the equipment dirty the desk as the shop worker sits down to do a report or make a telephone call. Shop workers usually don't clean their desk too often as they know that the desks will just get dirty the next time they sit down to have a cup of coffee.
GIRAFFES
We learnt to walk when we were young, but baby giraffes can walk after twenty minutes. Baby giraffes live in a very dangerous world. Lions and other animals like eating them, so the babies must learn in a very short time. They learn to run fast and to stay on their feet. Even at night, giraffes do not lie down. They stand by a tree and sleep Big giraffes have long legs and they can run at fifty kilometres per hour. The English word "giraffe" comes from the Arabic word xirapha and it means "run fast."
Giraffes have very long tongues. A giraffe's tongue can be fifty centimetres! Giraffes use their tongues! They even clean their ears with their tongues. Their tongues are important for other things, too. Their favourite food is green leaves. These trees have sharp thorns, but the giraffe's tongue can go between the thorns. The giraffe's long neck is important because the best leaves are at the tops of the trees. Giraffes love these leaves, and they eat for eighteen hours every day. Isn't is interesting?
