WARM – UP  EXERCISES

 

All in a day’s work

Reading                               My job

1 Read the text on the opposite page and answer the questions.

1 Eustasio usually works

a)      day shifts

b)      night shifts

c)       only at weekends

d)      in the afternoons

2 When he works at night, he

a)      helps the manager.

b)      meets a lot of guests.

c)       checks the hotel records.

d)      sends faxes confirming bookings.

3 During the night, he also works as the hotel’s

a)      telephonist.

b)      housekeeper.

c)       concierge.

d)      manager.

4 When there is a group booking, he checks the names on the running list

a)      when the group check in.

b)      immediately after they check in.

c)       the next day.

d)      when they check out.

5 The main topic of this text is

a)      what Eustasio does during the day shift.

b)      the difficulties of being a receptionist.

c)       what Eustasio likes most about his job.

d)      Eustasio’s duties as a receptionist.

 

My job

Eustasio Gavilan, receptionist at Darkwood Beach Hotel, Jamaica

I’m a hotel receptionist. I usually work from 7 am to 3 pm but occasionally I work night. I prefer working during the day because I meet more guests. When I’m on night shift I’ responsible for the “close of day”. I check both the manual records to see which rooms are occupied, which are unoccupied, which are closed for maintenance and which need cleaning. The manager is not on duty at night or at the weekends so I’m responsible for everything at these times.

During the day shift I send faxes and emails confirming bookings, check in new guests and prepare bills for the guests checking out. I also answer the telephone calls, deal with enquires, take reservations and put calls through to other departments.

Before a large group checks in, we receive a running list of all the names from the booking agents. I check people in as fast as possible because they have usually travelled a long way and I know they are tired. After that, I check the running list against the names of guests who checked in. There are often differences so I phone the agency to confirm the group names.

vocabulary Duties

2 Match the verbs with the nouns to show some of Eustasio’s duties.