work and study

• learning purely by repetition

  rote-learning
• tricks that helpyou remember something, for example: ‘i’ before ‘e’ except after ‘c’ (Eselsbrücke)

  mnemonics
• system where libraries exchange books/journals with one another

  inter-library loan
• pupils are chosen for entry, usually for academic reasons,though, in the case of some private schools, parents’ ability to pay school fees may be a factor in selection

  selective schooling
• everyone enters without exams and education is free, paid for by the government

  comprehensive schooling
• lists of schools or colleges, from the best down tothe worst, based on exam results and, sometimes, other criteria

  league tables
• receiving a lot of money in grants, gifts from rich people, etc. 

  well-endowed
• reducing

  depressing
• money given to pay for studies, usually provided

  on the basis of need

  bursaries
• reading, writing and arithmeticthe

  three Rs,
• plan of what is to be studied

  syllabus
• has the same position / does the same job as me

  opposite number
• communication/relationship (work context)

  rapport
• a system where some people have the right to getbenefits/promotions before others

  pecking order
• a policy of sharing desks in an office, so peoplesit at whichever desk is free on a particular day

  hot-desking
• talk about work; informal

  talk shop
• finishing work; informal

  knocking off
• stuck/trapped in a job they can’t escape from

  stuck in a rut
• continuously developing

  dynamic
• number of days you have the right to takeas holiday

  holiday entitlement
• increases/rises; formal

  (salary) increments
• people losing their jobs, by offering to do so / having no choice

  voluntary/ compulsory redundancies
• the minimum number of workers needed to keep operating

  skeleton staff
• phoning people who have not requested a call in order to try to sell them something

  cold calling
• attempt to sell something by being very forceful or persuasive

  hard sell
• A person’s purchasing power is the ability they have to buy goods, i.e. the amount of money they have available
• If you shop around, you try different companies or shops to see which offers best value.
• If you trade something up, usually a car or a house, you buy one that is of higher value than the one you had before. (opp. = trade down)
• Supermarkets sometimes sell an item for less than it costs them in order to attract a lot of people into the shop, where they will also buy more profitable items – the item being sold at a low price is called a loss leader
• If an item is said to come/go under the hammer, it is sold at an auction
• bureaucracy (negative)

  red tape
• talk in detail until a business agreement is made

  hammer out a deal
• buildings and machines owned by a company

  capital assets
• a business organising the rental of holiday houses and flats

  holiday property letting agency