JOHN THE PHOTO LIBRARIAN

What do you think of John and his job ?!

John is a librarian in an image library. It’s his responsibility to maintain and organize all the
transparencies which the library hires out. He has to make sure they are all filed correctly
and are in perfect condition. When the transparencies come back from a client they have to
be checked closely for any damage and sometimes they need to be cleaned. He should also
make regular checks of the library files to see that the slides haven’t been put in the wrong
category but he doesn’t do this as much as he should because it’s a very painstaking and
tedious job that he would rather avoid.

JUAN EL BIBLIOTECARIO FOTOGRÁFICO

¿Qué opinas de John y su trabajo?!

John es bibliotecario en una biblioteca de imágenes. Es su responsabilidad mantener y

organizar todas las transparencias que la biblioteca contrata. Él tiene que asegurarse de
que todos están archivados correctamente y están en perfectas condiciones. Cuando las
transparencias regresan de un cliente tienen que ser revisadas de cerca para detectar
cualquier daño y a veces necesitan ser limpiadas. También debe hacer comprobaciones
periódicas de los archivos de la biblioteca para ver que las diapositivas no se han puesto en la
categoría equivocada, pero no hace esto tanto como loha hecho porque es un trabajo muy
minucioso y tedioso que preferiría evitar.

___

John is of course grateful that he has a nine to five job where he doesn’t have to work at
weekends or do night-shifts but he thinks there are still plenty of things he can complain
about! For example he often has to work late but his boss won’t pay him overtime because
she says he has adequate time in the day to finish off his tasks if he works efficiently. But
because invariably the researchers don’t finish using the library until the end of the day and
his boss says the library must always be left perfectly tidy before it is closed for the night, he
usually has to stay late tidying up! Sometimes if he’s very tired he will put a great pile of
slides that should be sorted out into the pile for checking for damage so he can leave them for
the next day. Of course he knows he shouldn’t do this but he does it anyway !

John, por supuesto, está agradecido de que tenga un trabajo de nueve a cinco donde no tiene
que trabajar los fines de semana o hacer turnos nocturnos, pero cree que todavía hay muchas
cosas de las que puede quejarse. Por ejemplo, a menudo tiene que trabajar hasta tarde,
pero su jefe no le pagará horas extras porque ella dice que tiene tiempo adecuado en el día
para terminar sus tareas si trabaja eficientemente. Pero debido a que invariablemente los
investigadores no terminan de usar la biblioteca hasta el final del día y su jefe dice que la
biblioteca siempre debe dejarse perfectamente ordenada antes de que se cierre por la noche,
por lo general tiene que permanecer tarde ordenando! A veces, si está muy cansado,
pondrá una gran pila de toboganes que deben ser resueltos en la pila para comprobar si hay
daños para poder dejarlos para el día siguiente. Por supuesto que sabe que no debe hacer
esto, pero lo hace de todos modos !

___

John has a great passion for photography and so he likes working in the library because he
gets to see hundreds of great professional images but sometimes he finds it frustrating. For
instance, it is often deemed that slides are getting out of date and should be got rid of and so
J has to take them out of the library. Often these are very beautiful images and J would like
to be able to keep them for himself , but of course because of copyright issues he’s not
allowed to. He can take the catalogue home if he wants but that’s not quite the same!

John tiene una gran pasión por la fotografía y por eso le gusta trabajar en la biblioteca
porque llega a ver cientos de grandes imágenes profesionales, pero a veces le resulta
frustrante. Por ejemplo, a menudo se considera que las diapositivas se están
desactualizadas y deben deshacerse de ellas, por lo que J tiene que sacarlas de la
biblioteca. A menudo se trata de imágenes muy hermosas y J le gustaría poder conservarlas
para sí mismo, pero por supuesto debido a cuestiones de derechos de autor que no se le
permite. ¡Puede llevar el catálogo a casa si quiere, pero eso no es lo mismo!

___

One day John would like to leave this rather boring job and get paid to be a professional
photographer, but on the other hand , then he would have to take the risk of having no work
while he built up experience and contacts and also he would very likely have to work
around the clock if he wanted to be successful. He often tells himself he musn’t let himself
get stuck in a rut and force himself to move on – but it’s too easy to stay in his stress-less
relatively responsibility free job. Maybe he shouldn’t have started in the library at all !

Un día a John le gustaría dejar este trabajo bastante aburrido y que le pagaran por ser un
fotógrafo profesional, pero por otro lado, entonces tendría que correr el riesgo de no tener
trabajo mientras acumulaba experiencia y contactos y también muy probablemente tendría
que trabajar las 24 horas del día si quería tener éxito. A menudo se dice a sí mismo que no
se deja atascar en una rutina y se obliga a seguir adelante, pero es demasiado fácil
permanecer en su trabajo sin estrés y relativamente libre de responsabilidad. Tal vez no
debería haber comenzado en la biblioteca en absoluto !

1. Which of the words in bold do NOT express obligation, lack of obligation ,

prohibition or permission ?
- What is the precise meaning of ‘will’ an ‘won’t’ in the second paragraph?
2. What is the difference between ‘must’ and ‘have to’ ?
3. What is the difference between ‘don’t have to’ and ‘mustn’t’ ?
4. What is the difference between should and must ?
 5. Which of the ‘can’s’ used in the second or the third paragraph also mean ‘is
allowed to’.
6. ¿Cuál de las palabras en negrita NO expresa obligación, falta de obligación,
prohibición o permiso?
- ¿Cuál es el significado preciso de "voluntad" un "no" en el segundo párrafo?
7. ¿Cuál es la diferencia entre 'must' y 'have to'?
8. ¿Cuál es la diferencia entre 'no tienes que hacerlo' y 'mustn't'?
9. ¿Cuál es la diferencia entre debe y debe ?
10. Cuál de las «latas» utilizadas en el segundo o tercer párrafo también significa «está
permitido».

11. Can you use the following modal expressions above to replace the underlined
words in the sentences below: SHOULD MUST HAVE TO MUSTN’T
SHOULDN’T DON’T HAVE TO BE ALLOWED TO /CAN not be
allowed to /can’t
It isn’t necessary for me to get to work at 9 am every day.
I have an obligation to let my company know one month before I want to take a
holiday.
It isn’t a good idea for her to get behind with the paperwork.
I would advise you to look for another job
I strongly advise you to report your colleagues misconduct.
It is absolutely the wrong thing for you to get into the habit of lying at work!
Do you have permission to wear whatever you want at work?
We are prohibited from sharing the personal information we have on our clients
with anyone else.

12. In fact this job is now obsolete so can you put the whole text into the past ?!!

See below for help on past forms….

13. MODAL VERBS USED TO PERFORM SPECIFIC FUNCTIONS

  MODAL TIME = TIME =

FUNCTION VERB PRESENT& PAST

FUTURE
COMPULSION MAKE SB (Do) She makes them The teacher made
tidy their room. them write it out six
times.
PROHIBITION CAN'T/NOT My dad says that I She wasn't allowed to
ALLOWED TO can't see you see him anymore.
anymore.
PERMISSION MAY (Be) May I go now? I was allowed to go.
 STRONG MUST (Do) I must remember to I had to apologize.
pay the phone bill.
OBLIGATION
STRONG MUSTN'T (Do) Mother: "you The children weren't
mustn't play with allowed to play
OBLIGATION matches." outside.
NO OBLIGATION DON'T HAVE TO I don't have to wake I was happy that I
(Do) up early on didn't have to see him
Saturdays. again.
NO OBLIGATION NEEDN'T (Do) You needn't pay it You needn't have done
now if you don't it, but I'm glad you
want to. did.
NO OBLIGATION DON'T NEED TO I don't need to He didn't need to
(Do) study French revise for the exam.
anymore.
DUTY SUPPOSED TO Your supposed to You were supposed to
arrive at work at have done this by now.
8am.
DUTY NOT SUPPOSED You not supposed I wasn't supposed to
TO to be here! have been at the
meeting.
FORMAL WOULD (Do) I'd arrive on time if I would have arrived
I were you. on time if I'd been
ADVICE him.
FORMAL WOULDN'T (Do) I wouldn't do that if I wouldn't have done
I were you. that if I'd been him.
ADVICE
INFORMAL SHOULD (Do) You should always You should have
dress well at dressed well at the
ADVICE interviews. interview.
INFORMAL SHOULDN'T (Do) You shouldn't You shouldn't have
speak to him like spoken to him like
ADVICE that. that.
INFORMAL OUGHT TO (Do) You ought to be You ought to have
here earlier. been there earlier.
ADVICE
INFORMAL NOT OUGHT TO You didn't ought to You didn't ought to
(Do) touch that. have done that.
ADVICE
REQUESTS CAN (I/you) Can/Could you help I asked him to help
me, please? me.
ABILITY CAN (Do) I can speak English. I could speak English
when I was five.
ABILITY BE ABLE TO (Do) Will you be able to She was able to
come? answer all the
questions.
ABILITY MANAGE TO Does he manage to He managed to rescue
(Do) get here on time? her.
 NORMAL WILL She'll always do her She would always do
homework. her homework.
BEHAVIOUR
OFFERS WILL I'll help you with I'd have helped you.
that.
OFFERS SHALL Shall I give you a I should have helped
hand. you.
SUGGESTIONS SHALL (LET'S) Shall we meet at I suggested meeting at
9pm? 9.
WILLINGNESS WON'T (Do) I won't do it! She wouldn't do it.

NOW can you make statements about you and your job using the
following modals?
Must, musn’t , have to , don’t have to , should and shouldn’t, allowed to/not
allowed to (can /can’t)

JOBS - a questionnaire … version 2 !

What is the most boring job you’ve ever done and why was it boring?

What is the most challenging job you’ve ever done and why was it difficult?

What rules are there at your work which you think are a bit silly or even really
stupid ?

People in which profession do you really envy ?

What career mistakes – if any – do you think you have made in your life so far ?

What job would you like to be doing in five years time?

What’s a job you think you’d be really bad at ?

What job would you definitely not want to do?

What qualities do you think the job that you do requires ?

Do you think that all young people should go to university ?

Do you think it is a good idea for everyone to do some kind of apprenticeship
while still at school or university (like the German system) ?

Do you think all jobs/professions should earn the same wage ?

Do you live to work or work to live ???

Can you think of any questions to add to this questionnaire ?