Activity 2 Reading
Read the following article and finish the following mini tasks.
How to Make a Schedule
Before a foreign guest starts his or her activities in your place, a foreign affairs secretary needs to prepare a document to remind the guest of his or her activities and appointments. Such a document is a schedule.
A schedule is a planning of activities and arrangements in order of time. It falls into two types: project schedules and stage schedules. An overall project schedule is required to determine the complete project time scale, resource, requirements and costs. The project schedule shows project activities at the stage and step levels. It does not identify individual tasks or activities. The project schedule does not provide information for the day-to-day management.
A more detailed schedule is required to manage and control the project on a day-to-day basis. This is a stage schedule. It is developed progressively and identifies specific activities.The schedule for a foreign guest’s visit belongs to this type, and it should include the following messages:
● time of arrival and departure
● airport or railway station
● hotel accommodation
● appointments (when, where and with whom)
● activities (when, where, what to do, and with whom)
When the foreign affairs secretary is preparing a schedule for a foreign guest, he or she usually types the schedule on hard, durable paper in triplicate—a copy for the foreign guest, a copy for the foreign affairs office, and a copy to be kept on the secretary’s own file. After the guest arrives, the secretary should discuss with him or her about the schedule and see whether there might be some changes. The schedule should be updated immediately if any change occurs. Moreover, the secretary also needs to inform those people who will meet the guest of their activities or appointments by telephoning or sending e-mails respectively. In case of any change, the secretary must inform all parties involved immediately.
The following schedule is an example of a foreign guest’s visit to China.
continued
Mini Task 1 Questions
(1) What is a schedule?
(2) What is a stage project and what should it include?
(3) How many copies of a schedule should be prepared? Whom are these copies for?
(4) What should the foreign affairs secretary do after the guest arrives?
(5) What should the foreign affairs secretary do if there are some changes in the schedule?
Mini Task 2 True or false
(1) The purpose of a schedule is to remind the guest of his or her activities and appointments in the visiting place. ( )
(2) A schedule is a plan of activities and appointments which are arranged in order of importance. ( )
(3) The project schedule should identify individual tasks or activities and it should also provide detailed information for the day-to-day management. ( )
(4) The schedule for a foreign guest’s visit belongs to project schedule. ( )
(5) A schedule for a foreign guest is usually typed on hard and durable paper in triplicate.( )
Mini Task 3 Complete the sentences with the following expressions. Change the form where necessary.
durable overall identify individual respectively
progressively triplicate accurate update accommodation
(1) What do they mean ________?(https://www.daowen.com)
(2) We did an ________ consideration of the matter at last.
(3) I cannot ________ the signature.
(4) She has her own ________ style of doing things.
(5) Central authority has been ________ weakened since the outbreak of the civil war.
(6) The TV ________ a news story on the bad storm coming to our area.
(7) What’s the ________ time of his arrival?
(8) They provided comfortable ________ for visitors.
(9) The schedule must be typed on ________ hard paper.
(10) The document was drawn up in ________.
Mini Task 4 Translate the following sentences from English into Chinese.
(1) A schedule is a plan of activities and arrangements in order of time.
(2) It falls into two types: project schedules and stage schedules.
(3) A more detailed schedule is required to manage and control the project on a day-to-day basis. This is a stage schedule.
(4) After the guest arrives, the secretary should discuss with him or her about the schedule and see whether there might be some changes.
(5) In case of any change, the secretary must inform all parties involved immediately.
Words in Task III
overall adj. 总体的；全面的；综合的
specific adj. 明确的；确切的；具体的
identify v. 认出；识别
accommodation n. 住处；逗留处
individual adj. 个别的；单独的；个人的
durable v. 持久的；耐用的
progressively v. 逐渐地；日益增加地
triplicate adj. 一式三份的
update v. 更新；向……提供最新信息
respectively adv. 分别；各自；顺序为；依次为