Conversation 1

M：How do you like your new flexible work in arrangement? Do you enjoy working from home?

W：Yes and no, I find an isolation challenging at times, apart from my mother, not too many people I know, have time for phone chat during working hour.【Q8】 I tried the library but found I wasn’t really keen on working there.

M：No, neither would I. I find the library a bit too quiet. I’d lack inspiration or stimulation, which would be counter-productive to getting a lot of work done.【Q9】

W：I found the same thing. So, lately, I’ve been going out to Cafes occasionally, I love the noise, the people, the busyness of a Café, the sense of being out in the world.【Q10】

M: Coffee shops seem to have affectively become off spaces for so many people in this digital age. Though I’m not sure how Café owners feel about it - having so many people who go to that places to work rather than drink and eat.

W：Yes, some people seem to spend a lot of time there and not order much. The most annoying one for Café owners must truly be those, usually only two of them, who occupy a table for six with their laptops and paperwork.【Q11】

M：They should sit at a table for two, not the table for six. Some obviously stay so long, they need to plug the laptops into a power adapter. I nearly tripped over someone’s computer electrical lead the other day in my local café.

W：It’s a double-edged sword, no doubt about that, for a Café owner. While remote workers help to keep the café full in quiet times, they can take up valuable table space and busy period.

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Questions

8. What does the woman say is the disadvantage of working from home?

9. What does the man say is counter-productive to getting work done in the library?

10. What does the woman like about doing one’s work in a café?

11. What is most annoying for café owners according to the woman?

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