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. 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.

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.

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.

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.

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?