Business and Work
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Prepare your B1 students for the professional world with "Odd One Out - Business & Work". This thematic classification exercise is essential for consolidating specialized verbs in management, commerce, and success (to manage, to negotiate, to invest, to achieve...). By requiring students to identify the odd verb out (often a simple leisure activity), the resource strengthens their command of professional vocabulary and develops their ability to differentiate between fields of action (work vs. leisure). It's the perfect tool for a sequence on careers, businesses, or the economy.
Your Worksheet
Assess your students' knowledge with this ready-to-use worksheet, designed to reinforce grammar and vocabulary points.
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Pedagogical Guide
Objective & Activity Overview
The main pedagogical objective is to reinforce the recognition and memorization of B1 level vocabulary related to business and work verbs (management, finance, marketing) by developing the ability to categorize and identify a verb not related to professional activity. The resource is an "Odd One Out" type exercise composed of seven lines of infinitive verbs. In each line, the majority of verbs describe an action in a professional context (e.g., to organize, to invest, to negotiate), while the odd one out is a verb of concrete action or leisure (e.g., to paint, to dance, to sing, to sail). The student must circle the verb extraneous to the lexical field of work.
Suggested Procedure
Before the activity (~5 min): ACTIVATE SUCCESS LEXICON
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Getting started: The teacher distributes the worksheet. Write 'Business & Work' on the board. Ask students to list action verbs they associate with success or the role of a boss (e.g., to plan, to sell, to buy) to introduce the theme.
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Introduction of the premise: Remind students of the 'Odd One Out' rule. Emphasize the distinction: which verb is an action done for pleasure (the odd one out) versus an action done to earn money or manage a business (the target verbs)?
During the activity (~15-20 min): ANALYZE BUSINESS FUNCTIONS
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Step 1: Individual resolution and semantic verification (10 min). Students read and circle the odd one out. Encourage verification through context: « Is this verb used in an office or a factory? » (Business) or « Is this verb used in a park or a museum? » (Odd One Out).
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Step 2: Peer verification and justification (5-10 min). In pairs, students compare their choices. They prepare oral justification using the complete sentence: « To paint is the odd one out because it is an **art activity** and the others are **business verbs** (or **work actions**). ».
After the activity (~10-15 min): SIMULATE THE BUSINESS WORLD
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Collective correction: Proceed with oral correction. Write business verbs on the board and group them by function (Management: to manage, to organize ; Finance: to invest ; Performance: to succeed, to achieve).
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Oral production: Ask students to choose three verbs from the list and use them to describe the actions of an ideal or real company (e.g., « A good company **organizes** its projects, **invests** money, and tries to **achieve** its goals. »).
Adaptations
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To simplify: First, propose a "match" phase where students connect business verbs to simple synonyms or a conceptual image (e.g., a rising graph for to increase) to ensure comprehension.
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To extend: Introduce nominal forms of B1 verbs (lexical derivation): ask students to find the noun associated with each verb (e.g., to manage -> the **manager** / **management** ; to negotiate -> a **negotiation**).
