Heads Up English | ESL Lessons - The Perils of Business Travel

The Perils of Business Travel

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Details: Parent Category: Advanced News Lessons; Category: Business Lessons; Written by Chris Cotter

Although technology has enabled videoconferencing, complete with multiple participants in multiple locations, business travel still proves a necessity for some industries, organizations, and positions. A few reasons include: Difficulties with time zones, the need to have project participants together for brainstorming sessions, or even just an old-fashioned mindset in which an employee's physical presence is a necessity to get anything done. However, new data confirms what has long been suspected: Frequent business travel is bad for you.

To start, in terms of health, a traveler's circadian rhythm gets disrupted with travel. This refers to your physical, mental, and behavioral cycle each day, such as when you wake up at a regular time in the morning or experience a dip in energy in the early afternoon. Your mood, ability to concentrate, and judgment are all negatively impacted from travel.

Anyone who has experienced jet lag comprehends just what it feels like to be several hours off a regular schedule. However, the immune system is also compromised, and this can mean a greater likelihood for colds and flu. Even worse, the risk of a heart attack and stroke also increase with frequent travel. And lastly, the business traveler also receives increased exposure to radiation; monthly flights from New York to London put a person above the maximum annual dosage.

There are other negatives too, one of which is the effects on family. Missed birthdays and other important events like milestones can become a regular occurrence, and which lead to the loss of the traveler's familial role. All in all, there are a lot of perils related to business travel.

Preview some of the lesson material:

Warm Up: Do you agree or disagree? Why?

I love to travel!
I love to travel for business!
Business travel is completely unnecessary these days.
My job requires a lot of travel.
Business travel has no effect on your health.

Fragments: Remember how the fragments were used, and complete the sentence from today's article.

However, new data confirms what has long been suspected: Frequent...
This refers to your physical, mental, and behavioral cycle each day, such as when you...
However, the immune system is also compromised, and this can mean...
Monthly flights from New York to London put a person...
Missed birthdays and other important events like milestones can become a regular occurrence...

post-Comprehension: Talk about the following questions in pairs/groups. Remember to support your answers!

Do you need to travel a lot for business? (Or have you traveled a lot in the past?)
Are there any places you wouldn't want to visit for business? Why?
What are your opinions about business travel? Please explain.
Will business travel ever be a thing of the past or will it always be necessary? Why?
If 20% of your job required you to travel, would this be a problem? How about 50%?

Google Search: Type "business travel" into Google. Look at the websites, and/or read additional articles on this topic. Discuss or write an essay about your findings.