The Perils of Business Travel
- Details
- Parent Category: Lower-Intermediate News Lessons
- Category: Business Lessons
- Written by Chris Cotter
Technology has people to videoconference with one another, even when many people are in different locations. However, business travel is still necessary for some industries, organizations, and positions.
There are many reasons for business travel. For example, distant time zones might cause a problem with communication. Or people who work on a project in various locations need to sometimes meet together. Or the company environment might be somewhat old-fashioned, and so managers think on-site work is more productive. However, new data shows that frequent business travel is unhealthy.
Travel disrupts a person's body clock. The body clock refers to your physical, mental, and behavioral cycle each day. For example, you may wake up at a regular time or feel tired in the early afternoon. Travel negatively affects your mood and ability to concentrate.
When people travel, they are more likely to catch a cold or flu too. Even more serious, the business traveler receives increased amounts of radiation. If someone flew from New York to London every month, they would get more than the maximum annual amount of radiation.
There are other negatives too, one of which is related to family. Frequent business travelers miss birthdays and anniversaries. The traveler may also miss milestones, such as a child's first day of school. 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, business travel is still necessary for...
- Or the company environment might be somewhat old-fashioned, and so...
- The body clock refers to...
- If someone flew from New York to London every month, they would...
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.
- What are some positive points related to business travel?
- What other serious risks to your health can come from work? Please explain.
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.