Often we talk about the difference between the north and south of Spain. Italy is another country with big perceived differences between north and south. Here’s a story from NPR’s Planet Money. First, some phrasal verbs which will be important for you:
Shut down (1:44) – cerrar
Show up (Title, 1:34, 1:43) – asistir, aparecer
Turns out (2:05) – resulta que, al final
Get away with it (3:45) – salirse con la suya
Rat (somebody) out (5:57) – delatar
Shut down (1:44) – cerrar
Show up (Title, 1:34, 1:43) – asistir, aparecer
Turns out (2:05) – resulta que, al final
Get away with it (3:45) – salirse con la suya
Rat (somebody) out (5:57) – delatar
Now listen to the story. You can also download it as an .mp3 file here.
(0:13) How are northern and southern Italy different?
(1:23) Why is it so important that everybody goes to work at the factory?
(2:10) What was the problem at the Barilla factory in Foggia?
(2:56) What would happen if the absenteeism rate didn’t go down?
(3:20) What did Calendrea have to do?
(3:40) What was Calendrea’s theory? What was the first step he took to correct the problem?
(3:48) What was the second step?
(4:11)What was the third step/”master stroke”?
(4:40) What was the other “big step”?
(5:09) What was the turning point (punto de inflexión)?
(6:11) What was Calandrea’s solution? And the result?
Finished? Check your answers with the transcript.
