The Reading / Listening - Pay / Salaries - Level 5

Elon Musk has been given a record-breaking pay deal of $56 billion by the shareholders of Tesla. The huge remuneration package is 3,000 times the average pay for a CEO in the USA. The average income in the USA in 2023 was $59,384. At that salary, it would take 943,014 years to earn $56 billion. Mr Musk's salary was agreed upon at Tesla's annual general meeting on Friday. Musk responded by telling the investors at the meeting that: "We have the most awesome shareholder base.…We are not just opening a new chapter for Tesla, we are starting a new book."

Musk's pay settlement was blocked by a court earlier this year. The judge said the size of the pay was unfair. However, shareholders said the deal was fair and in Tesla's best interests. Over 70 per cent of shareholders favoured the deal. The BBC quoted a car industry analyst as saying the vote was "a pretty ringing endorsement". He extolled Musk's business acumen. He said: "There's been about a 1,100% appreciation in Tesla stock, and that's pretty impressive. Most chief executives have never done anything like that." Shares in Tesla closed 3 per cent up on Friday.

Try the same news story at these levels:

    Pay / Salaries - Level 4 or  Pay / Salaries - Level 6

Sources
  • https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cleezyxjv4jo
  • https://www.ft.com/content/86a238ba-5a2b-4960-806d-df5cbe796c05
  • https://finance.yahoo.com/news/stock-market-today-nasdaq-ekes-out-5th-straight-record-to-cap-banner-week-for-tech-200532691.html


Make sure you try all of the online activities for this reading and listening - There are dictations, multiple choice activities, drag and drop activities, sentence jumbles, which word activities, text reconstructions, spelling, gap fills and a whole lot more. Please enjoy :-)

Phrase Matching

Paragraph 1

  1. The huge remuneration
  2. 3,000 times the average for
  3. The average income in
  4. it would take 943,014 years
  5. Mr Musk's salary was
  6. at a Tesla meeting
  7. Musk responded by telling
  8. the most awesome shareholder
  1. to earn $56 billion
  2. agreed upon
  3. base
  4. CEOs in the US
  5. on Friday
  6. package
  7. the US is $59,384
  8. investors

Paragraph 2

  1. Musk's pay deal was blocked
  2. The judge said the size
  3. it was in Tesla's best
  4. The BBC quoted a car industry
  5. the vote was a pretty ringing
  6. He praised Musk's business
  7. a 1,100% appreciation
  8. Shares in Tesla
  1. in Tesla stock
  2. interests
  3. endorsement
  4. closed 3 per cent up
  5. was unfair
  6. analyst
  7. skills
  8. by a court

Listening — Listen and fill in the gaps

Elon Musk has been (1) ___________________-breaking pay deal of $56 billion. (2) ___________________ package is 3,000 times the average for CEOs in the US. The (3) ___________________ the US is $59,384. At that salary, it would take 943,014 (4) ___________________ $56 billion. Mr Musk's salary was (5) ___________________ a Tesla meeting on Friday. Musk responded by telling investors: "We have (6) ___________________ shareholder base."

Musk's pay (7) ___________________ by a court earlier this year. The judge said the (8) ___________________. However, over 70 per cent of shareholders said it was in (9) ___________________. The BBC quoted a car industry analyst. He said the vote was "(10) ___________________ endorsement". He praised Musk's business skills. He said: "There's been a 1,100% appreciation in Tesla stock, and (11) ___________________. Shares (12) ___________________ 3 per cent up on Friday.

Put a slash (/) where the spaces are

ElonMuskhasbeengivenarecord-breakingpaydealof$56billion.Theh
ugeremunerationpackageis3,000timestheaverageforCEOsintheUS.
TheaverageincomeintheUSis$59,384.Atthatsalary,itwouldtake943,
014yearstoearn$56billion.MrMusk'ssalarywasagreeduponataTesla
meetingonFriday.Muskrespondedbytellinginvestors:"Wehavethem
ostawesomeshareholderbase."Musk'spaydealwasblockedbyacourte
arlierthisyear.Thejudgesaidthesizewasunfair.However,over70perc
entshareholderssaiditwasinTesla'sbestinterests.TheBBCquotedacar
industryanalyst.Hesaidthevotewas"aprettyringingendorsement".H
epraisedMusk'sbusinessskills.Hesaid:"There'sbeena1,100%appreci
ationinTeslastock,andthat'sprettyimpressive.SharesinTeslaclosed3
percentuponFriday.

Student survey

Write five GOOD questions about this topic in the table. Do this in pairs. Each student must write the questions on his / her own paper. When you have finished, interview other students. Write down their answers.

(Please look at page 12 of the PDF to see a photocopiable example of this activity.)

Discussion — Write your own questions

STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)

(a) ________________

(b) ________________

(c) ________________

(d) ________________

(e) ________________

(f) ________________

(g) ________________

(h) ________________

STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)

(i) ________________

(j) ________________

(k) ________________

(l) ________________

(m) ________________

(n) ________________

(o) ________________

(p) ________________

Free writing

Write about this topic for 10 minutes. Comment on your partner’s paper.

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Answers

(Please check your answers against the article above.

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