What Ants Know About Running a Company
Grammar: Participle clauses in professional writing
A Business English English lesson exploring science.
What's in this lesson
A Business English ESL lesson on science, practising participle clauses in professional writing. The worksheet has a reading, target vocabulary, a grammar reference with practice and discussion questions.
From the reading: What Ants Know About Running a Company
An army ant colony has no manager, no organisation chart and no strategic plan. Yet a colony of 200,000 workers, led by no one, feeds itself, relocates overnight and repairs its own bridges. In 1994, the biologist Deborah Gordon began studying harvester ants in Arizona, and her findings unsettled many business thinkers.
Vocabulary
- changes
- disturbed
- fixes
- small-scale
- at the top
- by definition
- in practice
- in the long run
- on the ground
Grammar
- Present participle clause
- Designed around simple rules, the system adapts quickly. — adds background information
- Perfect participle clause
- Having touched several foragers, the ant leaves. — one action before another
Discussion questions
- What makes a team work well together?
- Should every decision at work need approval?
- Which animal would make the best employee?
What Ants Know About Running a Company
Grammar: Participle clauses in professional writing
What's in this lesson:
Full lesson plan with reading, grammar, vocabulary, and discussion.
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