B2 – Upper Intermediate
How much do American CEOs make compared to their employees in a year? The reasonable answer would be twenty times, fifty times, or maybe even a hundred times. In truth, these big CEOs can make a thousand times what their employees earn in a year. And worse, this gap will only widen with the advent of Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill.”
To find out more, watch the video below.
Vocabulary Questions:
- What does “on the floor” mean in this context, “All these companies are super profitable. Wouldn’t it make sense for them to just have enough staff scheduled on the floor?” Use this phrase in a sentence and give a synonym.
- What is a “corporate raider”? “Danny Lovito plays a corporate raider who is trying to convince the shareholders of a small New England cable company to sell him their shares so that they can cash out when he liquidates the company.” Use this term in a sentence and give a synonym.
- What does “to turn the bull loose” mean? “We’re going to turn the bull loose.” Use this idiom in a sentence and give a synonym.
Discussion Questions:
- In your opinion, why does the Big Beautiful Bill reduce the taxes of powerful companies?
- What is your opinion on the “Big Beautiful Bill”? Do you think it will worsen or improve the gap between the rich and the working classes?
- Do you think that the current systems that allow companies to earn big profits should be reformed? If so, why?
- If you were given the opportunity, how would you try to fix the money gap between the working and the CEOs of these big companies?