Free Vaughan world by Richard Vaughan Page B

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33. LUIGI BARGHINI
    Luigi Barghini’s son, Roberto, has just finished his engineering degree at the University of Milan. Luigi is very proud of him because he graduated second in his class. It took him six years instead of the usual five to get his degree, because he specialized in two different fields of industrial engineering: organization and robotics. It’s very rare for a student to specialize in two different fields. In fact, it’s usually not permitted, but four years ago, Roberto asked his father to speak to the Dean of the Engineering School at the university to get permission. Luigi thought that his son was a little crazy to want to study two different areas of engineering, but he helped his son get permission to do what he wanted. The Dean of the Engineering School knew Luigi quite well. Thirty years before, he had been one year ahead of him at the same university. They hadn’t been close friends at that time, but since then, Luigi had asked his old school mate to send him the best young engineers graduating from the University of Milan. Thanks to some of these engineers, Luigi’s company had become the second largest car seat manufacturer in Europe. Now Luigi has to make a decision about Roberto, who has just turned 24. Roberto would like to work as a consultant in organization and computer integrated systems. However, Luigi thinks he should work in the family company with his father and sister. Roberto has already received an offer to work for Accenture, a large American company with offices in Milan, and he is tempted to take the job. He thinks that his sister, Anna, is perfectly capable of running the family business with Luigi’s help and, besides, he doesn’t see much challenge in working in a car seat factory, even if it’s the second biggest in Europe. Luigi thinks that, with Anna and Roberto, the company could easily become the number one supplier of car seats in Europe.

    1. What has Roberto just finished?
    2. Did he study engineering in the U.K.?
    3. Where did he study engineering?
    4. Why is Luigi proud of him?
    5. How long did it take him to get his degree?
    6. How long does it usually take to get a degree?
    7. Why did it take Roberto one more year?
    8. What fields of engineering did he specialize in?
    9. Why is it rare for people to specialize in two fields?
    10. What did Roberto ask his father to do four years ago?
    11. What did Luigi think about Roberto’s plans?
    12. Did Luigi help his son get permission?
    13. Why was Luigi able to get permission for his son?
    14. Why did he know the Dean of Engineering?
    15. How long ago did they study together?
    16. Who is older, Luigi or the Dean?
    17. Were they close friends when they were studying?
    18. Why did Luigi stay in contact with the Dean?
    19. What had these young engineers done for Luigi?
    20. What kind of decision does Luigi have to make?
    21. How old is Roberto?
    22. What would he like to do for a living?
    23. What does Luigi think he should do?
    24. What company has Roberto received an offer from?
    25. Where are the world headquarters of Accenture?
    26. Where are the Italian offices?
    27. What is Roberto tempted to do regarding Accenture?
    28. What does he think about his sister, Anna?
    29. What does he think about working in his father’s company?
    30. What does Luigi think Roberto and Anna can achieve if they work together?

34. PAULA EISENBACH
    Paula Eisenbach feels relieved today. Yesterday, she told her friend Tom Sanders that she had decided not to go to California with him during the Christmas holidays. Tom was very upset and they had a long argument. Finally, Paula had to tell him the truth. She told him that she enjoyed working with him and that she had learned a lot. Then she told him that she wasn’t ready to have a deeper relationship. Tom got angry and told her that he didn’t want her to help him anymore with the Disney drawings. Paula knew he would react that way. She had been helping him for almost two months