📝 Workbook · Business B1 · Unit 8

The way we used to work — Workbook

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Exercise 1

1. Vocabulary gap-fill

Complete each sentence with ONE word or phrase from the box.

Word bank — drag or tap, then tap a gap
  1. The manual copy-paste step is the biggest  drop  in our order flow.
  2. We're going to  drop  the old CRM by the end of Q3.
  3. The team ran a two-hour  drop  after the incident.
  4. We  drop  the new invoicing tool to the sales team last week.
  5. The mainframe is a  drop  — nobody wants to touch it, but it still runs payroll.
  6. By December we will have  drop  all customer data to the new database.
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Exercise 2

2. used to / didn't use to / did you use to

Put the verb in the correct form.

  1. We (fly) to Zurich every quarter for the planning meeting.
  2. The office (be) on the third floor before we moved.
  3. We (not / have) video calls with the client — everything was by phone.
  4. (you / work) on Saturdays in your first job?
  5. People (smoke) at their desks in most European offices.
  6. We (not / send) written apologies — a phone call was enough.
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Exercise 3

3. 'used to' vs 'be used to' vs 'get used to'

Choose the correct option.

  1. I ___ work from home in 2019 — now I'm back in the office.

  2. I ___ working from home now — I've done it for three years.

  3. It's my first month in the new office and I ___ the noise.

  4. The new CRM is different, but we ___ it.

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Exercise 4

4. Which sentence is stronger?

Choose the version that sounds more honest and concrete.

  1. Describing a real change:

  2. Naming what changed:

  3. 'Then vs now':

  4. In an interview answer:

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Exercise 5

5. Find and fix the mistake

Each sentence has ONE mistake.

  1. We didn't used to have Slack.
  2. Every Monday she would be on the third floor.
  3. I'm used to work from home.
  4. Did you used to work on Saturdays?
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Exercise 6

6. Listening — three founders, three 'then vs now' stories

Three small-business founders describe how their company used to work — and what changed after one specific incident.

  1. Which founder's story is the most concrete?
  2. Which founder sounds nostalgic without naming a real change?
  3. Which founder sounds rehearsed rather than honest?
Show transcript

Fatima:We used to be a real family here. Now we're bigger. We used to have Friday drinks every week — I don't know when that stopped.

Rafael:We used to run payroll manually, one person, no review. In April a bug overcharged tax by €12,000. After the incident we ran a real post-mortem. Now we do a weekly finance review and two-person approval on any payroll change.

Elena:We used to be scared of mistakes; now we grow through them. Every setback is a stepping stone. We lean into failure.

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Exercise 7

7. Writing — your 'then vs now' paragraph

Write a 4–5 sentence paragraph starting: 'After the incident, we changed the way we work.' Use AT LEAST two 'used to' sentences, one 'didn't use to' sentence, ONE named incident and ONE specific process fix. Max 90 words.

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Exercise 8

8. Case study preview

Before Case Study 8, answer briefly.

  1. A food-delivery app gets 40 one-star reviews in one weekend after a bug. Do you send one company statement or reply to each review?
  2. The founder wants to say 'we've learned from this'. Rewrite that sentence in a way an actual customer would believe.
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