American accent
Bright Solutions was a busy office in Manchester.
One Monday morning, the manager, Mr Harris, had some news.
“I have one new manager job,” he said.
“Four people want it.”
The four people were Alex, Ben, Emma, and Lisa.
They all worked in the office. They all wanted the new job.
Mr Harris smiled.
“At the end of this week, I will choose one person.”
The four workers were happy. They wanted to do their best.
They thought it would be a normal week.
They did not know that Mr Harris was watching them very carefully.
On Tuesday morning, Mr Harris asked Ben to come into his office.
“I want to tell you something,” he said.
“But please do not tell anyone.”
Ben smiled.
“I will not.”
When Ben came out, Emma asked, “What did Mr Harris say?”
Ben smiled.
“I can’t tell you.”
Later, Lisa asked the same question.
Then Alex asked.
Ben did not answer.
The next day, people in the office were talking.
“I know who will get the new job,” one person said.
Another person said, “Mr Harris has already chosen.”
Soon, many people were talking about it.
Mr Harris heard them.
He said nothing.
On Thursday, the four workers were having lunch.
Emma saw a brown envelope on a chair.
“What is this?” she asked.
She opened it.
Inside there was a lot of money.
Ben looked inside.
“There is a lot of money,” he said.
“There is no name.”
“We can wait,” Lisa said.
Alex closed the envelope.
“It is not our money,” he said.
He took the envelope to Mr Harris.
“Someone left this,” he said.
Mr Harris smiled.
“Thank you.”
Again, he said nothing more.
On Friday afternoon, Mr Harris left his office for a meeting.
Lisa wanted to look at an old file on his computer.
She opened the wrong file.
Then she clicked the wrong button.
The file was not there.
“Oh no,” she said quietly.
She looked again.
The file was still not there.
She went back to her desk.
She was very afraid.
A few minutes later, Mr Harris came back.
He looked at his computer.
“My file is not here,” he said.
“I need it today.”
The office was very quiet.
Mr Harris looked at the four workers.
“Did anyone use my computer?”
Nobody spoke.
Lisa looked at the floor.
She wanted the new job very much.
“If I tell the truth,” she thought, “I may not get the job.”
Mr Harris asked again.
“Does anyone know what happened?”
Lisa stood up.
“I am sorry,” she said.
“I used your computer.”
“I made a mistake.”
“I think I lost your file.”
Mr Harris smiled.
Then he opened another folder.
The file was there.
“It is here,” he said.
Lisa looked surprised.
“So… the file was never lost?”
“No,” said Mr Harris.
At the end of the day, Mr Harris asked the four workers to come to the meeting room.
They thought he was going to choose the new manager.
Instead, he smiled.
“First, I want to tell you something,” he said.
“This week was not a normal week.”
The four workers looked at each other.
“I wanted to know who should be our new manager.”
“So I watched what you did every day.”
“The talk with Ben…”
“The envelope with the money…”
“And the file on my computer…”
“They were all part of my test.”
The room was very quiet.
Ben looked surprised.
Emma smiled.
Alex said nothing.
Lisa could not believe it.
Mr Harris looked at Ben.
“You worked hard, but you told other people something that was private.”
Then he looked at Alex.
“You were honest with the money.”
Then he looked at Lisa.
“You made a mistake.”
Lisa looked down.
“But you told the truth.”
“You knew you might lose the new job.”
“But you were honest.”
Mr Harris smiled.
“Everybody makes mistakes.”
“The best managers do not hide their mistakes.”
“They tell the truth.”
He looked at Lisa.
“I would like you to be our new manager.”
Lisa smiled.
“Thank you,” she said.
“I will do my best.”
As the four workers left the meeting room, they all learned something important.
Being a good manager is not about being perfect.
It is about doing the right thing, even when nobody tells you they are watching.
📒 Key vocabulary
- carefully – in a slow and careful way, without making mistakes
- chosen (choose, chose, chosen) – pick from a group of people or things
- envelope – a paper cover for a letter or money
- left – (leave, left, left) – put something somewhere and go away
- file – a group of papers or information kept together; on a computer, a document you save
- clicked (click, clicked, clicked) – press a button on a computer mouse
- button – a small part of a computer or machine that you press
- spoke (speak, spoke, spoken) – say something
- folder – a place on a computer where files are kept together
- hide – to put something where other people cannot find or see it
- truth – something that is true
🤔 Comprehension quiz
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