Reading B2 - Work life balance - 

 

Vocabulary Definitions Score 10/10 100%

 

1. …h… idle chit-chat 

2. …d… maternity leave 

3. …j… to bounce ideas off someone 

4. …f… to wear someone out 

5. …c… to clock in 

6. …g… to make a concession 

7. …e… paid on a pro-rata basis 

8. …i… a freelancer 

9. …a… a commute 

10. ..b… to be left to your own devices 

a. a regular journey between work and home 

b. to be allowed to decide what to do by yourself 

c. to record the time you begin work 

d. a period of time a woman takes off work due to the birth of a child 

e. calculated according to how many hours you work 

f. to make someone very tired 

g. to give or allow something in order to end an argument or conflict 

h. talk that is informal and irrelevant to work 

i. a person who sells their services or work by the hour or day 

j. to share ideas with someone in order to get feedback on them

Task 1 - Circle the best answer. Score: 6/6 -  100%

 

1. Ronan would prefer it if he … 

a. wasn’t left to his own devices. 

b. could spend more time commuting and less time in the office. 

c. could work from home and be judged based on task performance. 

d. could trust his boss more.

 

2. Jo wanted to reduce her working hours because she … 

a. thought she would be more efficient and productive when she was at the office. 

b. wanted to bring her work home. 

c. wanted to go on maternity leave. 

d. wanted to spend time with her children. 

 

3. Jo is unhappy with her three-day work week because … 

a. she didn’t realise how much the change would affect her economically. 

b. She now has to spend more time looking after her children and her family. 

c. she has more deadlines to meet. 

d. her workload has remained the same although she’s reduced her hours. 

4. In Marcus’s opinion, which of these is a disadvantage of working from home? 

a. You spend a lot of time in the house. 

b. It’s easy to get distracted by your family. 

c. You tend to work later. 

d. You end up eating more as you have access to the fridge all day. 

 

5. Why did Lily not like working from home? 

a. She found it lonely. 

b. Her family didn’t like her working. 

c. She didn’t have a good Wi-Fi connection. 

d. There were a lot of distractions. 

 

6. What solution did Lily find most suitable for her working needs? 

a. Renting an office space to work from. 

b. Working from a café. 

c. Working for an employer. 

d. Working for other freelancers. 

Task 2 - Are the sentences true or false? Answer. Score: 6/6 -  100%

 

1. Ronan’s boss thinks his employees will not be as productive if they work from home. T

2. Ronan thinks that the performance of employees should be judged according to how much     F      time they spend in the office. 

3. Jo is paid the same for a five-day work week as she is on a three-day week. F

4. Jo feels exhausted trying to manage both a five-day workload and childcare. T

5. Although Marcus sees the benefit in not having idle chit-chat, he misses interacting with his    T colleagues. 

6. Lily didn’t like working from the café because the coffee wasn’t very good. F

 

 

 

Listening B2 - Film review (Errors are underlined)

 

Vocabulary Definition Score 8/8 100%

 

1. …b… a character

2. …g… pace 

3. …a… a sequel 

4. …d… to set 

5. …e… a poster 

6. …h… special effects 

7. …f… to cast 

8. …c… the plot 

 

a. the second, third, fourth, etc. of a film or book 

b. a person in a story 

c. the story 

d. to locate a film or book in a place 

e. a large picture to advertise a film 

f. to choose actors 

g. the speed of the events of a story 

h. computer graphics or other ways of making amazing scenes for films and television 

Task 1 - Write the descriptions in the correct group - Score 7/8 88%

 

First film review:

-Is the second in the story 

-Has unrealistic characters 

-The reviewer hated it. 

-Was what the reviewer expected 

 

Second film review:

-Was better than the reviewer expected 

-The reviewer felt sympathetic towards the characters. 

-Made the reviewer feel like a child again 

-Is a story a lot of people already know   

Task 2 - Are the sentences true or false? Answer.Score: 5/6 83%

 

1. The reviewer didn’t think she was going to enjoy the first film. True

2. The first scene of the first film is important for the rest of the film. False

3. The reviewer was glad the first film was set in a different country. False

4. There is another sequel planned for the first film. False

5. The reviewer had some doubts about the actors who were chosen for the second film. True

6. The second film made the reviewer think about her children. False