Table of Contents
BEST IELTS General Reading Test 223
IELTS GENERAL READING TEST 223 – PASSAGE – 2
IELTS GENERAL READING TEST – 223
READING PASSAGE – 2
Top Tips for Effective Presentations
1. Show your Passion and Connect with your Audience
It’s hard to be relaxed and be yourself when you’re nervous. But time and again, the great presenters say that the most important thing is to connect with your audience, and the best way to do that is to let your passion for the subject shine through. Be honest with the audience about what is important to you and why it matters. Be enthusiastic and honest, and the audience will respond.
2. Focus on your Audience’s Needs
Your presentation needs to be built around what your audience is going to get out of the presentation. As you prepare the presentation, you always need to bear in mind what the audience needs and wants to know, not what you can tell them. While you’re giving the presentation, you also need to remain focused on your audience’s response, and react to that. You need to make it easy for your audience to understand and respond.
IELTS General Reading Test
3. Keep it Simple. Concentrate on your Core Message
When planning your presentation, you should always keep in mind the question: What is the key message (or three key points) for my audience to takeaway? You should be able to communicate that key message very briefly. Some experts recommend a 30-second ‘elevator summary’, others that you can write it on the back of a business card, or say it in no more than 15 words. Whichever rule you choose, the important thing is to keep your core message focused and brief. And if what you are planning to say doesn’t contribute to that core message, don’t say it.
4. Smile and Make Eye Contact with your Audience
This sounds very easy, but a surprisingly large number of presenters fail to do it. If you smile and make eye contact, you are building rapport, which helps the audience to connect with you and your subject. It also helps you to feel less nervous, because you are talking to individuals, not to a great mass of unknown people. To help you with this, make sure that you don’t turn down all the lights so that only the slide screen is visible. Your audience needs to see you as well as your slides.
IELTS General Reading Test
5. Relax, Breathe and Enjoy
If you find presenting difficult, it can be hard to be calm and relaxed about doing it. One option is to start by concentrating on your breathing. Slow it down, and make sure that you’re breathing fully. Make sure that you continue to pause for breath occasionally during your presentation too. If you can bring yourself to relax, you will almost certainly present better. If you can actually start to enjoy yourself, your audience will respond to that, and engage better. Your presentations will improve exponentially, and so will your confidence. It’s well worth a try.
Questions 15-21
Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the text above for each answer.
15. The audience will …………… if you are enthusiastic and honest.
16. You need to remain focused on your audience’s response and …………… to that.
IELTS General Reading Test
17. At the planning stage, keep in mind the …………… that you want your audience to take away.
18. Whatever you say must contribute to the …………… message of your presentation.
19. Not only your slides, but …………… also must be visible to your audience.
20. To be calm and relaxed during your presentation, concentrate on your …………… .
21. You can present better if you can bring yourself to …………… .
IELTS General Reading Test
Read the text below and answer Questions 22 – 27.
Work / Life Balance:
9 Work Habits to Get You Home On Time
1. Commit to a Departure Time Every Day: There’s something very powerful about defined time frames. If you know you’ve got a drop-dead deadline to get out of your office at 5pm, you’ll work smarter and harder all day to make that happen. Parents of young children in pricey daycares know the drill—many of them charge $5 for every minute past they’re late past closing! Priorities come into sharp relief when you’re racing against the clock and you’ll skip that leisurely coffee, idle chit chat or social media check-up if it means shutting down on time.
2. Don’t Insist on the Last (Email) Word: Ever had that email conversation that just wouldn’t end? The thread in which the last three emails were comprised of responses like, “Thanks,” “Okay,” and “Will do”? Forget the niceties and, at the end of the day, let the conversation go. If you simply can’t resist getting through a few emails before bed to lighten your load for the next day, queue them up and hit send in the morning.
IELTS General Reading Test
3. Stop “Working” an Hour Before You Stop Working: Forget about taking a deep dive into a complicated project or booking a meeting an hour before you’re set to leave. Instead, commit to making the last hour of your workday all about setting yourself up for success the next day. That might mean closing documents on your computer, answering those final emails for the day, tidying your desk and listing your priorities for the next day, so you’re ready to swing back into action the minute you get in the next morning.
4. Protect Your Time & Preserve Your Work Life Balance: Don’t let your overcrowded calendar fool you into thinking you’re uber-productive. If your days are packed from start to finish, the opposite is probably happening. And for good reason! If you’re an ambitious entrepreneur, you want to be saying yes more than no and jamming your days full of ways to move the business forward. But you may be neglecting your basic human needs.
IELTS General Reading Test
5. Leave Errands and Personal “Work” for After Hours: One of the greatest perks of being your own boss is having the flexibility to manage your own time. A quick errand or appointment outside the office will always take longer than you intend for it to and personal phone calls and social media take on a life of their own. If you want to leave on time every day—and avoid working all evening and on weekends—keep the workday items focused on work.
6. Plan Ahead: A highly-effective habit of proven leaders is to build a roadmap of priorities every week—and regularly keep an eye on it to ensure they’re on task. Set aside some time every Friday afternoon to assess what you need to accomplish the following week, prioritizing time-sensitive tasks as you go. You might assign certain tasks to certain days, including scheduled meetings.
When you start the work week with a vision of what your week looks like and what you want to achieve, it’s much easier to make that happen. Most importantly, be realistic. You’re not going to start and finish an updated business plan in a day. For big projects, break it down into smaller, easily attainable pieces so you’re always moving things forward, bits at a time.
IELTS General Reading Test
Questions 22-27
Complete the sentences below using ONE WORD ONLY from the text for each answer.
22. You will ensure you leave your office on time if you have a …………… that cannot be avoided.
23. While exchanging emails at the end of the day one should forget …………… .
24. You should close the documents on your computer in the …………… hour of your workday.
25. You may think that you are very productive if your …………… is over-crowded.
26. You have …………… to manage your time when you do not have a boss.
27. One should plan ahead for the following week on …………… afternoon.
IELTS General Reading Test
ANSWERS ARE BELOW
IELTS General Reading Test
ANSWERS
15. RESPOND
16. REACT
17. KEY-MESSAGE
18. CORE
19. YOU
20. BREATHING
21. RELAX
22. DEADLINE
23. NICETIES
24. LAST
2S. CALENDAR
26. FLEXIBILITY
27. FRIDAY
IELTS General Reading Test