IELTS Reading Practice Test, 3rd April

Table of Contents

IELTS Reading Practice Test – 5, Passage – 2

Reading passage 2

Questions 15-27

Job Search Assistance from the Human Resources Dept.

Economic Woes

The recent downturn in the economy has meant that some of our employees will soon be seeking employees will soon be seeking employment elsewhere. Our company is committed to assisting staff in the search for a new position whenever and wherever we can. Please read the following tips and tools for effective job searching:

Be organized.
First and foremost make sure you are planning your attack on the job market in an organized and professional manner. Apply your talents to the cause for a fixed minimum number of hours per day. Keep records of everything you do. Obtain as much information as possible from reliable sources online and off, and be sure to keep a job search diary. Do not procrastinate. Always return calls when they are made to you, and follow up opportunities the moment they present themselves.
Work on your resume. The important of well-presented, accurate and comprehensive resume cannot be overemphasized. Creating and composing a professional document is essential, but not everyone has specific experience about what and what not to include nor the requisite design skills. To show yourself in your best light, pay someone to perform this task for you. A quality resume be worth a hundred times what you spend on it.
The importance of references. Use relevant references from as many reputable persons and establishments you have worked for in the past as you can. Although current policy forbids the disclosure of reference details, retrenched staff members can expect fair treatment and positive referrals from managers at this company when dismissal is due to unavoidable downsizing.
Use a variety of search options. Use a job search agency to get the best jobs (you should not have to pay up front for this – or usually at all, since commission is obtained later from your employer). Peruse ads online and in the daily papers, both local and statewide. Contact companies direct, and make it known that your talents are for hire. Social media websites, including Twitter and Face book can help. Ask us how.
Get networked. It can help a great deal to get others involved in your search. Te moral support of friends in a similar position to you will combine with your help towards them and create a synergy that opens doors and Moves Mountains!
Dress well for the interview. Job applications do not always look the part. A prospective employer can easily be turned off by a scruffy person with good qualifications. Package yourself as you would a top product, for that is how you must present yourself. Incidentally, women are not advised to wear too much jewellery or make-up to an interview.
Send a thank you note. Once your interview is over, and if you know it went well, consider sending a thank you note to the interviewer. The job application is not oven when you walk out the door. This small step can help resurrect your chance if the number of candidates for the job is large. Surprisingly, few people take advantage of this opportunity to be remembered.
Keep a positive outlook. It is all too easy to become discourages after failing to secure a job after a number of attempts. Try to learn something from each interview experience so that your failures will count towards your eventual success. Mock interview sessions can be arranged in the evening between managerial and floor staff. Contact Joan Blackwell on 0402-969-465 or speak directly with your manger.
Things to avoid. Don’t imagine that get rich quick schemes or gambling with your payout funds will help you through the lean times. Job scams are an unfortunate fact of working life. If the job sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Never hand over money to a prospective employer in the hope that his or her offer of training will result in employment. More often than not, the job will fail to materialize.

Questions 15-17

Complete the following sentences with suitable words or phrases from the text above. Write your answers in boxes 15-17 on your answer sheet.

Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.

EXAMPLE:

The economic downturn is the reason that some staff members will be
……………………………………seeking employment……………………………………..

15. When an opportunity arises follow it up immediately; in other words,
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
16. It is not possible to …………………………….the need for a quality resume.

17. When staff lose their jobs due to downsizing, they will receive
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Questions 18-20

Choose the correct letter from A-D. Write your answers in boxes 18-20 on your answer sheet.

Example: A good resume should include references

   A. regardless of their relevance
   B. only if they are relevant.
   C.  from all sources
   D. both positive and negative.                            ANSWER B

18. The Human Recourses Dept.
A. Keeps the content of references private.
B. Always gives a good reference to past employers.
C. Advertises in the daily papers.
D. Will contact companies directly for you.

19. Paying a job search agency is
A. Only necessary once you have landed the job.
B. Not often the obligation of the job-seeker.
C. An option to choose if you wish to get the better jobs.
D. All of the above.

20. At the interview session, you are advised
A. To dress well but not to overdo the accessories.
B. To take something positive from the interview.
C. Not to accept costly training that might result in you being hired.
D. All of the above.

Question 21

Choose THREE letters from A-G. Write your answer in box 21 on your answer sheet.

Which THREE of the job search tips below are NOT mentioned in the text?

A. Be regular in your job-seeking efforts
B. Be selective when you record events in your job search diary
C. Send your resume to as many companies as possible
D.Team up with other job-seekers
E. sharpen your interview skills with role-plays
F. follow up on potentially successful interviews
G. upgrade your job skills while looking for work

Questions 22-27

Read the text below and answer Question 22-27.

Work Overtime – Facts and Fiction

Working overtime for no pay has become standard practice in most offices and factories throughout the U.K., U.S., and even Australia and New Zealand – countries where Workers’ Union once ruled supreme. Gone are the days when union bosses could and would order workers to down tools and strike if employers so much as requested a minute of voluntary unpaid work time. What has gone wrong? Or right, depending on your viewpoint?

The financial crisis that overwhelmed the world in September 2008 has been labeled the villain that finally put to rest any notion of compensation for overtime. Airline crews have regularly worked 15-hour shifts for many years with no such luxury. Restaurant staff starting at lunchtime can easily put in 12 hours a day with no expectation of extra pay for their trouble. The difference is that now, right across the board, workers are being asked to stay back at work or run the risk of not being asked to return. It might not be legal just yet, but it is happening.

In Australia, a new Nation Employment Standard says “an employer must not request an employee work more than 38 hours unless the additional hours are reasonable”. But how does an employee argue that additional hours are unreasonable? Unreasonable for Whom and Why? What exactly constitute an unreasonable request to work back later? Working more than 50 hours a week is considered the uppermost limit before work starts to affect your health – according to the International Labour Organisation – but many workers are expected to work as many or more hours to satisfy the ever-increasing consumer demand for a shop or business to stay open and compete in the modern economy.

This situation does not come as news to most older Asian workers who have long been used to working vast numbers of hours per week for a little or no extra monetary reward; however, there is a recent argument that is hard not to accept: worldwide living standards have increased to very high levels for many millions of consumers in the West, and large parts of Asia and fast catching up.

In China and India for example, once considered slow growth economies, the reward for exceptionally hard work is beginning to pay off, with millions of people now able to afford cars and whitegoods that were once luxuries enjoyed in the West.

The fact is that working long and hard pays dividends; if not in the pay packet, then at the pump or at the local supermarket where prices are kept well within reasonable limits while living standards climb slowly higher for the benefit of all. Workers find it difficult to argue for higher wages for more work achieved when consumer rewards are already being felt across the entire world economy. At the same time, boss can extract more and more hours from staff without having to pay for it. Paid overtime is becoming a distant memory.

Questions 22-27

Look at the following statements
Write
TRUE – if the statement is true
FALSE – if the statement is false
NOT GIVEN – if the information is not given in the text.

Write your answers in boxes 22-27 on your answer sheet.

22. Unpaid overtime is limited to the airline and restaurant industry. ……………………………..
23. Workers who refuse to perform unpaid overtime can be lawfully sacked. ………………………….
24. Working back late is bad for your health. ……………………………
25. Asian workers now spend more than Western workers. …………………………..
26. Living standards across the global are steadily increasing. …………………………………
27. Paid overtime may not be necessary when living standards are high. ……………………………

See More Posts