SPEAKING - LESSON 1: WORK AND STUDY

Topic: Objectives:
- Vocabulary: Work and Study, Concentration - Learning about working and studying
- Speaking: Strong/Weak forms, Stress - Developing a Part 1 answer
- Skills: Listening, Speaking

VOCABULARY
1. The words in bold are used in the reading passage. Read the text below. Then write the
correct form of each word next to its definition.
Before an exam, some students cram for it. Even if you're a genius, you'll have to do some
revision. If the exam happens every year, you can revise by looking at past papers. Some things
can be memorised or learnt (off) by heart. But rote-learning is not sufficient for most subjects.
It is also possible to use mnemonics. However, all things considered, the best idea is to bury
yourself in your books and to study intensively until you know the subject inside out.
1. ______________ (v) to study in a very concentrated way for a short time.
2. ______________ (v) to spend the maximum time studying
3. ______________ (v) to learn purely by repetition
4. ______________ (adv) in a very focused way
5. ______________ (v) to know something completely
6. ______________ (n) tricks that help you remember something

2. Complete the sentences below with the correct form of the words and phrases.
comprehensive education (n) – two-tier system (n) – better-off (adj) – less well-off (adj)
- have endowments/are well-endowed (adj) – perceived (adj) – tertiary education (n) - excel
(v) – depresses (v) – inherent in (adj) – elitism (n)
1. Inequality is built into the education system.
2. Giving access only to privileged groups is bad for the country in the long term.
3. Education where everyone gets into the same type of school without exams is a basic political
ideal in many countries.
4. A system where there are two levels of schools reduces the opportunities for children from
poorer families and favours those from richer families.
5. Some private schools have lots of wealth and receive gifts of money, and this means they can
have better resources.
6. All parents want their children to achieve the best possible results at school.
7. Emphasis on the three Rs is considered by parents to be the key to success.
8. The government is increasing its provision for education that young people can enter after
finishing secondary school.

3. Read the following paragraphs and complete the tasks that follow.
DIFFERENT WORK PATTERNS
James: I do fairly mundane tasks.
Occasionally, I have to meet a deadline or they need someone to volunteer for something. Then

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the job is more rewarding and stimulating. Sometimes I have a heavy workload but at other times
it can be quite light.
Jack: I start work at my machine at seven o'clock when I'm on the day shift.
The job’s mechanical and repetitive. All I ever think about is knocking off at three o'clock.
The shift I hate most is the night shift. I start at ten and work till six in the morning.
It’s a bit monotonous. It’s not a satisfying job - I feel I need something a bit more challenging.
David: I have a pretty glamorous job.
I'm a pilot. But the hours are irregular and anti-social.I'm not stuck behind a desk, but long-haul
flights can be a bit mind-numbing; most of the time the plane just flies itself.
We work to very tight schedules. But I shouldn’t complain. I feel sorry for people who are stuck
in a rut or who are in dead-end jobs.
Alice: I started off as a technician.
After retraining, I worked for a software company, and later I went in with a friend and we
formed our own software company as a start-up in 2009, so now I'm self-employed.
My husband is freelance; he works for several different companies as and when they need work
done - he’s a computer programmer.

a. Match the words from column A to their meaning in column B

1. mundane a. finishing work (informal)
2. meet a deadline b. stuck/trapped in a job they can’t escape from
3. knocking off c. formed a business partnership with
4. monotonous d. boring because it never changes
5. anti-social e. do not enable one to have a normal social life
6. mind-numbing f. with no prospects of promotion
7. stuck in a rut g. ordinary, not interesting
8. dead-end h. have something finished by a fixed day or time
9. went in with i. extremely boring

b. Complete the sentences with words and phrases from the passage.
1. A good friend suggested we set up a small company together, so I ______________ her and
we formed a ______________ in 2012.
2. I’m really tired; I’ve had a very heavy ______________ recently.
3. I don’t want an office job. I don’t want to spend all day stuck ______________.
4. I’d hate to feel trapped in my job and to be stuck in ______________.
5. I work for different companies at different times as it suits me. I’m ______________.
6. I used to work for someone else, but now I’m my own boss; I’m ______________.
7. I stopped working in the hamburger restaurant. It was such a dead ______________.
8. When I was working in the factory, all I could think of all day was the moment when I could
______________.
9. Being a hospital nurse is a good job, but you can’t go out much with friends. The hours are a
bit ______________.
10. I find ______________ annoying, because it means I don't have my own desk where I can

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keep things at work.

4. Find expressions from the passage below which mean the opposite of the underlined
words or phrases.
Finding job satisfaction is not always easy. For some, a pleasant workplace with supportive
colleagues is enough to feel fulfilled. However, others may struggle if they find themselves in a
run-of-the-mill job that feels ordinary and lacks excitement. While a high salary or short-term
financial reward can be attractive, it often does little to boost staff morale if employees feel
unappreciated or overworked.
One way to improve satisfaction at work is through teamwork. When people collaborate
effectively, they not only solve problems faster but also build stronger relationships with their
colleagues. In contrast, working in a stressful environment without a sense of job stability can
leave employees feeling insecure about their future.
In today's fast-moving industries, achieving a good work-life balance can be a challenge. Some
people thrive in a dynamic environment that is constantly evolving, while others become
demotivated by the pressure to adapt quickly. For those who feel unfulfilled in their current role,
looking to work in or seeking a career in a different field might be the best solution. Switching
careers is not easy, but finding a role that aligns with your skills and interests can lead to greater
job satisfaction in the long run.

1. a very unusual, exciting job 5. compulsory redundancy

2. a person who is highly motivated 6. a full staff of workers
3. a rather static and slow-moving 7. someone who has a light workload and is paid
profession a lot
4. a drop in salary 8. an automatic pay rise each year

LISTENING
5. You will be listening to a video titled “Why you procrastinate even when it feels bad.”
Listen and choose the correct answer A, B, C, or D.
1. What is procrastination?
a. Prioritizing certain tasks over others
b. Refusing to complete certain tasks for ethical reasons
c. Making a poorly organized schedule for completing tasks
d. Avoiding certain tasks for no good reason
2. Procrastination is the result of our bodies trying to ____ us.
a. Sabotage b. Protect c. Harm d. Desensitize
3. Which part of the brain is responsible for the fear response associated with procrastination?
a. Prefrontal cortex b. Hippocampus c. Amygdala d. Pituitary gland
4. Which of these groups of people are most likely to be procrastinators?
a. People who struggle with self-control and impulsivity
b. People who struggle with low self-esteem and emotional regulation
c. People who struggle with low energy and general apathy

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d. People who struggle with insomnia and dietary balance
5. Why have many researchers come to believe that strict discipline is not an effective way to
combat procrastination?
a. Being too hard on yourself can make the task at hand feel more threatening.
b. Rigid schedules are too often subject to change.
c. It's impossible to discipline oneself.
d. Procrastination is a genetically inherited trait.

6. You will be listening to a video titled “Five ways to stop getting distracted”. Listen and
create a Concept Map detailing the key information in the video.
Note: You do not need to include every detail of the video in your Concept Map.

SPEAKING
In the first part of the test, the examiner will ask you general questions about yourself and a
range of familiar topics, such as home, family, work, studies, and interests. This part lasts
between four and five minutes, and you will be asked three sets of topics (the first one is one of
the three topics: Work, Study, and Hometown) with 3-5 questions each. The skills the examiners
are testing are:
• Your ability to give personal information
• Fluency
• Topical vocabulary
Dos Don’ts
• Try to speak naturally • Try not to speak for too long or for too
• Give simple answers short a time
• Give examples where necessary • Don’t develop your ideas too much
• Take minor risks • NEVER memorize answers
• Do not try to impress the examiner

STRESS AND WEAK FORMS

In the English language, we have function words and content words. Function or grammatical
words are words that express a grammatical or structural relationship with other words in a
sentence, while content words are words that have meaning. Nouns, main verbs, adjectives and
adverbs are usually content words while Auxiliary verbs, pronouns, articles, and prepositions are
usually function words.

When speaking, we use stress to distinguish between function words and content words.
Function words are generally unstressed, and thus, reduced to weak forms whereas content
words are generally stressed.

Stress is an extra force exerted on a particular syllable or a particular word in spoken language.
The stressed syllable or word is said with greater energy, and stands out in a word, phrase or

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sentence. There are two types of stress: word stress and sentence stress. Sentence stress is not
fixed. It depends on the speakers’ feelings and attitudes and the message that he wants to get
across to the listener.

Stress is used to signal new as opposed to old/given information. When answering Wh-questions,
we should emphasize the information that the questioner is asking for. The remaining
information is either given or old information, and so is unstressed.
E.g. Do ‘you want pizza for dinner?
Do you want ‘pizza for dinner?
Do you want pizza for ‘dinner?

DEVELOPING AN IELTS SPEAKING PART 1 QUESTION

In general, the formula for a Part 1 answer is:
Direct Answer + Detailed Expansion
SAMPLE:
Question: Do you enjoy your job?
Most of the time. It’s very rewarding to be able to help people every day, and the students here
are very hardworking and fun to teach, but you sometimes have lessons that don’t go so well,
and the money could always be better.
Question: Do you get on well with your co-workers?
Yes, fine. I don’t really see work as part of my social life, so I don’t socialize with them, so I
suppose I could be more friendly, but it’s just my nature to be a bit colder with colleagues. I
think it’s more professional to be that way.
Question: Would you like to change your job in the future?
Yes, as I said before, I like working alone, so I would like to be my own boss. I’m currently
developing my own website, so if it’s successful, I will leave teaching and work on it full-time.
This will also give me more time to work on other projects.

There are many ways to extend your answers in Part 1. The table below summarizes some of the
common techniques and linking words / phrases for each of them.
Technique Linking words / phrases
providing another idea and, also, etc.
adding a reason because, as, since, etc.
introducing the effects / consequences so, therefore, etc.
mentioning a fact actually, in fact, etc.
introducing a contrast but, although, however, etc.
introducing a hypothesis if
adding extra information about a person / a place / etc. relative clauses

7. You will listen to a candidate answering IELTS Speaking Part 1 questions. As you listen,

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pay attention to the mistakes she makes in terms of pronunciation and idea development.

8. Write out your answer for the following questions. After that, practice answering them
with your partner. Pay close attention to how you stress the words, the sentence, and the
pronunciation of weak forms.
Do you work or are you a student?
(Work)
- What kind of work do you do?
- What do you find most interesting about your work? (Why?)
- Which is more important to you – the people you work with or the work you do? (Why?)
- Do you work best in the morning or the afternoon? (Why?)
(Study)
- What do you study?
- What do you find most interesting about your studies? (Why?)
- Which is more important to you—the teachers or the other students on your course? (Why?)
- How much time do you spend studying every week?
- How do you usually travel to the city where you study?
- Do you study best in the morning or the afternoon? (Why?)
- Have you always wanted to study this subject/ these subjects (Why/ Why not?)

HW: Try answering these questions at home using your knowledge and vocabulary.
Part 2: Describe something that helps you to concentrate on work/study
You should say:
• What it is you do
• Where and when you do this
• Whether you always do the same thing
• And explain how much this helps you to concentrate on work/study.
Part 3:
1. Is it important for children to learn how to concentrate?
2. What can employers do to help employees concentrate?
3. What kinds of jobs require higher concentration at work?
4. Have you ever felt difficult to concentrate?
5. What kinds of distractions are bothering you in your life?

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