Academic English for International Exams

Course Book

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Read the prompt and think of ideas to list under the headings below.

Companies usually offer their employees benefits in addition to their pay. What type of benefits would you prefer at your ideal job and why? Give specific reasons and examples to support your answer.

Find arguments for these opposite opinions:

Paid time off from work Other benefits

Read the sample response. Think about the role of the sentences in each part of the essay. Look at the transitions that link the ideas – they will help to restore the right logical order. Then put the sentences in the right order.

overtime – extra hours that people work at their jobs

value – to consider something to be very important

essential – absolutely necessary; extremely important

tendency – an inclination to act in a particular way

environment – the surroundings or conditions around a person

fundamental – being central important

Introduction:

A. Vacation time, sick leave, overtime—all of these are benefits that many companies provide in addition to pay.
B. However, now companies are offering many other benefits to their workers..
C. Yet in my opinion, the best benefits that a job can offer me are a friendly work environment and a flexible work schedule.
D. It used to be that companies simply concentrated on how much to pay their employees.

Упорядочите текст, выбрав нужную последовательность селекторов.

Body paragraph 1:

A. These good conversations make the time at work go by faster.
B.I realize that I will not always be able to have conversations with the nicest of employees, but I believe that companies can help make a place where employees can easily interact.
C. First, I think that companies need to create a friendly work environment for their employees.
D. This interaction between my coworkers and me is something that I value very much at a job.
E. I need this friendly work environment because I am the kind of person that enjoys having a good conversation with a person while working.

Body paragraph 2:

A. In my case, I enjoy going on short vacations on the weekends.
B. This typically requires that I have three days off of work.
C. Without this flexibility, I have a tendency to become unhappy with a job.
D. A flexible schedule allows employees to make unexpected changes to their plans without having to worry about formally taking time off from work.
E. In addition, I find that having a flexible schedule at my job is an essential part of enjoying the job.

Conclusion:

A. These two elements are a fundamental part of me enjoying any job that I have.
B. In conclusion, I know that my ideal job would be in a place with a friendly environment and a flexible schedule.
C. I hope to find both these benefits in the job that I choose as a career.

Look back at the ideas you wrote for the prompt. Write your own response using the ideas opposite to the ones in the sample and following the structure of the sample.