- A
- B
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- D
Read the following passage. Then try to make notes of the key facts.
To the middle-aged employee who works a demanding job, early retirement might seem very appealing. Most people who do retire early, however, find the experience to be less than satisfying for several reasons.
Employees who opt for early retirement often face financial problems. More often than not, retirement comes with a significant loss of income. It means that the retiree is no longer paid each week and can no longer generate more income to save. For most people, generating enough savings to support themselves for another thirty or even forty years is not possible. Early retirees often find themselves in debt or face a lower standard of living.
People who retire early often struggle with psychological problems. Many people identify themselves with the jobs they perform and the amount of money they earn. Their values are often the values of the company they work for. Therefore, it is not uncommon for early retirees to feel useless, powerless, or depressed. Without the work that has brought meaning to them for so many years, they feel as if their lives lack purpose,
Finally, early retirees often face social problems. They find it difficult to maintain friendships they developed at the office. No longer employees of a company, they have trouble relating to their previous coworkers and often find themselves excluded from company social events. Thus, by retiring early, they lose their social networks.
demand – to require a lot of effort and hard work
appealing – attractive or interesting
opt – to choose
invest – to spend money on something that can make you more money
savings – money you have saved to use later
psychological – relating to the health of the mind
maintain – to keep something going
exclude – to fail to include something or someone
Reading:
Predict how the listening passage may contrast with the reading.
burden – something difficult that you are forced to deal with
overcome – to successfully deal with a problem
agreeable – pleasant
sustain – to keep something going
hindrance – something that keeps you from doing something else; an obstacle
casual – relaxed and without strong feelings
diverse – very different from one another
network – a group of similar things that are somehow linked together
Now listen to a lecture related to the topic in A. Make notes while listening.
Listening
M: All right, we've been talking about retirement plans, and there's one option we haven't covered, which is early retirement. Now, there are a lot of people who will tell you that you should never retire early – that it's too much of a financial burden, it will make you feel useless and depressed, and it will ruin your social life. But the truth is, you can easily overcome those problems and early retirement may be one of the best choices you ever make.
First of all, many early retirees live very agreeable lifestyles in terms of their finances. Retiring early doesn't mean your money's going to run out in ten years and you'll find yourself swimming in debt. Although it's not always easy, it's very much possible to save enough money ... or invest enough money ... for early retirement. And you don't have to be making high figures, either. There are a lot of very good retirement plans out there. And there are a lot of knowledgeable financial consultants, many of whom are hired by companies for the sole purpose of helping employees retire early. So really, if you plan right, you can sustain your current lifestyle throughout your retirement.
Secondly, early retirement can be an extremely positive experience psychologically. Most people have values and interests and hobbies that aren't work-related at all. Retiring early gives them a chance to spend time pursuing the things they never had the time for – whether it's fly-fishing, traveling, volunteering, or hanging out with their families. And often, because they retired at a relatively early age, they've got the energy to do what they enjoy.
And finally, with regards to one's social life, early retirement is a benefit rather than a hindrance. Sure; you may lose a few of the casual friendships that sprung up around the office. But retiring early can give you the freedom to branch out and establish new, more diverse friendships. You might join a running club and meet friends there. Or you might volunteer at a hospital and have lunch with the staff every week. Or you might start hosting dinner parties. By retiring early, you acquire the time to build your social network – time you may not have had when you were working.
Read the sample response below.
Both the reading and lecture talk about early retirement. The reading tells why early retirement is a negative experience, while the lecture discusses why it is a positive one.
The reading says that early retirees face financial problems, such as debt and a lower standard of living. This is because they cannot save enough money to support themselves in retirement. Thus, they often find themselves wishing that they had not retired.
The reading also says that early retirement can bring about psychological problems. People who retire early often feel useless and depressed because they no longer work. Some even begin to feel like their lives do not have a purpose.
Last, the reading says that people who retire early face social problems because they lose many of the friends they had at work. They find themselves unable to relate to their former co-workers.
In conclusion, the reading and the lecture disagree about whether early retirement is a good thing.
Using your notes, evaluate the sample response by answering the following guide questions.
1. Does the introduction mention the main idea from both the reading passage and the lecture?
2. Does each body paragraph compare the key points of the reading and the lecture?
3. Does the conclusion summarize the main points of both the reading passage and the lecture?
Reading:
Listening
Revise the sample response by correcting the problems you noted.
