Reading 5 Reading 1: paragraphs and topic sentences


A Answer the questions below in groups of three. 1. Do you think people work too hard these days? 2. Do you think most people find a balance between work or study and leisure time? 3. Do you think there should be a reduction in the typical working week? 4. What is the best way of relaxing and relieving stress if you are feeling overworked?


B You will read an article about working too hard. Sentences a–e below are the first lines from each of the five paragraphs in the article. Read the sentences and then, in pairs, follow the steps below.


1. Discuss how reading the sentences helps you understand how the article will be organized. 2. Make predictions about what else the article will say. 3. Make predictions about the content of each paragraph.


a. People often become tired with work and daily domestic duty because of the pressure they feel they are under from society.


b. Jobs with excessive workloads or high levels of responsibility can lead to stress and anxiety. c. For many, an annual salary is the standard way to measure success. d. Parents can feel especially pressured … e. Taking a holiday, ideally far away from any temptation to work, is the best way of relieving stress and anxiety.


C Read the article and check your ideas.


The Need for Balance People often become tired with work and daily domestic duty because of the pressure they feel they are under from society. They find themselves constantly worrying about their job and other aspects of their daily routine. It is essential that everyone recognizes their limitations and understands that relentlessly trying to achieve more than is possible is potentially dangerous to both mind and body.


Jobs with excessive workloads or high levels of responsibility can lead to stress and anxiety. People must remember that they ultimately work for one of two reasons, either to utilize knowledge and skill acquired during education and training, or to earn enough money on which to live. Many individuals lose sight of the reason they work and feel that they are never achieving quite enough.


For many, an annual salary is the standard way to measure success. People feel pressured not just because of the work they do, but because they feel that they are not earning what they should be or advancing to a position where they will. They become more concerned with societyʼs opinion of them than with what makes them happy.


Parents can feel especially pressured because they have to balance earning enough to look after their family with performing all the other duties that being a mother or father brings. Faced with a seemingly endless demand on their time and energy, some actually work even harder and risk becoming workaholics, unable to ever switch off from the need to produce and achieve.


Taking a holiday, ideally far away from any temptation to work, is the best way of relieving stress and anxiety. Research shows that a period of at least two weeks away from daily responsibility, both job- related and domestic, re-energizes and rebuilds a sense of perspective in terms of the real meaning and purpose of duty.


74 Pathway to IELTS 6.0


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