How to Make Your Working Day More Enjoyable & How to Get Promoted – IELTS Reading Answers

To effectively tackle and answer diverse question types of the IELTS General Reading module, try taking up IELTS Reading passages like the ‘How to Make Your Working Day More Enjoyable’ and ‘How to Get Promoted’ from the Cambridge 15 IELTS General Reading Test 4!

Ideally, you should not spend more than 20 minutes on a passage. Let’s see how easy these passages are for you and if you’re able to make it in 20 minutes. If not, try more IELTS general reading practice tests from IELTSMaterial.com.

There are 13 questions in total in the reading passages, ‘How to Make Your Working Day More Enjoyable’ and ‘How to Get Promoted.’ The question types found in the passage are:

• Sentence completion (Q. 1-6)
• Note completion (Q. 7-13)

Reading Passage 1

How to make your working day more enjoyable

Research shows that work takes up approximately a third of our lives. Most of us get so bogged down with day-to-day tasks though, that we easily forget why we originally applied for the job and what we can get out of it. Here are a few ideas for how to make your working day better.

Physical changes to your work environment can make a massive difference to how you feel. Get some green plants or a family photo for your desk. File all those odd bits of paper or throw them away. All of these little touches can make your work environment feel like it’s yours. Make sure any screens you have are at a suitable height so you’re not straining your neck and shoulders.

Humans need a change of environment every now and then to improve productivity. Go out at lunchtime for a quick walk. If you have the option, it’s a good idea to work from home occasionally. And if there’s a conference coming up, ask if you can go along to it. Not only will you practise your networking skills, but you’ll also have a day away from the office.

Use coffee time to get to know a colleague you don’t usually speak to. There’s no point in getting away from staring at one thing though, only to replace it with another; so leave your mobile alone! Another tip is to try and stay out of office gossip. In the long run it could get you in more trouble than you realise.

When you’re trying to focus on something, hunger is the worst thing, if you can, keep some healthy snacks on your desk because if you have something you can nibble on, it will make you work more effectively and you’ll enjoy it more. Also, if you’re dehydrated, you won’t be able to focus properly. So keep drinking water.

Finally, if you’ve been dreaming about starting up a big project for some time, do it! There are so many different things you can do to get you enjoying work more each day.

Questions 1-6

1 Bringing a personal ……………….. to work will make the place feel more homely.
2 It is important to check the position of all ………………… before use to avoid pulling any muscles.
3 Leaving the office in the middle of the day may help to raise ………………. later on.
4 It is advisable to avoid checking a ………………… during breaks.
5 Getting involved in …………………. at work may have negative results.
6 Having a few …………………… available can help people concentrate better at work.

Reading Passage 2

How to Get Promoted

If you’re sitting at your desk wondering whether this will be the year you finally get promoted, here are some tips.

It starts with you. You are perhaps the most important part in the ‘promotion process’, so you need to know what you want – and why you want it. Take an honest look at yourself – your achievements and also your skills, particularly those you could exploit to take on a different role.

Your boss is the gatekeeper. If you think your boss is likely to be on your side, ask for a meeting to discuss your serious commitment to the organization and how this could translate into a more defined career plan. If you are less sure about your boss’s view of your prospects and how they may react, start softly with a more deliberate focus on increasing your boss’s understanding of the work you do and the added value you deliver.

Think about how you are perceived at work. In order for you to get your promotion, who needs to know about you? Who would be on the interview panel and whose opinion and input would they seek? And once you’ve got a list of people to impress, ask yourself – do they know enough about you? And I mean really know – what you do day to day at your desk, your contribution to the team, and perhaps most importantly, your potential.

The chances are that those decision-makers won’t know ail they should about you. Raising your profile in your organisation is critical so that when those in charge start looking at that empty office and considering how best to fill it, the first name that pops into their heads is yours. If your firm has a newsletter, volunteer to write a feature to include in it. If they arrange regular client events, get involved in the organisation of them. And so on.

If you think your experience needs enhancing, then look at ways you can continue to improve it. If you are confident in your professional expertise but lack the latest management theory, enroll on some relevant courses that fit around your day job.

So what are you waiting for?

Questions 7-13

Steps to take to achieve a promotion

• First step: examine past successes and any 7 ………………… that would help gain promotion
• Set up a meeting with your boss to talk about:
  o how best to use your high level of 8 ………………… in future
  o or how much extra 9 ………………… you already bring to the company
• Focus on the important people in the company:
  o find out which ones will be members of the 10………………… who decide on the promotion
  o consider how much they are aware of your 11 ………………… for the future
• Take steps to raise your profile by:
  o offering to create a feature for a company publication
  o participating in the 12 ……………………… of events for customers
• Work on self-development: take any 13 ……………… that fill in gaps in knowledge

Answers For ‘How to Make Your Working Day More Enjoyable’ and ‘How to Get Promoted’ IELTS Reading Passage With Location and Explanation 

Read further for the explanations and location of the ‘How to Make Your Working Day More Enjoyable’ and ‘How to Get Promoted’ IELTS reading answers!

1 Answer: Photo

Question Type: Sentence Completion

Answer Location: 1st paragraph, Line 4

Answer Explanation: Adding personal items like a family photo can make the work environment feel homely.

2 Answer: Screens

Question Type: Sentence Completion

Answer Location: 1st paragraph, Line 6

Answer Explanation: Adjusting the position of screens is important for physical comfort at work.

3 Answer: Productivity

Question Type: Sentence Completion

Answer Location: 1st paragraph, Line 7

Answer Explanation: Changing environments can enhance productivity.

4 Answer: Mobile

Question Type: Sentence Completion

Answer Location: 1st paragraph, Line 10

Answer Explanation: The advice is to refrain from using mobile phones during breaks.

5 Answer: Gossip

Question Type: Sentence Completion

Answer Location: 1st paragraph, Line 12

Answer Explanation: Involvement in office gossip is discouraged.

6 Answer: Snacks

Question Type: Sentence Completion

Answer Location: 1st paragraph, Line 16

Answer Explanation: Having snacks available can improve focus and effectiveness at work.

7 Answer: Skills

Question Type: Note Completion

Answer Location: 2nd paragraph, Line 2-3

Answer Explanation: The passage suggests examining one’s skills for potential advancement.

8 Answer: Commitment

Question Type: Note Completion

Answer Location: 2nd paragraph, Line 5-6

Answer Explanation: Discussing commitment to the organization is recommended for promotion discussions.

9 Answer: Value

Question Type: Note Completion

Answer Location: 2nd paragraph, Line 7-8

Answer Explanation: Emphasizing the value one brings to the company is important for promotion discussions.

10 Answer: Panel

Question Type: Note Completion

Answer Location: 3rd paragraph, Line 10

Answer Explanation: Identifying members of the promotion decision-making panel is crucial for promotion strategies.

11 Answer: Potential

Question Type: Note Completion

Answer Location: 3rd paragraph, Line 12-13

Answer Explanation: Ensuring decision-makers are aware of one’s potential for future roles is important for promotion.

12 Answer: Organization/Organisation

Question Type: Note Completion

Answer Location: 3rd paragraph, Line 14

Answer Explanation: Improving visibility within the organization is highlighted as essential for promotion.

13 Answer: Courses

Question Type: Note Completion

Answer Location: 4th paragraph, Line 19

Answer Explanation: Taking courses to enhance skills is recommended for promotion readiness.

Tips for Answering the Question Types in the ‘How to Make Your Working Day More Enjoyable’ and How to Get Promoted’ IELTS Reading Passage

Let us check out some quick tips to answer the types of questions in the ‘How to Make Your Working Day More Enjoyable’ and ‘How to Get Promoted’ Reading passage.

Sentence Completion:

Sentence Completion is a type of IELTS reading question that requires you to fill in a gap in a sentence with a word or phrase from the passage.

To answer these questions, you can use the following strategies:

• Read the sentence carefully hence this will give you an idea of the type of word or phrase that is missing.
• Scan the passage for the keywords. Hence, the keywords in the sentence can help you to identify the correct word or phrase.
• Read the sentence with the missing word or phrase. This will help you to see how the word or phrase fits into the sentence.
• Check your answer and once you have filled in the gap, make sure that your answer makes sense in the context of the sentence.

Note Completion:

Note Completion is a type of IELTS reading question that requires you to fill in a gap in a sentence with a word or phrase from the passage.

To answer these questions, you can use the following strategies:

• Quickly read the title and the text after you check the instructions. Then read the given sentences and underline the keywords in them.
• Use the keywords to find the part of the text you need. Then try to predict what kind of word(s) you need for the gap.
• Find the word(s) for the gap and read the sentence again to check if it is grammatically correct.

Great work on attempting to solve the ‘How to Make Your Working Day More Enjoyable’ and ‘How to Get Promoted’ IELTS reading passage! To crack your IELTS Reading in the first go, try solving more of the recent IELTS Reading Passages.

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