SkillBridge Match – Close the Skills Gap Before Your Next Shift When production targets slip because your team...

WORK SMART, LIVE WELL: BALANCE WEEK FOR BUSY EMPLOYEES

Feeling under pressure?

Demanding jobs can be rewarding, but long commutes and night shifts harm sleep and family time. Balance Week helps staff work well and reduce stress.

What is changing?

(7) __________ repeated comments in employee reviews about long meetings, our organisation is introducing shorter check-ins, flexible lunch breaks and quiet focus hours. These changes are relevant to daily work, especially for staff who take orders, greet customers, collect payment or meet production targets.

What you will receive

· a practical (8) __________ of stress-control tools to help you stay calm before anxiety affects performance

· guidance on how to (9) __________ important duties more efficiently when deadlines are tight

· flexible shift swaps, so one employee may take the early shift while (10) __________ covers the late shift

Why join now?

Better planning can improve concentration, reduce nervousness and support stronger (11) __________ across departments. Places are limited, so submit your application by Friday. Our employment team will confirm your (12) __________ within two working days.

Question 7: A. Apart from        B. Due to        C. In addition to        D. Regardless of

Question 8: A. amount        B. level        C. number        D. range

Question 9: A. apply for        B. go into        C. interfere with        D. carry out

Question 10: A. another        B. other        C. others        D. the others

Question 11: A. recruitment        B. competition        C. cooperation        D. supervision

Question 12: A. attendance        B. position        C. place        D. reference

Mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the best arrangement of utterances or sentences to make a cohesive and coherent exchange or text in each of the following questions from 13 to 17.

Question 13:

a. Leo: Great, I’ll update my CV and add a reference, so the manager can see my cashier experience is relevant.

b. Leo: I saw the café advertisement for a weekend cashier, but the night shift mentioned in it makes me nervous.

c. Nina: The manager said the shift is only until nine, not midnight, and the salary includes a small meal benefit.

A. b – a – c        B. b – c – a        C. c – b – a        D. a – c – b

Question 14:

a. Maya: It means they prefer daily guest conversations, not perfect grammar, and your French is good enough.

b. Maya: Ask about flexible shifts politely, and bring your volunteer certificate to show communication skills.

c. Jack: I’m applying for the receptionist vacancy, but the ad says candidates must be fluent in two languages.

d. Jack: Good idea. I’ll submit the application tonight and say I’m available for an interview next week.

e. Jack: That’s a relief, though I’m still worried about the interview and the night-shift schedule.

A. c – a – e – b – d        B. e – a – c – b – d        C. c – a – d – b – e        D. d – b – c – a – e

Question 15:

Dear Ms Parker,

I hope you are well. College is going smoothly.

a. My CV shows that I have assisted teachers with attendance sheets and QR check-ins during school events.

b. Although I am an inexperienced applicant, I am willing to take on training and follow library regulations carefully.

c. The part-time library assistant vacancy on your website caught my attention because it combines customer service with organised records.

d. I would be available for an interview after 3 p.m. on weekdays and could start work from 10 June.

e. These duties helped me develop communication and organisational skills, especially when visitors needed clear instructions under pressure.

Thank you for your consideration.

Best,

Emma

A. c – a – e – b – d        B. d – c – a – b – e        C. c – e – a – d – b        D. a – c – d – e – b

Question 16:

a. This arrangement can improve performance, but it also requires clear rules so that availability and responsibilities remain well defined.

b. In many companies, flexible schedules allow staff to avoid long commutes and concentrate on demanding tasks during their strongest hours, instead of arriving stressed.

c. For that reason, flexibility works best when employers measure results fairly rather than simply counting time at a desk.

d. Flexible schedules have become a serious benefit for young employees, not just a casual office trend in modern workplaces.

e. For example, a design assistant may review customer notes at home before joining a short team call and updating a shared display folder.

A. d – a – c – b – e        B. d – b – e – a – c        C. b – d – e – a – c        D. b – d – a – c – e

Question 17:

a. This is why applicants should clearly link their qualifications and experience to the job requirements, using phrases such as customer service, flexible shifts, or on-the-job training.

b. A balanced application therefore shows both relevance and honesty, which helps the employer choose someone suitable for the position rather than merely someone good at matching keywords.

c. Many employers now review applications through keyword filters, so a CV that uses unusual wording may seem irrelevant before a person reads it carefully.

d. Still, copying every term without real evidence can make an application sound unprofessional, especially when interviewers ask for examples during a panel interview.

e. When a company fills a vacancy online, the process can look faster than traditional recruitment and reduce advertising costs, but it may also hide strong candidates.

A. b – e – c – a – d        B. c – e – a – d – b        C. e – c – a – d – b        D. e – c – d – b – a

The Hidden Cost of Task Switching

Have you ever answered a message during homework and then found it difficult to return to the exact idea you were working on? In cognitive psychology, this effect is often linked to attention residue, (18) __________. Before moving to another task, people may believe that they can shift their focus immediately, especially when the interruption seems brief. However, part of their attention may remain attached to the previous activity. (19) __________.

Attention residue can be seen in many ordinary work and study situations. For example, after leaving a half-finished email to join a meeting, an employee may still think about how to phrase the reply. Similarly, a student who checks notifications while reading may keep mentally returning to the conversation. Instead of starting fresh, the mind carries fragments of unfinished tasks into the next activity, (20) __________. This reduces concentration and can make complex tasks feel more tiring than expected.

The effect is also important in educational settings. When students review notes with several apps open, each switch may appear harmless. (21) __________. Later, when they try to solve a problem or write an explanation, they may discover that the material was never processed deeply.

Overall, attention residue can weaken performance and encourage overconfidence in multitasking. People moving rapidly between assignments (22) __________. For this reason, grouping similar tasks, closing unrelated tabs, and allowing short periods of uninterrupted work can support clearer thinking.

[Author-written passage based on research on attention residue.]

Question 18:

A. which refers to the mental traces of an earlier task that remain after attention has moved elsewhere

B. referring to a condition in which people finish demanding tasks without losing concentration completely

C. each of which describes mental interruptions that disappear once someone begins another task

D. when people divide attention across tasks before they have understood what needs doing during work

Question 19:

A. For this reason, interruptions always improve concentration by giving the mind a brief rest

B. This tendency encourages people to avoid tasks when deadlines become less predictable

C. In addition, people often choose simple tasks because they prefer familiar routines at work

D. This may explain why short interruptions can leave people less focused than they expected

Question 20:

A. reflecting how interruptions remove unfinished thoughts from working memory

B. allowing workers to complete complex duties with less mental effort

C. making it harder to build sustained concentration on the new task

D. reinforcing the belief that every task requires the same attention

Question 21:

A. Students, for example, may arrange their notes according to subjects before reviewing them

B. Some learners may use reminders to decide when the next study session should begin

C. Teachers may therefore replace long readings with shorter materials and simpler explanations

D. However, these brief shifts can prevent learners from connecting ideas across the material

Question 22:

A. being likely to underestimate how much time and attention each task still requires

B. may underestimate how much time and attention each task still requires

C. the time and attention each task still requires may be underestimated

D. may be underestimated how much time and attention each task still requires

Beyond the Ladder: Rethinking What a Successful Career Means

For generations, career success followed a familiar script. People climbed the ladder, earned higher titles, accumulated wealth, and retired with a sense of achievement. Because this framework was deeply embedded in modern culture, deviating from it often felt like failure. Yet today that script is being rewritten. Evidence from organizational psychology suggests that salary, status, and seniority are becoming weaker predictors of long term satisfaction and wellbeing, especially in economies shaped by rapid change.

A key idea behind this shift is subjective career success. Instead of focusing only on income or position, it asks how people evaluate their working lives from the inside. Work that feels meaningful, matches personal values, and supports growth can produce a stronger sense of success than an impressive title alone. In practice, this is linked to career crafting, where employees shape tasks and responsibilities to fit their strengths and motivations. When people can adjust how they work, they often report higher satisfaction and greater confidence about future employability.

However, the change is not simple because of social conditioning. Many people absorb external definitions of achievement from family expectations, school culture, and social media, then pursue them without reflection. Psychologists often describe this pattern as extrinsic motivation, chasing recognition and money more than purpose and connection. Careers built mainly on external rewards can look successful but still lead to burnout, disengagement, and a sense of emptiness, particularly when the job market becomes unstable.

The practical implication is not to abandon ambition, but to redirect it inward and keep learning across the lifespan. Lifelong learning supports this approach because it gives professionals freedom to explore, reskill, and shift paths without shame. It also encourages reflection, helping people test what kind of work energizes them and what drains them. When individuals define success on their own terms and commit to continuous development, they tend to handle transitions with more resilience and build careers that remain satisfying over time.

[Adapted from https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s43093-024-00304-w]

Question 23: Which of the following is NOT mentioned in paragraph 1 as a traditional component of the "familiar script" of career success?

A. Ascending through various levels of professional hierarchy.

B. The accumulation of material wealth over a working life.

C. Achieving a sense of fulfillment upon concluding a career.

D. The necessity of frequent career pivots to maintain seniority.

Question 24: The word "embedded" in paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to __________.

A. displaced        B. ingrained        C. enclosed        D. invested

Question 25: In which paragraph does the author discuss how individuals can actively tailor their work roles to align with their personal capabilities?

A. Paragraph 1        B. Paragraph 2        C. Paragraph 3        D. Paragraph 4

Question 26: The word "it" in paragraph 2 refers to __________.

A. an impressive title                        B. subjective career success        

C. long-term wellbeing                        D. career crafting

Question 27: Which of the following best paraphrases the underlined sentence in paragraph 3: “Careers built mainly on external rewards can look successful but still lead to burnout, disengagement, and a sense of emptiness.”?

A. Scarcely had professionals attained success through extrinsic motivators when they realized that such paths are invariably synonymous with spiritual fulfillment and resilience.

B. Although careers driven by external rewards may appear successful, they can still cause burnout, disengagement, and a sense of emptiness.

C. Such is the allure of high-status careers that only by disregarding external incentives can workers circumvent the inevitable cycle of professional exhaustion and detachment.

D. Had it not been for the pursuit of tangible rewards, those in high-profile positions would have succumbed to burnout and a pervasive sense of purposelessness much sooner.

Question 28: The word "chasing" in paragraph 3 is OPPOSITE in meaning to __________.

A. pursuing        B. shunning        C. following        D. confronting

Question 29: In which paragraph does the author mention that external influences can hinder people from reflecting on their own career choices?

A. Paragraph 1        B. Paragraph 2        C. Paragraph 3        D. Paragraph 4

Question 30: According to the final paragraph, what is the primary benefit of committing to continuous development?

A. It guarantees a career path that remains entirely free from any professional transitions.

B. It helps people handle career transitions with greater resilience and build satisfying careers over time.

C. It allows individuals to secure higher salaries regardless of their intrinsic motivations.

D. It ensures that the external definitions of success are finally met with resilience.

In many workplaces, the shift is not announced with a siren. It arrives as small conveniences that stack up. A meeting note appears instantly, a slide is drafted before anyone opens a template, and a customer reply is suggested while the agent is still reading the complaint. Over time, the easy parts of the job start to vanish from the day, not because the job disappears, but because the work inside it is rearranged. People still clock in, yet they sense the ground rules are moving, and what used to count as solid effort is now treated as the minimum.

The pressure is clearest in roles that once trained beginners. Simple writing, basic research, routine reporting, first pass design, and quick translation get compressed into faster cycles of review and revision. Managers ask for speed as a default, and teams learn to expect polished output on the first try. This can feel like a jobpocalypse without layoffs in the headline, because the ladder is still standing, but several lower rungs have been quietly removed. Large employer surveys also point to churn rather than a clean collapse, with significant job creation and elimination happening at the same time over the next few years.

[I] Online, the mood spreads through examples that are easy to recognise. [II] A short TikTok clip shows someone generating a week of content in one sitting, then another clip warns that graduates will be replaced before they are hired. [III] Friends compare rejection emails and wonder if they missed the moment to start. [IV] Yet serious research often describes task exposure and task redesign more than instant replacement. The ILO, for example, has built indices of occupational exposure to generative AI and stresses that many roles are more likely to be transformed than simply erased, with clerical work especially exposed.

The real story is not a simple collapse but a messy transition. When tasks move faster than training, people feel stranded, and when firms chase efficiency without redesigning roles, stress rises. Still, change does not have to mean decline. Workers can build skills that travel across tools, such as clear writing, critical thinking, and the ability to explain decisions under pressure. Global institutions warn that AI can widen gaps if the gains are uneven, which makes reskilling and job design more than a personal choice.

[Author-written passage informed by ILO research on generative AI and occupational exposure.]

Question 31: Where in the passage does the following sentence best fit?

Screenshots of hiring freezes circulate.

A. [I]         B. [II]         C. [III]         D. [IV]

Question 32: The phrase “clock in” in paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to __________.

A. take a break        B. leave work        C. start a shift        D. change roles

Question 33: The word "it" in paragraph 1 refers to __________.

A. a siren        B. the workplace        C. the shift        D. a template

Question 34: According to paragraph 2, which of the following is NOT suggested about workplace changes?

A. Managers demanding high speed as a standard requirement.

B. Expectations for high-quality work on the very first attempt.

C. Simultaneous creation and elimination of various job roles.

D. A sudden and total collapse of the entire employment ladder.

Question 35: Which of the following best summarises the content of the second paragraph?

A. Large employer surveys suggest that most beginners will be laid off because they can no longer perform simple writing or basic research tasks.

B. While the employment structure remains, entry-level tasks are being automated, leading to a complex environment where job creation and loss occur together.

C. The "jobpocalypse" is primarily caused by managers who refuse to provide training cycles for teams that are struggling with fast design and translation.

D. Several lower rungs of the professional ladder have been removed, meaning that graduates are now hired solely to perform faster cycles of review.

Question 36: The word "uneven" in paragraph 4 is OPPOSITE in meaning to __________.

A. uncertain        B. partial        C. equal        D. limited

Question 37: The word "jobpocalypse" in paragraph 2 is used to describe a situation where __________.

A. massive layoffs are officially announced by firms as the primary reaction to AI.

B. the entire career ladder collapses because managers no longer require speed.

C. technology creates more jobs than it eliminates within a very short period of time.

D. entry-level tasks disappear, making it harder for beginners to start their careers.

Question 38: Which of the following best paraphrases the underlined sentence in paragraph 2?

A. The employment crisis is invisible because people are being fired from the lower parts of the ladder without any official headlines or surveys.

B. Even without official mass job losses, the elimination of entry-level tasks creates a crisis where the path to career advancement becomes inaccessible.

C. Although companies are not reporting mass layoffs, the professional ladder is now so tall that beginners cannot reach the first standing rungs.

D. Career ladders are being quietly destroyed by headlines that focus on jobpocalypse instead of focusing on the standing rungs of the lower levels.

Question 39: Which of the following can most likely be inferred from the passage?

A. Traditional skills like critical thinking and clear writing are becoming obsolete as AI tools can now explain complex decisions under pressure.

B. The ILO research proves that the public's fear of job replacement is entirely based on misleading TikTok clips and screenshots of hiring freezes.

C. Successfully navigating the AI transition requires a combination of individual adaptability and systemic changes in how job roles are structured.

D. Global institutions believe that the gap between different groups of workers will naturally close as AI gains are distributed evenly across tools.

Question 40: Which of the following best summarises the passage?

A. Technological integration is fundamentally altering the structure of work, requiring both institutional support and versatile human skills to navigate the transition.

B. The workplace is undergoing a jobpocalypse where the only way to survive is by avoiding task redesign and focusing on routine reporting and translation.

C. AI is primarily a tool for TikTok creators to generate content in one sitting, which has led to a clean collapse of the hiring market for graduates.

D. Efficiency in the workplace can only be achieved if firms choose to eliminate all clerical roles and ignore the stress caused by the lack of training.