A Workaholic Economy Reading Answers

Dec 21, 2022

A Workaholic Economy Reading Answers contains 12 questions. This particular A Workaholic Economy Reading Answers is taken from Cambridge Book 1 Practice Test 3 Reading Passage 3. A Workaholic Economy Reading Answers helps the candidates to prepare for the IELTS reading test and understand IELTS reading topics. This particular IELTS reading topic A Workaholic Economy Reading Answers comprises of three question types: Yes/No/Not Given, Choose the correct answer and Selecting the correct options. To secure a high IELTS reading score, practicing from IELTS reading practice papers is necessary.

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Section 1

Read the Passage to Answer the Following Questions

A Workaholic Economy Reading Answers

FOR THE first century or so of the industrial revolution increased productivity led to decreases in working hours. Employees who had been putting in 12-hour days, six days a week, found their time on the job shrinking to 10 hours daily, then, finally, to eight hours, five days a week. Only a generation ago social planners worried about what people would do with all this new-found free time. In the US, at least, it seems they need not have bothered.

Although the output per hour of work has more than doubled since 1945, leisure seems reserved largely for the unemployed and underemployed. Those who work full-time spend as much time on the job as they did at the end of World War II. In fact, working hours have increased noticeably since 1970 — perhaps because real wages have stagnated since that year. Bookstores now abound with manuals describing how to manage time and cope with stress.

There are several reasons for lost leisure. Since 1979, companies have responded to improvements in the business climate by having employees work overtime rather than by hiring extra personnel, says economist Juliet B. Schor of Harvard University. Indeed, the current economic recovery has gained a certain amount of notoriety for its “jobless” nature: increased production has been almost entirely decoupled from employment. Some firms are even downsizing as their profits climb. “All things being equal, we”d be better off spreading around the work,’ observes labour economist Ronald G. Ehrenberg of Cornell University.

Yet a host of factors pushes employers to hire fewer workers for more hours and, at the same time, compels workers to spend more time on the job. Most of those incentives involve what Ehrenberg calls the structure of compensation: quirks in the way salaries and benefits are organised that make it more profitable to ask 40 employees to labour an extra hour each than to hire one more worker to do the same 40-hour job.

Professional and managerial employees supply the most obvious lesson along these lines. Once people are on salary, their cost to a firm is the same whether they spend 35 hours a week in the office or 70. Diminishing returns may eventually set in as overworked employees lose efficiency or leave for more arable pastures. But in the short run, the employer’s incentive is clear.

Even hourly employees receive benefits - such as pension contributions and medical insurance - that are not tied to the number of hours they work. Therefore, it is more profitable for employers to work their existing employees harder.

For all that employees complain about long hours, they, too, have reasons not to trade money for leisure. “People who work reduced hours pay a huge penalty in career terms,” Schor maintains. “It”s taken as a negative signal’ about their commitment to the firm.’ [Lotte] Bailyn [of Massachusetts Institute of Technology] adds that many corporate managers find it difficult to measure the contribution of their underlings to a firm’s well-being, so they use the number of hours worked as a proxy for output. “Employees know this,” she says, and they adjust their behavior accordingly.

“Although the image of the good worker is the one whose life belongs to the company,” Bailyn says, “it doesn't fit the facts.’ She cites both quantitative and qualitative studies that show increased productivity for part-time workers: they make better use of the time they have, and they are less likely to succumb to fatigue in stressful jobs. Companies that employ more workers for less time also gain from the resulting redundancy, she asserts. “The extra people can cover the contingencies that you know are going to happen, such as when crises take people away from the workplace.’ Positive experiences with reduced hours have begun to change the more-is-better culture at some companies, Schor reports.

Larger firms, in particular, appear to be more willing to experiment with flexible working arrangements...

It may take even more than changes in the financial and cultural structures of employment for workers successfully to trade increased productivity and money for leisure time, Schor contends. She says the U.S. market for goods has become skewed by the assumption of full-time, two-career households. Automobile makers no longer manufacture cheap models, and developers do not build the tiny bungalows that served the first postwar generation of home buyers. Not even the humblest household object is made without a microprocessor. As Schor notes, the situation is a curious inversion of the “appropriate technology” vision that designers have had for developing countries: U.S. goods are appropriate only for high incomes and long hours.

Section 2

Solution With Explanation

Questions 27-32

Do the following statements agree with the views of the writer in Reading Passage?
In boxes 1-6 write

YES if the statement agrees with the views of the writer
NO if the statement contradicts the views of the writer
NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this

Today, employees are facing a reduction in working hours.
Social planners have been consulted about US employment figures.
Salaries have not risen significantly since the 1970s.
The economic recovery created more jobs.
Bailyn’s research shows that part-time employees work more efficiently.
Increased leisure time would benefit two-career households.

Question 27:

Answer: No
Supporting Sentence: “In fact, working hours have increased noticeably since 1970 — perhaps because real wages have stagnated since that year. Bookstores now abound with manuals describing how to manage time and cope with stress.”
Keywords: In fact, working hours have increased noticeably since 1970
Keyword Location: Paragraph 2; lines 3-4
Explanation: According to paragraph 2, despite the fact that productivity per hour has "more than quadrupled" since 1945, "leisure appears reserved primarily." Because actual earnings have been stagnant since that year, "working hours have climbed considerably since 1970." Therefore, the sentence contradicts the writer, so the answer is no.

Question 28:

Answer: Not Given
Explanation: The only time the term "social planners" is mentioned in the opening paragraph is when the authors state that only a generation prior, they (social planners) were worried about what individuals would do with all of this new-found free time" and that it appears they "need not have concerned about the U.S." As a result, the response is "not given."

Question 29:

Answer: Yes
Supporting Sentence: “In fact, working hours have increased noticeably since 1970 — perhaps because real wages have stagnated since that year.”
Keywords: real wages, stagnated since that year
Keyword Location: Paragraph 2; lines 4-5
Explanation: The author notes in paragraph 2 that there has been a noticeable rise in working hours since 1970. The primary cause of this shift is that since that year, "real earnings" have "stagnated". So, it is the solution because the statement supports the author.

Question 30:

Answer: No
Supporting Sentence: “Indeed, the current economic recovery has gained a certain amount of notoriety for its “jobless” nature: increased production has been almost entirely decoupled from employment.”
Keywords: economic recovery, certain, notoriety, “jobless” nature
Keyword Location: Paragraph 3; line 4
Explanation: According to the author's statement in paragraph 3, the "current economic recovery" has earned some reputation for its "jobless" nature. Increasing output has almost completely "decoupled from employment," it may be argued. Therefore, the statement contradicts the writer, so the answer is no.

Question 31:

Answer: Yes
Supporting Sentence: “She cites both quantitative and qualitative studies that show increased productivity for part-time workers: they make better use of the time they have, and they are less likely to succumb to fatigue in stressful jobs”
Keywords: Cites, quantitative, qualitative studies, increased productivity, part-time workers
Keyword Location: Paragraph 7; lines 2-3
Explanation: The author claims in paragraph 7 that Bailey cites "quantitative and qualitative studies" (research) demonstrating "part-time employees" have "improved productivity" (work more effectively). She continues, saying that part-timers "use the time they have better and are less likely to give in to exhaustion in difficult positions." So, it is the solution as the assertion concurs with the author.

Question 32:

Answer: Not Given
Explanation: The chapter only makes one mention of "two-career households" in paragraph 9. Here, the author claims that "the assumption of filled, two-career families had been skewed in the U.S. market for commodities." There is no mention of "free time" in this statement. As a result, the response is "not given.”

Questions 33-34

Choose the appropriate letters A-D and write them in boxes 33-34 on your answer sheet.

Bailyn argues that it is better for a company to employ more workers because

it is easy to make excess staff redundant.
crises occur if you are under-staffed.
people are available to substitute for absent staff.
they can project a positive image at work.

Schor thinks it will be difficult for workers in the US to reduce their working hours because

they would not be able to afford cars or homes.
employers are offering high incomes for long hours.
the future is dependent on technological advances.
they do not wish to return to the humble post-war era.

Question 33:

Answer: C
Supporting Sentence:“The extra people can cover the contingencies that you know are going to happen, such as when crises take people away from the workplace.”
Keywords: extra people, cover the contingencies, going to happen
Keyword Location: Paragraph 7; lines 5-6
Explanation: According to Bailyn in paragraph 7, "additional individuals" (hire more workers) "can replace" (substitute) the "contingencies" (missing personnel) that are likely to occur, "such as when emergencies draw individuals away from the job. So, choice C is the correct response.

Question 34:

Answer: A
Supporting Sentence: “She says the U.S. market for goods has become skewed by the assumption of full-time, two-career households.”
Keywords: She says the U.S. market for goods, skewed, assumption, full-time, two-career households
Keyword Location: Paragraph 9; lines 3-4
Explanation: The author has incorporated Scor's argument that the assumption of "full-time, two-career families," which results in increased "working hours" or no change in the number of hours worked, has distorted (or "skewed") the U.S. market. Otherwise, they won't be able to purchase homes (since developers no longer construct the little bungalows that serviced the first post generation of home purchasers) or vehicles (because automakers no longer produce affordable models). So, choice A is the correct response.

Questions 35-38

The writer mentions a number of factors that have resulted, in employees working longer hours.
Which FOUR of the following factors are mentioned?
Write your answers (A-H) in boxes 35-38 on your answer sheet.

List of Factors

Books are available to help employees cope with stress.
Extra work is offered to existing employees.
Increased production has led to joblessness.
Benefits and hours spent on the job are not linked.
Overworked employees require longer to do their work.
Longer hours indicate greater commitment to the firm.
Managers estimate staff productivity in terms of hours worked.
Employees value a career more than a family.

Question 35:

Answer: B
Supporting Sentence: “Yet a host of factors pushes employers to hire fewer workers for more hours and, at the same time, compels workers to spend more time on the job.”
Keywords: Yet a host of factors pushes employers to hire fewer workers for more hours and at the same time compels workers to spend more time on the job
Keyword Location: Paragraph 4; lines 1-2
Explanation: It is indicated in the initial sentence of paragraph 4 that owing to "a variety of variables," companies recruit fewer people for longer shifts (additional work), while also requiring "workers" (current employees) to "spend more time on the job" (extra work). As a result, option B is one of the reasons why employees are working more hours.

Question 36:

Answer: D
Supporting Sentence: “Even hourly employees receive benefits - such as pension contributions and medical insurance - that are not tied to the number of hours they work. Therefore, it is more profitable for employers to
work their existing employees harder”.
Keywords: hourly employees, benefits, pension contributions, medical insurance, not tied, number of hours
Keyword Location: Paragraph 5; lines 5-6
Explanation: The writer claims in the fifth phrase of paragraph 5 that even hourly workers receive "benefits" including "pension contributions and medical insurance." However, these advantages are "not related" (not connected) "to the amount of hours" that the workers put in. Employers may therefore "work their existing staff more profitably" by doing so. As a result, option D is one of the reasons why employees are working more hours.

Question 37:

Answer: F
Supporting Sentence: “For all that employees complain about long hours, they, too, have reasons not to trade money for leisure. “People who work reduced hours pay a huge penalty in career terms,” Schor maintains. “It”s
taken as a negative signal’ about their commitment to the firm.’
Keywords: People, work reduced hours, huge penalty in career terms, negative signal, commitment, firm
Keyword Location: Paragraph 6; lines 2-3
Explanation: People who work "reduced hours" incur a "major penalty in career terms," according to Schor, it is stated in the second phrase of paragraph 6. This is so that it won't be interpreted as sending a "bad signal" about their "commitment to the firm." Therefore, putting in "longer hours" at work indicates "more devotion." Therefore, one of the reasons why employees have been required to work longer hours is option F.

Question 38:

Answer: G
Supporting Sentence:
Keywords: they use, number of hours, proxy for output
Keyword Location: Paragraph 6; lines 5-6
Explanation: The assertion made by Bailyn at the conclusion of the 6th paragraph is that many "business managers" find it challenging to gauge the contributions of their "underlings" to the success of their company. As a
result, they substitute "number of hours worked" for "output" (productivity). The following line furthers her point by stating that "workers realise this... change their behaviour appropriately." As a result, choice G is one of the reasons why employees are working more hours.