True, False, Not Given: two people, one job
You can tell a statement the passage rules out from one it never answers, and point to the words that decide it.
Two people, one full-time job, one salary split between them: that is job sharing, and it is the subject of the passage here.
The task is True, False, Not Given. For each statement you decide whether the passage agrees with it, says something that rules it out, or says nothing about it. The hard part is usually telling the last two apart.
Warm-up
Three kinds of statement
Read this staff notice. One of the statements below is TRUE, one is FALSE and one is NOT GIVEN.
Read thisFrom 1 March, staff at our Harbour Street office may work from home on Fridays. Anyone who wishes to do this must tell their team leader by 20 February.
Which statement is NOT GIVEN?
How it works
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1? For questions 1-8, choose
TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this
- 1Elena and Tomasz are both at work on Wednesdays.1
- 2Tomasz's studies are related to his job.2
- 3Each partner in a job share is responsible only for the tasks they start.3
- 4Splitting the week is the most common way for partners to divide a job.4
- 5Some job sharers are preparing for retirement.5
- 6When one partner is ill, the work usually stops until they return.6
- 7Large organisations are more likely than small firms to offer job shares.7
- 8Elena believes that trust between partners matters less than a shared way of working.8
Each statement is answered a little further into the passage than the one before it.
The method
- 1Mark the key words
Names, numbers, and the small words that set limits: only, all, usually, more than. One of these can decide the answer.
- 2Find the place
Look for a name or an idea from the statement. The passage will usually say it in different words, which is called a paraphrase.
- 3Read the whole sentence, and the next one
The detail that decides the answer may come after but, however or although.
- 4Ask two questions
Does the passage say this? Then TRUE. Does it say something that rules the statement out? Then FALSE. If neither, NOT GIVEN.
- 5Use only the passage
A statement can be true in real life and still be NOT GIVEN. What you know about the subject does not count.
FALSE or NOT GIVEN?
The passage says something that rules the statement out. The notice says staff may work from home on Fridays, so any day of the week is FALSE.
The passage is on the same topic but never answers the statement. The notice says who may work from home and when. It never says how many will, so most staff is NOT GIVEN.
The passage
Two people, one job
When Elena Ruiz went back to work after the birth of her second child, she did not want to give up her post as a project manager at a regional water company. She could no longer work five days a week, however, so she agreed to share the job with a colleague, Tomasz Wolak, who wanted more time for his studies. Five years later, the two still divide the role between them. Elena works from Monday to Wednesday, and Tomasz from Wednesday to Friday.
Arrangements like theirs are known as job sharing. Two people divide one full-time position, and with it the salary, the holidays and other benefits, usually in proportion to the hours each of them works. What makes this different from ordinary part-time work is that the partners are jointly responsible for the whole job. A task that one of them starts on a Monday may be finished by the other on a Thursday, and both are answerable for the result.
Pairs can divide the work in several ways. Some split the week, as Elena and Tomasz do, and arrange a day or a few hours when both are at work, so that they can hand over tasks face to face. Others divide each day into mornings and afternoons, or work alternate weeks. The best pattern depends on the job itself: a role with many meetings benefits from time together, while one built around separate projects may need very little.
Job sharing tends to attract people who want to keep a responsible post but cannot, or do not wish to, work full time. Parents of young children are the most familiar example. Job sharers also include people who care for elderly relatives, people studying for further qualifications, and older employees who want to reduce their hours gradually before they retire.
Employers who have tried the arrangement often point to benefits for the organisation. Two people bring two sets of skills and experience to a single role. When one partner is on holiday or ill, the other is usually still at work, so the job is rarely left empty. Offering job shares can also help an employer keep experienced staff who might otherwise leave.
The arrangement does have its difficulties. It depends heavily on the two partners communicating well, and a poor handover can mean that information is lost or that work is done twice. Some managers worry that it is not always clear who is responsible when something goes wrong. There are practical costs too: two people must be trained, and each may need a computer and a phone of their own.
For anyone who wants to share a job, the hardest step is often finding the right partner. Some large organisations keep a register of staff who are interested, but in a smaller firm a job sharer may have to find a partner alone. Elena believes she and Tomasz were lucky. 'We think differently,' she says, 'but we trust each other completely, and that matters more than having the same way of working.'
Watch me do one
Statement 7 has a trap in it, so it's the one I'll do: Large organisations are more likely than small firms to offer job shares.
I look for large and small firms in the passage. They come in the last paragraph: Some large organisations keep a register of staff who are interested, but in a smaller firm a job sharer may have to find a partner alone.
The passage compares large and small firms, so TRUE is tempting. But the comparison is about finding a partner. A register is a list, and it helps people find one.
Nothing in the passage says which firms offer job shares more often. Nothing rules the statement out either.
The passage is on the topic but never answers the statement, so I choose NOT GIVEN.
Practice with Elita7 questions
The other seven statements, in the order of the passage. Each one shows the paragraph it comes from.
Statement 1
Read the paragraph, then choose TRUE, FALSE or NOT GIVEN.
Read thisWhen Elena Ruiz went back to work after the birth of her second child, she did not want to give up her post as a project manager at a regional water company. She could no longer work five days a week, however, so she agreed to share the job with a colleague, Tomasz Wolak, who wanted more time for his studies. Five years later, the two still divide the role between them. Elena works from Monday to Wednesday, and Tomasz from Wednesday to Friday.
Elena and Tomasz are both at work on Wednesdays.
Statement 2
Same task. Look at exactly what the passage says about Tomasz.
Read thisWhen Elena Ruiz went back to work after the birth of her second child, she did not want to give up her post as a project manager at a regional water company. She could no longer work five days a week, however, so she agreed to share the job with a colleague, Tomasz Wolak, who wanted more time for his studies. Five years later, the two still divide the role between them. Elena works from Monday to Wednesday, and Tomasz from Wednesday to Friday.
Tomasz's studies are related to his job.
Statement 3
Mark the small words in the statement before you read.
Read thisArrangements like theirs are known as job sharing. Two people divide one full-time position, and with it the salary, the holidays and other benefits, usually in proportion to the hours each of them works. What makes this different from ordinary part-time work is that the partners are jointly responsible for the whole job. A task that one of them starts on a Monday may be finished by the other on a Thursday, and both are answerable for the result.
Each partner in a job share is responsible only for the tasks they start.
Statement 4
Decide whether the passage answers the statement at all.
Read thisPairs can divide the work in several ways. Some split the week, as Elena and Tomasz do, and arrange a day or a few hours when both are at work, so that they can hand over tasks face to face. Others divide each day into mornings and afternoons, or work alternate weeks. The best pattern depends on the job itself: a role with many meetings benefits from time together, while one built around separate projects may need very little.
Splitting the week is the most common way for partners to divide a job.
Statement 5
The passage may use different words for the same idea.
Read thisJob sharing tends to attract people who want to keep a responsible post but cannot, or do not wish to, work full time. Parents of young children are the most familiar example. Job sharers also include people who care for elderly relatives, people studying for further qualifications, and older employees who want to reduce their hours gradually before they retire.
Some job sharers are preparing for retirement.
Statement 6
Read the whole sentence before you decide.
Read thisEmployers who have tried the arrangement often point to benefits for the organisation. Two people bring two sets of skills and experience to a single role. When one partner is on holiday or ill, the other is usually still at work, so the job is rarely left empty. Offering job shares can also help an employer keep experienced staff who might otherwise leave.
When one partner is ill, the work usually stops until they return.
Statement 8
Read Elena's words closely.
Read thisFor anyone who wants to share a job, the hardest step is often finding the right partner. Some large organisations keep a register of staff who are interested, but in a smaller firm a job sharer may have to find a partner alone. Elena believes she and Tomasz were lucky. 'We think differently,' she says, 'but we trust each other completely, and that matters more than having the same way of working.'
Elena believes that trust between partners matters less than a shared way of working.
Words to keep
An arrangement in which two people split one full-time job. Elena and Tomasz have had a job share for five years.
Growing or shrinking by the same share as something else. Holidays are divided in proportion to the hours each partner works.
Sharing the responsibility for the whole of something. Both partners are jointly responsible for the project.
Pass work and information to the next person. Elena hands over her work to Tomasz on Wednesdays.
Every other week: one week on, the next week off. Some partners work alternate weeks.
Stop working, usually because of age. He cut his hours to three days a week before he retired.
Before you go
Find the place in the passage by a name or an idea, and expect it in different words.
Mark the words that set limits, such as only, all, usually and more than.
Answer FALSE only when the passage says something that rules the statement out.
When the passage is on the topic but never answers the statement, write NOT GIVEN, whatever you know about the subject.
Next: General Training candidates go on to a job advert and a staff notice from one hotel, the kind of texts Reading Section 2 uses. Academic candidates go straight to a Part 3 listening about planning a work placement.