CAE Reading and Use of English Part 8
ou are going to read four opinions about a four-day work week. For questions 47-56, choose from the people (A-D). The people may be chosen more than once. When more than one answer is required, these may be given in any order.
Which person …
47 admits the new schedule required a conscious reduction in non-essential activities during the workday?
48 felt that the policy fundamentally changed the company’s culture for the better?
49 mentions that the change had an unexpected positive impact on their personal finances?
50 concedes to having doubted the feasibility of the plan before it was implemented?
51 describes a positive change in how colleagues interacted with each other after the change?
52 found that the policy pushed them to get better with digital tools?
53 suggests that the success of the policy depended on a collective shift in mindset?
54 highlights an improvement in their physical well-being since the change?
55 explains that the new system made them reconsider the true importance of certain tasks?
56 notes that the policy eliminated a time-consuming weekly activity?
A. Anya, Project Manager
I was deeply sceptical. I foresaw missed deadlines and a frantic scramble to fit five days of work into four. The reality was a lesson in efficiency. We immediately cut our meeting times by default, and I became ruthless about prioritisation. I now ask, “Is this a ‘Friday problem’?” meaning, does it truly require immediate attention or can it wait? This mindset shift proved transformative to our operation. The team is more focused and, surprisingly, collaborative. With less time for small talk, our communication has become more direct and purposeful. The three-day weekend isn’t just a break; it’s a proper reset. I return on Monday feeling well-rested, and my chronic neck pain has virtually disappeared without the long hours hunched at my desk.
B. Jeremy, Software Developer
The four-day week forced us to automate tedious processes and finally adopt project management tools properly. You can’t waste time on manual updates when you have a three-day weekend looming. I’ve become a power user of several pieces of software I only scratched the surface of before. The biggest win for me, however, was the death of the pointless meeting. We now have a firm ‘no-meeting Wednesday’ policy to facilitate uninterrupted work. This has boosted my coding productivity immensely. Financially, it’s been a bonus I hadn’t considered—I’m now spending less on fuel and buying lunch out. I use the extra day for errands and hobbies, meaning my weekend is now purely for relaxation.
C. Chloe, Marketing Executive
The initial adjustment was tough, to put it mildly. We had to eliminate a lot of the ‘nice-to-have’ tasks that often filled our days. It meant re-evaluating our entire workflow and trusting each other to manage the increased autonomy. The culture shifted from one of ‘presenteeism’—where being seen at your desk late was praised—to one purely focused on output and results. There’s a new sense of mutual respect, as everyone had to uphold their end for the system to work. We’re no longer just colleagues; we’re a team that have successfully navigated a big change together. This shared experience has definitely brought us closer.
D. Christian, CEO and Founder
Implementing this was a significant risk, but the data on employee well-being was too compelling to ignore. My key role was to champion the cultural shift. I made it clear that the goal was not to cram 100% of the work into 80% of the time, but to find smarter ways to achieve 100% of the objectives. This meant that everyone had to buy into a new definition of productivity. We invested in training to help teams streamline their workflows. The result has been a dramatic increase in job satisfaction and, surprisingly, a drop in sick days — which also meant that the company now has to spend less on healthcare plans. For me, the most telling sign of success is that it’s now incredibly difficult to imagine ever going back to the old way of working.
For this task: Answers with explanations :: Vocabulary
