IELTS Topic: 剑桥雅思真题

As most people spend a major part of their adult life at work, job satisfaction is an important element of individual wellbeing. What are the factors that contribute to job satisfaction? How realistic is the expectation of job satisfaction for all workers?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.


Sample Essay: 冒牌实验范文

Hard realities such as high unemployment rates mean that many people have little choice in the kind of job they can get to their satisfaction. Although job satisfaction is crucial to the wellbeing of an individual, it seems farm from realistic without seriously taking job security into consideration in the first place. Job security being not the issue, what contributes to job satisfaction are several factors, of which money is usually the No. 1 motivation.

Money is the most important factor for people to work, but many employees are also seeking a balance between life and work. Unless jobs are made more flexible, sometimes work can get in the way of living. It is easy to understand that workers would feel happy about an opportunity to reduce stress and ease the pain. In this respect, flexible work arrangements make sense because job satisfaction is linked to a reduction of working hours, which is particularly desirable in the developed countries. To illustrate, professional labor force may work in part from home, known as telecommuniting. That is to say, having more time for family and pleasure is part of job satisfaction.

On another front, job satisfaction is likely to increase when people have jobs which they think are worth doing. They need to feel that they are doing valued and valuable work, hence expecting positive feedback from their supervisors. In this case, there is always a sense of satisfaction on the part of employees. Further, it is encouraging when they feel that they are improving or developing their working skills through on-job training. Also, the sense of belonging to a team or organization as well as having healthy relationships with co-workers is rewarding. Indeed, with the possible exception of a huge paycheck, for most workers, nothing provides more satisfaction than the prospect of getting a promotion soon enough for doing a worthwhile job which pays off.

All in all, people find happiness in jobs that not only would bring cash but also demonstrate values. Apart from that, when workers feel being rewarded at work and being comfortable at home, they ought to be satisfied. And yet, first thing first, they must be lucky enough to have a stable job. (Essay re-created by Jeenn Lee Hsieh 谢振礼老师)
》剑桥雅思真题：

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

Some people prefer to spend their lives doing the same things and avoiding changes. Others, however, think that change is always a good thing. Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.
Write at least 250 words.

》仿写实验范文。Recreated by Jeenn Lee Hsieh。Modeled after an essay prepared by an IELTS examiner as an example of a very good answer. However, please note that the examiner's original essay (not copied here) is just one example out of many possible approaches.


猫头鹰议论文：

Change, as progress, may not always be a good thing, but we could not possibly stop change from coming. Whether we like it or not, change happens. It seems that, any change, even a change for the better, is sometimes accompanied by drawbacks and discomforts.

In general, progress is positive. This has been driven by technological and scientific breakthroughs that are changing the whole way we view the world on an almost daily basis. Indeed, over the last half century the pace of change in the life of human beings has increased beyond our wildest expectations. From the Industrial Revolution to the present Information Age, human beings have been benefitting from such changes in life as never before seen. Inevitably, it is a different world, probably one that is better economically and socially than any time in the past. If nothing else, life has become more enjoyable and labor less strenuous.

However, that change is inevitable is not the same as assuming that 'change is for the better'. Unfortunately, it is not always the case that new things are promoted because they have good impacts for the majority of people. For instance, a lot of innovations are made with the aim of making money for a few. Altogether, it seems as if everything we gain, we lose something else; and everything we lose, we gain something else. True enough, change always comes bearing gifts; nevertheless, we have reasons to doubt if some of those gifts were not directly from hell. It is because all changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy as what we have left behind us is a cherished part of ourselves.

All things considered, we are obliged to welcome change as our rule because there is nothing wrong with change as long as it is in the right direction. Given that all progress does not necessarily have good outcomes, we cannot prevent the world from changing. Since change is the only constant, the only institution which rejects progress is perhaps the cemetery. (Essay recreated by OWL)