- A job you would not like to do in the future.
- What the job is
- When you don’t want to do it
- How you feel about the job
- That’s a good question and takes me back to a time where I felt down all the time in my previous job
- Two years back, I lost my job and was almost broke (=bankrupt, penniless) then. I applied for my desired position to several corporations, but either I wasn’t called for an interview or I was declined for the position after my interview session
- I did my bachelor’s degree in commerce and am quite well versed in accounting and finance. I’m an assistant accountant currently, and that was my chosen job and comfort zone forever
- My company went into liquidation (=process of closing a company, selling what it owns and paying its debt) some two and a half year ago, and I had no way but to hunt a new job then
- After successive failures to find the job that I wanted, I compromised with my career path and decided to take up a job in other areas, too
- Finally, I was chosen as a sales cum operations officer with a brokerage firm, which dealt with the stock market, trading on behalf of regular and high-net-worth clients
- I encountered a host of challenging times while working with this company, and some of them were beyond my imaginations
- It was a family-run organization, so practically I had to report to three bosses and needed to align with three bosses on many occasions
- That was the first account of huge dissatisfaction in my job
- Furthermore, I never experienced that my job was ever rewarding and fun. I always felt underpaid against my untiring (=continued, dedicated) efforts to maximize the growth of my company
- After one and a half year, I felt stagnant (=dormant, idle, inactive) in my job role and bored
- I faced everything with a grin (=beam, smirk), but in the end, I gave in (=abandon, give up, back down, cease) when I felt unappreciated at work
- One of the significant elements of the workplace is the need for recognition. I got unhappy when I realized that it went unappeased. My boss never proclaimed (=affirm, indicate, announce) gladly what best I had done. On the contrary, he placed his frustration on me on a couple of occasions. This was the last trigger for me to quit the job for another
- Luckily, I found the job that I wanted, and now I’m quite relaxed and happy with my current work profile
Follow-up questions:
- What kinds of jobs young people prefer?
Well, it’s subjective. It all depends upon what kind of personality you are. Ambitious young people have a huge arena of choices from IT to engineering to management administration to the medical field. India is known for IT solutions, so I guess we manufacture tens of thousands of students who are interested in working with tech companies. At the same time, India is also known for giving unimaginable numbers of engineers every year. I think these are the main careers.
- Some people may lose their jobs due to technology, how to deal with it?
I agree with you on this statement. I foresee many jobs will be automated, and robots will be replacing human talents in the years to come. The best solution is to keep your skills updated with changing time, or you become unwanted (=redundant) for sure. We won’t and can’t go back in the past. Nor do we desire to have medieval time to live our lives. The second solution that comes to my mind is population control. This suggestion might sound out of the way concerning this question, but it’s not. Population explosion will have dire (=critical, drastic, acute) consequences, and it takes away opportunities because the world businesses may not be able to match up with the rise in population as far as job opportunities are concerned.
- Will you settle in another country?
Yes, I will settle abroad, and that’s why I’m taking the IELTS test.
- How young people today decide their careers?
There are multiple ways and considerations that the youth makes up their minds (=to decide something) to choose a career. Some youngsters have their own passion to follow in life, and they’re adamant to compromise for anything lesser than what they have dreamed. Well, it’s not bad propensity (=disposition, leaning, tendency) because some people never settle for less, and they’re truly deserving, also. Some youngsters follow others without thinking deeply, and at times, they get happy or unhappy after some years. There is a section of the youth which idolizes others or look upon their parents. They have a clear path of their careers and go after them diligently and sincerely.
- What do young people prefer – boring jobs with high pay or interesting jobs with low pay?
It’s hard to answer how people see their dream jobs. If we look at this point pragmatically (=practically, in a sensible manner), people should go for interesting jobs, no matter how much they fetch (=earn) from them. However, when I see people around me, they prefer only those jobs that offer a high remuneration. They think of accumulating wealth first and then chase their passion. Again, I’m drawing assumptions, and people may have a host of factors while choosing any job.
- What do you prefer – physical work or work involving thinking?
If my passion offers me physical activity along with creativity, there can’t be a better option than this. But it doesn’t go hand in hand (=two things are closely connected and one thing causes the other) in most cases. Jobs that involve critical thinking generally don’t entail (=involve) physical activities, barring a few ones. Physical activities in the job keep employees fit while working.
- Do you think today we have less physical labor than we did in the past?
Yes, I think so. Technology has taken over many physical jobs. Plus, technology has made our life comfortable. For example, in the past, people used to commute to work on bicycles, but we can’t think of taking our bikes to go to the workplace due to the distance and sometimes harsh weather.
2. Describe an old person you know and respect.
- Who the person is
- How you know this person
- What he or she is like
- And explain why you respect him or her
- I am in touch with several elderly people in my community, and I guess all of them deserve a lot of respect
- I tend to receive an abundance (=plenty, plethora) of wisdom from them more often
- Today, I would like to talk about a lady who is in her 70’s. Her name is Kavita Paryani. She’s a retired banker
- She has a bright smiling face and is full of life with the pearls of wisdom for all the youth. She always wears an absolutely positive attitude
- I got acquainted with this marvelous lady in the park where I go for jogging every morning
- She actively pursues happiness every day; I mean she seizes every day in all the possible ways
- Whenever I’m upset or kind of that, she advises, “follow your passion and let go of expectations and everything in between.” Initially, I think I was too young to understand where she came from. But now I understand the value of her advice in my life these days
- She is a firm believer in the power of community, and you will see her everywhere doing something or helping others. She helps people in our temple, organizes food bank for underprivileged people, fundraises for animal shelters, teaches disadvantaged children so that they can dream big, coaches a sports team at times, and among others
- In a nutshell, she’s a great volunteer and a noted person within the greater fabric of our society
- I hold a lot of respect for this lady on account of her benevolent (=philanthropic, caring, compassionate) jobs. And sometimes I wonder how she garners (=amass, gather, reap) so much power and strength to do so many activities at a time
Follow-up questions:
- What qualities does a person need to have to take care of old people?
I’ve two adjectives for that: patience and compassion. These two qualities are the center stage when somebody decides to take care of old people in society. Elderly people are just like kids, and they see the world differently. They value relationships because they’ve seen more life. Because of this, they tend to be more sensitive. Some of them express their sensitive views, whereas others swallow (=absorb, eat, gobble) the pain and suffocate (=smother, stifle, asphyxiate) well within.
- Do you think old people should be taken care of at home?
Well, in our country, that’s the way it is. In some countries, they move to senior homes and enjoy their lives with others. Both ways lead to happiness as long as we see underlying benefits in such a setting. I personally believe to have my elder people at home because they might have slogged (=to work hard and steadily at something) for us over the years, and it’s our payback (=compensation, reimbursement) time. They got us all the possible world and sacrificed everything they could for us. Leaving them behind may not be a good idea. At least, that’s what the culture of Bharat is.
- How can people in the neighborhood help the elderly during an epidemic?
If you really want to see the best community volunteering, go to the countryside. You will see people connected with each other in all the sorrows and good times there. The culture of helping and giving is getting obsolete (=out-of-date, archaic, antiquated) in this fast-paced world, especially in big cities. Having said that, I must also say that we see exceptions, too. For example, during the coronavirus pandemic, people in big cities also took care of their neighbors by talking or inquiring about their health. In my neighborhood, people ensured elderly people did not move out of their houses for their essential needs. Volunteers got them everything at home. Elderly people, generally, need no money. They just need a verbal hug during a crisis. That friendly gesture pumps them up with confidence, and they feel protected and loved all the time.
- Do you see this kind of help occurring in your neighborhood?
Yes, I can see it clearly. Digital media has played a big role in creating awareness in people about community volunteering. People have realized that their small world needs to take care of neighborhood and social causes to make this world a better place to live.
3. Describe a place you visited that has been affected by pollution.
- Where it is
- When you visited this place
- What kind of pollution you saw there
- And explain how this place was affected
- Pollution is an issue that runs rampant (=excessive, growing, uncontrollable) throughout my country. It doesn’t make me feel proud of what I’m going to narrate, but I’ve to…
- If it’s not rectified sooner, I foresee it will take the shape of a monster in the years to come
- I’ve visited countless tourist places, but today I would like to remember my visit which is as late as the last week in my city, Ahmedabad
- I had a meeting with someone, and it got canceled for some reason all of a sudden. I had some time to kill, so I decided to visit Riverfront
- I live in the west of Ahmedabad. To have a different experience, I went to the other side of the city to view the spectacular view of Riverfront near Khanpur
- I was shocked to see the state of the riverbank and felt angry at people. It was pretty diabolic (=terrible, extremely annoying)
- People had no manners, spitting anywhere, plastic bottles of beverages were strewn (=scatter, sprinkle) and thrown in the river swimming, and boys were doing bike stunts on the sidewalk of the road. The place was full of unimaginable litters
- I was disappointed to see this view. People didn’t bother about taking care of the public property. On the contrary, I felt as if they had taken a pledge to dirty it on purpose
- I don’t know why some people get a perverse pleasure in making things worse. Such people are a huge liability on the nation, and they’ve no respect for fellow citizens
- I didn’t have any device to measure the noise pollution, but it was surely concerning and unbearably loud
- After this experience, I decided not to visit this place ever again. Maybe the same way, other people might have been thinking, too. It’s a kind of surrender to worthless people, and that’s more appalling (=alarming, awful, dire, disheartening) to me because such uncivilized people dictate our lives in some ways or the other these days
Follow-up questions:
- What kinds of pollution are serious in your country?
Ironically, we’re facing all types of pollution that have threatened our quality of life. In the past, people were only worried about air pollution, but there are many others, too. We go through noise pollution, light pollution, air pollution, waterways are blocked, food adulteration, and I can go on and on. We’ve polluting industries that produce greenhouse gas emissions, and they contaminate groundwater. People blow horn incessantly, and I think I’ve become almost deaf to experience any sound all day.
- What can individuals do to protect our environment?
Discipline. It comes down to your morality in all the civic responsibilities. Most people never think deeply about their responsibility towards the nation and Mother Nature. On most occasions, they fight to the death for their rights – sometimes they are the unwanted ones. We must be compassionate about our Mother Nature. Human beings are, in fact, not being human to our earth. We must understand the value of trees, animals, and water, and learn how to co-exist with them, not by killing or destroying them for our short term benefits.
- Do you think individuals should be responsible for pollution?
Yes, in most cases, individuals are the cause of all types of pollution. Wherever you see humans on this earth, you will see filth and dirt around them. In fact, I say that the human race itself is a plague on this earth. We are ripping off (=abuse, defraud, exploit) all the natural resources day in, day out (=every day for a long period of time), and talk about humanity. Hypocrisy at its best! And surprisingly, when we discuss this matter in society, people laugh at you, make fun of you, or don’t take you seriously. This is the brazen (=audacious, blatant) attitude, we’ve developed over the decades.
- Why is there a need to involve the government in environmental protection?
Without the fear of penalty, society becomes lawless. Even though there are laws to protect the environment in the first place, yet some people care about nothing and flout (=defy, disregard, repudiate) the rules. There’s a devil inside us, and it can only be controlled either by law enforcement or by the religion.
4. A time when you did not tell the truth to someone.
- When it was
- To who(m) you did not tell the truth
- Why you did not tell the truth
- And what the truth was
- The long-standing and moral principles say that lying is a wrongful conduct
- Yet our society is filled with people who often tell lies. Sometimes they do it brazenly, too
- I also live in the same society, and I regrettably assert that I also lied to people in the past. When I recount a few incidents, I feel ashamed of what I did in the past. But, anyway, every mistake that you make leaves a valuable lesson to learn from it
- I had to face the ire (=displeasure, annoyance, exasperation) of my boss last month for (=because) what I did was unacceptable for the company
- My boss assigned me the job of sending promotional materials to our clients. They were promotional images with the content, and I had to send them at regular intervals
- I didn’t do that job rightly, and my boss detected it in the last month
- My boss was right because I was lazy at doing my jobs and took it for granted and thought that it wouldn’t be detected ever
- I must admit that I was negligent, and because of that, our business went down in the last quarter
- I don’t know what kind of perverse pleasure I got by doing that. I faced the music (=to accept and deal with criticism or punishment for something you have done) and lost my credibility at the workplace for which I feel sorry about it
- Thankfully, this question has relieved me a little bit from my misconduct at the workplace
Follow-up questions:
- How can people check whether a piece of information is correct or not?
There are ways wherein you could check the authenticity (=correctness, accuracy, credibility) of the information. If any matter relates to any policy, law, or usual information, people can visit relevant websites to double-check the information. What is written or printed at the source should be taken into consideration. In some cases, you could also talk to your seniors who hold rich experience in your line of business. Their wisdom proves to be handy on many occasions. In some cases, everything is not black and white, so you also need to develop the skill of reading between the lines (=to look for or discover a meaning in something that is not openly stated).
- What is the difference between giving information by phone and email?
People may forget the discussion held over the phone, and it might create confusion in some cases. Therefore, emailing is the best way to communicate with people, so that they’ve a record of what they said and what was told. In the business, emailing is the best tool for exchanging information, but all people aren’t accustomed to this professional habit.
- What kinds of professions are related to giving information to others?
I guess every line of business includes exchanging information; be it product information, counseling, sales pitch, consultation, and among others. Some service-oriented professions rely heavily on supplying information to their clients. For example, my educational consultant has explained to me about so many invaluable things before I made the decision to study abroad. Without her counseling, I might not have decided to study overseas.
- Do people trust the information shared online?
No, I don’t think so. But credulous (=gullible, simple, accepting) people, who have no habit of checking citations or confirming with fact files, believe any information easily whether it’s available online or by any other medium. Therefore, it’s quite an easy task for scammers to trick them. For example, people trust blindly Wikipedia, but I don’t do so. I always double-check the online content because sometimes it could highly be opinionated or biased, which is far from reality.
5. Describe a program or app on your computer or phone.
- Which the app/program is
- When and how you found it about
- How you use it
- And how you feel about it
- There are thousands of apps available on your smartphones nowadays. Some of them die before they’re born
- My phone has also many apps stored, and some of them are really useful to track multiple things
- I’m working for a small corporation, but I remain overly busy and need to do paperwork, and sometimes I’ve to see wanted or unwanted people in business
- Because of the hectic schedule, my personal life, at times, is demolished and put a lot of pressure on me mentally. I shared my concern with my colleagues two years back, and he suggested me to spare some time for myself. He also recommended me one app, which I’ve been using it since then. It’s a marvelous app
- The name of the app is ‘Strides’
- This app allows me to track all my goals and ensures the tasks to be completed timely. It’s a truly multifaceted app
- It has a nicely designed dashboard that allows you to see everything at a glance. It has four trackers: target, habit, average, and milestone
- I use this app to fulfill my daily habits. This app reminds me of my goal fulfillment, and I love it
- The best part of this app is that it allows you to track your goals and tasks by the day, week, month, or the year. I guess without this app, it’s hard for me to keep myself organized. You can also customize it to your needs, and that’s one of the best features I could say
Follow-up questions:
- Which phone app is the most popular in your country?
In India, WhatsApp is an extraordinarily popular app these days. This app is owned by Facebook. Surprisingly, this app was not much known and popular in the world in the beginning, but Indians loved it too much. Apart from these, there are many apps that are famous among youngsters and other age groups. The youth post their creativity on Instagram. Instagram is one of the favorite apps among the youth in the world currently.
- Do you think that parents should limit the time for their children to spend on the phone?
It varies from case to case. If children are seen wasting too much time on the phone, then ‘yes’, parents must swing into action. Phone addiction is a new disease right now. You will see most people are busy wasting their time in gossiping, texting messages, calling, or watching videos using different apps. Such a nasty habit distracts them from their goals. In a nutshell, parents must act before it’s too late.
- Do you think people depend on phone apps too much?
Yes, I think so. And it’s worrisome, too. Over-reliance on phone apps for getting things done could adversely impact your natural skills. For example, we use the phone calculator even for small calculations. Or God’s sake, your app reminds you of your important goal. It’s convenience for sure, but, at the same time, it’s a crutch (=cane, bolster) also.
- Do you think some apps will help people to study?
Yes, there are some apps that are doing a remarkable job, especially after the pandemic of coronavirus. These apps have proven their utmost utility to enlighten and assist students to complete their studies. For example, ‘White Hat Junior’ coaches young children on how to code in computer courses. Children as young as ten years old have been learning to code and develop apps. I wish we could have had such apps during our time.
- What kinds of apps do you have on your phone?
I’ve a host of apps that deal with productivity, social networking, and games. I’ve ‘Strides’ and ‘Moneycontrol’ that deal with my goal setting, milestones, and stock market respectively. I’ve downloaded ‘WhatsApp’ for chatting and ‘Instagram’ and ‘Facebook’ for posting updates, messages, fun content, and stories. When I’ve some extra time for doing nothing, I play Candy Crush and Ludo.
- What are the drawbacks of having too many apps on your phone?
I guess, first of all, it slows down your phone, and there’s no point in having too many apps on your phone. Additionally, some apps keep sending notifications that distract you from doing the right job at times.
- How much time do you spend on these apps?
It all depends upon the utility of the specific app. For example, I’ve also downloaded BBC English to improve my English proficiency. Sometimes I keep listening to their audios continuously as I enjoy learning something new from this app. I guess I spend around 2 hours a day. I’ve not calculated time ever but this could be the estimate.
- Do you like to look for new apps or just keep using the old ones?
I don’t search for new apps unless it’s recommended by someone or it has to be a popular one which offers some useful features for me.
- Do you use free apps or the ones that you need to pay for?
Until now, I have been using all the free apps; never paid for any app yet.