Difficult Job – English Language Bits

Choose the best word to match.

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environment – turnover – improve – mean (verb, v.) – last (verb, v.) – mean (adjective, adj.) – source – shift – occasional – amusement park – prefer

opposite of good or kind –

to like something or someone more than another thing/person –

one of the periods of time during each day and night when a group of workers are at work before being replaced by another group of workers –

happening sometimes but not often or regularly –

to make something better –

a large park with many special machines that you can have fun rides on –

the people and things that are around you in your life; the general situation you are in –

to have a particular meaning; to want to say something –

when workers leave their jobs and need to be replaced with new employees –

where you get something from –

to continue for some time; to be in good condition –

Fill in the missing words in the text. You can type them or copy & paste them.

You can check your answers by listening or by clicking Submit at the end.

environment – turnover – improve – mean (verb, v.) – last (verb, v.) – mean (adjective, adj.) – source – shift – occasional – amusement park – ended up

Yuliya: So, when you mentioned your first job was swimming instructor, how long did you have it, that first job?
Sofiya: So my first job was at… through a private company. It wasn’t like, through the city. So I think I worked there for about six months in total, and then I getting hired by the city of Toronto, and I preferred that, so I switched.

Yuliya: And what were some of the things you liked about that first job?
Sofiya: I enjoyed getting to work with children and getting to teach them how to swim.
Yuiya: Anything you didn’t like about it?
Sofiya: The supervisors were .

Yuliya: Well, that’s too bad. I’m sorry to hear that. Still, you -ed for six months. I think that’s a good thing to have on your resume, right?

Sofiya: I , I don’t put it on my resume very often now.
Yuliya: Well, not anymore, but I bet at that time it helped you get your next job.
Sofiya: Sure.
Yuliya: Sofiya, you mentioned you had quite a few jobs. May I ask you which one was the most difficult?

Sofiya: For sure. So I think my second job it would have been. I was lifeguarding at a waterpark in a pretty well-known , without name-dropping, but it was quite difficult.

The hours were long, the -s could go up to ten-eleven-twelve hours sometimes, and the pay was not great. It was minimum wage at the time, which was I think $11. So it was not fun. The lifeguards there were pretty much getting exploited by management. It was quite awful towards the end.
Yuliya: How long did you have it?

Sofiya: One summer. So I started in mid-June, probably, mid-end of June, and then I went until the end of the summer, so Labor Day. And then I did some shifts outside of the water park on weekends in September and October, but by that point I did not want to be there anymore.

Yuliya: I see. And how did your colleagues feel about that?
Sofiya: A lot of people by the end were quite unhappy with everything, but it was a of income, and we were there, and that’s just how it was.

Yuliya: I see. Do you think many of them came back the next summer?
Sofiya: The vast majority did not. A couple ended up becoming team leaders the following year to try and the conditions, but honestly, I think that place was beyond improvement.

Yuliya: So do you think they still have that high of staff?

Sofiya: They definitely do. Even when the season was starting and the facilities were open, I think a couple of us went to look at the website, and they were still actively hiring lifeguards and slide attendants, and everything else. So I think they just have not fixed any of the issues and therefore they still have a less than stellar work .
Yuliya: But if we look at the bright side, we can say it’s a job opportunity, right, to start working?
Sofiya: For sure.
Yuliya: Thank you.

These questions can help you practice speaking or writing.

In what kind of environment would you prefer to learn swimming – a private school or a municipal community center?

How common are municipal recreation centres in your area?

How popular are they?

What activities are available there?

How high are the fees?

Have you ever been to a waterpark?

How did you like it?

How interested would you be in working there?

Who would you prefer to work for – a private company or a municipal recreation centre? Why?

What could be some differences between these two workplaces?

Find the best sentence for each of these words.

You can type the words or copy & paste them. Check your answers by clicking Submit at the end.

environment – wage – improve – mean (verb, v.) – last (verb, v.) – mean (adjective, adj.) – source – shift – occasional – amusement park – prefer

Those comments made her cry.

Our company is very serious about safe and positive work for all employees.

I tea to coffee. = I like tea more than coffee.

Working night -s all the time can be really difficult.

This bag is more expensive, but I’m sure it will much longer than those cheaper ones.

I , she didn’t really like that job.

Milk and other dairy products are a good of calcium.

I hope this website will help many learners their English.

American public schools have a very high teacher .

I loved going to -s as a kid, but today most of the modern rides seem scary to me.

Even if you rarely drive your parents’ car, you should still be listed as an driver on the insurance policy.