The Changing Workplace
Lesson 5.1 opens Unit 5 with work vocabulary, relative clauses and Part 1 on jobs.
- Use 10 work collocations
- Form defining and non-defining relative clauses
- Answer Part 1 questions about work or study
Vocabulary · Work & careers
Grammar · Relative clauses
- The job that pays the most is rarely the one that gives the most satisfaction.
- My manager, who has been with the company for 20 years, is retiring next month.
✓ The colleague who hired me has just left. ✗ The colleague, who hired me, has just left. (only valid if the colleague is already identified)
Listening Skills — The Changing Workplace: A Lecture on Automation
You will hear part of a university lecture about how automation and artificial intelligence are reshaping workplaces. Read the questions first and predict what type of information is missing in each gap.
- Look at each gap and decide if you need a number, a job title, a date, or a short noun phrase.
- Listen for signpost phrases like 'the first change', 'in addition', and 'by contrast' to track structure.
- Numbers and percentages are often repeated or corrected — listen carefully to the final version.
- Do not write more than two words and/or a number for each answer.
Listen first — the transcript stays hidden so this works like the real exam.
Listening audio
Tap play to generate and listen.
Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.
- By the next decade, about ____ per cent of manufacturing tasks could be automated.
- The first major change discussed is automation of ____ work.
- Automated response systems have reduced call-centre staff needs by around ____ per cent.
- Creative industries and skilled trades resist automation because they require ____ knowledge.
- The National Skills Fund was launched in ____.
- The Fund offers free courses in ____ for workers over 45.
- The key term for jobs shrinking in the middle is ____.
- Students must read Chapter ____ before next week's seminar.
Answer key
Speaking · Part 1
- Do you work or are you a student?
- What's the best thing about your job/course?
- Would you like to do the same job in 10 years?
Pathway focus · Academic angle on work
Exam Strategy
- Exam Tip
Use one relative clause per Part 1 answer to lift complexity.
Independent Practice
Rewrite 5 simple sentences about your work using relative clauses.
Key Takeaways
- Defining = essential info, no commas. Non-defining = extra info, commas.
- Tense choice under pressure20 fast decisions between present simple, present perfect and past simple.
- True / False / Not Given decisionsTen statements — the question type students lose most marks on.
- Trend language workoutDescribe movement precisely — verbs, adverbs and noun phrases.
Optional — this doesn't affect your lesson or course progress.