PhD-02 Reading Test 3

Good work-life balance has been found beneficial for businesses because it can reduce absenteeism, increase job satisfaction, promote better job autonomy, attract talents, improve employee retention, improve employee attitudes and behaviors, and improve productivity. Despite these benefits, the construction industry is still known for its poor work-life balance. For example, the average number of hours worked in the construction industry was 62.5 among site-based project staff, 56.1 among office-based project staff, and 49.0 among head or regional office staff, far longer than the typical 38-hour working week in Australia.

The male-dominated nature of the construction industry makes the culture of ‘work hard and play hard’ the norm of the industry. The industry is also highly competitive, forcing construction organizations to reduce their labor cost, operate with low profit margin, and work with unreasonable time constraints. This culture in the Australian construction industry drives employees to work longer hours than contractually obligated. the work-life balance of employees in the construction industry has been sacrificed for a large salary award, which has led to serious relationship strains and mental health issues, such as suicide and burnout. Despite the efforts to implement work-life balance strategies and initiatives, the work-life balance in the industry remains poor because of a lack of enforcement and the industry culture.

Previous research has identified factors that can affect work-life balance. Technology development has given individuals a greater sense of mobility in their daily lives. This increased mobility and interconnectedness has enabled the workforce to become more itinerant, thus allowing individuals to work from home, communicate while in transit, and be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Technology has the potential to improve work-life balance. For example, parents can complete work from home, thus allowing individuals to start a family, while undertaking the majority of work roles and responsibilities on one mobile device. This offers greater flexibility to individuals than traditional office-based personnel and helps individuals manage both work and life commitments with greater ease.

1- The statistics presented in the last sentence of paragraph 1 are intended to which of the following?

1) To suggest that there is a deficiency blocking progress in the construction industry

2)To justify a problem mentioned earlier in the same paragraph

3) To underscore a tendency to disregard a common challenge

4) To support an earlier assertion

2- Which of the following best describes the main purpose of paragraph 2?

1) To help resolve a paradox

2) To explore the causes of a phenomenon

3) To compare one domain of work with some others

4) To point out the shortcomings in a specific area of industry

3- Which of the following is NOT stated in the passage about the issue of the poor w life balance in the construction industry?

1) The job contracts may sometimes not reflect the true severity of the issue.

2) The issue has the potential to lead to a state of mental exhaustion.

3) The competitiveness of this industry makes the issue insoluble.

4) The issue, as it is, has certain health-related consequences.

4- Which of the following best describes the author’s attitude towards the effect technology can have on the work-life balance in the construction industry?

1) Favorable

2) Skeptical

3) Mild irritation

4) Resigned acceptance

5- Which of the following is more likely to be the topic of the paragraph that comes after this passage?

1) Need for further research to illuminate the impact of technology on work-life balance

2) Reasons why work-life balance has gained prominence in recent times

3) Problems associated with traditional office-based jobs

4) Another factor that can affect work-life balance

Passage 2:

Positivism is a current of thought whose beginning is usually attributed to the approaches of Auguste Comte, who only considered the knowledge from the empirical sciences valid. this paradigm, also known as Quantitative or Rationalist, establishes the existence of a certain uniformity and order in nature, which means that the natural world has its own existence, independent of who investigates it. Based on this, it is governed by laws that allow explaining, predicting and controlling phenomena. This paradigm is particularly predominant in engineering education, where students are passive throughout the learning process, and depend on the educator as a source of information and not on themselves as constructors of knowledge.

From an epistemological point of view, Positivism has an objective position, a distant and non-interactive attitude between the subject and the peers, assuming that reality is given and can be absolutely known by the subject (e.g., an engineering student), and therefore requires finding the right and valid method to discover that reality. consequently, positivist science is based on the assumption that the subject has an absolute possibility of knowing reality through a specific method. This is the type of problems that engineering students often encounter in classrooms, by using this traditional approach, which do not necessarily prepare them for the real problems that they will find as future engineers

Hence, Positivism emphasizes verification, based on observation and opposing any science that is constructed without any empirical correlates. The most important characteristic of positivist theory is the search for a systematic, verifiable and measurable knowledge, focusing on the cause of phenomena that occur, from observation, measurement and statistical procedure. In this way, this paradigm leads the students to answer tests in the most accurate way possible in terms of either what educator has taught or study books, getting much better academic grades but not necessarily a better understanding.

6- The type of class run based on positivism, as it is described in the passage, is one which …………….. .

1) stresses group work

2) presents highly subjective topics

3) is teacher-fronted

4) is project-oriented

7- What does the underlined “it” in paragraph 1 refer to?

1) uniformity

2) positivism

3) existence

4) world

8- The passage provides sufficient information to answer which of the following questions?

1) What attribute of positivism is said to be the most consequential?

2) How has positivism come to underlie the teaching methodology in engineering classes?

3) Is the assumption that "reality is given" a widely accepted one in the scientific community?

4) When are two positivist researchers likely to arrive at two different readings of the same outside reality?

9- Which of the following could best be inferred from the passage?

1)To investigate each type of reality, a positivist is required to use a discrete scientific method.

2) The laws established by Auguste Comte as those governing nature are accepted as such by other positivists.

3)Engineering students trained based on the tenets of positivism cannot efficiently handle their job demands once they start work

4) The contribution of positivism to the discovery of the real world is undisputed, though there are some philosophers who argue otherwise.

10- The underlined “subject” in paragraph 2 can best be replaced by which of the following?

1) problem

2) researcher

3) assumption

4) scientific theme

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