IELTS Academic Practice Test

Organisation and the Future of Work

Many companies have changed their internal structures in response to competition, technology and demographic trends. Traditional hierarchies have often been replaced by flatter systems with fewer layers of management. This process, often called de-layering, can increase speed and flexibility but may also create uncertainty among staff.

In modern workplaces, employees are increasingly expected to take responsibility for their own training and development. Some roles require broader skills than before, because staff may work across departments or contribute to temporary project teams. These changes can affect recruitment, promotion and expectations of loyalty between workers and employers.

Although restructuring can make organisations more efficient, it also produces challenges. Some employees may feel that career paths have become less predictable. Others may find that the disappearance of middle-management roles reduces opportunities for advancement.

Managers therefore need to balance efficiency with communication. Workers are more likely to accept change when they understand the reasons for it and can see how their own roles fit into a wider strategy.

Population Viability and the Survival of Species

Scientists studying native animals often use population viability analysis to assess the probability that a species will persist. Such analysis is especially important where forestry and logging may affect habitat. Extinction can occur naturally, but human activity may increase the risk by reducing population size and genetic diversity.

Part B Four processes are particularly important. First, random variation in births and deaths can threaten small populations. Second, an imbalance of the sexes can make reproduction less likely. Third, a loss of genetic diversity reduces the ability of a species to adapt to new predators, diseases or environmental change. Fourth, catastrophes such as fire, flood, drought or epidemic may suddenly reduce numbers.

Part C The distribution of a population also matters. A species living in five isolated places with twenty individuals in each is not in the same position as a species with one population of one hundred individuals. After logging, ground-dwelling herbivores may return within a decade, but arboreal marsupials may take more than a century to recover. Increasing the area logged in any region therefore increases the probability that forest-dependent animals will become extinct.