N A M E : ________________________________ DATE: ____________________

READING: The Most Stressful Jobs

Vocabulary Preview

• Match the words on the left with the meanings on the right.

1. announce A. easy to understand and agree with

2. annual B. every year
3. exotic C. caring for and having control over people
4. encourage D. an area of land with a common (same) time
5. make sense E. to say important information
6. responsible F. interesting because it is from a far-away country

7. time zone G. to get used to

8. adjust to H. to make someone want to do something

• Use the above words to complete the sentences. Change the forms of verbs
and nouns when necessary.

1. Mr. Smith worked very hard. It _________________ that he is tired now.

2. I want to _________________ my kids to study hard at school.

3. My birthday is an _________________ event. It happens every year.

4. Do you think you could _________________ life in a different country?

5. Our boss will _________________ the new information tomorrow.

6. As a parent, I am _________________ for my children.

7. For most people, lions and tigers are _________________ animals.

8. When it 3:00 here, it’s 6:00 in India. India is in a different _________________.

• Choose any two of the above words and write your own sentences.

1. _________________________________________________________________

2. _________________________________________________________________

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N A M E : _____________________ DATE: ____________________

READING
Topic: Jobs and Work

The Most
Stressful Jobs
Recently, my nine-year-old son proudly announced1 to me that he wanted to

become a commercial airline pilot when he grows up. I’m happy for him

because he spends hours reading books about airplanes, and he loves to play

airplane game apps. It’s great to know what career you want at such a young

age. As well, the average annual2 salary for an airline pilot is quite good:

US$105,270. Also, being an airline pilot means that you might travel to many

exotic3 locations around the world, places that most people might never get a

chance to see. However, I wonder if his choice of career is one that I should

encourage4. You see, this morning I googled “most stressful jobs” and I

discovered that my son’s dream career is actually the third most stressful job

on a list of top ten most stressful jobs. This makes sense5 because as a pilot

you are responsible for6 the lives of hundreds of people, you are away from

home for many days at a time, and you may have to fly through many different

time zones7 which can be very difficult to adjust to8. Number one on the list

was “military personnel” (soldier) and number two was “firefighter”. Of course,

jobs like these are very dangerous – you must put your life in danger almost

daily. Interestingly, however, “taxi driver” was also on the list (at number ten).

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N A M E : _____________________ DATE: ____________________

READING
Grammar Practice

The Most
Stressful Jobs
• Complete the paragraph by circling the correct words.
Recently, my nine-year-old son proudly announced to me that he wanted to become a
commercial airline pilot when he (1)_____. I’m happy for him because he spends hours reading
books (2)_____ airplanes, and he loves to play airplane game apps. It’s great to (3)_____ what
career you want at such a young age. As well, the average annual salary (4)_____ an airline
pilot is quite good: US$105,270. Also, being an airline pilot means that you might travel to many
exotic locations around (5)_____ world, places that most people might never get a chance to
see. However, I wonder if (6)_____ choice of career is one that I should encourage. You see,
this morning I (7)_____ “most stressful jobs” and I discovered that my son’s dream career is
actually the (8)_____ most stressful job on a list of top ten most stressful jobs. This makes
sense because, as a pilot (9)_____ responsible for the lives of hundreds of people, you are away
from home for many days at a time, and you may (10)_____ to fly through many different time
zones which can be very difficult to adjust to. Number one on the list was “military personnel”
(soldier) and number two was “firefighter”. Of course, jobs like (11)_____ are very dangerous –
you must (12)_____ your life in danger almost daily. Interestingly, however, “taxi driver” was
also on the list (at number ten).

1. 5. 9.
(A) grows up (A) that (A) yours
(B) grow up (B) a (B) your
(C) is growing up (C) the (C) you are
2. 6. 10.
(A) for (A) him (A) has
(B) about (B) his (B) have
(C) into (C) he’s (C) had
3. 7. 11.
(A) know (A) googled (A) they
(B) knows (B) googles (B) their
(C) knew (C) google (C) these
4. 8. 12.
(A) at (A) third (A) puts
(B) to (B) three (B) put
(C) for (C) thirdly (C) putting
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N A M E : ________________________________ DATE: ____________________

READING: The Most Stressful Jobs

How Much Do You Understand?

• Write ‘T’ (True) or ‘F’ (False) next to each statement.

1. The main idea of the article is how to choose a good job.

2. You can make more than $100,000 per month as a pilot.

3. The article says that exotic countries are dangerous.

4. The article suggests it might be stressful to be away from your home.

5. The article says it’s more stressful to be a soldier than a pilot.

6. The article says driving a taxi can be interesting.

Discuss

• Discuss the following questions with your classmates.

1. Can you think of six other stressful jobs that might be on the list?
2. What job would you like to have? Is it a stressful job? Why? / Why not?
3. In what ways can driving a taxi be stressful?

Write

• Choose one of the above discussion questions. Write a short paragraph to

answer it.

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