Linguaskill Speaking: test de práctica 1

I'd like to talk about working from home, which has become much more common in the last few years. First of all, in terms of work, I think many people are actually more productive at home, because there are fewer interruptions and they don't waste time commuting. However, it can be harder to separate work and free time, so some people end up working longer hours. As for social life, this is probably the biggest disadvantage. You don't have those informal chats with colleagues, and some people feel quite lonely, especially if they live alone. Personally, I'd like a mix of the two. I'd enjoy working from home two or three days a week, but I'd still want to go to the office to see my colleagues and keep in touch with what's going on.

Woman: OK, everyone, before we finish, a few changes to the group project. First, the deadline has moved: instead of the end of March, you'll now hand it in on the fifteenth of April, because of the Easter holidays. Second, groups will be of four people, not three, so some of you will need to join another group – I'll send the new lists by email. Third, your research must now include a survey of at least fifty people; interviews alone won't be enough this year. And finally, each group will give a ten-minute presentation in the last week of term, so start thinking about who's going to say what.

Hi, you missed the end of the class, so here are the changes to the group project. The deadline is now the fifteenth of April instead of the end of March, because of Easter. Groups will have four people instead of three, and the tutor is sending the new lists by email. We also need to do a survey of at least fifty people – interviews on their own aren't enough. And each group has to give a ten-minute presentation in the last week of term.

I think it depends on the project, but for something this big, a group is better, because you can share the work and everyone brings different ideas. The only problem is when people don't agree, so you need to organise things well from the start.

Hi Dani, I've had a look at the three laptops. I'd rule out the first one straight away: it's within your budget, but at over two kilos it's far too heavy to carry around all day, and six hours of battery won't get you through a long day at uni. The second one is the lightest and has the best battery, but it's twenty euros over your budget. So I'd go for the third one. It's the cheapest, it's still quite light, and nine hours of battery should be enough for most days, especially if you charge it at lunchtime. It might not be as fast as the second one, but for university work it should be fine.

Some people believe social media does more harm than good, and I can understand why. It's a place where false information spreads very quickly, and there's evidence that comparing yourself to others online can damage young people's self-esteem. It also takes up a huge amount of time that people could spend on other things. On the other hand, social media has real advantages. It helps people keep in touch with friends and family who live far away, and it allows small businesses to reach customers without spending much on advertising. Overall, I don't agree that it does more harm than good. I think the problems come from how we use it, not from social media itself, so the answer is to teach people, especially young people, to use it more critically.