Unit 10 - Grammar & Vocabulary: Dictation
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10 Social Welfare
In this unit you will…
• meet words and expressions about social welfare for people
• read an article about social welfare for people with no money
• practise writing down exactly what you hear
A
Look at the quote below. Do you agree with Mr Jenner?
‘Unemployment is certainly a problem for the unemployed person. But it’s not a
problem for me, and nor should the government be concerned with it.’
Hector Jenner, management consultant
B
What is it like being unemployed? What benefits should be given to the unemployed?
C
Which of the following words are connected to money?
a benefit, invalidity, a lone parent, maternity benefit, rent, mortgage payments,
a supplement, individual circumstances, an orphan
D
Fill in the gaps in the text below with a word or expression from the vocabulary box.
You may need to adapt the word.
Maria is unemployed. She lives in a small flat with her young son. As a _1_ she
receives a _2_ to her social welfare _3_. She is now eight months pregnant, so she is
on _4_. She also needs help with her _5_ because she still owes the bank EUR
10,000. Some extra money comes in because of her _6_; poor Maria only has one
leg.
E
Look quickly at the article on the next page. What kind of magazine do you think the
article comes from?
F
Look at the article on the next page again. What kind of person would receive the
highest social welfare payments?
G
The following people all want social welfare benefits. Advise them on the basis of the
Sara Liebermann’s advice.
‘I am 17 and still go to school. I live at home with my parents.’ Martin
‘I live alone, work ten hours a week and can’t pay the mortgage on my big
house.’ Joan
‘I can’t find a job, but my husband has a full-time job.’ Rachel
‘I’m 16 and still at school, but my parents moved to Australia last year and send me
no money.’ Colin
Benefits – real-life phrases
She’s on the dole. (colloquial – unemployed)
I can’t make ends meet. (not enough money to live)
I’m going to sign-on. (register as being
unemployed)
Copyright 2007 Euro Examination Centre.
Unit 10 - Grammar & Vocabulary: Dictation
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Do you need welfare payments?
Are you unemployed with no money? Sara Liebermann tells you whether you can
get benefit.
As a general rule if you are unemployed, do
not have any income and have nearly
nothing in savings then you are entitled to
Social Welfare Benefit.
Social Welfare Benefit is for people who
are under sixty, earn less than EUR 500 a
month and have savings of under EUR
3,000. If you are ill you should apply for
Invalidity Benefit, and if you are over sixty
then you should apply to the Pension
Bureau.
Savings of over EUR 500 affect how much
Social Welfare Benefit you can get.
Basically, the more savings you have, the
lower your benefit will be.
To apply, you need to go to the Social
Welfare Benefit Division at the Social
Security Offices. But you can apply by
phone or letter if you are a lone parent, if
you are unable to work because you are
caring for someone, or if you are blind.
If you have a partner (wife, husband or
someone you live with) who works an
average of 24 hours a week or more, you
cannot usually get Social Welfare Benefit.
If you have a partner who works an average
of less than 24 hours a week, their earnings
will usually affect the amount of benefit
you can get. You will be able to get Social
Welfare Benefit if you or your partner are
not working because of parental leave.
Pregnant women and people with children
under five get free milk and vitamins in
addition to their welfare benefit.
If you do not fully own your own home and
you are entitled to Social Welfare Benefit,
you may receive extra money to help
Copyright 2007 Euro Examination Centre.
towards rent or mortgage
payments. However, a
welfare officer has to
issue a certificate that
the size of your house is
reasonable for your
needs, and you must show proof of the rent
or mortgage payments that you make.
You can usually get extra money for your
family. The amount paid is dependent on
how many children you have, and their
ages. You can also get a supplement to your
Social Welfare Benefit if you are caring for
elderly relatives.
Students are generally not entitled to Social
Welfare Benefit. If you are studying, you
may be able to get Income Social Welfare
Benefit while you are on your course if you
are a lone parent, sick or disabled, or
registered blind. You should check with
your social security office.
If you are aged between 16 and 18 and still
at school or college you cannot get benefit
for yourself unless you are looking after
your own child, or you are an orphan. You
will be considered an orphan if: you are not
living with or not in touch with your
parents and not being supported by them;
you are separated from your parents for
reasons that cannot be avoided and nobody
is looking after you in their place.
So, how much will you get? The rules for
benefits mean that your individual
circumstances (age, housing cost, and
dependants) will affect the amount you can
receive. This means you will not always be
able to easily work out exactly how much
you are entitled to.
Unit 10 - Grammar & Vocabulary: Dictation
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Exam Skills
A
Match each grammar term on the left with the highlighted word it corresponds to on the
right.
adverbial particle
article
auxiliary verb
conjunction
(demonstrative) pronoun
modal auxiliary
preposition
(personal) pronoun
relative pronoun
He has been unemployed for three years now.
They won’t pay us any benefit until next month.
You can’t receive both unemployment and invalidity benefit.
The welfare officer that works in that office is quite helpful.
She sat on a bench and waited to see a welfare officer.
She’s looking for a job.
At his age he might not find another job.
Welfare benefits are paid out on Wednesday.
You need this form to complain.
Exam Tip: In the dictation, it is often difficult to hear these small grammar words. If
you know your sentence grammar you can often work out the correct word.
B
Which of the above highlighted words can contain a schwa when said in a sentence at
normal speaking speed? (A schwa sound is the sound at the start of the word about and
at the end of the word better.)
Exam Tip: The dictation task requires you to reproduce every word. Often in connected
speech short grammar words change their pronunciation and have a schwa sound.
C
Look at the text below and for each gap work out the class of the missing word. Then
find a suitable word for each gap.
Maria has _1_ long form to fill _2_ before she _3_ get invalidity _4_ unemployment
benefit. She picked up the form yesterday and needs to return _5_ to the social
welfare office _6_ the town centre tomorrow.
D
Don’t look at your book. Tell your partner all you can remember about Maria. Now fill
in the gaps.
Maria is i__ her flat alone with her s__. She w___ a job, but she can’t find o__. She
needs to claim b___ to buy food and p___ the loan on her flat. There are different
types of b___ she can claim. She is en___ to inv___ and unem___ payments. She
receives a sup___ because of her s___.
Exam Tip: In the dictation look at the title and picture and think about all you know on
the topic. It will help you to predict and guess words.
What’s the Exam Task?
You will hear a tape recording of a text read in separate pieces (or ‘chunks’). You must write it
word-for-word with the correct spelling.
Copyright 2007 Euro Examination Centre.
Unit 10 - Grammar & Vocabulary: Dictation
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Exam Practice: No Hope for Ellen
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
How do people’s lives change when they lose their
jobs? The woman in the picture is unemployed. How
do you think that she is feeling?
You will hear a short text about Mandy Gibbons, an
office cleaner. Write down the text as closely to the
original as you can. Nearly all of the grammar words
are missing. Check what you have written with a
partner.
Listen again to make sure that you have written down the text correctly. Insert suitable
grammar words to make the sentences grammatically accurate and meaningful.
Compare your answers with a partner.
Now listen to the complete text. Discuss any differences between your answer and the
text on the tape.
What do the following mean?
a short-term contract, promotion, redundancies, benefits, employment agencies, evicted,
alternative accommodation
The dictation is about the misfortune of someone called Ellen. What do think her story
is? Do the dictation. Now listen and write down every word you hear.
Read Facts about dictation below.
Facts about the dictation
Length: the dictation is between 85 and 100 words.
The text is divided into parts (or chunks) in two ways: reading chunks and marking chunks.
There are between twelve and eighteen reading chunks. (Each of these is divided into one or
more marking chunks).
Each marking chunk which is ‘correct’ (see below) gains a point. What is necessary in order
to get the point?
• You must include all the words.
• You must spell every word (except names) correctly.
What is not important:
• punctuation, i.e. capital letters and any punctuation marks
• spelling proper nouns: e.g. Mr Smith, Budapest
• whether you use British or American spelling
• whether you abbreviate or not (e.g. I have or I’ve, do not or don’t) but slang
abbreviations (e.g. gonna, wanna) are not acceptable
H
Now mark the four marking chunks in the box below. Check what you have done with a
partner.
Look at the four following marking chunks in a dictation. Which of them would gain would gain points in
the examination. Why?
I
danny noble lives in the small town of
Meckjham
which is now a suberb of the
Neighboring Town of Grenberg.
since leaving school the begining of the 1990s
Now finish writing the dictation about Danny Noble. There is no right answer. How you
finish the story is up to you. Make sure you only have twenty marking chunks. Practise
your dictation with someone else in the class.
Copyright 2007 Euro Examination Centre.
Unit 10 - Grammar & Vocabulary: Dictation
Page 5
Unit 10: Social Welfare
(p. 1) D
1. lone parent, 2. supplement, 3. benefit, 4. maternity benefit, 5. mortgage
payments, 6. invalidity
(p. 1) E
A magazine for the unemployed, a community paper – perhaps any magazine
written for people on low incomes. It could be an official magazine published
by a social welfare office.
(p. 1) F
People with no income and with savings of under EUR 3,000 who are pregnant
or have children under five, or have rent/mortgages to pay, or have many
children, or are caring for elderly relatives.
(p. 1) G
Martin: not entitled to benefits.
Joan: possibly, if earning less than EUR 500 a month and with savings of
under EUR 3,000.
Rachel: not entitled to benefit
Colin: if he is not supported by anybody else, then he is probably entitled to
benefit.
(p. 3) A
adverbial particle (out), article (a), auxiliary verb (has), conjunction (and),
(demonstrative) pronoun (this), modal auxiliary (might), preposition (on),
personal pronoun (us), relative pronoun (that)
(p. 3) B
has, us, and, that, on (possibly), a
(p. 3) C
1. Article / determiner (a), 2. adverbial particle (in), 3. auxiliary/modal auxiliary
(e.g. can),
4. conjunction (or), 5. object pronoun referring back ( anaphoric reference) (it),
6. preposition (in).
(p. 3) D
Maria is in her flat alone with her son. She wants a job, but she can’t find one.
She needs to claim benefit to buy food and pay the loan on her flat. There are
different types of benefit she can claim. She is entitled to invalidity and
unemployment payments. She receives a supplement because of her son.
(p. 4) D
For ten years Mandy Gibbons was directly employed by a firm of management
consultants to clean the main offices. Last week, however, poor Mandy was
made unemployed when the cleaning was transferred to a private cleaning
company.
(p. 4) F
Ellen was employed on a short-term contract by a firm of management
consultants. Initially, she had hoped for promotion and a comfortable life,
but poor profits led to redundancies and unemployment for Ellen. She
received benefits for sixth months, but despite going to several employment
agencies, failed to find work. ‘I now have no income, and I was evicted
from my flat this morning,’ said a deflated Ellen. When asked whether she
had found alternative accommodation, she replied, ‘Yes, I’ve found a place
under a bridge for tonight’. (88 words)
Copyright 2007 Euro Examination Centre.
Unit 10 - Grammar & Vocabulary: Dictation
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1 Ellen was employed
2 on a short-term contract
3 by a firm of
4 management consultants.
5 Initially, she had hoped
6 for promotion
7 and a comfortable life,
8 but poor profits
9 led to redundancies
10 and unemployment for Ellen.
11 She received benefits
12 for sixth months,
13 but despite going to several
14 employment agencies,
15 failed to find work.
16 ‘I now have no income,
17 and I was evicted
18 from my flat this morning,’
19 said a deflated Ellen.
20 When asked whether
21 she had found
22 alternative accommodation,
23 she replied, ‘Yes, I’ve found a place
24 under a bridge
25 for tonight’.
(This dictation has 25 marking chunks. The exam dictation has only 20 marking
chunks)
(p. 4) H
First Chunk: This chunk gains a point. The lack of capital letters in the name
Danny Noble, and the misspelling of Meckham, a proper noun, are ignored.
Second Chunk: This chunk does not gain a point. The misspelling of suburb, a
common noun, loses the point.
Third Chunk: This chunk gains a point. The unnecessary capitalisation of
neighbouring and town are ignored, as is the American spelling of
neighbouring.
Fourth Chunk: This chunk does not gain a point. Both the omission of the
preposition at and the misspelling of beginning cause the point to be lost.
Unit 10: Social Welfare: tapescript
(p. 4) B/C
First and second reading
For ten years Mandy Gibbons * directly employed ** firm **
management consultants * clean * main offices. Last week, however,
poor Mandy * made unemployed * * cleaning * transferred * * private
cleaning company
(p. 4) D
Third Reading
For ten years Mandy Gibbons was directly employed by a firm of
management consultants to clean the main offices. Last week, however,
poor Mandy was made unemployed when the cleaning was transferred to
a private cleaning company.
(p. 4) F
Grammar and vocabulary – dictation
Copyright 2007 Euro Examination Centre.
Unit 10 - Grammar & Vocabulary: Dictation
Page 7
Ellen was employed on a short-term contract by a firm of management
consultants. Initially, she had hoped for promotion and a comfortable life, but
poor profits led to redundancies and unemployment for Ellen. She received
benefits for sixth months, but despite going to several employment agencies
failed to find work. ‘I now have no income, and I was evicted from my flat this
morning,’ said a defeated Ellen. When asked whether she had found alternative
accommodation, she replied, ‘Yes, I’ve found a place under a bridge for
tonight.’ (88 words)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
Ellen was employed on a short-term contract
by a firm of management consultants.
Initially, she had hoped for promotion
and a comfortable life,
but poor profits led to redundancies
and unemployment for Ellen.
She received benefits for sixth months,
but despite going to several employment agencies
failed to find work.
‘I now have no income,
and I was evicted from my flat this morning,’
said a defeated Ellen.
When asked whether she had found
alternative accommodation,
she replied, ‘Yes, I’ve found a place
under a bridge for tonight.’
Repeated reading chunk by reading chunk
Copyright 2007 Euro Examination Centre.