Amid war and sanctions, many Iranians are losing their jobs and struggling to get by

Study the questions and tasks

Work through the material below, or start the interactive practice above to complete an attempt. Try the exercises before opening any answer or transcript sections, then use them to review your work.

Practice level

C1. Try this level if you can follow the instructions and understand most of the language; choose an earlier level if you need more support.

Question formats

Single choice

How to approach this practice

Read the passage for its main idea, then return to the relevant sentence or paragraph for each question. Base answers on the passage.

1. Question 1 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   What is the article’s central argument about employment losses?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. Employment losses affect only officially unemployed workers.
   2. Losing backup work magnifies the consequences of primary job loss.
   3. Sanctions have eliminated every employment opportunity in Iran.
   4. Households increasingly prefer supplementary work to principal employment.
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   Losing backup work magnifies the consequences of primary job loss.

   The article presents primary and secondary job losses as interconnected pressures.

   The problem is therefore not limited to unemployment in isolation; it also concerns the weakening of the alternatives people use when their principal employment is no longer available.

2. Question 2 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   What can be inferred about households relying on multiple jobs?

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   1. They may appear more secure than they actually are.
   2. They generally reject official employment altogether.
   3. They are unaffected by fluctuations in primary employment.
   4. They receive reliable support from visible employment statistics.
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   They may appear more secure than they actually are.

   Their financial resilience depends on preserving more than one income stream.

   Official or visible employment may not show how heavily a household depends on more than one source of work.

3. Question 3 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   What does “these fallback opportunities” refer to?

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   1. War-related disruptions
   2. Official employment figures
   3. Secondary employment options
   4. Earlier losses of income
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   Secondary employment options

   The phrase points back to secondary work available after primary employment disappears.

   As sanctions tighten, however, some of these fallback opportunities are becoming less secure as well.

4. Question 4 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   Why does the article mention unspecified industries and locations?

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   1. To dispute that any workers have lost employment
   2. To acknowledge limits while retaining a general conclusion
   3. To identify the sectors most damaged by sanctions
   4. To demonstrate that employment data are comprehensive
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   To acknowledge limits while retaining a general conclusion

   The limitation signals that the account supports a broad consequence, not detailed sectoral analysis.

   The available account does not specify the industries involved, the number of people affected, or the particular locations within Iran.

5. Question 5 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   How is the article organised overall?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. Chronologically, from past wars to future reforms
   2. By contrasting Iranian industries with foreign industries
   3. From a specific pattern toward broader interpretation and qualification
   4. By presenting competing explanations and rejecting each one
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   From a specific pattern toward broader interpretation and qualification

   It moves from the employment pattern to mechanisms, implications, causes, and limitations.

   The reported pattern highlights a broader difficulty in measuring economic pressure through job losses alone.

6. Question 6 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   What relationship between the two employment types does the article emphasise?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. Secondary work can cushion, but not eliminate, primary employment shocks.
   2. Primary work becomes unnecessary once supplementary work is available.
   3. Secondary work causes the disappearance of primary employment.
   4. Primary and secondary work remain completely independent.
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   Secondary work can cushion, but not eliminate, primary employment shocks.

   Secondary work functions as protection against the instability caused by primary job loss.

   When primary work disappears, a secondary job can provide an additional source of income and help a worker cope with instability.

7. Question 7 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   Why are job losses alone an incomplete indicator of economic pressure?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. Job losses are always temporary.
   2. Workers can easily replace lost earnings.
   3. Households may lose layered sources of support.
   4. Employment statistics include excessive detail.
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   Households may lose layered sources of support.

   They may overlook the household consequences of losing several income sources.

   When backup employment also disappears, the consequences can be harder to absorb, particularly for people who are already trying to recover from an earlier loss of income.

What to review next

Find the words that support each answer. For a mistake, compare the question with the evidence and identify the detail or inference you missed.

A focused practice result shows how you did on these tasks. Use several activities across skills to decide what to study next; one practice score does not certify an overall CEFR level.

Before you practise: a worked example

Look for evidence in the text. Separate what the writer says from what you already know about the topic.

The library normally closes at six, but on Fridays it stays open until eight. When does it close on Friday?

The answer is eight. But introduces an exception to the normal closing time, so the first time mentioned is not the answer.

This teaching example is separate from the scored questions. After your test, compare any mistakes with the explanation and revisit the topic before trying again.