The Findings of a Workplace Autonomy Study
About this practice test
A workplace research report examines a six-month autonomy pilot, comparing its practical benefits, mixed effects on staff and the limits of the evidence.
What you’ll practice
Finding detail
Locate specific information and evidence.
Interpreting ideas
Connect main points and inferences.
Evaluating arguments
Assess claims, evidence, and limitations.
What to expect:
12 questions with explanations to review after submission.
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
- True / False / Not Given
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.
The Findings of a Workplace Autonomy Study
At Northbank Components, a mid-sized company that assembles parts for heating systems, the operations director, Lena Ortiz, agreed to try a six-month autonomy pilot in two departments: the warehouse and the customer-support desk. The idea was not to remove supervision, but to give teams more control over how they organised shifts, answered routine problems, and solved delays. Before the pilot began, some supervisors expected disorder, while a few employees hoped the change would make the work feel less mechanical. To keep the trial manageable, senior managers set a small number of non-negotiable targets: orders had to leave by the usual cut-off time, customer complaints still had to be logged, and safety rules remained in place. Within those boundaries, each team could decide who handled which tasks, when breaks were taken, and whether a problem needed a supervisor's approval. Researchers from a local business school observed meetings, read shift reports, and interviewed staff three times during the pilot. The strongest improvement appeared in the warehouse, where workers began rearranging picking routes after discovering that the old sequence made them walk across the same aisles repeatedly. Because the team discussed the change during a short weekly review, mistakes were spotted quickly and the new route was adjusted before it became confusing. In customer support, the gains were smaller but still visible: agents were allowed to answer simple refund requests without waiting for a manager, which cut response times on busy mornings. The picture, however, was not uniformly positive. One team member liked making faster decisions, yet another said the extra freedom felt like "carrying a bigger net," because the consequences of errors were now easier to trace back to the individual. The researchers noted that autonomy seemed most useful when the task was predictable and the team shared a clear goal; in noisier stretches, people sometimes asked for more guidance, not less. The report therefore argued for a balance between discretion and support. A common worry was that looser control would increase mistakes. In fact, error rates on the warehouse side fell slightly during the trial, but the decline was modest and did not prove that autonomy alone caused it. Part of the drop may have come from a separate barcode update introduced halfway through the pilot. The report was careful on this point, because the writers could not separate the effects cleanly enough to claim a single explanation. The interviews suggested a second effect that mattered to staff more than managers expected. Several employees said that being trusted to decide small matters made them feel more professional, yet it also made them more responsible when something went wrong. A veteran agent explained that she no longer felt she was "just passing problems upwards." That sense of ownership was welcome to some people and tiring to others, especially on days when absenteeism left the team short-handed. Even so, the authors resisted drawing conclusions that the evidence did not support. They did not measure turnover, so they could not say whether greater autonomy would keep people at the company longer. They also did not compare Northbank with firms in other sectors, and they made no claim that the same approach would suit a call centre, a hospital ward, or a factory with different safety demands. Their point was narrower: autonomy can improve work when it is tied to clear boundaries, visible feedback, and enough training to make judgment meaningful. By the end of the six months, senior managers were less interested in copying the pilot wholesale than in keeping the parts that had proved practical. The customer-support desk retained its faster handling of routine requests, while the warehouse kept the weekly review because it helped the team notice problems before they spread. The company did not abandon supervision; instead, it tried to redefine it. As Ortiz put it in the final meeting, "The goal was never to leave people alone, but to let them shape the work they know best."
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Question 1 · True / False / Not Given
Decide whether the statement agrees with the information. Choose Not Given when the text or recording does not provide the information.
The pilot increased profits by 15%.
Return to the passage, recording or visual- True
- False
- Not Given
Check answers and explanations
- Answer
- Not Given
Not Given. The passage discusses response times, error rates and staff views, but gives no profit figure or percentage increase. The claim cannot be verified from the text.
the authors resisted drawing conclusions that the evidence did not support
True: Incorrect: no profit increase is reported.
False: Incorrect: the text does not say profits fell.
Not Given: Correct: the passage gives no profit data.
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Question 2 · True / False / Not Given
Decide whether the statement agrees with the information. Choose Not Given when the text or recording does not provide the information.
Some employees felt more responsible for mistakes.
Return to the passage, recording or visual- True
- False
- Not Given
Check answers and explanations
- Answer
- True
True. The interviews found that being trusted made people feel 'more professional' but also 'more responsible when something went wrong.' That directly supports the statement.
being trusted to decide small matters made them feel more professional, yet it also made them more responsible when something went wrong
True: Correct: the passage states this directly.
False: Incorrect: the text says responsibility increased.
Not Given: Incorrect: the passage clearly discusses responsibility.
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Question 3 · True / False / Not Given
Decide whether the statement agrees with the information. Choose Not Given when the text or recording does not provide the information.
The report compared Northbank's results with firms in other countries.
Return to the passage, recording or visual- True
- False
- Not Given
Check answers and explanations
- Answer
- Not Given
Not Given. The report says Northbank was not compared with firms in other sectors, but it does not state whether firms in other countries were included. The claim is therefore absent.
They also did not compare Northbank with firms in other sectors
True: Incorrect: no international comparison is reported.
False: Incorrect: the passage does not directly deny a comparison with other countries.
Not Given: Correct: other countries are never mentioned.
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Question 4 · True / False / Not Given
Decide whether the statement agrees with the information. Choose Not Given when the text or recording does not provide the information.
The researchers said autonomy was beneficial for every employee.
Return to the passage, recording or visual- True
- False
- Not Given
Check answers and explanations
- Answer
- False
False. The effects were mixed: ownership was welcome to some employees but tiring to others, so the report did not present autonomy as beneficial for everyone.
That sense of ownership was welcome to some people and tiring to others
True: Incorrect: the passage describes mixed feelings, not a universal reduction in stress.
False: Correct: the passage shows the effect was mixed.
Not Given: Incorrect: the text does give a clear evaluation of mixed effects.
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Question 5 · True / False / Not Given
Decide whether the statement agrees with the information. Choose Not Given when the text or recording does not provide the information.
The pilot lasted two years.
Return to the passage, recording or visual- True
- False
- Not Given
Check answers and explanations
- Answer
- False
False. The passage explicitly says it was 'a six-month autonomy pilot,' so a two-year duration is contradicted by the text.
a six-month autonomy pilot
True: Incorrect: the pilot is described as lasting six months, not two years.
False: Correct: the passage gives a six-month duration, not two years.
Not Given: Incorrect: the duration is stated directly.
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Question 6 · True / False / Not Given
Decide whether the statement agrees with the information. Choose Not Given when the text or recording does not provide the information.
The same changes were not equally effective in every team.
Return to the passage, recording or visual- True
- False
- Not Given
Check answers and explanations
- Answer
- True
True. The warehouse saw the 'strongest improvement', while customer support had gains that were 'smaller but still visible.' That shows the effects differed by team.
The strongest improvement appeared in the warehouse
In customer support, the gains were smaller but still visible
True: Correct: the passage shows uneven results across teams.
False: Incorrect: the results were not identical in every team.
Not Given: Incorrect: the passage directly compares the teams.
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Question 7 · True / False / Not Given
Decide whether the statement agrees with the information. Choose Not Given when the text or recording does not provide the information.
The article says autonomy worked best when all rules were removed.
Return to the passage, recording or visual- True
- False
- Not Given
Check answers and explanations
- Answer
- False
False. The passage says the idea was 'not to remove supervision' and that 'safety rules remained in place.' It argues for boundaries and support, not for eliminating rules.
The idea was not to remove supervision
safety rules remained in place
True: Incorrect: the passage says the opposite.
False: Correct: the text stresses supervision and boundaries.
Not Given: Incorrect: the passage clearly sets out the rule boundaries.
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Question 8 · True / False / Not Given
Decide whether the statement agrees with the information. Choose Not Given when the text or recording does not provide the information.
The warehouse team used a short weekly review to spot mistakes quickly.
Return to the passage, recording or visual- True
- False
- Not Given
Check answers and explanations
- Answer
- True
True. The passage says the team discussed the change during a short weekly review and that mistakes were spotted quickly. That directly supports the statement.
Because the team discussed the change during a short weekly review, mistakes were spotted quickly and the new route was adjusted before it became confusing
True: Correct: the review helped the team notice mistakes quickly.
False: Incorrect: the passage explicitly says mistakes were spotted quickly.
Not Given: Incorrect: the weekly review is described directly.
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Question 9 · True / False / Not Given
Decide whether the statement agrees with the information. Choose Not Given when the text or recording does not provide the information.
The passage says the customer-support desk introduced a new phone system during the pilot.
Return to the passage, recording or visual- True
- False
- Not Given
Check answers and explanations
- Answer
- Not Given
Not Given. The passage describes faster handling of simple refund requests and shorter response times, but it does not mention a new phone system.
agents were allowed to answer simple refund requests without waiting for a manager
True: Incorrect: no phone system is described.
False: Incorrect: the passage does not contradict the claim directly; it simply never mentions a phone system.
Not Given: Correct: the phone system is not mentioned.
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Question 10 · True / False / Not Given
Decide whether the statement agrees with the information. Choose Not Given when the text or recording does not provide the information.
The pilot involved both the warehouse and the customer-support desk.
Return to the passage, recording or visual- True
- False
- Not Given
Check answers and explanations
- Answer
- True
True. The pilot was carried out in two departments: the warehouse and the customer-support desk.
two departments: the warehouse and the customer-support desk
True: Correct: the pilot covered both departments.
False: Incorrect: the passage names both departments.
Not Given: Incorrect: the departments are explicitly stated.
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Question 11 · True / False / Not Given
Decide whether the statement agrees with the information. Choose Not Given when the text or recording does not provide the information.
The study included night-shift workers.
Return to the passage, recording or visual- True
- False
- Not Given
Check answers and explanations
- Answer
- Not Given
Not Given. The passage confirms that staff were interviewed, but it does not say whether any of them worked night shifts.
interviewed staff three times during the pilot
True: Incorrect: the passage never identifies a night shift.
False: Incorrect: the text does not contradict the claim.
Not Given: Correct: shift patterns are not specified.
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Question 12 · True / False / Not Given
Decide whether the statement agrees with the information. Choose Not Given when the text or recording does not provide the information.
The researchers concluded that autonomy alone caused the fall in error rates.
Return to the passage, recording or visual- True
- False
- Not Given
Check answers and explanations
- Answer
- False
False. The report says the decline 'did not prove that autonomy alone caused it.' So the researchers explicitly refused to make that single-cause claim.
did not prove that autonomy alone caused it
True: Incorrect: the report rejects that conclusion.
False: Correct: the authors said the evidence was not enough to prove this.
Not Given: Incorrect: the passage directly addresses the cause claim.
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.