Business English reading: Work-Life Balance - ESL worksheet by EvaLore - Free Printable

Let’s solve the matching task step by step.

We need to match each word on the left (a–t) with its correct meaning on the right.

We’ll go one by one and think about what each word means in everyday English.

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a) downside → This means a negative part or disadvantage.
→ Match: disadvantage

b) nowadays → Means “today” or “in current times.”
→ Match: today

c) pro-rata → This is when something is divided proportionally — like pay based on hours worked.
→ Match: proportional

d) valuable → Something precious or important.
→ Match: precious

e) idle → Not working, doing nothing — can mean useless if not being used.
→ Match: useless *(Note: “idle” can also mean “not busy,” but here “useless” fits best among options)*

Wait — let’s double-check. “Idle” often means “not active” or “doing nothing.” But looking at the choices, “useless” might be too strong. Let’s hold this and come back.

Actually, let’s look again:

The options are:
- in control
- most
- disadvantage
- visit
- diversion
- precious
- useless
- today
- substandard
- proportional
- close
- alone
- go down
- agree
- colleague
- relatively
- main seat
- show
- believe
- tire

“Idle” could mean “not working” → maybe “useless”? Or perhaps “diversion”? No, that doesn’t fit.

Actually, “idle” as an adjective can mean “not producing anything useful” → so “useless” is acceptable here.

But wait — there’s another possibility: “idle” can mean “free time” or “leisure,” which might relate to “diversion”? Hmm.

Let’s check other words first.

f) majority → More than half → “most”

→ Match: most

g) subpar → Below standard → “substandard”

→ Match: substandard

h) attend → To go to or be present at → “visit” (as in attend a meeting = visit a place for purpose)

→ Match: visit

i) distraction → Something that takes your attention away → “diversion”

→ Match: diversion

j) in charge → Being the boss or responsible → “in control”

→ Match: in control

Now back to e) idle — we have “useless” and “diversion” left? Wait, “diversion” was taken by “distraction”.

Leftover meanings after above matches:

Used so far:
- disadvantage → a
- today → b
- proportional → c
- precious → d
- most → f
- substandard → g
- visit → h
- diversion → i
- in control → j

Remaining meanings:
- close
- alone
- go down
- agree
- colleague
- relatively
- main seat
- show
- believe
- tire

And remaining words:
- e) idle
- k) fairly
- l) headquarters
- m) performance
- n) on one's own
- o) nearby
- p) decrease
- q) trust
- r) wear out
- s) negotiate
- t) workmate

Let’s continue.

k) fairly → Means “reasonably” or “relatively” → “relatively”

→ Match: relatively

l) headquarters → Main office → “main seat”

→ Match: main seat

m) performance → How well someone does their job → “show” (as in “put on a good show”) — yes, colloquially, “performance” can mean “show”

→ Match: show

n) on one's own → Alone → “alone”

→ Match: alone

o) nearby → Close → “close”

→ Match: close

p) decrease → Go down → “go down”

→ Match: go down

q) trust → Believe in someone → “believe”

→ Match: believe

r) wear out → Get tired from overuse → “tire”

→ Match: tire

s) negotiate → Discuss to reach agreement → “agree” (though it’s more than just agreeing — but among options, “agree” is closest)

Wait — “negotiate” means to discuss terms to reach an agreement. So “agree” isn’t perfect, but it’s the only option left that fits somewhat.

Actually, let’s see what’s left.

After above:

Words left: e) idle, s) negotiate, t) workmate

Meanings left: agree, colleague

Ah! “workmate” = colleague → obvious.

So:

t) workmate → colleague

Then:

s) negotiate → must be “agree” — even though it’s not exact, it’s the only one left.

Then:

e) idle → only meaning left is... wait, did we miss one?

List of all meanings:

Original list of meanings (right side):

1. in control → j
2. most → f
3. disadvantage → a
4. visit → h
5. diversion → i
6. precious → d
7. useless → ?
8. today → b
9. substandard → g
10. proportional → c
11. close → o
12. alone → n
13. go down → p
14. agree → s
15. colleague → t
16. relatively → k
17. main seat → l
18. show → m
19. believe → q
20. tire → r

That’s 20 meanings.

Words: a to t → 20 words.

We assigned:

a → disadvantage
b → today
c → proportional
d → precious
e → ???
f → most
g → substandard
h → visit
i → diversion
j → in control
k → relatively
l → main seat
m → show
n → alone
o → close
p → go down
q → believe
r → tire
s → agree
t → colleague

Only “e) idle” left unassigned.

What meaning is left? We have “useless” still unassigned!

Yes! I forgot — “useless” was never matched.

So:

e) idle → useless

Perfect.

And “s) negotiate” → “agree” — while not perfect, it’s the best available match. In context, negotiating leads to agreement, so it’s acceptable for this level.

Final Matches:

a) downside → disadvantage
b) nowadays → today
c) pro-rata → proportional
d) valuable → precious
e) idle → useless
f) majority → most
g) subpar → substandard
h) attend → visit
i) distraction → diversion
j) in charge → in control
k) fairly → relatively
l) headquarters → main seat
m) performance → show
n) on one's own → alone
o) nearby → close
p) decrease → go down
q) trust → believe
r) wear out → tire
s) negotiate → agree
t) workmate → colleague

All matched correctly.

Final Answer:
a) downside — disadvantage
b) nowadays — today
c) pro-rata — proportional
d) valuable — precious
e) idle — useless
f) majority — most
g) subpar — substandard
h) attend — visit
i) distraction — diversion
j) in charge — in control
k) fairly — relatively
l) headquarters — main seat
m) performance — show
n) on one's own — alone
o) nearby — close
p) decrease — go down
q) trust — believe
r) wear out — tire
s) negotiate — agree
t) workmate — colleague