Most Americans are turning to charm school to gain an advantage over competitors in a job market stricken by the longest economic slowdown since the Great Depression.
Etiquette (礼节) trainers report business growing from clients who believe that good manners could be the key selling point that helps them get hired or keeps them off the unemployment line.
“People are prepared to do whatever it takes to keep their job”, said Gloria Starr, an adviser on image, etiquette and communications in North Carolina. Starr, who says business is up 40 percent in the past year at her school, said people were “realizing that it takes more than just ability and knowledge” to keep or win a job.
Peggy Newfield, who had been teaching etiquette for 30 years and runs a charm school, said business was “booming.” “When the economy is down etiquette training will always be up. They’re focusing on‘What I can do to survive, I really have to keep up my game because the competition is keen.’”
Proper business manners, however, extend far beyond greeting or thanking a would-be employer. Etiquette classes deal with the basics of presentation in an interview, including what to say and how to dress.
“It’s so much more than writing the thank-you note at the end,” Newfield said. “It’s about walking in for the job interview, every hair is in place, your clothes are perfectly pressed, your shoes are polished, you’re groomed to the nines, you speak the part, and your English is correct.”
It’s great that we have seen this renewal in etiquette and manners and self respect.
Studies have shown that 85 percent of the reason a person gets a job, keeps a job and moves up is related to their personal skills. There are very few jobs out there where your manners, where your socials skills, are not a big piece of being successful. If you have manners you can walk into any business or social situation.
Teaching etiquette has become a tougher task. Some people point to bad public behavior by athletes and celebrities as a factor in ruining good manners in US society. Hotel owner Paris Hilton, actress Lindsay Lohan and singer Britney Spears are among those who have been charged with setting a poor example, especially for children and adolescents. Hilton is infamous for a sex tape that became an Internet hit, Lohan has long been gossip stuff due to her quarrels with the law and Spears was photographed partying without underwear.
61. The writer wants to tell the readers____________.
A. the etiquette training in America         B. the ways to avoid failure
C. good manners count in keeping a job      D. how to keep business up
62. From the passage we learn that the charm school____________.
A. helps those who are unemployed        B. deals with moral problems
C. becomes more popular with people      D. does good to the economy
63. The underlined sentence “you’re groomed to the nines” probably means “you’re ____________”.
A. dressed in the best way               B. fully understood
C. greeted with good manners            D. very concerned
64. We can infer from the last paragraph that ____________.
A. good examples contribute to etiquette teaching
B. good public behavior doesn’t exist any more
C. teaching etiquette has become a tougher task
D. some famous people don’t have good manners
65. Which of the following can you NOT learn in Peggy Newfield’s charm school?
A. How to dress in a job interview
B. How to hack into the company central database.
C. How to maintain an edge over other competitors in the job market.
D. How to improve your communicative skills with your colleagues.