One of the biggest challenges facing students and their families is what career they should enter and what is the best path for them to take.
I was talking to someone the other day who told me he first studied accounting because that was what everyone was studying several years ago. It was and some say still is a reliable career. However, then he told me that he was now studying financial investment because again--- that’s what everyone was studying now and it was needed if he wanted to get ahead in the company.
And I asked him what he was actually interested in and then— well the conversation kind of died. So I asked why he had bothered studying accounting in the first place and he explained that it was his parents’ idea. Finally I asked what his passion was and he wasn’t too sure because he never thought about it.
And so it is— lifelong learning— or the continual need to make ourselves marketable in a world that appears to be more competitive as time goes by. Is there a secret to help us so we can live a life of quality?
Regardless or not at this stage in world history with increasing connection between people,
ideas and markets — the ability to match the needs and desires of the day with your own skills and products is a tremendous and vigorous challenge.
Many have gone into English or foreign language study because it was encouraged at the time when China was entering the WTO. Or maybe they were interested in international affairs or working abroad. Upon graduation they then faced the reality that there was a limit to how many jobs they could apply for.
Perhaps some then studied further doing courses for work such as a tour guide or translator/ interpreter. Many may have decided that going into teaching was more rewarding or stable. Others would have gone into media or advertising or conference management and acquired new skills along the way.
This constant quest to remain ahead of the game makes many upset and exhausted. Some futurists who examine technology have even predicted that people should expect to change careers six or seven times during their lifetime!
So if you are concerned by the nature of change, why not start spending more time looking at the most modern leading economies, institutions and their publications. A whole lot of changes are starting to happen yet there is no reason why this cannot be enjoyable, exciting and also rewarding. Our attitude, approach and willingness to continually learn and update our skills must remain strong.
My tip is to track the work that our government is setting about to achieve. In particular, look at the people who have been chosen as the key support team and try to read behind the light surface news and look at their career development and examine the recent reports that they are now recommending the government move towards. Key industry development, new ways of dealing with information and new demands are creating opportunities for the students and workers of tomorrow — if we stay prepared.Who is this article intended for?
| A．Government administrators. |
| B．Students planning their careers. |
| C．Foreign language learners. |
| D．Professors designing courses. |
The case of the student who first studied accounting and then financial investment shows ______.
| A．many people decide their majors without knowing their own interest |
| B．parents’ decisions are always blind and will result in a life of low quality |
| C．accounting and financial investment are necessary to ensure a reliable career. |
| D．people never have a chance to think about their own interest in choosing career. |
In the writer’s opinion, to make yourself competitive in the changing world today is _____.
| A．exhausting | B．disappointing | C．unbelievable | D．necessary |
According to the writer, lifetime learning can be exciting if ______.
| A．we are prepared for the changes |
| B．we know who President has on his support team |
| C．we read the publications of advanced institutions |
| D．we learn English or some other foreign languages |
Whoever has been chosen as the key support team of the government _______.
| A．shows the government’s interest in new information |
| B．enables you to find out how hard-working these people are |
| C．indicates the direction the economy is developing |
| D．reveals the government encourages creative young people |
As we all know, any country has good reasons to want its citizens to be as healthy as possible. This led to the introduction of a health service in many countries. France has developed into a country in which all citizens can get most of the health treatment free. The money for this is partly from the people who are willing to offer.
But there are different opinions about the Health Service. The number of patients treated every year and the cost of treatment are much greater than expected. This means that the people who work for the Health Service --- doctors, nurses and other hospital workers, have much more work to do, and as a result they have little time for preventive treatment.
However, the tough problem is that as many people are able to receive treatment more expensive than they can pay, sometimes people go and visit their doctors when they don’t really need to. As there are many patients, doctors cannot spend time long enough with each patient. So some people prefer to pay for their own treatment so that their doctors can examine them more carefully. In fact, some rich people feel that they should pay more free money, which would be given to other citizens. France is described as an example to show that __________.
| A．people have to pay part of the medical care |
| B．everyone in France enjoys free medical care |
| C．it is a country with the Health Service |
| D．it is a very rich country in Europe |
What is the problem in the Health Service?
| A．Money is not enough to employ more medical workers. |
| B．There are not enough well-treated doctors. |
| C．People can get more preventive treatment. |
| D．Doctors and nurses are not working hard. |
Why do many people go and see the doctors even when they really don’t need to?
| A．To keep himself even more healthy. | B．To receive treatment free of charge. |
| C．To take back some expensive medicine. | D．To get necessary protective treatment. |
What can we infer from the last paragraph?
| A．The Health Service is quite successful so far. |
| B．People should not go to the doctors unless necessary. |
| C．There is much to improve the Health Service. |
| D．The rich should be allowed to pay for the treatment. |
In many countries today, laws protect wildlife. In India, the need for such protection was realized centuries ago.
About 300 B.C. an Indian writer described forest that were somewhat like national parks today. The killing of game beasts was carefully supervised(监视). Some animals were fully protected．Within the forest, nobody was allowed to cut timber(wood for building), burn wood for charcoal(炭), or catch animals for their furs. Animals that became dangerous to human visitors were caught or killed outside the park so that other animals would not become uneasy.
The need for wildlife protection is greater now than ever before. About a thousand species of animals are in danger of extinction, and the rate of extinction was about one species every fifty years from A.D. 1 to 1800, but now it is about one species every year. Everywhere, men are trying to solve the problem of protecting wildlife caring for the rapid growth of the world’s population. In forest of ancient India __________.
| A．people were permitted to hunt for fun |
| B．only few kinds of animals could be killed |
| C．the killing of game beasts was strictly limited |
| D．no killing of beasts was allowed． |
Dangerous animals were caught or killed outside the park so as to __________.
| A．keep human visitors safe | B．free the rest of the animals from worry or fear |
| C．both A and B | D．supply other animals with more food |
The underlined word “extinction” probably means __________.
| A．being hungry | B．dying out | C．growing slowly | D．being killed |
The example of man’s connection with wildlife protection can date back to _______.
A. the third century B. more than 2000 years ago
C. A. D. 1 to 1800 D. over 300 years ago
As prices and building costs keep rising, the “do-it-yourself”（DIY）trend in the US continues to grow.
“We needed furniture for our living room,” says John Ross, “and we just didn’t have enough money to buy it. So we decided to try making a few tables and chairs.” John got married six months ago, and like many young people these days, they are struggling to make a home at a time when the cost of living is very high. The Roses took a 2-week course for $280 at a night school. Now they build all their furniture and make repairs around the house.
Jim Hatfield has three boys and his wife died. He has a full-time job at home as well as in a shoe making factory. Last month, he received a car repair bill for $520. “I was deeply upset about it. Now I have finished a car repair course, I should be able to fix the car by myself.”
John and Jim are not unusual people. Most families in the country are doing everything they can to save money so they can fight the high cost of living. If you want to become a “do-it-yourself”, you can go to DIY classes. And for those who don’t have time to take a course, there are books that tell you how you can do things yourself.We can learn from the text that many newly married people__________.
| A．find it hard to pay for what they need |
| B．have to learn to make their own furniture |
| C．take DIY courses run by the government |
| D．seldom go to a department store to buy things |
John and his wife went to evening classes to learn how to __________.
| A．run a DIY shop | B．make or repair things |
| C．save time and money | D．improve the quality of life |
Jim decided to become a do-it-yourselfer when__________
| A．his car repairs cost too much | B．the car repair class was not helpful |
| C．He couldn’t possibly do two jobs | D．keeps house and looks after his children |
When the writer says that Jim has a full-time job at home, he means Jim_________.
| A．makes shoes in his home | B．does extra work at night |
| C．does his own car and home repairs | D．keeps house and looks after his children |
There was a king who gave his daughter a beautiful diamond necklace. The necklace was stolen and his people in the kingdom searched everywhere but could not find it. So the king asked to search for it and put a reward for＄50,000 for anyone who found it.
One day, a clerk was walking home along a river when he saw something shinning in the river and when he looked, he saw the diamond necklace. He decided to try and catch it to get the ＄50,000 reward.
He put his hand in the river and tried to catch the necklace, but somehow missed it and didn’t catch it. He took his hand out and looked again and the necklace was still there. He tried again.
But strangely, he still missed the necklace! He came out and started walking away, feeling sad. Just then, an old man walking by saw him, and asked him what was the matter. The clerk didn’t want to share the secret with him, thinking he might take the necklace for himself, so he refused to tell him anything.
The old man could see this man was troubled. He again asked the clerk to tell him the problem and promised that he would not tell anyone about it. The clerk told him about the necklace and how he tried and tried to catch it, but kept failing.
The old man then told him that perhaps he should try looking upward, toward the branches of the tree, instead of in the river. The clerk looked up and true enough, the necklace was hanging on the branch of a tree. He had been trying to take a reflection of the real necklace all this time. The clerk tried to get the diamond necklace to __________.
| A．make the king happy. | B．keep it for himself. |
| C．get the big reward. | D．sell it at a high price. |
Before the old man asked the clerk what was the matter, the clerk .
| A．was searching in the water | B．was trying to find help |
| C．felt rather tired | D．was not feeling good |
Where did the clerk find the necklace at last?
| A．On the tree | B．On the bank | C．In the river | D．In the sand |
What might be the best title for the passage?
| A．A beautiful diamond necklace | B．A king’s promise |
| C．A lucky young clerk | D．Changing the way of thinking |
I remember a day when I was a little kid. I was making a sandwich in the kitchen when I noticed the date on one of the wine bottles.
“ Dad, dad!” I cried. “This wine is too old to drink.”
“ Son, hold on,” he said.
“ No, you can’t drink this tonight! This bottle of wine was made 10 years ago.”
“ Wait, let me tell you…”
“ Would you like me to throw it away from you?” I asked.
“ Son, wait a second,” he said. “Son, some wines get better over time. The longer you wait to drink it, the better it will be. Although this may seem strange, it is true.”
When I was young, I didn’t have any understanding of what this meant, but now, this would have been very helpful to remember as I went through my teenage years.
In our society, we forget this simple rule: The longer you want for certain things, the better they will be. But we want the best job as quickly as possible; we want to graduate from college in as few years as possible; we even speed through our homework just to chat with friends. When we do this, we lose something of great importance.
We all want to get to the next step so quickly that perhaps we don’t get ready enough to get there. This has a negative effect on our society. When trying to go to the right college, we will do anything to get in and when we rush through our class-work, we may not study enough for the test, and end up failing. We need to be ready for whatever comes, ready for the unexpected. Wine gets better over time, so do the things in our paths of life.Why did the author tell his father not to drink the bottle of wine?
| A．Because it smelt terrible. |
| B．Because it was mixed with something else. |
| C．Because his father drank too much that night. |
| D．Because it had been kept for years. |
What the author’s father said __________.
| A．made the author puzzled when he was a little child. |
| B．was too simple a rule to be meaningful to the author. |
| C．threw the author into deep thought then. |
| D．was an excuse to drink the wine. |
In the author’s opinion, if we do things too quickly, we will __________.
| A．do it better | B．save much time |
| C．graduate from college more quickly | D．miss something useful to us in life |
Which of the following best reflects the main idea of the passage?
| A．Well begun is half done. | B．More haste（匆忙）, less speed. |
| C．Failure is the mother of success. | D．Nothing is impossible to a willing heart. |
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