【推荐1】How to Choose Your Purpose-Filled Career

When you think about choosing a career, you often do it in the following two ways.

    1    . If you like writing or doing crafts, you might consider these things. This is not a bad way to go, of course, but you can’t always make money doing things you like (like video games or drinking beer). And sometimes things you like are better as a hobby or side passion.

Think about a well-paid job that you can do and doesn’t sound so bad. Maybe a doctor, engineer or lawyer? Or maybe that’s out of your educational reach, so you choose office or retail worker.     2     but often they are not something you’re really passionate about. It’s kind of like just doing something because it’s there-- not very inspired.

However, there’s another way that is perhaps better:     3    . For example, taking care of children, because you really want to help children get a great start in life, or blossom into who they want to be or getting into government or social work to improve the conditions of the community you live in or becoming a scientist to help ease the environmental crisis or find a cure for a terrible disease.     4     and if you choose one of them for that purpose, you will serve in that work feeling a sense of purpose each day.

There are endless ways to do that. The point isn’t how you serve the world, but just serving the world in some way will help you feel filled with purpose.     5    .

A．These are all great choices

B．Think about what you like to do

C．You can identify your purpose and work out how to get there

D．Each of these is just one of many possibilities filled with purpose

E．Try to do something to serve a community or make the world better

F．The sooner you complete the training requirements, the sooner you will make a living

G．If you choose a purposeful and enjoyable job, you’re always further along than most people

【推荐2】        Although Americans are well known for getting down to business, Indians working in overseas teams, MNCs, and BPOs should know the importance of small talk. While Indians have a true interest in talking to Americans and getting to know them, they also hesitate to do so for some reasons. Americans engage in less personal small talk than Indians. And the topics and questions used in English vary widely based on language differences and cultural differences. Here are three things to keep in mind while you are trying to make small talk with your American clients and colleagues.
        Americans love to ask about, and then complain about the weather. They may talk about how the weather prevented them from having fun or how the weather supported their outdoor events. You can talk about the weather with them to begin a conversation. While talking, they always try to follow up on their answer by asking another open-ended question or make a statement, such as “Wow, that sounds like fun!” or “You went to St. Louis. In which state is that?” Be creative in your questions. Feel free to ask one or two, but not very personal ones about relations. Stick to the facts or events that were already referred to.
        Sometimes, some words used in India will totally confuse an American. For example, Americans use the word “weekend” instead of “holiday” for Saturdays and Sundays (non-working days) , and use the word “vacation” or “days off” instead of “out-of-station”.
        Always be interested, optimistic and happy. Talk with a smile! Vary the sound of your voice. Do not sound like a computer. If you are unsure how you sound, a good tip is to record yourself and listen to it later. Doing this helps you know how your voice sounds, and if you don't sound as you want to be heard, it may be time to work on enhancing your voice.
1. For Indians, having small talk with American colleagues is         .

A．boring

B．useless

C．important

D．interesting

2. What is Paragraph 2 mainly about?

A．What Americans like talking about in their daily life.

B．How Americans usually start a conversation with others.

C．Why talking about the weather is good to begin a conversation.

D．What people can say when having small talk with Americans.

3. What does the underlined word “enhancing” in the last paragraph mean?

A．Lowering.

B．Replacing.

C．Improving.

D．Examining.

4. What’s the writer’s purpose in writing the passage?

A．To prove that having small talk is not very hard.

B．To explain why Indians hesitate to talk with Americans.

C．To show the differences between Americans and Indians.

D．To tell how to make small talk with American clients and colleagues.