In 2016, when I was on the graduate scheme (计划) at Deutsche Bank, Marie Inafidon, chief executive of Stemettes, who encourages girls to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM), was also working there. I didn’t meet her at the time, but I did read an article about her and her career.
Learning at 21 years old about the career of a young black woman’s succeeding in a traditionally white male-dominated industry was one of the most influential things that ever happened to me. It gave me confidence that it was possible to do well in the office and work on personal external project at the same time.
Role models can play a central role in shaping a young professional’s career. They are especially important if you belong to an under-represented group for whom a lack of representation in the workplace can lead to feeling isolated and lacking in confidence. They can help those just starting out, whether or not they are a graduate as I was, to believe in their own abilities.
There’s a growing need to have accessible role models. Given the tendency to exaggerate (夸大) success stories, hearing from women who talk honestly about the challenges they have faced, either when starting a business or forming a new career path, is much more effective. A study revealed that 70 per cent of girls say they think differently about their futures after hearing from women role models.
I’m frequently asked about what businesses could be doing to increase racial diversity in the workplace. A good starting point is to actively promote and support the voices of the people in the organisation that are leading positive change and inspiring others. This makes a real difference. Unlike the tokenism (装样子) I still come across, which results in individuals being made the lone representative for a group without real support from the organisation.
Things came full circle for me when I interviewed Ms. Inafidon for my book in 2019. I was able to tell her of the incredible impact her passion and confidence had had on me as a graduate trainee and how grateful I would always be for that.
1. What do we learn about Marie Inafidon？| A．She became successful at 21. |
| B．She was a trainee at Deutsche Bank. |
| C．She encouraged girls to take up STEM-related work. |
| D．She helped the author with her external project personally. |
| A．Experienced professionals. | B．A graduate eager to succeed. |
| C．People without special abilities. | D．The young from an under-represented group. |
| A．Taking on challenging projects. |
| B．Reading more made-up success stories. |
| C．Starting their own business as early as possible. |
| D．Listening to women role models share their experiences. |
| A．Encourage positive opinions. |
| B．Make more colored people authorities. |
| C．Include more people of different races. |
| D．Understand the true meaning of tokenism. |
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【推荐1】Life is filled with challenges. As we get older, we come to realize that those challenges are the very things that shape us and make us who we are. It is the same with the challenges that come with friendship. When we are faced with a challenge, we usually have two choices. We can try to challenge it, or we can decide that the thing isn’t worth the trouble and call it quits. Although there are certainly times when calling it quits is the right thing to do, in most case what we needed is commitment (投入) and communication.
When we are committed to something, it means that no matter how painful or how uncomfortable something is, we will always choose to face it instead of running away from it. Communication is making space for discussion and talking about how you feel instead of just saying what the other person did wrong. If you can say to a friend, “I got my feelings hurt.” rather than “You hurt my feelings.” you are going to be able to solve the problem much faster.
In dealing with many challenges that friendship will bring to you, try to see them for what they are: small hurdles (栏杆) you need to jump or get through on your way through life. Nothing is so big that it is impossible to get over, and hurt only serves to make us stronger. It’s all part of growing up. It happens to everyone, and some day you will look back on all of this and say, “Hard as it was, it made me who I am today. And that is a good thing,”
1. What can we infer from the text?| A．Friendship needs challenges. |
| B．Challenges shape our challenges. |
| C．Small hurdles aren’t worth the trouble. |
| D．Commitment can form friendship. |
| A．One should call it quits. |
| B．One should temporarily run away from it. |
| C．One should be committed and communicable. |
| D．One should lay jt aside for a while and ask for others’ help. |
| A．Let go of it. | B．Get over it, |
| C．Forget about it. | D．Put it aside. |
| A．friendship and challenges | B．communication and friendship |
| C．commitment and communication | D．challenges and the ways to get through |
When I was a kid, there was only one way my parents would let me stay home from school and that was if I had a high fever. Most of my friends could stay home due to a stomachache or a mild fever — but not me… I had to be dying in order to stay home. By the way, my parents are both doctors. My parents used to say that they were teaching me how to have a good work ethic (职业道德). I didn’t understand the connection until last week.
The other day I was on the train and sat behind a young man who was complaining to his friend about his life. He went on for twenty minutes about how his passion in life was to make movies, but he wouldn’t pursue it because he had no clue if he could make enough money and he didn’t want to waste time because it would take years to make it big. He then admitted to thinking about buying stocks by borrowing money because he thought he could easily make six figures within one year. His friend agreed with him and said, “The stock is good because you can make tons of money and only work for a short time.”
I think they were indulging (沉溺) in the wildest fantasy. Many people these days don’t realize that when things seem to happen immediately, it is only because a lot of effort, determination and time have gone into them and it isn’t due to some miraculous (不可思议的) event. The easier it looks, the more hours go into it. There is no excuse for laziness.
Looking at the two young men, all of a sudden I was having a flashback of being ten years old and watching the television show Fame.
In the show the dance teacher told her students, “If you want fame, fame costs and here’s how you start paying for it … in sweat.” Every time we watched that show, my dad would proudly say how right the teacher was because in order to succeed you have to work hard.
1. Why did the young man on the train give up his dream of making movies?2. What will it take to make lots of money in a short time in author’s opinion?
3. Please decide which part is false in the following statement, then underline it and explain why.
The author’s father thought that in order to succeed we can rely on some miraculous event.
4. Do you agree with the author’s opinion? Give your reasons. (about 40 words)
【推荐3】It’s easy to do easy things, but they don’t carry the challenges and rewards of doing something difficult. Scott Kelly said he tried to express that view everywhere he went. And he spoke from experience, having spent a career that included the time as a NASA astronaut, US Navy captain, fighter pilot, and engineer.
Scott spoke at the University of North Alabama, sharing stories about his experience of spending a year on the International Space Station (ISS). He said the physical pressure of living in weightlessness for a year was hard to describe and that the fluids(积水) in his head sometimes made him feel like he was standing on his head. It also needed some time to recover when he returned home. “My legs were weak and it would be uncomfortable to sit for a while because my body hadn’t had that pressure so long,” Scott said.
He discussed life aboard including spending time with Russian astronauts. They came from different cultures. He had managed to get along well with everyone aboard as they lived together, worked together, and had to rely on each other. He thought it was one of the most rewarding things in his life.
Though life there was not easy, Scott never regretted being an astronaut and going to space. He also discussed experiences growing up, admitting that he wasn’t always the greatest student but was able to overcome that through hard work and determination.
“Never give up or lower your dreams. If you work for it, all things are possible. There is a zero percent chance of succeeding if you don’t even try. And when you succeed after trying hard, you’ll find it really rewarding,” Scott said in the end.
1. Scott mentioned his experience in the ISS mainly to show ________.| A．he enjoyed making speeches | B．he was a responsible astronaut |
| C．his life in space was challenging | D．the daily life of an astronaut can be boring |
| A．He won some awards through teamwork. |
| B．He found the fun of living in the Space Station. |
| C．He learned to develop close relationships with others. |
| D．He picked up some knowledge of Russian culture. |
| A．Kind and thoughtful. | B．Curious and humorous. |
| C．Easygoing and sociable. | D．Hardworking and determined. |
| A．It’s important to have a dream | B．Easy things are also worth doing |
| C．A suitable career leads one to success. | D．Difficult things are demanding but rewarding |
【推荐1】Scott Halley was a farmer...until a year ago. But the farm kept losing money. “You look at the numbers at the end of the pencil.” said Mr. Halley, 44, “and you realize it’s time to try something different.”
With a heavy heart but a clear head, Mr. Halley became one of the thousands of American farmers who sell their land each year. What surprised Mr. Halley and others is that the move to the city was so easy. The farmers are finding jobs and their families are enjoying the city way of life.
Mr. Halley found a good job working as a scientist at North Dakota State University. His salary is now twice what it was when he was a farmer.
But even for those farmers who find good jobs, there is a price to pay in leaving farming.
“It’s not just about making money but about the other rewards that farming can bring...working land your parent’s parents worked, spending your days in nature, caring for animals,” said Dr Michael Rosmann, a farmer and psychologist who helps farmers. “For most of them, that pain lasts for the rest of their lives. To make the decision to quit farming, to do what’s best for the family, takes an awful lot of courage.” Mr. Halley feels the pull of the land every day. Once a week, he drives eight hours to work a small piece of his old farm.
It was hard to leave, but Mr. Halley knows he did the right thing. For most families that leave the land, salary goes up and the stress from having little money goes down. Both parents and children are happier.
Halley’s children love living in the city.
“The kids don’t want to go back now,” said Mr. Halley. “The telephone never stops ringing.”
Megan Halley, 13, spoke with excitement about her new school. She especially likes art and computer technology. “Back on the farm,” she said. “the old phone system took five minutes or more just to dail up the Internet.”
“It’s cool here,” said Megan. “She loves going to the nearby mall to shop for new clothes and get the latest CDs of her favorite group.” The closest store to the Halley’s farm was a 10-mile drive.
Before moving to the city, Megan worried about getting along with city kids.
“The boys here aren’t any different than back in the country,” she said, “There’s just a lot more of them.”
1. Why Mr. Halley decide to quit farming one year ago?| A．He didn’t like farming any longer. |
| B．He found a more satisfactory job in the city. |
| C．He can hardly make money to support his family. |
| D．It is not so convenient to live on the farm. |
| A．To keep his connection to the land. | B．To appreciate the beautiful scenery. |
| C．To do a part-time job to earn more money. | D．To relax himself from work. |
| A．Comfortable and peaceful. | B．Inconvenient and boring. |
| C．Easy and worthwhile. | D．Busy and meaningful. |
【推荐2】I was born in a poor community on the north side of Boston, US, raised by a single mother who didn’t finish 3rd grade, lived each day on food stamps and attended what the media called “the most dysfunctional (功能失调的) public school district”. Not many people expected much of me, so I had to expect.
On my 13th birthday, I bought a poster of Harvard to hang in my room. Being at Harvard became what I dreamt about. Even if my electricity was cut off, I still woke up at 5:30, because I knew that my poster of Harvard was still hanging only two feet away from me.
Reminding myself of my goal each day made it easy to say no to the same choices I saw my peers making, because those paths wouldn’t have had me closer to my goal. Being poor could not take away my power to decide what I choose to do with my day. The poster gave me the courage to send emails to about 50 Harvard students to ask for feedback on my application essays; it gave me the energy to study just one more hour on my SATs when my friends were asleep; and it gave me the determination to submit just one more scholarship application when 180 others had already turned me down.
Every day, I could feel myself getting closer and closer to my goal as my writing got better, my SAT score increased, and my scholarship checks started coming in. Finally, an email arrived from Harvard. The first word was “Congratulations!” A month later, Harvard flew me up to visit the campus where for the first time I stepped onto my dreaming land.
Who you are today is the result of the decisions you made yesterday, and who you will be tomorrow will be the result of the choices you make today. Who do you want to be tomorrow?
1. What can we learn about the author from the first two paragraphs?| A．All people expected too much of him. |
| B．He grew up in a happy family. |
| C．He accepted the greatest education. |
| D．He had high expectation of himself. |
| A．He spent more time preparing for the exams. |
| B．He learnt from his peers from time to time. |
| C．He often wrote feedbacks on others’ essays. |
| D．He turned to his teacher when facing problems. |
| A．Intelligent and humorous. | B．Generous and selfless. |
| C．Determined and hardworking. | D．Courageous and friendly. |
| A．Failure is the mother of success. |
| B．Perseverance can help realize your dream. |
| C．Easier said than done. |
| D．It’s never too late to study. |
【推荐3】Le Trung, 33, has spent ￡14,000 creating Aiko, who he describes as “in her 20s” with a 32, 33 figure, shiny hair and delicate features.
She can speak English and Japanese and is so accomplished at mathematics she can do Mr Trung’s accounts.Mr Trung, from Brampton in Ontario，Canada，said he has never had time to find a real partner—so he designed and created his ideal woman using the latest technology.
The former software programmer has taken out credit cards and loans, sold his car and spent his life savings on perfecting his “fembot”.
Now he is desperate to find a corporate sponsor to help him complete and perfect Aiko.
He said : “Aiko is what happens when science meets beauty. I want to make her look, feel and act as human as possible so she can be the perfect companion. I talk to her a lot, and hope to improve her knowledge. So far she can understand and speak 13, 000 different sentences in English and Japanese, so she’s already fairly intelligent. Aiko recognises faces and says hello when any of my family comes around to visit. She helps me pick what to have for dinner and knows what drinks I like. She even helps me with directions when we're going somewhere. When I need to do my accounts, Aiko does all the maths. She is very patient and never complains. She doesn’t need holidays, food or rest and she will work almost 24 hours a day. She is the perfect woman.”
Mr Trung has designed Aiko with touch-sensitive face and body so she reacts in a natural way if she is shown affection or hurt. He said: “She has all senses except for smell.”
1. Le Trung created Aiko to______.| A．be his life partner | B．show his programing ability |
| C．do housework for him | D．help him with his work |
| A．He will produce such robots. |
| B．He will make Aiko more woman-like. |
| C．He will sell Aiko to make money. |
| D．He wants to make Aiko perfect. |
| A．He can’t design software programing | B．He can’t do accounts |
| C．He can’t greet guests | D．He can’t pick food and drinks |
| A．She cannot react naturally when she is hurt. |
| B．She still cannot recognize the smell of everything. |
| C．She will complain when she works for too long. |
| D．She needs a break if she works for a long time |
| A．science can create a beauty as a human desires |
| B．the biggest difficulty in making robots is how to give them senses |
| C．robots can never have the same intelligence as humans |
| D．science will never make a beauty like a human being |
