1 . A new research from the University of Michigan stated, “People tend to have one of three beliefs about the meaning of work and which category you fall into largely depends on your parents.” Workers who are job-oriented (有工作倾向的) are those just trying to make a living who much prefer the activities they pursue outside of the office. Career-oriented adults value the social status and fame that comes with professional achievement. Calling-oriented people do work that they are passionate about because they want to have a positive impact on the world.
In the first study into how these orientations originate, researchers found that how teenagers perceive their parents’ work habit is central to the development of their own work attitudes. It’s not a straightforward transfer of values. People who perceive their father to have a strong career-orientation are more likely to be career-oriented themselves-but career-determined mothers have no effect on their kids’ work orientation. The researchers owed this to generational gender norms. When the study’s participants were teenagers, mostly in the1980s, men were more commonly employed outside of the home and were more likely than women to hold “career” jobs with opportunity for advancement. Mothers do have a notable effect on whether children have a job-orientation mentality. Teenagers who are close to their mothers are less likely to view work as just a job when they grow up, probably because they’ve been raised to value social, rather than instrumental life experiences.
Having both parents display the same work ethic (行为准则) has a strong influence, but only in the case of calling-oriented offspring (子女). As the society nowadays favors money and professional achievement, a child with two calling-oriented parents is more likely to have the confidence to ignore these societal pressures and pursue her dreams. Children can affect their parents’ work ethic, too. Allowing people to bring their children into the office has been shown to boost efficiency and productivity and could help raise that next generation of career-oriented workers.
1. What motivates calling-oriented people to do work they like?
| A．To achieve social status and fame. | B．To pursue activities outside the office. |
| C．To believe they can earn them much money. | D．To make a positive contribution to the world. |
2. What is crucial in shaping the work attitudes of teenagers?
| A．Peer pressure. | B．Personal preferences. |
| C．Educational background. | D．Awareness of parents’ work habits. |
3. Why are children close to mothers less likely to be job-oriented?
| A．Because mothers value social life experiences. |
| B．Because mothers focus on instrumental life experiences. |
| C．Because mothers tend to have a stronger career orientation. |
| D．Because mothers emphasize the importance of work as just a job. |
4. What is the main idea of the passage?
| A．The influence of societal pressures on work beliefs. |
| B．The preferences of workers in different occupations. |
| C．The impact of parental work habits on teenagers’ attitudes. |
| D．The relationship between money and professional achievement. |
