1 . The other night I had dinner with my friend Kim, who in midlife is trying to change her career. She has spent decades as a successful photographer, but she knows it’s time to do something different. What, however, is she qualified to do, besides photography? “I’m good at parties,” she told me with a shrug. “And parallel parking.” We refilled our wineglasses and laughed really hard as we dreamed up the various careers in which that particular combination might be useful.

Here’s a humbling exercise: Ask yourself what you’re good at, aside from the skills you use at work. After my conversation with Kim, I put this question to a handful of friends and got responses ranging from “finding restaurants for people” to “spotting terrific old chairs.” The more I think about my own answer to this question, the more confused I seem to get.

A year ago this month I left a job, and a career, that brought me great satisfaction for more than two decades. Can serendipity(意外惊喜)be a strategy? It certainly worked for me. I happened to find a field in which my skills and the requirements of the job were a Venn diagram (韦恩图) with near total overlap. Like most of my friends, I spent my 20s and 30s marching determinedly along my given path, working hard, with purpose, and by the time I reached my 40s, I was able to enjoy the fruits of my labor. Isn’t that the way the American Dream goes?

Here’s what you learn when you wake up from that dream: hubris (自负) is the unpleasant by-product of success. If you are really good at your job for a long enough time, you begin to believe that you can be good at any job and therefore can easily jump from one thing to another, switching horses in midstream. Examples of this mistaken thinking are everywhere, from the harmlessly frivolous (Dancing With the Stars) to the dangerously serious (the current presidency). As it turns out, humility is its own kind of skill; developing it hurts, but falling on your face hurts more.

Over the years a number of 20-somethings have come to me for advice, which I have dutifully given: Work hard, meet lots of people, say yes to many things. Don’t complain, put a smile on your face, and remind yourself that studying Foucault for four years in college might not prove to be particularly relevant in the working world. Swallow your pride and ask a lot of questions.

What I should be telling the young and ambitious is this: being really good at one thing is fantastic until it isn’t. The day may come, in my experience, will come, when you know you want to do, want to be, something else. For example, 20-somethings, one day you might want to appear on Dancing With the Stars. I’m not sure if Sean Spicer is a fool or a genius for turning down this opportunity for his first post-Administration performance. Maybe he’s not aware that Apolo Ohno was placed first on the show.

Or maybe you’ll want to run for President. Never mind that it was a President–Abraham Lincoln–who popularized the warning about switching horses in midstream. If you are a real estate tycoon and loud-mouthed TV star who made a name for yourself with a combination of instinct, bravado(虚张声势)and riding the wave of chaos you create everywhere you go, then who cares what Abe Lincoln said? The White House is the logical next career step.

Or, 20-somethings, maybe you’ll do both! At the same time! After all, doesn’t today’s White House sort of resemble Dancing With the Stars, if you squint(眯眼)hard and use your imagination? With experts and amateurs working together, trying to make it all look graceful while the audience alternatively laughs and cries?

So, folks, an assignment: Ask yourself what you’re good at. As for me, aside from what I most recently did for a living–writing, editing, managing people and showing up to meetings on time–my greatest strengths seem to be making vacation packing lists and remembering which houses in my town are on the market. So I have entered this next phase of my life with gratitude (for what I’ve accomplished), humility (about all that I don’t know) and fear (see random greatest strengths). I used to be filled with optimism: if Donald Trump could become President, anything seemed possible. But with each passing month, and each new failure, my optimism dims. If he wanted to try something new, wouldn’t Dancing With the Stars have been a wiser choice?

1. Which of the following statements can be inferred from the passage?

A．Only failure contributes to the development of one’s humility.

B．Donald Trump is the very person for the US presidency.

C．Career success encourages overestimate of oneself.

D．College education is a must for a successful career.

2. What is the writer’s attitude towards job hopping?

A．Check whether one’s skill meets the requirements of the potential new job.

B．Seize each and every random opportunity that comes along.

C．Be optimistic about the potential new job and anything is possible.

D．Job hopping is such a severe danger as to be avoided.

3. The writer’s implicit comment on the White House could be ________.

A．It functions ideally as the political center of the United States.

B．It is the logical next career step for a wealthy and famous person.

C．It is as attractive and interesting as Dancing with the Stars.

D．It is a stage where officials don’t know how to run the country.

4. What could be implied by the underlined “it isn’t”?

A．What one is really good at disappears.

B．One feels no more fantastic about the job.

C．One’s ambition weakens as he or she ages.

D．One tries to change to a new job.

3 . Sure, your family and friends may think you've lost your marbles when you announce plans for a midlife career change, but take heart. There are a number of considerations that go into a successful career change.

1. Making a rash decision

Before changing occupations, you should do a deep dive to assess why you want to leave your current one. Ask yourself why you're unhappy—and answer honestly. You may simply be having a bad week or a bad month—or you may just hate your boss, not your industry. “We all go through phases of unhappiness with our jobs,” says Randy Block, an executive coach and staffing consultant. “You should be running toward something, not running away from something.”

2. Choosing a new career based on salary

You obviously need to be financially strategic when choosing your next career, but don't base your decision solely on earning potential. "If you take a high-paying job that doesn't match your interests, values, or strengths, you're not going to be happy," says Holly Genser. Maybe at first, but the novelty will likely wear off sooner than later.

3. Not researching the job market in your next field

Not sure what field you want to go into? Research industries and positions to find a good match for your skills and career goals, Genser says. Otherwise, you're throwing darts in the dark.

4. Quitting without having another job lined up

Research shows it's easier to get a job offer when you're still employed, which makes sense since gaps on a resume might make a hiring manager think twice about calling you in for an interview. Consequently, it's in your best interest to stay at your current job until you have your next one set up.

1. Which of the following is correct according to the passage?

A．If you can't get along well with your boss, it's better to change your job.

B．Show disregard to salary when evaluating the job options

C．You may stick to the current job until a new opportunity shows up.

D．Going back to the school may increase the job prospect.

2. What does the underlined word “throw darts in the dark” mean?

A．make an attempt with little chance of success.	B．waste your skills and experience.
C．overshadow others in the competition.	D．lose yourself in the interview

3. Which of the following might be the guiding principle of the writer in job-hopping?

A．Enjoy the pleasure of life here and now.

B．Success is favored by the people who are fully prepared.

C．Greed is the most real poverty, satisfaction the most real wealth.

D．Nurture is above nature.

4. Where does the passage probably come from?

A．Career Orientation Magazine	B．Tourism Leaflet
C．Family Counselling Brochure	D．Graduation Advisory Lecture

4 . Read the following tips given by the different consultants.

Alice A university degree is no guarantee of a job, and job hunting in itself requires a whole set of skills. If you find you are not getting past the first interview, ask yourself what is happening. Is it a failure to communicate or are there some skills you lack? Once you see patterns emerging it will help you decide whether the gaps you have identified can be filled relatively easily. If you cannot work out what the mismatch is, get back to the selection board with more examining questions, and find out what you need to do to bring yourself up to the level of qualification that would make you more attractive to them: but be careful to make this sound like a genuine request rather than a challenge or complaint.

Paul Do not be too dispirited if you are turned down for a job, but think about the reasons the employers give. They often say it is because others are ‘better qualified' but they use the term loosely. Those who made the second interview might have been studying the same subject as you and be of similar ability level, but they had something which made them a closer match to the selector’s ideal. That could be experience gained through projects or vacation work, or it might be that they were better at communicating what they could offer. Do not take the comments at face value: think back to the interviews that generated them and make a list of where you think the shortfall in your performance lies. With this sort of analytical approach you will eventually get your foot in the door.

Rebecca Deciding how long you should stay in your first job is a tough call. Stay too long and future employers may question your drive and ambition. Of course, it depends where you are aiming. There can be advantages in moving sideways rather than up, if you want to gain real depth of knowledge. If you are a graduate, spending five or six years in the same job is not too long provided that you take full advantage of the experience. However, do not use this as an excuse for indifference. Graduates sometimes fail to take ownership of their careers and take the initiative. It is up to your will to make the most of what’s available within a company, and to monitor your progress in case you need to move on. This applies particularly if you are still not sure where your career path lies.

Smith It is helpful to think through what kind of experience you need to get your dream job and it is not a problem to move around to a certain extent. But in the early stages of your career, you need a definite strategy for reaching your goal, so think about that carefully before deciding to move on from your first job. You must cultivate patience to master any role. There is no guarantee that you will get adequate training, and research has shown that if you do not receive proper help in a new role, it can take 18 months to master it.

1. It can be concluded from the passage that the consultants intend to help graduates ________.

A．figure out a qualified consultant	B．work out the mismatch
C．start out on their career path	D．make out future employers

2. The following statements made by consultants are true Except ________.

A．make sure your approach for information is positive in tone

B．some information you are given may not give a complete picture

C．you should demonstrate determination to improve your job prospects

D．keep your initial objective in mind when you are planning to change jobs

3. Who suggests that graduates should stay happy in spite of defeats among the following consultants?

A．Alice.

B．Paul.

C．Rebecca.

D．Smith.

5 . The Rise of the Grown-Up Gap Year

It was 2012,Tim Potter, who was in public relations, had just finished working on the London Olympics alongside his partner.A career break to go travelling — or a “grown-up gap year”— seemed like a natural thing to both of them.

The couple spent four months traveling around Asia. Next, they flew to Mexico via Canada, worked their way down through Central America, and spent a month in both Colombia and Brazil.

    1     Within three weeks of his return, he was in another job (he’d interviewed for it in a phone booth in Colombia). Today, he’s managing director of the marketing agency Hunt & Gather.

But is Potter’s experience common or did he get lucky? Some people assume taking a career break will automatically be off-putting to potential employers, but according to Emily Bain, managing director of secretarial recruitment agency Bain and Gray, it can actually be quite the opposite.

“As an employer, I see it as a positive,” she says.     2     In fact, it’s been an upward trend that’s been steadily growing since the 2008 recession (经济衰退). “People couldn’t get work so they just took off” she says.

Tim Fryer, U.K. manager at STA Travel, says grown-up gap years can have a positive effect on your career. “Taking a break gives travelers time to refocus on work as well as the space to reflect on what exactly it is they want to do,” he explains.

    3     For many, recovering from illness, the loss of a love one or something like divorce can be the trigger (诱因). And some simply have an ambition to see a certain place — or places — by a certain age.

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, though. Emily Bain admits that some employers’ instinct is to turn their noses up at someone who’s had a break. However, she says, the duty is on the traveler to sell their experience as something that will benefit their future employer. “You have to explain the whole picture,” she says. “Making your CV (简历) gap accountable actually brings your profile to life.” So, don’t hide it — make a big deal of it.

Bain holds that although gap years are acceptable, it is still important to learn some kind of skill regardless of whatever else you may be doing during this time.     4     But it doesn’t have to be academic. “I had a client who learned a special kind of weaving in India, and that to me is really interesting. It became a real talking point.”

A．These people are often at a turning point in their careers or lives.

B．The desire to go travelling is by no means all work-related, though.

C．The most obvious skill to take from travel, of course, is a language.

D．Taking a gap year when you’re older means that you have different things to consider.

E．Not in any way did the lack of work affect his prospects.

F．Bain goes on to say that taking a grown-up gap year is more common than you’d think.