1 . In recent years, especially during the l960s, there was much discussion about “the brain drain (排干，流失),” which dealt with the problem of students and learned people who left their own countries for other countries that offered better chances for study, research, and employment. For example, according to a report from U.N., between 1962 and l966 more than 50 percent of all engineering graduates of Iran and 14 percent of Iranian scientists left their country for work abroad. Over 30 percent of Chilean engineers and 15 percent of Turkish physicians also went to work in other countries. Probably the greatest brain drain occurred among young scientists who had gone abroad to study. Many of them had planned to return to their countries to teach but chose to remain in more industrialized nations where they were able to continue their work and their research in fields in which there were no job possibilities at home. The countries that attracted most of these scientists were the United States, Great Britain, Germany, France, Canada, and Australia.
Recent studies show that the brain drain to the United States may be decreasing. Many foreign scientists are going home again, and in some cases American scientists are leaving the United States for employment in other countries. The main reasons are that good jobs are becoming fewer here, money for national research has been sharply cut, and university fellowships reduced too. However, in the field of medicine the drain to the United States still goes on. Today more than one of every five American doctors is foreign-born, and several thousand foreign doctors immigrate to the United States each year. Over eighty countries have asked the State Department to send students who are skilled in important fields such as medicine back home when their study programs are over.
1. Which of the following is not the reason for “the brain drain”?| A．Good housing. | B．Better research condition. |
| C．Good job possibility. | D．Better chances of study. |
| A．many foreign scientists are ordered to return to their motherlands |
| B．they don’t need any foreign scientists now |
| C．there are fewer and fewer good jobs in the USA |
| D．the universities refuse to provide money for the foreign scientists |
| A．About half of them. | B．More than 20 percent |
| C．Several thousand. | D．About 15 percent. |
| A．How to seek a job in the USA. | B．Doctors’ immigration to the USA. |
| C．A strange case. | D．The brain drain. |
Just as in America, those changes
Should single parents be afforded tax breaks to help pay for child
Annie Oliver, a 32-year-old single mother from Bristol, England, thinks so. “You wouldn’t believe
| A．on | B．in | C．across | D．through |
| A．rise | B．way | C．fall | D．decrease |
| A．asked | B．answered | C．avoided | D．raised |
| A．included | B．concluded | C．involved | D．intended |
| A．physically | B．financially | C．mentally | D．spiritually |
| A．care | B．growth | C．happiness | D．concern |
| A．clear | B．known | C．out | D．sure |
| A．when | B．what | C．how | D．why |
| A．employee | B．citizen | C．partner | D．mother |
| A．keep | B．look for | C．find | D．own |
3 . As you are probably aware, the latest job markets news isn’t good: Unemployment is still more than 9 percent, and new job growth has fallen close to zero. That’s bad for the economy, of course. And it may be especially discouraging if you happen to be looking for a job or hoping to change careers right now. But it actually shouldn’t matter to you nearly as much as you think. That’s because job growth numbers don’t matter to job hunters as much as job staff-turnover (人员流动) data. After all, existing jobs open up every day due to promotions, resignations (辞职), and retirements. (Yes, people are retiring even in this economy.) In both good times and bad, staff-turnover creates more openings than economic growth does. Even in June of 2014, when the economy was still booming along, job growth was only 132, 000, while staff-turnover was 4.7 million!
And as it turns out, even today — with job growth near zero — over 4 million job hunters are being hired every month.
I don’t mean to imply that overall job growth doesn’t have an impact on one’s ability to land a job. It’s true that if total employment were higher. It would mean more jobs for all of us to choose from (and compete for). And it’s true that there are currently more people applying for each available job opening, regardless of whether it’s a new one or not.
But what often distinguishes those who land jobs from those who don’t is their ability to stay motivated. They’re willing to do the hard work of identifying their valuable skills; be creative about where and how to look; learn how to present themselves to potential employers; and keep going, even after repeated rejections. The Bureau of Labor Statistics data show that 2.7 million people who wanted and were available for work hadn’t hunted for it within the last four weeks and were no longer even classified as unemployed.
So don’t let the headlines fool you into giving up. Four million people get hired every month in the U.S. You can be one of them.
1. The author tends to believe that high unemployment rate____.| A．takes job opportunities from people |
| B．prevents many people from changing careers |
| C．does not mean the U.S. economy is worsening |
| D．should not stop people from looking for a job |
| A．It increases people’s confidence in the economy. |
| B．It doesn’t have much effect on individual job seekers. |
| C．It gives a ray of hope to the unemployed. |
| D．It doesn’t mean greater job security for the employed. |
| A．Education. | B．Intelligence. |
| C．Experience. | D．Persistence. |
| A．They clearly indicate how healthy the economy is. |
| B．They don’t include those who have stopped looking for a job. |
| C．They provide the public with the latest information. |
| D．They warn of the structural problems in the economy. |
The world is facing as astonishing rise in the number of old people, and they will live longer than ever before. Over the next 20 years the global population of those aged 65 or more will almost double, from 600 million to 1.1 billion. The experience of the 20th century, when greater longevity translated into more years in retirement rather than more years at work, has persuaded many observers that this shift will lead to slower economic growth, while the swelling ranks of pensioners will create government budget problems.
But the notion of a sharp division between the working young and the idle old misses a new trend, the growing gap between the skilled and the unskilled. Employment rates are falling among younger unskilled people, whereas older skilled folk are working longer. The divide is most extreme in America, where well-educated baby-boomers (二战后生育高峰期出生的美国人) are putting off retirement while many less-skilled younger people have dropped out of the workforce.
That even the better-off must work longer to have a comfortable retirement. But the changing nature of work also plays a big role. Pay has risen sharply for the highly educated, and those people continue to reap rich rewards into old age because these days the educated elderly are more productive than the preceding generation. Technological change may well reinforce that shift: the skills that complement computers, from management knowhow to creativity. Do not necessarily decline with age.
1. what is happening in the workforce in rich countries?
| A．younger people are replacing the elderly |
| B．well-educated people tend to work longer |
| C．unemployment rates are rising year after year |
| D．people with no college degree do not easily find work |
| A．Longer life expectancies |
| B．Profound changes in the workforce |
| C．rapid technological advance. |
| D．A growing number of well-graduated. |
| A．Economic growth will slow down. |
| B．Government budgets will increase. |
| C．More people will try to pursue higher education |
| D．There will be more competition in the job market. |
| A．Unskilled workers may choose to retire early. |
| B．more people have to receive in-service training. |
| C．Even wealthy people must work longer to live comfortably in retirement. |
| D．People may be able to enjoy generous defined-benefits from pension plans. |
| A．Computers will do more complicated work. |
| B．More will be taken by the educated young. |
| C．Most jobs to be done will be creative ones. |
| D．Skills are highly valued regardless of age. |
Older workers who take courses to keep their skills up-to-date will be more likely to keep their jobs, claims David Willetts, the higher education minister. He said the age limit on student loans to cover tuition fees had been lifted, making a degree course “great value” for older people. His comments followed a government report which found that the country's future economic success would depend on the skills and contributions of older workers.
One in four people will be older than 65 by 2033 and economists have warned thatthe ageing population will place a heavy burden on taxpayers unless more people work for longer. The state pension age is to rise to 67 by 2028. Ministers have warned that they have no idea when younger workers in their thirties will be able to retire.
Mr Willetts, who is accompanying David Cameron in India, urged workers older
than 60 to give further education serious consideration.“There is certainly a
pressure for continuing to get retrained and upskilled，”he said.“Higher education has an economic benefit in that if you stay up-to-date with knowledge and skills you will be more employable.”
Mr Willetts said a university course had “wider” benefits, making people more likely to lead healthy lives.“Education is such a good thing that it is not reserved for only younger people，” he said.“ There will be people of all ages who will want to study. There is great value in lifelong learning.” Under previous rules, students in England would get a loan to cover tuition fees only if they were younger than 54.
Latest figures showed that only 1,940 undergraduates starting courses last year were older than 60, out of a total of 552,240 students in Britain. Some 6,455 were aged between 50 and 60, according to the Higher Education Statistics Agency.
1. We can learn from Paragraphs 1 & 2 that older workers ________.
| A．have no chance to get a loan to cover tuition fees |
| B．may hold back the country's future economic success |
| C．are encouraged to go back to university and retrain |
| D．should be retrained after retirement |
pension in 2028 in Britain.
| A．54 | B．67 | C．65 | D．60 |
| A．People of all ages can receive different education. |
| B．There is no need for workers older than 60 to receive further education. |
| C．University courses have nothing to do with a healthy life. |
| D．Education is only provided for younger people. |
| A．Britain: entering the ageing state |
| B．Over60s are told: go back to university and retrain |
| C．The situation of education in Britain |
| D．The system of pension in Britain |
At the height of the depression(萧条)，when U．S．unemployment peaked at 10 percent，just a little more than two million jobs were being posted each month．But as the recovery takes hold，the job picture looks increasingly bright．
That’s great news for Hamilton．Only once has he ever applied in person for a job at a shopping mall. He said，“I think my generation—the idea of going door to door, out knocking and saying，hey are you hiring? —like that—doesn’t exist anymore…those days are gone, Just go online．’’
Kim Dancy recently graduated with a master's degree in Public Policy．She found her dream job as an education policy researcher．But she says finding the perfect job online takes a lot of perseverance．He said，“It can be really frustrating and it takes a long time，but if you applied for enough positions and really do your homework you will get somewhere．
The report’s findings suggest careers in Science，Technology，Engineering and Math provide the greatest opportunities，with salaries that range between $30 to $45 an hour．But for maximum income and satisfaction，workers must be prepared to move and change jobs at least every five years．
1. The highest unemployment rate in the depression in the U．S．was _____.
| A．7％ | B．6．7％ | C．6％ | D．10％ |
| A．Applying in person． | B．Turning to the Internet． |
| C．Searching papers． | D．Going door to door． |
| A．Job applicants should do much housework. |
| B．Finding a dream job is really exciting． |
| C．Only online can an applicant find a job． |
| D．Online job—hunting calls for perseverance． |
| A．By switching jobs regularly． |
| B．By sticking to your work． |
| C．By surfing the Internet． |
| D．By hurrying around． |
The book—a bestseller in the US—is being used by men and women to deal with changes in their lives and work. Some large organizations, including Coca-Cola, Kodak and General Motors, ask their employees to read it in order to encourage them to be active towards changes.
Cheese is something related to everyone’s livelihood-Our jobs, the industries we work in, relationships and love as well.
With China’s official entry into the WTO, the whole nation will face up to more changes and challenges. So what we should do once this “cheese” on which we are so dependent is moved?
“Whatever challenges and changes we meet, we should face up to them bravely,” Jiang Hengwei, a civil servant said after reading the book.
Professor Zhang Yang in Renmin University of China agrees. “We should change our way of thinking. The coming competitive foreign companies and products provide us with great chances to learn from them and improve our own products to meet international standards and be more competitive.”
“With hard work and wisdom, we will create a much larger and better piece of cheese.” Zhang smiled confidently.
1. . The whole passage is about_________.
| A．a bestseller in the US |
| B．what people think about China’s entry into the WTO |
| C．the change in people’s attitude towards changes and challenges |
| D．how a book influences the Chinese workers |
| A．be more competitive with foreign firms |
| B．find an excuse for their job cuts |
| C．let the workers make a living on their own |
| D．encourage the fired workers |
| A．something we depend on |
| B．a most important kind of food |
| C．change or challenge |
| D．way of life |
| A．they have different opinions on changes and challenges |
| B．people are not afraid of competition from foreign companies |
| C．the Chinese people are ready to face any changes and challenges |
| D．they are both greatly encouraged by the book |
8 . A large number of women in Western European countries wish that they were born men. The number is said as high as 60% in West Germany.
“Women often wish that they had the same chance as men have, and believe it is still men’s world,” said Dr. James Holden, one of the scientists who did the study.
Anne Harper has a very good job for an international oil company. She also believes in “Women’s Liberation”.
“I don’t wish that I were a man,” she says, “and I don’t think many women do. But I do wish that people would stop looking down upon us women. A work, for example, we often do the work that men do but get paid less. There are still a lot of jobs that are usually the best ones and open only to men. If you’re a man, you have a much better chance of leading an exciting life. How many women pilots are there… or engineers or scientists?”
1. What can we learn from the first paragraph?| A．60% women in West Germany wish that they were born men. |
| B．Most women in Western European countries wish that their babies were all boys. |
| C．60% Western European women wish that they were born men. |
| D．60% Western European women who wish that they were born men are from West Germany. |
| A．There’re more men than women in the world |
| B．There’re more men scientists or engineers than women scientists or engineers in the world |
| C．Women have not been given the same chance as men |
| D．Women cannot live without men |
| A．live a better life than men |
| B．be really liberated |
| C．be well paid |
| D．get better jobs than men |
| A．Usually the best jobs are not open to women. |
| B．Women are less paid than men for the same job. |
| C．There’re more men pilots, engineers and scientists than women ones. |
| D．Women are looked down upon because they’re the second - class citizens. |
"Previous research has shown that paying people more than they expect may elicit reciprocity(相互作用) in the form of greater productivity," notes Deepak Malhotra, a Harvard business-administration professor who worked on the study. What he and his colleagues found, however, was that the connection between more pay and extra effort depends on presenting the increase "as a gift—that is, as something you've chosen to do purely as a nice gesture, with no strings attached."
Malhotra and his team studied 267 people hired by oDesk, a global online network of freelancers, to do a one-time data-entry project for four hours. All of the new hires were people in developing countries, for whom hourly wages of $3 and $4 were higher than what they had been making in previous jobs.
The researchers split the group up into three equal parts. One group was told they would earn $3 an hour. A second group was initially hired at $3 an hour but, before they started working, they got a surprise: The budget for the project had expanded unexpectedly, they were told, and they would now be paid $4 an hour. The third group was offered $4 an hour from the start and given no increase.
Even though the second and third groups were eventually paid the same amount, the second group worked harder and produced more—about 20% more—than either of the other two. People in the second group also showed the most stamina, maintaining their focus all the way through the assigned task and performing especially well toward the end of the four hours. Interestingly, the more experienced employees in the high-performing group were the most productive of all, apparently because their previous work experience led them to appreciate the rarity of an unexpected raise.
Contrary to conventional wisdom, Malhotra points out that higher pay, in and of itself, didn't promote productivity: People who made $4 an hour from the beginning worked no harder than those who were hired at $3 and were then paid $3.
To get the most impact from their pay plans, he adds, companies might consider not only what to pay new hires, but when to pay it.
"The key thing is how you present [the reason for an increase]," he says. Doling out extra money could promote productivity most "if you make it clear that the pay raise is something you're choosing to do just because you can. Our theory is that people will reciprocate. If you do something nice, they'll do something nice back."
1. What does the underlined word “stamina” most probably mean?
| A．The quality of being intelligent or clever. |
| B．The quality of doing something difficult or dangerous. |
| C．The physical or mental energy needed to do a tiring activity for a long time. |
| D．A particular method of doing an activity, usually involving practical skills. |
| A．Because they thought they were better paid than the other groups. |
| B．Because they were experienced employees from developing countries. |
| C．Because an unexpected raise reminded them of their previous work. |
| D．Because they felt they were nicely treated and tried best to repay it. |
| A．No pains, no gains. |
| B．It matters not what we give but how. |
| C．Honesty is the best policy. |
| D．Actions speak louder than words. |
10 . Men and women are still treated unequally in the workplace. Women continue to earn less, on average, for the same performance. Research has shown that both conscious(有意识的) and subconscious biases (偏见) contribute to this problem. But we’ve discovered another source of inequality: Women often don’t get what they want and deserve because they don’t ask for it. In three separate studies, we found that men are more likely than women to negotiate for what they want.
The first study found that the starting salaries of male MBAs who had recently graduated from Carnegie Mellon were 7.6%, or almost $4,000, higher on average than those of female MBAs from the same program. That’s because most of the women had simply accepted the employer’s salary offer; in fact, only 7% had attempted to negotiate. But 57% of their male counterparts--or eight times as many men as women—had asked for more.
Another study tested this gender difference in the lab. Subjects were told that they would be observed playing a word game and that they would be paid between $3 and $10 for playing. After each subject completed the task, an experimenter thanked the participant and said, “Here’s $3. Is $3 OK?” For the men, it was not OK, and they said so. Their requests for more money are nine times as many as the women’s.
The largest of the three studies surveyed several hundred people over the Internet, asking them about the most recent negotiations they’d attempted or started and when they expected to negotiate next. The study showed that men place themselves in negotiation situations much more often than women do.
There are several reasons accounting for the phenomenon. First, women often are taught from an early age not to promote their own interests and to focus instead on the needs of others. The messages girls receive—from parents, teachers, other children, the media, and society in general—can be so powerful that when they grow up they may not realize that they’ve made this behavior part of them, or they may realize it but not understand how it affects their willingness to negotiate. Women tend to think that they will be recognized and rewarded for working hard and doing a good job. Unlike men, they haven’t been taught that they can ask for more.
1. According to this passage, what causes the inequality in the workplace?| A．social bias |
| B．women’s poorer working ability |
| C．women’s worse academic background |
| D．women’s less negotiating |
A． |
B． |
C． |
D． |
| A．Women are more likely to accept the employer’s salary offer. |
| B．Men tend to ask for more money than woman. |
| C．Women care more about other’s interest instead of themselves’. |
| D．Men believe that the better they work, the better they’re paid. |
| A．The suggestions given to women. |
| B．The warnings to men. |
| C．Another reason for women’s not asking. |
| D．Another reason for men’s asking. |
