1 . Aptitude Tests Recommendations
Aptitude tests are helpful to job seekers of all ages. While career quizzes explore your values and work style, aptitude tests provide a more objective evaluation of your skills, helping you select a career you’re most likely to succeed in. Below are some of the best aptitude tests out there.
Clifton Strengths
The Clifton Strengths program was created based on research around leadership. The research in question pointed to common strengths among successful leaders, like strategic thinking, adaptability and communication. To complete the test, you must answer around 150 questions, each within 20 seconds. Allen Cheung, a tech blogger, notes that CliftonStrengths is more valuable than your average career test because it includes “tricky questions which aren’t as easily gamed”.
Red Bull Wingfinder
Developed and tested out by psychology experts, the Red Bull Wingfinder assesses your thinking under pressure. Questions include image sorting, logic puzzles and leadership-related questions. Once you complete the test, you’ll receive a nine-page report and career coaching tailored to your results.
SEI Development Report
The SEI Development Report is an extensive EQ aptitude test that has timed right-and-wrong answers that assess eight fundamentals, including emotional literacy, emotional management and empathy. At the end, you’ll receive a 20-page report with recommended courses on workplace EQ development.
CareerOneStop
While it only takes a few minutes to complete, the CareerOneStop Skills Assessment will help you rank both your technical and soft skills. The career suggestions at the end can be sorted by relevance, annual wages, and job outlook, coupled with with professional coaching or consultation improve your skills.
1. What do aptitude tests mainly assess for job seekers?| A．Their work ethics. | B．Their career interest. |
| C．Their preferred work style. | D．Their professional competence. |
| A．It evaluates leadership skills. | B．It is developed by experts. |
| C．It includes challenging questions. | D．It offers a comprehensive report. |
| A．Clift on Strengths | B．Red Bull Wingfinder |
| C．SEI Development Report | D．CareerOneStop |
2 . Tutors (家教) Wanted
Teach a kindergartener how to read online
Become a volunteer tutor with Learn To Be! LTB tutors are dedicated volunteers who believe deeply in educational equity. Our tutors volunteer their time to make the lives of under-served K-12 kids and their families easier, their opportunities greater, and their dreams bigger. Teach at least 2 times per week for 3 months or longer. Support your students with homework help or use the resources provided by LTB to create your own lesson plans for your students.
Visit our website to apply: https://www.learntobe.org
Tutor adults in English
The South Bay Literacy Council is an all-volunteer, non-profit organization dedicated to teaching adults to read, write and speak English in the South Bay, Los Angeles area. You’d teach your students weekly online or in-person. The tutoring will last 9 months due to the time it takes to train and match tutors with students.
Visit our website to apply: http://www.southbayliteracy.org
Tutor for Remove the Borders
Being a tutor for Remove the Borders is a great opportunity to gain volunteer hours while learning about how socioeconomic status and learning disabilities can hold students back. Dates on when you tutor will be worked out between you and the person you are tutoring. The minimum amount of time you have to tutor is three hours for a month.
Visit our website to apply: https://forms.gle/eJ2j8BAWAAeApEQq9
Teach online STEM classes
Across the country, millions of students lack the resources to learn about STEM and computer science. Our non-profit organization tries to provide this vital area of education to underprivileged students through engaging in online classes. As a volunteer teacher, you will earn service hours while developing critical communication, teaching, and leadership skills. These classes will run for eight weeks, and three hours per week.
Visit our website to apply: https://www.roboticsforall.net/overview-of-positions.html
1. Who is Learn To Be intended for?| A．Disadvantaged K-12 students. | B．Information technology majors. |
| C．Grown-ups interested in English. | D．Students with learning disabilities. |
| A．Teach online STEM classes. | B．Tutor adults in English. |
| C．Tutor for Remove the Borders. | D．Teach a kindergartener how to read online. |
| A．Only online service is offered. |
| B．Volunteers will get service hours. |
| C．All the classes are provided at the same time. |
| D．Applicants for volunteers’ jobs need to sign up online. |
3 . Our old, artificial Christmas tree was in rough shape by the time we retired it. At least a decade had passed since my wife and I bought the tree, a medium-size fake tree with built-in lights, at a Target in Brooklyn and carried it on the subway to our tiny apartment. Over the years, we dragged that tree from apartment, jammed it onto a moving truck to Los Angeles and later packed the weathered box onto another moving truck, this time to Chicago and our current home. By the end, layers of duct tape (强力胶布) held the box together, the wear and tear of a decade of delivering holiday cheer.
Our little tree looked run down, but it was the only tree our family ever knew. It stands proud and glowing in the background of photos of me and my pregnant wife during our last Christmas in Brooklyn without children. Our oldest was born a month later during a January snowstorm. The tree shows up again in the next year’s photos, this time surrounded by holiday gifts for a boy about to turn 1. Then it appears in photos of our son and his 1-month-old brother, this time with California palm trees just outside the door. And in more recent photos, our tree lights up windows overlooking shining Chicago snow. This year, after much debate, we decided to retire our dear old tree, with its bent branches and the lights that had burned out years ago. Rather than feel depressed, we used the moment to launch a new family tradition: our first real Christmas tree.
So here’s a toast to all your family’s traditions—the old and the new. I hope you enjoy this issue, which we have filled with stories of seasonal joy and holiday cheer. Happy holidays!
1. Where is the author’s present home?| A．In Chicago. | B．In Brooklyn. | C．In California. | D．In Los Angeles. |
| A．His budget was tight. | B．He was attached to it. |
| C．It was in good condition. | D．It was environmentally-friendly. |
| A．An editor. | B．A salesman. | C．A delivery man. | D．A home designer. |
| A．The finest diamond must be cut. |
| B．Out with the old, in with the new. |
| C．Old friends and old wine are best. |
| D．All things in their being are good for something. |
4 . While we might like to think we would rush to someone’s assistance, we know from studies that often people hang back and this can have tragic consequences.
One of the most famous examples of this is the tragic case of Kitty Genovese who was fatally stabbed (刺伤) in Kew Gardens, New York, in 1964. Subsequent investigations concluded that several people saw or heard what was happening, but did nothing to intervene. This has been termed the “bystander effect” — a well-known psychological phenomenon where individuals are less likely to offer help to someone when other people are present. The more people there are, the less likely they are to help.
There are various factors contributing to this effect — people think that others will get involved or intervene. Afterwards people often say they did not feel qualified or senior or important enough to be the one to intervene. It is also partly down to “pluralistic (多元化的) ignorance” — since everyone is not reacting to the emergency, they don’t need to either; it’s not serious because no one else is doing anything. After a serious incident where people have been affected by the bystander effect, they are often horrified that they didn’t do anything—they can’t believe they had not realized it was more serious or that they didn’t think to get involved.
The important thing to understand though is that other studies have shown that once people are aware of the bystander effect, they are less likely to be affected by it. Self-awareness is the best approach to it. When confronted with an emergency, think to yourself how you would behave if you were on your own. Ignore everyone else and how they are behaving and go with your courage — if you’d call an ambulance, do it. If you’d run for help, do it. If that’s how you would have behaved when you were on your own, then that’s probably the right course of action.
1. Why does the author mention “the tragic case of Kitty Genovese” in paragraph 2?| A．To present a fact. | B．To confirm a finding. |
| C．To predict a conclusion. | D．To illustrate an approach. |
| A．feel confident to intervene. | B．tend to help people in need. |
| C．be well aware of bad consequences. | D．feel shocked after a serious incident. |
| A．Think twice. | B．Follow others. |
| C．Step in at once. | D．Take action cautiously. |
| A．Behave Yourself | B．Don’t Be A Bystander |
| C．Action in An Emergency | D．Severity of Bystander Effect |
5 . Depending on your view, the recorder is an instrument of “incredible functions” or a tool of annoyance that has bothered primary schools for too many generations. But now, it faces extinction, with one of the UK’s top music schools reporting an 80% decline in the number of young people playing it in the last 10 years.
The instrument’s future is so imperiled that the European Recorder Teachers Association is trying to bring it back to life again so it does not leave the stage. The ERTA argues that if the recorder was good enough for the Beatles, it has a place in modern music today.
Tom Redmond, the principal of Chetham’s school of music in Manchester, said only three of its pupils practised the recorder, compared with 15 a decade ago. “More pupils were taking up the piano or other instruments,” said Redmond. “The ones that became really popular are the ones students spend more time playing alone. With the instruments being more socially based, there has been a decline, just like the recorder.”
Redmond also said that this problem extended “beyond the recorder itself” and was a mirror of the future of music. “Like removing any plant or animal from an ecosystem, removing the recorder has a huge chain effect beyond just the instrument. You need these instruments to create the inspiration for music, and without that, there is less excitement to learn music,” he said.
Chris Orton, a recorder tutor and chair of the ERTA, is leading the fight against the instrument’s extinction. He said, “The recorder is increasingly overlooked by students, and yet it has a rich history and incredible attractions. As well as making beautiful sounds, it’s an accessible instrument in that it is low-cost compared to other woodwind instruments, and it’s light and easy to carry.”
1. What does the underlined word “imperiled” in paragraph 2 probably mean?| A．In danger. | B．Full of hope. | C．Out of memory. | D．Beyond recognition. |
| A．Students are less excited to learn it. |
| B．Its disadvantages outweigh its advantages. |
| C．It requires more cooperation with other instruments. |
| D．Students are more likely to play high-end instruments. |
| A．Music education is essential for students. |
| B．The recorder shapes the future of music. |
| C．The recorder plays an important role in music. |
| D．Nature is a rich source of inspiration for musicians. |
| A．It needs to be improved. | B．It is inconvenient to play. |
| C．It is a priority for students. | D．It deserves more attention. |
6 . Even though food itself is not the problem, developing a healthier relationship with it is essential to eating disorder recovery. Most people with eating disorders struggle with issues of control when it comes to food—often shaking between rigidity(严格) and chaos.
Let go of rigid eating rules.
Don't diet. The more you restrict food, the more likely it is that you'll become preoccupied (专注的) with it, and even addicted to it. So instead of focusing on what you "shouldn't" eat, focus on nutritious foods that will energize you and make your body strong.
Learn to listen to your body. If you have an eating disorder, you've learned to ignore your body's hunger and fullness signals.
| A．Don't ignore your health. |
| B．The goal is to find a balance. |
| C．The best way is to lose weight. |
| D．Stick to a regular eating schedule. |
| E．You may not even recognize them anymore. |
| F．You should think of food as fuel for your body first. |
| G．Strict rules about food and eating fuel eating disorders. |
7 . It is natural for young people to be critical of their parents at times and to blame them for most of the misunderstandings between them. They have always complained, more or less justly, that their parents are out of touch with modern ways; that they do not trust their children to deal with crisis; that they talk too much about certain problems; and that they have no sense of humor, at least in parent-child relationships.
I think it is true that parents often underestimate their teenage children and also forget how they themselves felt when young.
Young people often annoy their parents with their choices in clothes and hairstyles, in the entertainers and music. This is not their motive. They feel cut off from the adult world into which they have not yet been accepted. So they create a culture and society of their own. Then it turns out that their music or entertainers or clothes or hairstyles annoy their parents. This gives them additional enjoyment. At least in a small way, they are leaders in style and taste.
Sometimes you are proud, because your parents can’t change what you do. If they do approve, it looks as if you are betraying (背叛) your own age group. But in that case, you are assuming that you are an underdog: you can’t win, but at least you can keep your honor. This is a passive way of looking at things. It is natural enough after long years if you were completely under your parents’ control in your childhood. But it ignores the fact that you should be responsible for yourself.
From my teaching experience for ages, I want to give you young people the following advice that perhaps can help deal with the generation gap properly. If you plan to control your life, co-operation can be part of that plan. You can charm your parents into doing things the way you want. You can impress them with your sense of responsibility, so that they will give you the authority to do what you want to do.
1. What can we know from the young people's views in Paragraph 1?| A．Parents are lacking in humor and like talking a lot. |
| B．Parents always know much and keep pace with the times. |
| C．Parents should be responsible for all the misunderstandings. |
| D．Parents believe their children's ability to solve any problems. |
| A．They find extra fun from their annoying actions. |
| B．They are quite content to be away from the adult society. |
| C．They make full use of their music to speed up their lives. |
| D．They always annoy their parents in order to enjoy music. |
| A．Lovely dog. | B．Failure. | C．Partner. | D．Looker. |
| A．A capable chef. | B．A famous writer. |
| C．A senior teacher. | D．A trusted entertainer. |
8 . A team of researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems have found that dogs do not use their tails to help stabilize their movements, which is contrary to previous research results. Instead, as they explain in their paper, the tails are used as a communications device.
The researchers began their work by noting that dogs are unique among mammalian carnivores(哺乳食肉动物) because they do not climb trees. Thus, their tails are not needed to help them survive in such an environment. They then noted that many other ground animals with tails use them for stabilization during running or jumping, Cheetahs(猎豹) , for example, use their tails to help them remain stable as they run very fast. Dogs' tails, the researchers noted, are smaller than those of tree-dwelling(树栖的) creatures and much less flexible than those found on creatures such as cats, which use them quite often to keep their balance.
To learn whether dogs' tails help stabilize their movements, the researchers dressed several sheepdogs in suits with sewn-in sensors, so that they could take down on a computer the movement of every part of the body during their running, jumping and other activities.
Overall, the researchers found that dogs do not use their tails to help them keep their balance or to change direction, or for anything else, at least physically. They note that previous research has shown that dogs use their tails to convey their mood and intentions. Fast wagging, for example, usually means the dog is happy. They suggest that while the tails of dogs may have once served a large purpose, those that live in modern times appear to only use them to show others around them how they are feeling-a very useful ability for a pack animal.
1. What's the author's purpose in mentioning cheetahs and cats in Paragraph 2?| A．To compare their tails' use with the dogs'. |
| B．To stress the unique function of cats' tails. |
| C．To emphasize the importance of dogs' life. |
| D．To state cheetahs' various hunting methods. |
| A．To distinguish them from the real dogs. |
| B．To control their tails wagging frequently. |
| C．To keep their body balance over fast runs. |
| D．To record the movements of every part of their body. |
| A．It can't run as fast as a normal one. |
| B．It will be less flexible to make turns. |
| C．It will often roll over during running and jumping. |
| D．It can't communicate with its visual body language. |
| A．The Removal of Dogs' Tails Is Acceptable |
| B．Dogs' Tails Are Not Used for Stabilization |
| C．Dogs' Tails Are More Flexible in Modern Times |
| D．The Function of Dogs' Tails Has Changed Entirely |
9 . On that day, I was firstly invited by my colleague, Marion, to her birthday party. When I arrived and sat in the corner, a young man opened the door. He was the most handsome man I had seen in my 22 years-with a black crew haircut, a small mustache and beautiful blue eyes. “He is an excellent example,” Marion whispered to me. “And his name was Johan Viggo.”
I was extremely shy and nervous when the party started. We all played the Catch the Fox; but I cheated and got Johan Viggo’s number, 13. Before I could call it, he called my number, 10. I was caught by him. Later, I learned that he had cheated, too. Afterwards, we as friends matched, and had a better understanding.
When drinks and food were served, Johan Viggo offered me a taste of his ice cream. He sat with me and asked if he could take me home. I agreed. And eventually, Marion waved us out of her party one by one.
Several days later, Johan Viggo said his vacation was over and he would return to his ground troops where he served, saying he had a lot to do. “During my break, I will go online to teach my primary school students music.”
Two months ago, Bosnian Kalesic, head of Woods Primary School, Marion’s friend, told Johan Viggo she would find a substitute teacher to cover his classes while he was on duty, but he insisted on continuing to teach. She said, “Johan is an excellent example. He also teaches our kids the significance of practice and determination.”
However, Johan Viggo said to me he was not doing anything extraordinary. “My mom was a music teacher. That’s why I do what I do. I am here to do what’s needed, and if that means standing outside for 24 hours straight in the freezing cold, I’m ready to do that, because it’s my duty as a soldier to follow orders.”
1. Why does the author mention the Catch the Fox in Paragraph 2?| A．To display number 13 is more popular than number 10. |
| B．To prove the most popular party is constantly changing. |
| C．To show that he and Viggo both have a desire to know each other. |
| D．To suggest that he and Viggo have known each other for a long time. |
| A．Viggo was very strict with kids. | B．Viggo was irreplaceable anytime. |
| C．Viggo had a positive effect on kids. | D．Viggo was diligent and independent. |
| A．A soldier and teacher. | B．A soldier and student. |
| C．A headmaster and writer. | D．A headmaster and teacher. |
| A．Ambitious. | B．Devoted. | C．Humorous. | D．Outgoing. |
10 . It was our first Thanksgiving in the new house, and I wanted everything to be perfect. However, my husband just got a new job in retail, so our family “plan” for everyone to take part in the necessary prep work had been torpedoed. To make matters worse, a key project for me that week had claimed two days of planned vacation. John Lennon was right: Life is what happens while you are making other plans.
By Wednesday night, while my husband was selling camping equipment as Christmas gifts, my children and I were at home and into full-blown vacuum mania (吸尘狂潮). I was thankful that a kid’s pocket money did not make up salary as I put my six and eight-year-old to work, going against all child labor laws. For my part, I was as busy as a bee in the toilet bowl, heading for a breakdown.
I don’t remember what my son asked me as he was trying his best to finish the vacuuming, but I do remember twisting into that mean-and-tight mom face before barking out a rude answer. Instead of dashing out of view, my second-grader turned off the vacuum and walked the whole way around the stairwell to face me. He never said a word. He just wrapped his arms around me for a hug that made me feel ashamed of myself to this very day. My son took a risk to teach me that sometimes we need a hug most when we are least huggable.
It was the perfect Thanksgiving. The people I loved gathered around my table where a pumpkin covered up last year’s gravy stain (肉汁污渍). We dined on just one choice of pie, and my dad used a mismatched dinner fork without complaint. My daughter drew a picture of us on a paper plate where no one had their eyes closed.
I learned a lot from an eight-year-old that holiday, and I’ve tried hard to remember it. If you find a person complaining about her job or her dress size, give her a hug. It just might be what she needs most.
1. What does the underlined word “torpedoed” in paragraph 1 mean?| A．passed | B．scheduled | C．targeted | D．ruined |
| A．confident | B．humorous | C．alarmed | D．concerned |
| A．She shouted at him impatiently. | B．She hugged him right away. |
| C．She responded to him politely. | D．She continued vacuuming delightedly. |
| A．Careful planning: the route to an unforgettable Thanksgiving Day |
| B．Family happiness: the result of balancing work and life |
| C．Thanksgiving surprises: imperfect perfection and unexpected hugs |
| D．Holiday letdown: common psychological and emotional experiences |
