1. What does the woman congratulate the man on?
| A．Gaining a job interview. | B．Standing out in his class. | C．Getting his dream job. |
| A．His love for bridges. | B．His ambition to get high salary. | C．His desire to graduate from university. |
1. Where is the Base located?
| A．10 km away from the city center. |
| B．Less than 30 km from Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport. |
| C．No.1357 Panda Road. |
| A．Feeding the animals using bamboo. |
| B．Chatting loudly with friends. |
| C．Taking pictures for pandas without flashes. |
| A．Refilling a cup of hot coffee. | B．Buying food for dinner. | C．Using an umbrella when it rains. |
| A．Tourists visiting the Base. |
| B．Volunteers taking care of the wild animals. |
| C．Scientists doing research at the Base. |
Linda went for a job interview at a firm that had several start-up businesses under its wing. She applied to be Executive Secretary of the CEO, but her chance of getting the job was slim because she came in late for the interview.
“I’m truly sorry I have come late, sir,” Linda apologized. “But I had an emergency to attend to earlier today and that is why I couldn’t make it on time. I hope you can give me a chance,” she added. “But the job is to be my secretary and being late for your interview is just not good,” George, the CEO, told her. “I’m sorry, but I won’t be able to hire you.” Depressed, Linda left.
When Linda got home, her son Jack found that something seemed to be bothering his mom. Then he asked, “What’s wrong, Mom? How did the job interview go?” “I didn’t get the job, son. I didn’t make it in time for the interview,” she sighed. Jack was almost crying upon hearing this, but Linda tired to comfort him. “It’s all right, son. There are many other jobs I can apply for. It’s no big deal,” she said, hugging him.
The following day, Jack copied the address from his mother’s notebook and came to George’s office without telling his mom. “Hi, sir, I’m Jack. My mom came for an interview yesterday, but you rejected her. Could you please give her a second interview, sir?” he said to the CEO.
“Why should I give her another chance?” George asked. “It was because of my fault that she didn’t make it on time. I accidentally dropped some food juice on my shirt. She had to wash it because it was the only uniform that I could wear in school. It took a while to remove the stain (污渍), so she was late,” Jack said.
“My mom works hard, sir. My parents once ran a cleaning supply and equipment business. Owing to something unexpected, the company was closed down. My parents had to start all over again,” Jack continued.
George listened thoughtfully and began to feel sorry for Linda. He thought the position of Marketing Director would better suit Linda since she had relevant experience. Then he told Jack that he would give his mom a second chance.
注意：1．续写词数应为 150左右；
2．请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
The next day, Linda received a call from George, who informed her that she could have a second chance.
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Calming down, Linda asked George why he had changed his mind and had given her another chance.
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4 . Elm Professional Services owner Mia Van Tubbergh had plenty of business smarts—but no social media know how. So she turned to the younger generation and took on the two high school students who knew their stuff.
“Social media is foreign to many older professionals—but very important for connecting with today’s customers,” Ms Van Tubbergh said. “We have this workforce sitting in schools doing this already but they’re doing it for fun.” Ms Van Tubbergh’s company, which helps launch products to market, took then Year 10 students Braith Mansfield and Tahmana Rudolph on for two weeks’ work experience.
Ms Van Tubbergh said with a bit of guidance and help with spelling and presenting in a professional environment, the boys now do about 80% of Elm’s social media marketing work for online customers. The pair work one day a week with Elm at Gosford and the rest at Kariong High School. Their duties include stand-alone posts on social media platforms, videos, stories and website headers. They recently finished a hard copy flyer（传单）for a major retailer that will be seen by every consumer who visits the website.
“I am so impressed by the performance of the two teenagers, who have helped grow the company’s social media following by 600%,” said Ms Van Tubbergh. “Braith, 17, and Tahmana, 16—now in Year 11—came into the business with a lot of unexplored social media experience. Working at Elm has provided them with a ‘digital platform of work that is worth its weight in gold’—a valuable resource they can show other employers when starting a full-time career.”
Braith and Rudolph are among 42 NSW Central Coast students doing Year 11 and 12 as part of a School-Based Apprenticeship and Training（SBAT）program. NSW Education SBAT strategic officer Cecile Oakes said they needed more companies like Elm to take on students and give them the benefit of real world experience.
1. Why did Elm Professional Services hire Braith and Rudolph?| A．They have plenty of business smarts. |
| B．They hope to gain valuable work experience. |
| C．They hope to get paid and become financially independent. |
| D．They can help to grow the company’s social media following. |
| A．The two teenagers’ role in Elm. |
| B．Elm’s social media marketing work. |
| C．The two teenagers’ unexpected gains in Elm. |
| D．Elm’s guidance and help to the two teenagers. |
| A．She will recommend the two teenagers to other employers. |
| B．The two teenagers should start a full-time career upon graduation. |
| C．Starting a career in social media is a win-win for the two teenagers and the company. |
| D．The two students have not yet explored their social media experience. |
| A．NSW Education SBAT program has been a great success. |
| B．More NSW Central Coast students are likely to be taken on. |
| C．NSW Central Coast students have rich real world experience. |
| D．Braith and Rudolph will continue to work for Elm after graduation. |
1. What is Mr.Foster doing now?
| A．Chairing a meeting. | B．Having a meal. | C．Meeting business partners. |
| A．To ask for leave. | B．To discuss a project. | C．To make a vacation plan. |
| A．1:00 p.m. | B．1:30 p.m. | C．2:30 p.m. |
| A．A secretary. | B．A waitress. | C．A saleswoman. |
7 . I was 6 years old when my father told me we were leaving the Big Apple Circus (马戏团). Until that point, I had spent most of my life on the circus lot, playing with the other circus kids. The circus, by its nature, is one that has a loose structure. So the early years after my leaving the circus to sit in a classroom all day felt more like a prison.
But years later, I found areas that interested me. I took the skills I had learned from being onstage and applied them to broadcasting. And so when Boston’s news station WBUR offered me a job out of college, I jumped at the chance. Along the way, I found I really enjoyed the work. I became WBUR’s news reporter. The flexibility and adaptability I’d learned in the circus as a child helped me do my job naturally and easily in a stressful situation — whether it was a destructive tornado outside Boston, or the Boston Marathon bombings of 2013.
But then a serious infectious disease appeared. Suddenly, for the first time in my adult life, I went for a year without doing any shows. But it became clear to me that performing was what I truly wanted. For me, the circus symbolizes who I am. And stages have always been where I’ve felt the most free. Some people get nervous before they go onstage, but by assuming (扮演) the character of Jacques ze Whipper and drawing a stupid moustache on my face, all my social anxiety disappears.
Circus performances go beyond age, socioeconomic status (地位), and even language. It’s the type of performance where you can go anywhere in the world to entertain anyone — help anyone forget their troubles for 5, 10, and even 30 minutes. And most importantly, for me, it means coming home.
1. How did the author feel in the early years of school?| A．Curious. | B．Unfree. | C．Loose. | D．Impatient. |
| A．He did it for his father. | B．He did it against his will. |
| C．He risked his neck doing it. | D．He took to it like a duck to water. |
| A．A means of living. | B．A chance to go anywhere. |
| C．A part of his identity. | D．A way to forget his troubles. |
| A．To express his love for circus performances. |
| B．To stress the value of performing. |
| C．To share his personal experiences in a circus. |
| D．To discuss the problem of choosing a job. |
8 . By day, Robert Titterton is a lawyer. In his spare time though he goes on
Mr. Titterton is chairman of the Omega Ensemble but has been the group’s official page turner for the past four years. His job is to
“A lot of skills are needed for the job. You have to make sure you don’t turn
Being a page turner
But
Most page turners are piano students or up-and-coming concert pianists, although Ms. Raspopova has once asked her husband to help her out on stage. “My husband is the
| A．musical | B．stage | C．performance | D．practice |
| A．page turner | B．assistant | C．dancer | D．supporter |
| A．compose | B．enjoy | C．read | D．evaluate |
| A．interpret | B．sit | C．sing | D．focus |
| A．break | B．follow | C．resist | D．change |
| A．your | B．all | C．two | D．those |
| A．causes | B．inquires | C．gains | D．requires |
| A．play | B．go | C．sound | D．flow |
| A．key | B．serious | C．possible | D．obvious |
| A．deny | B．predict | C．indicate | D．mix |
| A．above | B．despite | C．besides | D．like |
| A．piano | B．stand | C．head | D．concert |
| A．last | B．first | C．worst | D．former |
| A．caught | B．trapped | C．disappointed | D．absorbed |
| A．note | B．line | C．part | D．repeat |
9 . Inside а tiny shop in Manchester, Adam Birce carefully carves at а woodblock. He looks carefully at each piece to ensure they fit and match before gently setting them together. Adam Birce, the owner of Four Strings, restores stringed instruments like violins and his passion is in restoring and appreciating what has already been crafted and loved.
Birce started playing the violin in grade school and grew to truly appreciate it. He played semiprofessionally out of high school and later got his degree in music at Virginia Commonwealth University as a violinist. After graduating, he landed a job selling violins. “As fate would have it, I was asked by my employer to learn to fix violins 15 years ago,” he says. “I soon moved off on my own to do restoration.” Since 2014, he’s been on a mission with Four Strings to provide excellent fine-instrument restoration for the commonwealth.
Violin restoration isn’t a self-taught skill. Each summer for the past decade, Birce has traveled to the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts for up to two weeks to study under famous violin restoration expert Hans J. Nebel. Here, students learn everything from delicate edging repair to violin identification. “A lot of the work itself is learning as you go,” Birce says. “It’s a lot of problem-solving and critical thinking, like coming up with a woodworking context.”
How long а job takes varies. “Most are about 3-6 months for major work, unless a full top-to-bottom restoration is needed, which can take even longer,” Birce explains. “I leave that up to the client if they want to commit to that.” One of his longest jobs was working on a Scottish violin from the early 1800s that had been water-damaged. “I had to use every skill in my toolbox to fix it,” Birce laughingly recalls. “It was a very onerous job.”
If there’s one thing to be learned from Birce’s passion, it’s that each violin is unique in its own right. He compares the fine instruments market to the fine arts market. “A lot of these instruments are fine art,” he says. “I kind of say this is a Picasso I’m playing or a Degas. I’ve worked on a few, which is always a joy.”
1. What does the author think of violin restoration?| A．It’s effortless. | B．It’s self-taught. |
| C．It’s boring. | D．It’s highly professional. |
| A．How powerful the tools are. | B．Its condition and the client’s needs. |
| C．What material it’s made of. | D．Its client’s pay for the restorer. |
| A．Abnormal. | B．Enjoyable. | C．Encouraging. | D．Demanding. |
| A．Birce’s passion for art. | B．Birce’s impact on the market. |
| C．Birce’s feelings about the job. | D．Birce’s advice on violin restoration. |
10 . I was 6 years old when my father told me we were leaving the Big Apple Circus.
For the past 15 years, my father had been a variety
The early years after leaving the circus were
But along the way, I found areas that
For me, the circus has always been a(n)
| A．director | B．performer | C．teacher | D．pilot |
| A．arranged | B．cast | C．lost | D．born |
| A．fight | B．access | C．art | D．tour |
| A．fruitful | B．pleasant | C．tough | D．appealing |
| A．looser | B．firmer | C．healthier | D．darker |
| A．supported | B．accepted | C．reduced | D．inspired |
| A．handed | B．applied | C．contributed | D．returned |
| A．offered | B．bought | C．wished | D．told |
| A．met with | B．turned to | C．jumped at | D．focused on |
| A．Immediately | B．Suddenly | C．Roughly | D．Eventually |
| A．disappointing | B．clear | C．significant | D．funny |
| A．essential | B．unpredictable | C．free | D．strange |
| A．complain | B．refuse | C．put | D．exhibit |
| A．invention | B．stage | C．curiosity | D．challenge |
| A．leave | B．work | C．forget | D．laugh |
