1 . For nearly a decade now, Merebeth has been a self-employed pet transport specialist. Her pet transport job was born of the financial crisis(危机)in the late 2000s. The downturn hit the real estate (房地产)firm where she had worked for ten years as an office manager. The firm went broke and left her looking for a new job. One day, while driving near her home, she saw a dog wandering on the road, clearly lost. She took it home, and her sister in Denver agreed to take it. This was a loving home for sure, but 1, 600 miles away. It didn’t take long for Merebeth to decide to drive the dog there herself. It was her first road trip to her new job.
Merebeth’s pet delivery service also satisfies her wanderlust. It has taken her to every state in the US except Montana, Washington and Oregon, she says proudly. If she wants to visit a new place, she will simply find a pet with transport needs there. She travels in all weathers. She has driven through 55 mph winds in Wyoming, heavy flooding and storms in Alabama and total whiteout conditions in Kansas.
This wanderlust is inherited from her father, she says. She moved their family from Canada to California when she was one year old, because he wanted them to explore a new place together. As soon as she graduated from high school she left home to live on Catalina Island off the Californian coast, away from her parents, where she enjoyed a life of sailing and off-road biking.
It turns out that pet transporting pays quite well at about $30, 000 per year before tax. She doesn’t work in summer, as it would be unpleasantly hot for the animals in the car, even with air conditioning. As autumn comes, she gets restless—the same old wanderlust returning. It’s a call she must heed alone, though. Merebeth says, “When I am on the road, I’m just in my own world. I’ve always been independent-spirited and I just feel strongly that I must help animals.”
1. Why did Merebeth changed her job?| A．She wanted to work near her home. |
| B．She was tired of working in the office. |
| C．Her sister asked her to move to Denver. |
| D．Her former employer was out of business. |
| A．make money. | B．try various jobs. |
| C．be close to nature. | D．travel to different places. |
| A．She has chances to see rare animals. |
| B．She works hard throughout the year. |
| C．She relies on herself the whole time. |
| D．She earns a basic and tax-free salary. |
2 . Get up at 6 am, arrive at the hospital one hour earlier to help patients check in, and accompany patients during consultations… In recent years, “patient escorts” has emerged as a new industry, and those who have taken on this career are known as “people who sell time”, 26-year-old Zhang Tian is one of them.
September 4 was a lucky day for Zhang Tian. On this day, Zhang Tian saw a video about patient escorts on a short video platform. The daily routine of patient escorts shown in the video fascinated her and gradually inspired her to take this on as a business. She browsed through many platforms and read multiple information and found there indeed exists a certain demand for patient escorts, especially for the elderly, children, and pregnant women. Since she had never engaged in this kind of work before, she spent two days in major hospitals in Wuhan, in order to familiarize herself with all the departments on different floors, as well as the processes of medical consultation and preparation for surgery.
After preliminary preparatory (预备的) work, Zhang Tian posted a video of myself-introduction on major social platforms, talking about the help and services a patient escort provides, as well as some tips for a quick and convenient medical consultation. At first, she was a little worried that her video would go unnoticed. However, after she uploaded the video, it got over 100 likes and she received her first ever offer as a patient escort.
The memory of her first task is still alive and fresh in her mind. She received a phone call on September 9 from a man whose father was seriously ill and might need surgery. He wanted Zhang Tian to accompany his father through his consultation and treatment.” Zhang Tian made full preparations before meeting her first client and did a very good job despite her nervousness.
“Later, the family expressed their gratitude to me over and over again, which warmed my heart and gave me a sense of achievement.” Zhang Tian said.
1. What do patient escorts do?| A．They assist doctors in hospitals. |
| B．They arrive at hospitals early to check in. |
| C．They take on this career to sell their time. |
| D．They help patients get treated in hospitals. |
| A．she enjoyed seeing an interesting video |
| B．she got inspiration for her own career |
| C．she found a demand for medical workers |
| D．she was well received on social platforms |
| A．She got familiar with the routine work in hospitals. |
| B．She spent two days in major hospitals to meet patients. |
| C．Her video on social platforms attracted her first client. |
| D．The man’s father was seriously ill and might need a surgery. |
| A．Hardworking and considerate. | B．Humorous and careful. |
| C．Ambitious and imaginative. | D．Talkative and positive. |
3 . For many American high school seniors and their families, May 1 is “National College Decision Day,” when students make a decision about their academic future.
It is understandable why many students and families suspect that college is no longer “worth it.” College tuition has been rising for years, and many students fear being burdened with loans after graduation. But in fact, the net price of a four-year college, which is what students pay after financial aid, has been falling since 2018 and is now lower than it was in 2006.
To make smart decisions about where to go and what to study, students and parents can make use of resources available today to make informed choices.
| A．To acquire these advanced skills, college remains the surest path. |
| B．However, recent years have seen a sharp drop in college registration. |
| C．These attitudes are also reflected in the actions of the youngest generation. |
| D．Higher education must make college pricing clear to would-be college-goers. |
| E．Huge data shows a college degree actually gives graduates economic advantages. |
| F．Furthermore, students in debt were more likely to finish their degrees and earn more later. |
| G．For example, tools like College Scorecard offer graduation rates and future earnings across schools. |
4 . How to Do Man-on-the-Street Interviews
The man-on-the-street interview is an interview in which a reporter hits the streets with a cameraman to interview people on the spot.
When your boss or professor sends you out to do man-on-the-street interviews for a story, think about the topic and develop a list of about ten general questions relating to it. For example, if your topic is about environmental problems in America, you might ask, “Why do you think environmental protection is important in America?”
Hit the streets with confidence.
Move on to the next person if someone tells you she is not interested. Don’t get discouraged.
If your news station or school requires interviewees to sign release forms to appear on the air, don’t leave work without them.
| A．Limit your time. |
| B．As you approach people, be polite. |
| C．If you don’t own a camera, you can buy one. |
| D．For new reporters, this can seem like a challenging task. |
| E．To get good and useful results, ask them the same question. |
| F．That number of interviews should give you all the answers you need. |
| G．With a question like this, you will get more than a “Yes” or “No” reply. |
5 . Exploring Psychology
Psychology is the scientific study of the mind and behavior. Gaining a richer and deeper understanding of psychology can help people achieve insights into their own actions as well as a better understanding of other people.
One important benefit from a psychology major is that it teaches the student about the human mind and why people act in various manners. Not all psychology majors will become psychologists.
Psychology also offers the individual insight into himself or herself. As the person learns about the human mind, how it works and why people behave in specific manners, the person may also begin to recognize both harmful and helpful thought patterns in himself or herself.
This may lead the person to an increased level of self-awareness.
| A．Self-awareness is a vital skill for any person to have. |
| B．It shows the individual what areas the person needs to strengthen. |
| C．As a result, psychology becomes an incredibly popular college major. |
| D．A psychology major examines the science of human behavior and mental processes. |
| E．All fields have the opportunity to benefit from the guidance that psychology can offer. |
| F．The third reason why psychology is a useful major is that it opens up a wide range of career opportunities. |
| G．However, all psychology majors will develop an increased awareness about human behavior and thought patterns. |
6 . The personal grievance provisions (个人申诉条款) of New Zealand’s Employment Relations Act 2000 (ERA) prevent an employer from firing an employee without good cause. Instead, dismissals must be justified. Employers must both show cause and act in a procedurally fair way.
Personal grievance procedures were designed to protect the jobs of ordinary workers from “unjustified dismissals”. The premise was that the common law of contract lacked sufficient protection for workers against arbitrary (随意的) conduct by management. Long gone are the days when a boss could simply give an employee contractual notice.
But these provisions create difficulties for businesses when applied to highly-paid managers and executives. As countless boards and business owners will confirm, constraining (限制) firms from firing poorly performing, high-earning managers puts a brake on productivity and overall performance. The difference between C-grade and A-grade managers may very well be the difference between business success or failure, between preserving the jobs of ordinary workers or losing them. Yet mediocrity is no longer enough to justify a dismissal.
Consequently — and paradoxically — laws introduced to protect the jobs of ordinary worker may be placing those jobs at risk.
If not placing jobs at risk, to the extent employment protection laws constrain business owners from dismissing under-performing managers, those laws act as a constraint on firm productivity and therefore on workers’ wages. Indeed, in a 2014 article, the Productivity Commission single out the low quality of managerial capabilities as a cause of the country’s poor productivity growth record.
Nor are highly-paid managers themselves immune from the harm caused by the ERA’s unjustified dismissal procedures. Because employment protection laws make it costlier to fire an employee, employers are more cautious about hiring new staff. This makes it harder for the marginal manager to gain employment. And firms pay staff less because firms carry the burden of the employment arrangement going wrong.
Australia deals with the unjustified dismissal paradox by excluding employees earning above a specified “high-income threshold” from the protection of its unfair dismissal laws. In New Zealand, a 2016 Bill tried to permit firms and high-income employees to contract out of the unjustified dismissal regime. However, the mechanisms proposed were unwieldy and the Bill was voted down following the change in government later that year.
1. The personal grievance provisions of the ERA are intended to __________ .| A．free employers from certain duties |
| B．improve traditional hiring procedures |
| C．protect the rights of ordinary workers |
| D．punish questionable corporate practices |
| A．slow down business development |
| B．weaken managers’ authority |
| C．affect the firms’ public image |
| D．worsen labor-management relations |
| A．Imposing reasonable wage restraints. |
| B．Enforcing employment protection laws. |
| C．Limiting the powers of business owners. |
| D．Dismissing poorly performing managers |
| A．Highly paid managers lose their jobs. |
| B．Employees suffer from salary cuts |
| C．Society sees a rise in overall well-being |
| D．Employers need to hire new staff. |
| A．has secured managers’ earnings |
| B．has produced undesired results |
| C．is beneficial to business owners |
| D．is difficult to put into practice |
7 . Tips for Writing a Cover Letter
If you are applying for an internship, you will likely have to submit a cover letter as part of your application. Read below for tips on writing an internship cover letter.
Use Business Letter Format
Use proper business letter format when sending a cover letter by mail. Include your contact information at the top, the date, and the contact information for the employer. Be sure to provide a proper salutation, and sign your name at the bottom.
Individualize Your Cover Letter
Make sure to write a unique cover letter for each internship for which you apply. Highlight skills and abilities you have that relate to the specific internship listing. The main emphasis of your cover letter should be convincing the reader that you will be a qualified intern.
Emphasize Your Academic Experience
In the letter, you can mention academic experience, if applicable. Especially if you have limited work experience, you might use examples from school to demonstrate that you have particular skills. For example, if the internship requires you to work as part of a team, provide an example of an assistant at the library or a successful team project you worked on during one of your college courses.
Include Extra Classroom Experiences
You can also include details about your relevant experience form extra classroom activities or volunteer work. For example, a reporter for a college newspaper can point to interviewing and writing skills; a history of volunteering at a shelter can provide an example of strong interpersonal and organizational skills.
Proofread and Edit
Be sure to thoroughly proofread your cover letter for spelling and grammar errors. Many internships are very competitive, and any error can hurt your chances of getting an interview. Also, avoid using too many words to convey your information and intention.
1. What can you do to personalize your internship cover letter?| A．Use proper business letter format. |
| B．Employ more convincing expressions. |
| C．Promise a good performance in the internship. |
| D．Stress my own abilities related to the requirements. |
| A．make up for the lack of work experience | B．prove you’ll be an outstanding organizer |
| C．show you have a good academic performance | D．multiply the chance of working on a team project |
| A．emotional and simplified | B．informal and detailed |
| C．brief and targeted | D．academic and qualified |
8 . The effects of working while attending school or college
Youths working while in school or college seems like a tradition in many countries and the trend is growing. A recent study has found that 80% of students in some countries have at least a part time job during their study years.
Why do students look for employment?
Having a job during school or college years affects the students’ personal and academic lives. First of all, employed students have less free time and, as a result, they can’t be around their family or friends as often as they would want. They lack sleep and are more stressed, and they may even develop health problems. Furthermore, student employment also impacts academic performance. A new research shows that students working more than 20 hours a week have lower grades than those who work less or not at all.
However, the benefits of student employment are also notable. It seems that employed students tend to be more engaged in academic activities than those who do not work, probably because they have developed a higher sense of responsibility.
To sum up, because of financial difficulties, many youths look for employment while attending school or college, and this can have positive or negative effects on their lives.
| A．The main cause is financial pressure. |
| B．Student employment has an effect on future careers as well. |
| C．The government has increased funding for higher education. |
| D．They state that the job limits the number of classes they can take. |
| E．Employed students know what type of work field would be best fit for them. |
| F．Finally, employed students develop a better appreciation of the career path to pursue. |
| G．So guidance should be given to help them keep a proper balance between study and work. |
9 . Ever since I was a young boy, I’ve had a taste for adventure, but I never imagined this would lead to my chosen career.
My work as an expedition doctor has taken me all over the world, from mosquito-infested wet land in Africa to the untouched wilderness of Antarctica. However, my favourite trips, and the ones in which I now specialize, are those involving mountains. Never do I feel more inspired by nature than when I look up at their towering peaks and begin to prepare myself mentally for the challenges ahead.
I trained as a doctor in the UK, but there was little in that training to prepare me to deal with a broken leg during a storm on the side of a mountain! In fact, I’d say that medical skills come some way down the list of job requirements, after stamina (耐力), problem-solving and communication.
This kind of medicine million miles away from the controlled, clean environment of a hospital, and your medical kit basically consists of whatever you can carry, so you sometimes have to use whatever is available. For example, I’ve learned that some drugs can be used for several conditions, and I’ve even had to cut branches off a small tree to make a piece of wood to support a broken arm.
Now I do most of my work for adventure holiday companies, travelling to remote places. When I started out, these holidays were quite rare，but they have become much more mainstream now that we’ve all seen celebrities climbing Kilimanjaro or watched reality shows about people exploring jungles.
I do have mixed feelings about all these people with large amounts of income coming to poor areas just for their own enjoyment, so I try to make sure that the companies I work for have high moral standards and bring advantages to the local communities. And of course, tourism provides employment, and also opens the eyes of visitors to the hardship that many people are forced to go through.
1. What made the author choose his career?| A．His love of nature. | B．His desire for adventure. |
| C．His talent for medicine. | D．His sense of responsibility. |
| A．Reducing potential risks. | B．Surviving in the wild. |
| C．Adapting to local customs. | D．Dealing with emergencies. |
| A．satisfy tourists and make profits |
| B．offer tourists challenges and security |
| C．benefit local people as well as tourists |
| D．build tourists’ mental and physical well-being |
10 . Ever wonder what happens to spacecraft after they get launched to space? Well, that is where my job as an instrument operations engineer comes in. My job consists of planning, generating, and operating scientific instruments in-flight. I am grateful for having worked on missions at Saturn, the Moon, and our own planet Earth.
When I was a high-schooler, I was unsure of what college I wanted to attend, or what major I wanted to choose. After receiving an email from a college called Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), I decided to apply to a summer program they were offering with the encouragement of my mom. After participating in that program, I knew that MIT was the right university for me. The passionate students and boundless opportunities developed a feeling of belonging in me that led me to apply and eventually get accepted.
The most exciting and fulfilling part of being an engineer is that I am able to work on projects that benefit humanity. When people think of the space industry, they picture the outer reaches of our solar system. What they may not imagine is the great body of work being done to study our own home-Earth. I am thankful to have a career that allows me to commit myself to that responsibility.
The highlight of my career has been witnessing the end of the Cassini mission to Saturn. Some of the people on the team had been working on the mission for longer than I had been alive, but they still treated me as one of their own. I was given the opportunity to operate the cameras that would catch breathtaking images of the planet. And when the Cassini spacecraft had run out of fuel, I quickly learned that it was not just the end of the mission, but the end of a team. The night we watched with bittersweet longing as its signal faded to nothing is something that I will always keep in my memories. And while Cassini will be remembered for its historic contributions, what I will remember it for is the team it brought together.
My friends often ask why a girl could achieve all these. I always grew up a big fan of fiction. I read the Harry Potter books and loved anything fantasy. I realized that a common theme of hero stories is that the hero must always make a choice to start their adventure. If you don’t pick up the sword in your own story because you are afraid of what may happen next, you risk not having a story at all.
1. Why did the author apply to MIT?| A．The majors in MIT interested her. | B．Her mother urged her to go to MIT. |
| C．She set this goal as a high-schooler. | D．A summer program made her love MIT. |
| A．It’s easy to predict what she does. | B．It’s hard for a girl to have such a career. |
| C．She is annoyed by being misunderstood. | D．She is proud to work for human well-being. |
| A．Its historic contributions. | B．The team it brought together. |
| C．Breathtaking images of the planet. | D．The opportunity to operate the cameras. |
| A．Practice makes perfect. | B．No way is impossible to courage. |
| C．Well begun is half done. | D．Time lost cannot be won again. |
