1 . If you try to explain to someone, without using pictures, how to build the building that you have designed, it would take an enormous amount of writing and might end up with a very funny-looking building. The architect uses pictures called details to show how many hundreds of parts go together to form a complete building. This type of drawing is called drafting and is done by people called draftsmen.
Draftsmen make up the largest group of the architectural offices’ work force. Because of the wide range of duties they perform, draftsmen are sometimes called architectural technicians. In a typical office, there are not only career draftsmen but also architectural graduates working as junior draftsmen to learn the trade. Career draftsmen are usually graduates from a two-year junior college called technical school. There was a time when architectural office used young people right out of high school as tracers. Their job was to trace over the other people’s details while learning to be a draftsman. This is no longer possible with the fast-pace of architects’ offices today although a junior draftsman is given guides by the more experienced employees.
So a good comprehensive architectural drafting course is a must before anyone seeks a job with an architectural firm. The job of the draftsmen is to translate the ideas and directions of architects, designers and engineers into complete and accurate working drawings. These become the plans and details used in the actual construction of a building. The project must be shown in great detail and drawn very clearly, so there is no chance for misunderstanding by the contractors(承包商). Every line and figure has an effect on the finished product.
As you can see, the draftsman is a key member of the architectural team. Of course, a junior draftsman is not expected to produce a complete set of working drawings. Depending on the size of the office and difficulty of the project, draftsmen may work in groups. The group leader coordinates the group and works closely with the project architect while the drawings are being produced.
Working conditions are mostly very pleasant as draftsmen’s work is intense and many people depend on accurate work. Each draftsman has a large combination drawing board and desk with various drawing aids. Almost without exception, members of the architectural team have at one time in their careers worked as draftsmen. This is essential to an architect education and most architects never get very far away from the drafting board.
1. According to the passage, career draftsmen are usually ______.| A．experienced architects | B．architectural designers |
| C．high school graduates | D．graduates of technical schools |
| A．the architect’s rough drawings and directions |
| B．the ideas and directions for the project |
| C．the plans and details for the actual construction |
| D．the designer’s handbooks, tables and building codes |
| A．They all work in groups with a project architect. |
| B．They are the main members of the architectural team. |
| C．They provide labor and building materials. |
| D．They give guides to inexperienced architects. |
| A．An architect education. | B．The spirit of team work. |
| C．Accuracy in the drawings. | D．Advanced drawing aids. |
2 . “Come in, Kim. Have a seat, please.” said Bill Williams, the manager. This was Kim’s first experience with an assessment. After only six months he was due for a raise if this assessment (测评) was satisfactory.
“Kim.” began Bill Williams. “I am very pleased with the quality of your work. I have nothing but praise for your devotion and your hard work. My only concern is that you are not active enough in putting forward your suggestions.”
“But,” replied Kim. “I have always completed every assignment you have given me. Mr. Williams.” “I know that, Kim. And please, call me Bill. But what I expect is for you to think independently and introduce new ideas. I need more input from you—more feedback on how things are going I don’t need a “yes man”. You never tell me what you think. You just smile as though everything is find.”
“But,” said Kim. “I feel that since you are my superior, it would be presumptuous of me to tell you what to do.”
“I’m not asking you to tell me what to do, but what you think we could do. To make suggestions. I employed you because I respect your experience in this field, but you are not communicating your thoughts to me.”
“Yes, I see. I’m not accustomed to this, but I will try to do as you say…, Bill”
“Good, then, I expect to hear more from you at staff meetings or at any other time you want to discuss an idea with me.”
“Yes, of course. Thank you, Mr. Will… Bill.”
1. Kim is the sort of employee who _______.| A．does not speak out his own ideas | B．is not devoted to the job |
| C．laughs too much over work | D．can not finish his work on time |
| A．full of respect | B．too confident and rude |
| C．lacking in experience | D．too shy and quiet |
| A．Kim has been invited to take charge of the staff meetings. |
| B．the manager appreciates those who just do what be tells them to do |
| C．the manager is pleased with Kim’s hard work and his suggestions |
| D．Kim is likely to have a higher salary if he can pass the assessment. |
3 . I was ten when I first sat with my grandmother behind the cashier(收银台)in her general store. Before long, she let me sit there by myself.I quickly learned the importance of treating customers politely and saying “thank you”.
At first I was paid in candy.
By the time I was 12, My grandmother thought I had done such a good job that she promoted me to selling cosmetics(化妆品). I developed the ability to look customers directly in the eye. Even though I was just a kid, women would ask me such things as “What color do you think I should wear? ”I took a real interest in their questions and was able to translate what they wanted into makeup(化妆)ideas.
The job taught me a valuable lesson: to be a successful salesperson, you didn’t need to be a rocket scientist—you needed to be a great listener.
| A．Later I received 50 cents an hour. |
| B．I ended my selling a record amount of cosmetics. |
| C．Today I still carry that lesson with me: I listen to customers. |
| D．My grandma’s trust taught me how to handle responsibility. |
| E．Soon I found myself looking more beautiful than ever before. |
| F．Watching my money grow was more rewarding than anything I could have bought. |
4 . As is the fate of anyone running a hotel in Kerala these days, Bijoy George is a man with too much to do. Before pandemic-caused lockdowns began in 2020, he managed 40 employees at the Eighth Bastion Hotel in the charming historic quarter of Kochi, a bustling coastal city. Now that business is back to pre-covid levels he needs the same number of staff again. But he has only 20 workers. His plight is shared with every other hotel, café and bar. It is a result of the state’s hospitality (招待) employees moving all together in large numbers to Qatar, not to watch football but to take up employment tied to the World Cup.
As the start of the competition approaches on November 20th, workers are quitting at a rate Mr. George says he has never seen in his 22 years in the business. Qatar, a country with a population of under 3m, will have welcomed more than 1.5m visitors before the matches conclude on December 18th. That means finding staff to run all the new hotels that have been built along with other venues that have been pressed into service to profit from the sports fans.
Kerala has long been a significant source of hospitality workers for Qatar and other Middle Eastern countries. Its state government provides good schools with English-language instruction but few jobs. More than 2m people, 17% of its working population, already work overseas, largely in the Gulf.
The appeal of Qatar is straightforward. Starting salaries approach $1,000 a month, more than six times the level for similar jobs in Kerala. To replace those who have left, Kerala’s employers have been casting their nets wider. Recruiters have been extending their searches to many other Indian cities. But that means the most common word on name-tags pinned to the breast pockets of workers is “trainee”.
Among the many skills that need to be taught, says Mr. George, is smiling at customers — the failure to do so a result of shyness among those new to the workforce. The danger is that after a week or so when confidence grows, even these employees may slip away to the Gulf.
Most contracts run for three months, concluding at the end of December, not long after the World Cup final. Returning workers will be welcomed back with open arms. Filling the gaps is even more important as Indian tourism and weddings have restarted. The reunions, though, may be short-lived. The game these workers will have learned from the World Cup is how to be paid better. That means leaving India.
1. The underlined sentence in paragraph one implies that __________.| A．other hotels, cafes and bars will share Bijoy’s 20 employees |
| B．other hotels, cafes and bars will have to lay off some workers |
| C．other hotels, cafes and bars also send the workers to Qatar |
| D．other hotels, cafes and bars also find it hard to employ enough workers |
| A．Millions of tourists have to be served during the World Cup. |
| B．Hospitality workers are in high demand with new hotels and venues open for business in Qatar. |
| C．Qatar provides good education and English training for potential workers in Kerala. |
| D．The salaries of similar jobs in Kerala are much lower than those in Qatar. |
| A．Kerala’s employers have to take on new employees in Asian cities. |
| B．Many of the new employees will pin their name tags to their breast pockets. |
| C．The new employees will not greet the customers as a result of shyness. |
| D．The new employees may soon follow the trend of going to the Gulf. |
| A．Jobs outside India can provide Indian workers with a more decent life. |
| B．It will soon be the off season for Indian tourism and weddings. |
| C．Another grand occasion will soon begin in the Gulf. |
| D．The workers only sign short-term contracts with the employers in India. |
5 . Many questions can be expected in advance and it’s wise to have some well-constructed answers that you can tailor more closely on the day. It’s sensible to have a number of key phrases to use. Remember to always try and make your answers positive.
Q1: Tell me about yourself. (The interviewer is really saying “I want to hear you talk.”)
A1: This is just to get things started, but it is a very common question. Write a script, and practice it so that it sounds natural. Spend a maximum of four minutes describing your qualifications, career history and your range of skills. Emphasize those skills that are relevant to the job on offer.
Q2: What have been your achievements to date? (The interviewer is saying “Are you an achiever?”)
A2: Again, this is a common question, so be prepared. Select an achievement that is experience-related and fairly recent. Identify skills you used in this achievement and say what the results were.
Q3: What do you like about your present job? (The interviewer is really trying to find out whether you will enjoy the things the new job has to offer.)
A3: This is a straightforward question. All you have to make sure is that your ‘likes’ correspond to the skills etc. required for the job on offer. Be positive, describe your job as interesting and diverse, but do not overdo it. After all, you are leaving?
Q4: What are your strengths? (The interviewer simply wants a straightforward answer as to what you are good at.)
A4: This is the one question that you are definitely going to get, so there is no excuse for being unprepared. Concentrate on discussing your main strengths. List three or four explanations of how they could benefit the employer. Strengths to consider include technical proficiency; ability to learn quickly; determination to succeed; positive attitude; your ability to relate to people and achieve a common goal. You may be asked to give examples of the above, so be prepared.
Q5: Tell me about the most difficult situation you’ve had to face and how you handled it.
(The interview is really trying to find out your definition of “difficult” and whether you can show a logical approach to problem solving using your initiative.)
A5: This can be a trap! To avoid it, select a difficult work situation that was not caused by you and which can be quickly explained in a few sentences. Explain how you defined the problem, what the options were, why you selected the one you did and what the outcome was. Always end on a positive note.
1. The passage is mainly intended to ________.| A．highlight the importance of looking positive in an interview |
| B．give suggestions on how to answer interview questions |
| C．provide some sample answers to interview questions |
| D．illustrate how to look confident in an interview |
| A．talk about what you dislike about it |
| B．comment positively on your colleagues |
| C．relates it to the job you are applying for |
| D．describe how interesting it is as far as possible |
| A．Tell me about yourself? |
| B．Tell me about your strengths? |
| C．What have been your achievements to date? |
| D．How did you handle the most difficult situation? |
6 . Today’s workplace is unique in history. Never before have we seen people working together who represent such different backgrounds and experiences. This difference of age, race, gender, and work style makes it very difficult to organize and run a company.
This has been an important realization. The management difficulties and challenges have led some experts to study intergenerational differences for an understanding of problems in the workplace. What they have discovered is interesting and may provide ways of improving working conditions in companies that employ individuals from different generations.
The first thing to realize, they say, is that differences of opinion about the importance of work and how to get work done are not a coincidence.
Resentment between members of different generations, if not attended to, can lead to extreme anger and unhappiness and even lasting enmity if people are not careful.
If you were raised in a time of plenty, when products were readily available and relatively inexpensive, you would believe that prosperity is natural and expectable. If, on the other hand, you were raised in a time of scarcity, you would always be careful not to waste things for fear you would not have enough. You would make angry people who seem to believe that problems will always solve themselves.
| A．That is, it is not an accident that young employees will be different from older employees. |
| B．The weaknesses of human nature cause the disharmony among employees. |
| C．As a result, companies are looking for individuals who can manage a wide range of employees effectively. |
| D．Such optimism in the face of difficulties would be a source of unhappiness between you and them. |
| E．Therefore, employers should pay attention to the different ways of expressing anger in the company. |
| F．That individuals from different generations should come to view each other as if they were from different sides of warring countries should not be surprising. |
7 . How Will Machines and AI Change the Future of Work?
Several recent studies have examined how machine automation and artificial intelligence (AI) will change the future of work.
The Rand Corporation recently issued its own report on the future effects of automation and AI on jobs and the workplace. Osonde Osoba was a co-author of the report.
In 16th century England, Queen Elizabeth famously refused an inventor’s request for a patent for a device to make material for clothing. The Queen explained that the device would lead to major job losses, forcing affected workers to become “beggars”.
The McKinsey Global Institute has also studied the issue. Its research suggests that up to one-third of work activities across 46 nations could be displaced by 2030.
Rand Corporation’s Osonde Osoba agrees with McKinsey. He also thinks that it will be very difficult for companies to completely automate most jobs, because they require a worker to perform many different duties and to react to unexpected situations.
| A．Osoba says this can be problematic for machines, which do not understand cultural norms in the population. |
| B．McKinsey identifies three job types that will be very difficult to replace with a machine. |
| C．He noted that fears over machines taking jobs from humans goes back centuries. |
| D．The study also predicts rising demand for educators, and “creatives”, a group of workers including artists, performers and entertainers. |
| E．The study says automation will also raise productivity and economic growth. |
| F．Osoba agrees there will be major job destruction due to AI and automation, especially for lower skilled workers. |
8 . An employee whose personality traits closely match the traits that are ideal for his or her job is likely to earn more than an employee whose traits are less congruent (一致的), according to new research.
Findings from previous research have shown that some personality traits are generally beneficial when it comes to a work environment. Being highly conscientious (勤勉认真的), lead researcher Jaap J.A. Denissen notes, is connected with being hard-working and well-organized, qualities that are typically prized in employees. But Denissen questioned the idea that there is an ideal personality type. The researchers thought that the match, or mismatch, between a person's traits and job requirements, might be important when it comes to important outcomes like income.
The researchers developed a new way of directly comparing the fit between a given employee and a given job, using the well-established Big Five personality traits to quantify (量化) the traits that a job requires. The researchers examined personality, yearly income, and jobs of 8,458 persons living in Germany.
The results showed that fit really does matter, at least when it comes to extraversion, agreeableness, and openness to experiences. For these three traits, greater congruence between an employee's own personality and a job's requirements was connected with higher income. Importantly, the data also showed that employees who were more agreeable, more conscientious, or more open to experiences than their jobs required actually earned less than people who had congruent levels of those traits.
The researchers note that additional studies will be required to understand how job experiences, job satisfaction, and job performance might influence the association between the individual job personality fit and income. The results of the present study do suggest that achieving the right fit requires a special approach to knowing both personal traits and job-related traits. Paying attention to the approach could have important implications for both employees and employers.
1. What does the previous research show?| A．Conscientious people earn much. |
| B．Certain personality traits are advantageous in jobs. |
| C．Job requirements are decisive in choosing an employee. |
| D．People's income can be predicted simply by the work environment. |
| A．How the new research was done. |
| B．A study on Big Five personality traits. |
| C．Denissen's opinions on previous research. |
| D．Why certain personalities are needed for a job. |
| A．Employees with a strong personality earn more than others. |
| B．Having too little of a given trait will cause less job satisfaction. |
| C．A perfect individual job personality fit contributes to higher income. |
| D．Conscientious employees earn more than those who are open to experiences. |
| A．It still needs further studies. |
| B．It has been applied to job interviews. |
| C．It will help people find the right job easily. |
| D．It has proved the previous study totally wrong. |
9 . What do you want to be when you grow up? A teacher? A doctor? How about an ice-cream taster?
Yes, there really is a job where you can get paid to taste ice-cream. Just ask John Harrion, an “Official Taste Tester” for the past 21 years. Testing helps manufacturers to be sure of a product’s quality. During his career Harrison has been responsible for approving large quantities of the sweet ice cream — as well as for developing over 75 flavors (味道).
Some people think that it would be easy to do this job, after all, you just have to like ice cream, right? No — there’s more to the job than that, says Harrison, who has a degree in chemistry. He points out that a dairy or food-science degree would be very useful to someone wanting a career in this “cool” field.
In a typical morning on the job, Harrison tastes and assesses 60 ice-cream samples. He lets the ice cream warm up to about 12℉. Harrison explains, “You get more flavor from warmer ice cream, which is why some kids like to stir it, creating ice-cream soup.”
While the ice cream warms up, Harrison looks over the samples and grades each one on its appearance. “Tasting begins with the eyes,” he explains. He checks to see if the ice cream is attractive and asks himself, “Does the product have the color expected from that flavor?” Next it’s time to taste!
Continuing to think up new ideas, try out new flavors, and test samples from so many kinds of ice cream each day keeps Harrison busy but happy — working at one cool job.
1. What does the “cool field” refer to according to the passage?| A．chemistry experimenting. | B．Ice-cream manufacturing. |
| C．Ice-creaming tasting. | D．food science researching. |
| A．keep a diary of work | B．have a degree in related subjects |
| C．have new ideas every day | D．find out new flavors each day |
| A．He stirs the ice cream. | B．He examines the color of the ice cream. |
| C．He tastes the flavor of the ice cream. | D．He lets the ice cream warm up. |
10 . Things changed for Ben Southall when the Australian state of Queensland advertised a job for someone to look after Hamilton Island in the Great Barrier Reef. They knew it sounded like the best job in the world, but they were surprised when over 35, 000 people applied for the job. Then they had to make a difficult decision—which person to choose from so many candidates? After a lot of testing and interviewing, they announced 34-year-old Ben Southall from England as the winner. Ben now works for the Queensland Tourist Board and his job is to look after the island and to promote tourism there. Because of the unique nature of the job, the Tourist Board wanted a unique person, with a range of skills and qualities. It was a long interview process, involving a variety of tasks to find out about each candidate.
Fitness was very important; swimming ability was particularly essential. Ben can swim very well and he also likes running, climbing, diving and mountain biking. It is clear that, physically, he can do almost anything. The ability to communicate was as important as fitness. For the last part of interview process, the final sixteen candidates did various tests and tasks, including talking to TV and radio reporters. The competition was tough and the candidates needed to show what they could do. The interviewers were interested in how the candidates performed in the tasks, how they handled the press attention and their ability to write about their adventures in a daily log. The candidates did their best to impress the interviewers and they knew they couldn't make any mistakes at this final stage.
Before he went, Ben was confident about his abilities to handle the challenge. He couldn’t do everything they asked him in the interview, as he can’t speak any other language but he felt that his other skills and his personality were impressive. He made a huge effort during the interview process and he was able to convince the interviewers that he was the best person for the job. Even so, he says he was amazed when he got the job; he couldn’t believe it! He hopes to do a good job and promote the island successfully: he has to get to know every part of the island and tell the world about it in numerous media interviews. When you read Ben's blogs from his interview tasks, it is easy to see why they chose him. He is funny and easy-going and he will certainly get the attention of any potential tourist to this beautiful place.
1. According to the passage, Ben’s job includes the following EXCEPT ________.| A．drawing travellers' attention to the island. | B．going to Hamilton Island once a day. |
| C．being interviewed in different media. | D．knowing Hamilton Island very well. |
| A．go through a fitness training. | B．take part in various TV shows. |
| C．write about their own interviewers. | D．communicate with the press. |
| A．He used to be a swimming champion. | B．He kept his personal blog very well. |
| C．He is easy to get along with. | D．He can speak several foreign languages. |
| A．Hamilton Island gets well protected. | B．The funniest job in the world. |
| C．Ben gets dream job. | D．Tourism in Australia. |
