1 . 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. |
2 . High school freshmen always have a lot of questions on their minds. "What can I do when I grow up?" is one of them. It's definitely not too early to start thinking about his tough question. The following tips may help equip you for your future career.
Think beyond grades
Getting good grades in high school is important, but focusing only on straight A's could go wrong. Spending too much time on your schoolwork will leave you little time to explore opportunities outside of the classroom. Extracurricular activities are necessary because they serve as a form of career exploration. They can help you figure out your work preferences, like whether you are a "people person" or prefer to work alone. Nowadays, most well-known colleges care about candidates' experiences as much as their grades.
Seek advice from grown-ups
Talk to your parents, teachers and school counselors about how they started their careers. Even though you're interested in the careers they are in, it would be useful to learn about the process which got them where they are now. If you find your friend's mother doing a worthwhile job by chance, ask her if job shadowing is possible in her company during vacation. After all, seeing a typical day in the position you have an interest in can be an invaluable experience.
Start your search online
If you really have no idea what you can do when you grow up, take online career quizzes to get ideas about what professions naturally match your skills, interests and personality traits. For the time being, you just need to focus on finding a field or two that interests you, rather than a specific career. Chances are you'll change your mind several times before finding a career that you want to stick to. Starting to explore career options now can at least help you decide what your potential major might be.
1. Spending some time taking part in after-school activities can help high school students ________.| A．get A's in all subjects | B．explore their work preferences |
| C．have access to prestigious universities | D．get along with their classmates |
| A．starting a business with them | B．teaching them occupational skills |
| C．sharing their career paths with them | D．providing an opportunity for job shadowing |
| A．possible professions | B．main disadvantages |
| C．specific occupations | D．ideal majors |
| A．college professor | B．school counselor |
| C．advertising manager | D．computer programmer |
There is no better feeling than walking away from your desk in the evening with a sense of deep satisfaction for a job well done.
Empty your inbox．
If you leave a tiring and undesirable task until the next day, you will walk away from your desk with a dark cloud hanging over you and a sense of fear. On the other hand, try to complete the task before you leave the office, and you will walk away with a feeling of freedom and victory.
Do something nice for someone else.
The key here is intentionality. Plan to end your day by doing something specific and beneficial for someone in your life—a partner, friend, family member, customer, etc. You will feel better when doing a good deed to others. It is impossible to do something nice for someone without feeling better yourself.
Say thank you.
Take a moment before you shut things down for the day to be thankful for your life.
| A．Determine what will make tomorrow special. |
| B．Regardless of what else has happened in a day, ending it with thanks is a rewarding approach. |
| C．Finish the task as far as possible before you leave. |
| D．Keeping your inbox empty makes you more effective. |
| E．In fact, a whole unproductive day can end with just 15 hyper-productive minutes. |
| F．Nothing else throughout your day could possibly be so bad. |
4 . If you are a recent social science graduate who has had to listen to jokes about unemployment from your computer major classmates, you may have had the last laugh. There are many advantages for the social science major because this high-tech “Information Age” demands people who are flexible and who have good communication skills.
There are many social science majors in large companies who fill important positions. For example, a number of research studies found that social science majors had achieved greater managerial success than those who had technical training or pre-professional courses. Studies show that social science majors are most suited for change, which is the leading feature of the kind of high speed, high-pressure, high-tech world we now live in.
Social science majors are not only experiencing success in their long-term company jobs, but they are also finding jobs more easily. A study showed that many companies had filled a large percentage of their entry-level positions with social science graduates. The study also showed that the most sought-after quality in a person who was looking for a job was communication skills, noted as “very important” by 92 percent of the companies. Social science majors have these skills, often without knowing how important they are. It is probably due to these skills that they have been offered a wide variety of positions.
Finally, although some social science majors may still find it more difficult than their technically trained classmates to land the first job, recent graduates report that they don’t regret their choice of study.
1. Compared with graduates of other subjects, social science graduates _____.| A．are ready to change when situations change |
| B．are better able to deal with difficulties |
| C．are equally good at computer skills |
| D．are likely to give others pressure |
| A．Willingness to take low-paid jobs. | B．Readiness to gain high-tech knowledge. |
| C．Skills in expressing themselves. | D．Part-time work experience. |
| A．keep for some time | B．successfully get |
| C．immediately start | D．lose regretfully |
The Benefits of a Summer Job
Have you ever had a summer job? For many young people, summer is an exciting period where education stops and fun begins.
The concept of students and younger members of society being gainfully employed over the summer period is not a new one. And there are opportunities out there for those who want to earn.
| A．Summer and Saturday jobs prepare young people for successful careers in later life, teaching vital soft skills. |
| B．Students take summer jobs mainly to cover their tuition and this practice is highly appreciated by their parents. |
| C．That said, holidays, festivals and time spent with friends cost money. |
| D．This move comes at a time of apparent need. |
| E．Soft skills are so essential to students’ future career that they have to take summer jobs to acquire them. |
| F．Vacancies can range from roles as boring as fry cook, to seasonal work at a theme park. |
6 . To be really happy and really safe, one ought to have at least two or three hobbies, and they must all be real. It is no use starting late in life to say “I will take an interest in this or that.” Such an attempt only aggravates the strain of mental effort. A man may acquire great knowledge of topics unconnected with his daily work, and yet hardly get any benefit or relief. It is no use doing what you like; you have got to like what you do.
Broadly speaking, human beings may be divided into three classes: those whoare toiledto death, those who are worried to death and those who are bored to death. It is no use offering the manual labourer, tired out with a hard week’s sweat and effort, the chance of playing a game of football or baseball on Saturday afternoon. It is no use inviting the politician or the professional or business man, who has been working or worrying about serious things for six days, to work or worry about trifling things at the weekend. As for the unfortunate people who can command everything they want, who can gratify every caprice and lay their hands on almost every object of desire — for them a new pleasure, a new excitement is only an additional satiation. In vain they rush frantically round from place to place, trying to escape from the avenging boredom by mere clatter and motion. For them discipline in one form or another is the most hopeful path.
It may also be said that rational, industrious, useful human beings are divided into two classes: first, those whose work is work and whose pleasure is pleasure; and secondly, those whose work and pleasure are one. Of these the former are the majority. They have their compensations. The long hours in the office or the factory bring with them as their reward, not only the means of sustenance, but a keen appetite for pleasure even in its simplest and most modest forms. But Fortune’s favoured children belong to the second class. Their life is a natural harmony. For them the working hours are never long enough. Each day is a holiday, and ordinary holidays when they come are grudged as enforced interruptions in an absorbing vacation. Yet to both classes the need of an alternative outlook, of a change of atmosphere, of a diversion of effort, is essential. Indeed, it may well be that those whose work is their pleasure are those who most need the means of banishing it at intervals from their mind.
1. What does “are toiled” in the 2ndparagraph mean?| A．have hobbies | B．feel pleased |
| C．work very hard | D．are busy |
| A．Being late in life to attempt to cultivate hobbies adds to mental stress. |
| B．Great knowledge irrelevant to the daily work can’t guarantee benefit. |
| C．Those tired out for a week’s labour are reluctant to play football on weekends. |
| D．Unfortunate people need discipline to help them build up hope. |
| A．are very willing to work long hours in the office or the factory |
| B．earn a large amount of money due to their hard work for a long time |
| C．are keen to enjoy the pleasure when they are off duty |
| D．usually enjoy themselves in the simplest and most modest forms |
| A．The first class are lazy and the second class are bound to succeed. |
| B．The second class never need holidays because their life is harmonious. |
| C．The minority are more favoured by fortune because they never stop working. |
| D．One really needs alternation for a change in order to work better. |
I feel that this award was not made to me as a man, but to my work - a life's work in the agony（痛苦） and sweat of the human spirit. But I would like to use this moment as a climax from which I might be listened to by the young men and women already dedicated to the same agony and sweat, among whom is already that one who will someday stand here where I am standing.
Our tragedy today is a general and universal physical fear so long sustained by now that we can even bear it. Because of this, the young man or woman writing today has forgotten the problems of the human heart in conflict with itself which alone can make good writing because only that is worth writing about, worth the agony and the sweat.
He, the writer, must learn them again. He must teach himself that the worst of all things is to be afraid; and, teaching himself that, forget it forever, leaving no room in his workshop for anything but the old truths of the heart, the old universal truths lacking which any story is short-lived and doomed - love and honor and pity and pride and sympathy and sacrifice. Until he does so, he labors under a curse（诅咒）. He writes not of love but of desire, of defeats in which nobody loses anything of value, of victories without hope and, worst of all, without pity or sympathy. His griefs grieve on no universal bones, leaving no scars. He writes not of the heart but of the glands（腺体）.
Until he relearns these things, he will write as though he stood among and watched the end of man. I decline to accept the end of man. It is easy enough to say that man is immortal simply because he will endure. I refuse to accept this. I believe that man will not merely endure: he will prevail. He is immortal, not because he alone among creatures has an inexhaustible voice, but because he has a soul, a spirit capable of sympathy and sacrifice and endurance. The poet's, the writer's, duty is to write about these things. It is his privilege to help man endure by lifting his heart, by reminding him of the courage and honor and hope and pride and sympathy and pity and sacrifice which have been the glory of his past. The poet's voice need not merely be the record of man, it can be one of the pillars to help him endure and prevail.
1. The word “that” in the 2nd paragraph probably means ______.| A．the agony and sweat of the human spirit |
| B．the general and universal physical fear |
| C．the sustenance and endurance for a long time |
| D．the human heart in conflict with itself |
| A．they are love, honor, pity, pride, sympathy and sacrifice |
| B．they prolong a writer’s life and protect him from curses |
| C．they are the soul of a real and powerful piece of writing |
| D．they can effectively stop the trend towards the end of man |
| A．By inspiring man with his past glories through words. |
| B．By helping man endure the end through endless voices. |
| C．By recording sympathy, sacrifice and endurance in his soul. |
| D．By building spiritual pillars through immortal hearts. |
| A．the award was not fair because his life was too painful |
| B．young writers now are too fearful to bear the agony and sweat |
| C．the biggest obstacle to good writing is the writer’s fear |
| D．writing about man’s soul signals his final prevalence |
