Digital Nomads (游牧人)
How would you like to answer your work emails from a beachfront café in Thailand or a coffee shop in Portugal? If that appeals to you, being a digital nomad might be for you. Digital nomads can literally work from anywhere as their jobs are online. Digital nomads rely on portable devices with wireless Internet capabilities such as laptops, tablets and smartphones. Typically, they work from coffee shops, restaurants, co-working spaces, apartments or internet cafés — places with an Internet connection.
Worldwide, statistics show the number of digital nomads hit 35 million in 2021. So what is it that makes the lifestyle of digital nomads so fascinating? First and foremost, digital nomads get to live in different countries and cultures while they work, providing them with opportunities to have adventures and experience new things. These folks have also found the most flexible means of online incomes, allowing them to head out at a moment’ notice and go where they please. “I’m free,” says Nimisha Walji, “I can go where the wind takes me and live any place I choose! If I feel like a change, I can pursue that in a matter of days, sometimes hours.”
You may think that being a digital nomad is all sunshine and rainbows. It is not necessarily so. Job finding is one of the hardest tasks for the digital nomad, given that they have no permanent home, no office address, and no one knows them. To apply for a job, they need to find the employer and persuade him to hire them. Most of the employers hire from their own city, and that’s why it’s so hard for a nomad to find a job. Access to stable Wi-Fi and adequate workspace can be difficult. If someone struggles to stay focused at home, there can’t be a worse place than a fascinating holiday location. Few people can manage to be productive faced with the temptations and distractions. It seems that living the life of a digital nomad isn’t for everyone.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________I stood in the restaurant kitchen, my eyes wide, arms hanging awkwardly, ready to work but unsure of what to do. “You will be trained first,” my manager Aaron said, “and do remember to check every detail!” With these words, he walked away.
A workmate threw me a dish brush and said, “Let’s get started.” He introduced me to the basics of washing dishes and demonstrated the process. This was the beginning of my part-time job, a new stage where I was both eager to learn and anxious about the challenges ahead.
On a Friday night, Aaron swiftly entered the kitchen. “Who has just bused (收拾) the back right table?” he shouted, his voice sharp with urgency. My hands, slippery with bubbles from the bowl I was washing, nearly let it slip through my fingers. I wanted to say I was guilty, but Aaron’s cold stare didn’t promise a happy reward for the guy who admitted. Finally, a mix of fear and my own conscience pushed the response out of my mouth.
“I did, Aaron.”
“What were you thinking? Get back out here and look at what you missed!” His words forced me forward. I grabbed a rag (抹布) and followed him out to table twenty-two. As we made our way through the restaurant, he said something about rags, but I didn’t hear clearly with other conversations going on around us.
I quickly realized the true issue was the mess beneath the table. A nearly full cup of beer had tipped over, creating a small lake on the floor. It was a significant mistake on my part. “Take care of it!” Aaron tuned and stormed off to the front of the restaurant.
I dropped down to clean up the beer. That was when another problem occurred. I had brought only one rag. One already wet rag. It did nothing but increase the size of the lake. “More rags,” I thought. Immediately, I rushed into the kitchen and hurriedly grabbed five dry rags, hoping Aaron wouldn’t notice my brief absence.
注意：1. 续写词数应为150个左右；2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
I had just rushed out when I found Aaron standing in my way.
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After cleaning up the mess, I reflected on Aaron’s words.
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A few years ago, I got a phone call from a company representative on my way home. “Thank you so much for taking the time to apply for the position. Your application has not been successful. We wish you every success in securing a suitable position in the future.” I felt very upset. But the conversation wasn’t over. “Would you like to hear feedback from us?” the voice said.
The representative went on to tell me I hadn’t clearly demonstrated my motivation for applying for the position and why I wanted to work for the company. The feedback was tough to hear. But I quickly realized they were right. After completing my Ph. D. in Germany, my top priority had been to find a position in Poland, where I grew up. As a result, I wasn’t very selective about what I applied for. I pursued any job opportunity that broadly fit my skills and interests. The job at the consulting company was something I was technically capable of doing, but I didn’t feel passionate about it — and that clearly showed in the interview process.
From then on, I decided to carefully evaluate each job opening and only pursue ones that truly resonated (引起共鸣) with what I was passionate about. In my applications, I also began stating more clearly and emphatically why I wanted that particular job. Soon the approach started to pay off, as I got an offer for a postdoc position in Poland that I was truly excited about.
A few years later, I found myself on the other side of the interview table. As a freshly hired group leader, I was interviewing candidates for the first Ph. D. position in my lab. I was particularly looking forward to talking with one candidate. On paper, his application looked great — nice CV, good recommendations, strong cover letter. But the interview went badly. He didn’t seem to have done any reading in advance about the research I was doing, which made me wonder whether he was truly interested in working with me.
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。
I called to tell him I couldn’t offer him the position.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________A month later, I received a letter.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________It is exciting and enjoyable for one to experience both being fired for being honest and being rewarded. It was a pleasant Tuesday morning. Sunray Mart, a high-end (高端的) supermarket opened its doors to its customers. 60-year-old Billy had just started his first day on the job as the store’s sales associate (业员), and he couldn’t have been happier. Getting a job at 70 was quite challenging, and Billy could not thank his fate enough for somehow bringing him this work.
Wearing a warm smile, he began his work. After a while, he noticed one customer, a man in a clean black suit, approaching the store manager at the checkout....
“Excuse me, young man,” the customer greeted the manager at the billing desk. “Could you please tell me how much this toy costs? I left my glasses in my office, so I can’t see the price clearly. Would you please help me out?” “It’s $ 800, sir!” the manager took a look and said.
Billy was quite surprised and raised a brow (额头). He had just arranged the toys from the collection the man had wanted, all of which cost at most $ 200. So Billy lifted the exact toy from the lower shelf to double check its price and learned that it was actually $ 200, not $800 like the manager had claimed. Without further hesitation, Billy decided to correct the manager and approached the two men at the checkout, “Excuse me, sir, I think there’s been a mistake... That toy costs $ 200, not $ 800,” Billy said, pointing to the toy box his manager held.
Billy’s manager frowned (皱眉) and was clearly frustrated as he stared angrily at him, “apologize on behalf of my new sales associate,” the manager rolled his eyes and turned to the customer. “He’s new here, sir... and is probably a bit confused about the items listed for sale, The toy is $ 800.” Billy realized that his manager was trying to cheat the customer.
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.
But Bill could not openly oppose (反对) him.
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All of a sudden, the man Billy “helped” appeared from nowhere.
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Several years ago, I had to replace a receptionist (接待员) for my unit. Before I advertised for the position, I was approached by another younger manager, who was one of my best friends, and asked if I would consider a transfer (转换) from his staff instead of opening a new competition. My natural question was to ask who he wanted me to consider and why.
It appeared from his description of this employee, Maria, that she was having a lot of problems performing her duties, and had difficulties with her boss, and did not appear to respond to any attempts he, the manager, had made to settle the issues. Now, after listening to his explanation, I really had severe doubts. What crossed my mind, after this discussion, was that he wanted me to take a problem off his hands.
I told him I would think about it and would let him know the next day. As promised, after thinking more about this potential performance issue, I decided that I would agree to speak with Maria privately before I made any decision.
And, what I found out during this interview, left me quite shocked and deep in thought. As it turned out, the performance issue appeared to result from working for a boss who never extended a good morning greeting, never gave a word of encouragement, and was constantly changing the work load and routines, always turning a deaf ear to what the employees said. The end result was a totally ruined employee who was unconfident, hated to see a new work day start.
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。
I decided to accept her transfer to my unit and her performance surprised me a lot.
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I thought a lot about what had happened and several days later, I had a talk with the manager.
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Anthony was born in a beautiful town. The local environment was particularly good and the people were caring and attached importance to hygiene (卫生). In the blink of an eye, Anthony was in high school. For more than a decade, he developed the habit as the other people in the town.
Then he went on to university. He got along with his classmates because he had a kind heart and was always ready to help others. He even set up an organization aimed at guiding people to pay attention to the hygiene in the campus. He received an award from the school for this.
After graduating from university, Anthony came to New York to attend an interview for a job. He wanted to work for a software design company. But it would be difficult for him because the company was very famous and there were many people going for the interview. But Anthony did not feel discouraged and wanted to give it a try. He prepared a lot in advance, including the history, the culture and the current situation of the company.
The day of the interview came quickly. As he had expected, there were many interviewees. He was told that there were only 10 positions available, but he still felt confident. The interviewees were all waiting on the ground floor and the office where the interview took place was located on the third floor. The interviewees went to the interview in turn. One by one, they went upstairs but came down quickly. Anthony thought to himself that the interviews were too fast and felt worried.
Finally it was Anthony’s turn. He stood up and headed upstairs. At the corner of the second floor stairs were an empty bucket and two mops (拖把). One of them was dry and the other one was wet. The wet one was on the floor, slowly dripping (滴落) down with dirty water.
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。
Anthony saw it and walked up to it.
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The interviewer looked at Anthony with a smile.
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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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DJ: Hello. A lot of you have probably just got your A-levels and you’re looking forward to going to university. But more and more young people are deciding to take a gap year before they start their degrees. Today I’m talking to a group of young people who’ve all decided to take a year out before they go to university. What are they going to do? Rosie? What are your plans?
Rosie: I’m going to work in a department store.
DJ: Why do you want to do that?
Rosie: Two reasons really. I’m going to study Management at university and this will give me the chance to find out what it’s like to work in a big organization. And I’ll also be able to earn some money.
DJ: What about you, Christopher?
Christopher: I’m going to do community work with a conservation group. I think it’ll be good to do something really useful. And I’ll meet a lot of interesting people, I’m sure.
DJ: Will you get paid for it?
Christopher: Well, we won’t get rich doing it, but we’ll be all right. We’ll get about £20 a week plus food and accommodation.
DJ: Helen, what are you going to do?
Helen: I’m going to travel around Europe.
DJ: Are you going to work there?
Helen: I hope so, or I’ll have to come home again. I might try and get a job—you know—in a hotel or something like that.
DJ: Why do you want to do it?
Helen: Well, mainly because it’ll be a change. After all, I’ve been at school for 13 years. I just want to do something different. It’ll give me new experiences and I’ll need to be more independent.
Note: A-levels英国普通中等教育证书考试高级水平课程, 也是英国学生的大学入学考试。
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Programming Intern (实习生). I wasn’t sure why this job announcement appeared on my feed. I was looking for a real job, not an internship. The fortieth birthday was coming in just a few months, and I needed to get my act together — to finally figure out what I was going to do all day. An internship? No way! I was way past that point in my life.
After fifteen years of homeschooling, my youngest two were now attending school, and I knew I needed something more. Somehow, I felt that life had passed me by and I hadn’t accomplished a single thing. I couldn’t help but read the description on the job board. “Interns will create an educational program for their local national wildlife refuge (保护区). They will take a leadership role in designing youth environmental education curriculum on the site by authoring activity booklets and website content around the refuge.”
Create an educational program for a national wildlife refuge? We had spent the last years visiting national parks all over the country with our boys and participating in programs exactly like this. Last summer, we came in first place in the first-ever Great Outdoor Scavenger Hunt and visited twenty-two state parks throughout Texas. It sounded too good to be true, exactly the type of writing I’d love to be doing on a regular basis.
Then, I looked at the qualifications. “Enthusiastic people who are great at written communications.” Check. “Previous experience in environmental conservation or any science coursework.” Uncheck. I had absolutely none. I doubted my food and nutrition science classes in college were going to count for anything.
Not a single aspect of my job or educational experience matched these requirements. I figured I was too old, too unqualified … I dismissed the internship and continued looking at the “real jobs” on the job app. One morning days later, I was hiking at the local park near my kids’ school to avoid the rush-hour traffic going back home. As usual, I observed the natural beauty.
注意：
1．续写词数应为150左右；
2．请按如下格式作答。
However, I couldn’t concentrate on bird sounds like I normally did.
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Two days later, I got a video interview request.
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Mistake or Masterpiece?
Wanda graduated from a cooking school and got a job in a new cafe. She has been working in the cafe for 6 weeks. She likes her job. The cafe belongs to Gregor who makes coffee and looks after the customers. Wanda does all the cooking. Wanda thinks Gregor is very nice, but he is also a tough boss. He wants everything to be perfect.
Today Wanda is having a bad day. Last night, she was in a terribly low mood and drank a lot of wine with her friends. Now her head hurts and she feels extremely bad. However, Gregor is very excited. “Wanda, we must try very hard today. Look at the man sitting by the window. He is Anton Wesley-Brown. He writes about food and restaurants for the newspaper! If he likes the food here, he will write a good report about our cafe!”
Wanda understands. Gregor wants the cafe to be a success. But why today? Why does this restaurant critic come today? Today’s special is very simple — a grilled pork chop (烤猪排), with cream, mustard sauce (芥末酱) and salad. “I could have cooked something wonderful if I had known that man was coming. But today I am too ill to cook better,” Wanda thinks. “Mr Wesley-Brown wants the pork chop!” Gregor comes to her and says. “OK,” Wanda replies. When the meal is ready, Gregor hurries over and takes the meal to Mr Wesley-Brown.
When Wanda is preparing for the next dish, she catches sight of a small bottle on the counter. “Why is there brown sugar here? I used salt, pepper and mustard. I didn’t use brown sugar. There is the pepper and the mustard. Where is the salt? Oh, no! I put brown sugar on the pork chop! Mr Wesley-Brown will hate it! Gregor will be very angry! I will lose my job!” Wanda becomes upset. She doesn’t know what to do.
注意：1. 续写词数应为150左右；
2. 请按如下格式作答。
It’s almost noon and the cafe is busy.
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“Er, yes, I did put brown sugar on it. Sorry,” Wanda answers in a small voice.
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