If you know exactly what you want, the best way to get a job is to get specialized training. A recent report shows that companies like graduates in such fields as business and health care who can go to work immediately with very little on-the-job training.
That’s especially true of booming fields that are challenging for workers. At Cornell's School of Hotel Administration, for example, bachelor's degree graduates get an average of four or five job offers with salaries ranging from the high to low and plenty of chances for rapid advancement. Large companies especially like a background of formal education coupled with work experience. But in the long run, too much specialization does not pay off. Business, which has been flooded with MBAs, no longer considers the degree an automatic stamp of approval. The MBA may open doors and command a higher salary initially, but the impact of a degree washes out after five years.
As further evidence of the erosion of corporate faith in specialized degrees, Michigan State’s Scheetz cites a pattern in corporate hiring practices. Although companies tend to take on specialists as new hires, they often seek out generalists for middle and upper-level management. This sounds like a formal statement that you approve of the liberal-arts(文科) graduate. Time and again labor-market analysts mention a need for talents that liberal-arts majors are assumed to have: writing and communication skills, organizational skills, open-mindedness and adaptability, and the ability to analyze and solve problems. David Birch, manager of the Boston Red Sox, says that he does not hire anybody with an MBA or an engineering degree. “I hire only liberal-arts people because they have a less-than-canned way of doing things,” says Birch.
For a liberal – arts degree, students focus on some basic courses that include literature history, mathematics, economics, science, human behavior and a computer course or two. With these useful and important courses, you can feel free to specialize, “A liberal-arts degree coupled with an MBA or some other technical training is a very good combination in the marketplace,” says Scheetz. The job market is in great need of people with .
| A．special training in special fields | B．a bachelor’s degree in education |
| C．formal schooling and work experience | D．an MBA degree from top universities |
The underlined sentence in Paragraph 2 means .
| A．an MBA degree does not help in future promotion |
| B．MBA programs will not be as popular as they are now |
| C．people will not forget the degree the MBA graduates have got |
| D．most MBA programs fail to provide students with a foundation |
David Birch says that he only hires liberal – arts people because .
| A．they will follow others’ ways of solving problems |
| B．they can do better in bundling changing situations |
| C．they are well trained in a variety of specialized fields |
| D．they have attended special programs in management |
The author supports the idea that .
| A．on – the – job training is less costly in the long run |
| B．formal schooling is less important than job training |
| C．specialists are more expensive to hire than generalists |
| D．generalists will do better than specialists in management |
PART THREE READING COMPREHENSION
Directions： Read the following three passages. Each'passage1 is followed by several questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices' marked A, B, C and D. Choose the one that fits best according to the information given in the passage.
A
Short reader – submitted stories – for the woman you should think of today!
——Compiled by Amy Zerello
Great Minds Reminded of Mom
After a long, exhausting day, a friend of mine, Allen, headed home. On the road, he passed an elderly woman who was standing by a car with a flat tire. If that were his mother, he thought, he would want someone to help her. With a tired sigh, he turned around and drove back.
Just as he reached the stranded woman, a truck pulled up and a burly farmer got out. "Kindof reminds you of your mom, too?" the man asked as the two of them pitched in together to change the tire for the woman.
-- Contributed by Katherine L. Houge
Your Biggest Fan
While waiting in a bookstore for a guest author to sign her latest book, I leafed through some of the Civil War novels she had written. The woman in line behind me commented, "Those are the best books I've ever read. I couldn't put them down." Before I could reply, the author frowning, looked over and said, "Oh, come on, Mom!"
-- Contributed by Marilyn Kopp
Head of the Household
My husband, Jeff, and I came across several problems while assembling our new computer system, so we called the help desk. The man on the phone started to talk to Jeff in computer jargon(行业术语), which confused us even more.
"Sir," my husband politely said, "please explain what I should do as if I were a four-year-old."
"Okay," the computer technician replied. "Sweetie, could you please put your mommy on the phone?"
-- Contributed by Lena Worth
How does it feel to tickle your mom’s funny bone?
Now send your own funny story to us! You could earn up to $ 300!
1．Who would the burly man be in the first joke?
A．Another kind helper. B．The old lady’s son.
C．Allen’s friend. D．A policeman.
2．What was the guest author’s mom trying to do in the second story?
A．Push hard to get her daughter’s signature.
B．Promote her daughter’s books by pretending to be a fan.
C．Show her pride in her daughter’s achievement.
D．Persuade Marilyn Kopp to buy her daughter’s book.
3．The computer technician on the phone in the third story .
A．actually could find no way to solve Jeff’s problems
B．teased Jeff about his poor knowledge of computer jargon
C．wanted to talk to Lena instead
D．believed that Jeff’s mom would know more computer jargon
4．What is the main purpose of the jokes?
A．To make fun of moms. B．To honor moms.
C．To educate moms. D．To amuse moms.
5．The passage is most possibly found.
A．in a storybook B．in a commercial ad
C．in a magazine D．in a student’s textbook
Imagine you’re at a party full of strangers. You’re nervous. Who are these people? How do you start a conversation? Fortunately, you’ve got a thing that sends out energy at tiny chips in everyone’s name tag. The chips send back name, job, hobbies, and the time available for meeting-whatever. Making new friends becomes simple.
This hasn’t quite happened in real life. But the world is already experiencing a revolution using RFID technology.
An RFID tag with a tiny chip can be fixed in a product, under your pet’s skin, even under your own skin. Passive RFID tags have no energy source-batteries because they do not need it. The energy comes from the reader, a scanning device, that sends out energy (for example, radio waves) that starts up the tag immediately.
Such a tag carries information specific to that object, and the data can be updated. Already, RFID technology is used for recognizing each car or truck on the road and it might appear in your passport. Doctors can put a tiny chip under the skin that will help locate and obtain a patient’s medical records. At a nightclub in Paris or in New York the same chip gets you into the VIP (very important person) section and pays for the bill with the wave of an arm.
Take a step back:10 or 12 years ago, you would have heard about the coming age of computing. One example always seemed to surface: Your refrigerator would know when you needed to buy more milk. The concept was that computer chips could be put everywhere and send information in a smart ne
twork that would make ordinary life simpler.
RFID tags are a small part of this phenomenon. “The world is going to be a loosely coupled set of individual small devices, connected wirelessly,” predicts Dr.J.Reich. Human right supporters are nervous about the possibilities of such technology. It goes too far tracking school kids through RFID tags, they say. We imagine a world in which a beer company could find out not only when you bought a beer but also when you drank it. And how many beers. Accompanied by how many biscuits.
When Marconi invented radio, he thought it would be used for ship-to-shore communication, not for pop music. Who knows how RFID and related technologies will be used in the future. Here’s a wild guess: Not for buying milk.
1. The article is intended to .
A. warn people of the possible risks in adopting RFID technology
B. explain the benefits brought about by RFID technology
C. convince people of the uses of RFID technology
D. predict the applications of RFID technology
2. We know from the passage that with the help of RFID tags, people________.
A. will have no trouble getting data about others
B. will have more energy for conversation
C. will have more time to make friends
D. won’t feel shy at parties any longer
3. Passive RFID tags chiefly consist of _______.
A. scanning devices B. radio waves
C. batteries D. chips
4. Why are some people worried about RFID technology?
A. Because children will be tracked by strangers.
B. Because market competition will become more fierce.
C. Because their private lives will be greatly affected.
D. Because customers will be forced to buy more products.
5. The last paragraph implies that RFID technology________.
A. will not be used for such matters as buying milk
B. will be widely used, including for buying milk
C. will be limited to communication uses
D. will probably be used for pop music
This is a dangerous world we live in. The number of murders goes up every year, people are dying of cancer, more people contract HIV, more teens are using drugs, ect. You know this because you’ve heard all the statistics on the news and in the paper. But do you really have an accurate idea what they mean? The numbers are going up, but how do they compare to the growth in population? Are more cases of these diseases being reported because of better testing techniques, or are the diseases more common? The fact is that without knowing the background statistics mean very little.
This growing trend of reporting only part of the information is becoming dangerous. For example, several years ago 
a high school student reported the dangers of the chemical known as dihydrogen monoxide. This chemical, found in most cancerous tumors, is often found in the blood of people drunk on alcohol, and causes complete physical and mental dependence for those who take the chemical even once. After reading his report, more than 75% of his Advanced Placement Chemistry class voted to forbid this dangerous chemical! Every one of the above statement is true, yet this chemical is necessary to all life on earth. The students made a mistake because they voted knowing only a few statements and statistics, rather than the chemical’s full background.
The point of this article is that one should be aware of what is and is not being said. When one finds a new fact or number, one should try to consider other important information before forming an opinion with only half-truths. Always remember that the author is trying to convince you of his or her own view, and will leave our information that is different from his view. For example, look again at the statistics that suggest skiing is safe. Only 32 people die each year when skiing, while 897 die from lightening strikes, but which is really more dangerous? If you think more about it, you will realize far fewer people go skiing each year than the number of people in danger of a lightning strike. When you think about it again, skiing is more dangerous than you might at first think when looking at the statistics. If we teenagers are to be left in this world, we had better be able to think critically, and form our own views, rather than be easily persuaded by another’s. to be warned is just to be prepared.
1.What’s the author’s attitude towards the growing trend of reporting only part of the___________ info
rmation?
A.sapproving B. Positive C. Indifferent D. Dangerous
2.In the first paragraph, what does the writer suggest?
A.We are now living in a dangerous world.
B.We get a lot of false statistics from the media.
C.There are around us more and more murders diseases, ect.
D.Statistics alone without full background don’t give us an accurate picture of things.
3.What’s the purpose of the writer’s using the two examples in the second paragraph?
A.To argue that high school students are easily persuaded.
B. To prove what is necessary to us might be dangerous.
C.To show the danger of reporting only part of the information.
D.To warn us of the harmful substance around us.
4.Relative information is often left out because ___________________.
A.it is not important
B.the author is trying to show what he or she says is true
C.readers will consider other important information
D.readers are able to form an opinion with half-truths
5.What can we learn from the passage?
A.Some measures must be taken to protect our dangerous world.
B.The growing trend of reporting only half-truths is getting out of control.
C.Teenagers ought to improve their ability of telling right from wrong.
D.We should learn to think critically and look at problems from all sides.
PART THREE READING COMPREHENSION
Directions: Read the following three passages. Each passage is followed by several questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are 4 choices marked with A、B、C and D, Choose the one that fits best according to the information given in the passage.
For new countries joining the European Union, and older ones getting used to their dark red passport, becoming “Europeans” is a bit like marrying a large and strange family.
Europeans have a lot in common but it is their differences, not their similarities, that attract the attention of sociologies and market researchers, and are more interesting
35% of Germans live alone, but only 9% of Spaniards. Perhaps this explains why Spaniards lead Europe in the habit of going out for a drink.
The British attend more adult evening classes than anyone else in Europe, and the Belgians least. So it can’t just be the dark evenings. There are no figures on how many Britons go for a drink afterwards. If there were, they might be up at the top with Spain.
The British think black cats are lucky. Every other European country regards them unlucky.
The French are the most athletic Europeans. Next come the Dutch. But the Belgians, just over the border, play fewest sports.
The Germans spend twice as much on heating as the S
paniards. Well, of course they do, it’s colder.
Dutch husbands do the household shopping a lot more often than Italians or Spaniards.
The French are the champion public transport commuters(经常往返者)of Europe. If you hate commuting, go and live in the Netherlands, where journeys to work are shorter than anywhere else.
The amount of direct eye-contact between strangers is three times greater among Spaniards than it is among the British or Swedes. So, sharing a lift is a torture for both the British and the Swedish.
There are exceptions to all these rules. Deal with them in the spirit of my 8-year-old daughter. “If you don’t understand each other’s language, just laugh a lot and eat and point at things.”
1.We can know from this passage that______________.
A.sociologist are most interested in the idea of European Union
B.most European countries are not willing to join the European Union
C.Europeans have more differences than similarities
D.trade opportunities exit in the cultural differences in the European Union
2.If you work and live in Belgium, you will______________.
A. have to change your living places often B. not get used to its cold weather
C. seldom sees people playing sports D. be invited to go for a drink frequently
3. The underlined sentence means that the British and Swedish _________________.
A. care about their safety most B. like to appear gentle and smart
C. hate to look at each other face to face D. enjoy a richer life than others
4.Which of the following statements is TRUE about Spain?
A.Spaniards hate direct eye-contact between strangers.
B.Spaniards like to go for a drink after dark.
C.Spaniards spend twice as much on heating as the Germans.
D.In Spain, husbands do more household shopping than those in Italy.
5.In the last paragraph, the author wants to express his idea that ______________.
A.his daughter knows well how to understand foreigners in unfamiliar situations
B.Europeans actually share the same culture even if they have different languages
C.being a European, you will have no living trouble at all in the European Union
D.there are differences between European countries, but don’t take them too seriously
An 18th-century statesman Edmund Burke once said, “All that is needed for the success of a misguided cause is that good people do nothing.” One such cause now seeks to end biomedical research because of the theory that animals have rights to decide whether to be used in research. Scientists need to respond forcefully to animal rights advocates, whose arguments are puzzling the public and threatening advances in health knowledge and care. Leaders of the animal rights movement attack biomedical research because it depends on public funding, and few people understand the process of health care research. Hearing false reports of cruelty to animals in research settings, many are puzzled that anyone would harm an animal on purpose.
For example, a grandmotherly woman setting up an animal rights booth at a recent street fair was giving out sheets that encouraged readers not to use anything that comes from or is tested in animals－no meat, no fur, no medicines. Asked what will happen when epidemics(传染病) return, she said. “Don’t worry, scientists will find some way of using computers.” Such well-meaning people just don’t understand.
Scientists must communicate their message to the public in an understandable way－in human terms, not in the language of biology. We need to make clear the connection between animal research and a grandmother’s organ replacement, a father’s bypass operation, a baby’s vaccinations(接种疫苗), and even a pet’s shots. To those who know nothing about the animal research that was needed to produce these treatments, as well as new treatments and vaccines, animal research seems wasteful at best and cruel at worst.
Much can be done. Scientists could give middle school lessons and present their own research. They should be quick to respond to letters to the editor, in case animal rights misinformation goes unchallenged and gains a false appearance of truth. Research institutions could be opened to tours, to show that laboratory animals receive humane care. Finally, because there are a lot of patients, the health research community should actively recruit(招募) not only well-known personalities such as Stephen Cooper, who has made courageous statements about the value of animal research, but all who receive medical treatment. If good people do nothing, there is a real possibility that uninformed citizens will wipe out the precious of medical progress.
1. The purpose of the author beginning his article with Edmund Burke’s words is to _____.
A．call on scientists to take some actions
B．argue against the cause of animal rights
C．warn of the failure of biomedical research
D．show the success of the animal rights movement
2. In the second paragraph, the author took a grandmotherly woman as an example to show ____.
A. the way to prevent epidemics B. the innocence of the woman
C. how strong the opposition was D. how important the animal rights were
3. In the eyes of the author, misguided people are likely to think that using an animal in research
is ______.
A．cruel but necessary B．just but unnecessary
C．meaningful and wasteful D．inhuman and unacceptable
4. What can be inferred from the passage?
A．People care very little about returns of epidemics.
B．The public lacks knowledge of biomedical science.
C．Stephen Cooper is very seriously concerned about animal treatment.
D．Scientists should make efforts to develop new cures by means of hi-tech.
5. According to the passage, the author’s attitude toward biomedical research is ________.
A. Disinterested B. Indifferent C. Objective D. Supportive