Not so long ago almost any student who successfully completed a university degree could find a good career quite easily．Companies toured the academic institutions, competing with each other to select graduates．However, those days are gone, even in Hong Kong, and nowadays graduates often face strong competition in the search for jobs．
Most careers organizations highlight three stages for graduates to follow in the process of securing a suitable career：recognizing abilities, matching these to available jobs and presenting them well to possible employers．
Job seekers have to make a careful assessment of their own abilities．One area of assessment should be of their academic qualifications, which would include special skills within their subject area．Graduates should also consider their own personal values and attitudes．An honest assessment of personal interests and abilities such as creative skills, or skills acquired from work experience, should also be given careful thought．
The second stage is to study the opportunities available for employment and to think about how the general employment situation is likely to develop in the future．To do this, graduates can study job and position information in newspapers, or they can visit a careers office, write to possible employers for information or contact friends or relatives who may already be involved in a particular profession．After studying all the various options, they should be in a position to make informed comparisons between various careers．
Good personal presentation is essential in the search for a good career．Job application forms and letters should, of course, be filled in carefully and correctly, without grammar or spelling errors．Where additional information is asked for, job seekers should describe their abilities and work experience in more depth, with examples if possible．They should try to balance their own abilities with the employer’s needs, explain why they are interested in a career with the particular company and try to show that they already know something about the company and its activities．
When graduates go to an interview, they should prepare properly by finding out all they can about the possible employer．Dressing suitably and arriving for the interview on time are also important．Interviewees should try to give positive and helpful answers and should not be afraid to ask questions about anything they are unsure about．This is much better than pretending to understand a question and giving an unsuitable answer．“Those days are gone, even in Hong Kong” in Paragraph 1 suggests that__________．
| A．finding a good career used to be easier in Hong Kong than elsewhere |
| B．now everyone in Hong Kong has an equal chance of finding a good job |
| C．graduates now face stronger competition in Hong Kong than elsewhere |
| D．even in Hong Kong companies tour universities trying to select graduates |
It is implied in Paragraph 3 that graduates should_____________．
| A．aim to give a balanced account of what the employer needs |
| B．consider careers which suit their values, interests and abilities |
| C．stress their personal attitudes and values in job applications |
| D．recognize their own abilities regardless of what the employer looks for |
According to Paragraph 4, graduates should______________．
| A．find a good position and then compare it with other careers |
| B．ask friends or relatives to secure them a good job |
| C．get information about a number of careers before making comparisons |
| D．study the opportunities and the kinds of training that will be available |
In the last paragraph, the writer seems to suggest that ________________．
| A．interviewees should appear humble if they can’t give an answer |
| B．dressing properly is more important than being able to give an answer |
| C．it is better for interviewees to be honest than to pretend to understand |
| D．it is a good idea for interviewees to be boastful in their answers |
Recently, we’ve been talking about how we need better teachers. There’s no doubt that a great teacher can help in a student’s achievement but here’s what some new studies are also showing: We need better parents.
Every three years, the organization called O.E.C.D. organizes exams as part of the Program for International Student Assessment (评估), or PISA, which tests 15-year-olds on their abilities to solve real problems. America’s 15-year-olds have not done as well as students in Singapore, Finland and Shanghai in the PISA exams.
To better understand the reasons, the PISA team, starting with four countries in 2006, and then adding 14 more in 2009, went to the parents of 5,000 students. They interviewed them about how they raised their kids and then compared it with the test results for each of those years. Two weeks ago, the PISA team published the main findings of its study:
Fifteen-year-olds whose parents often read books with them during their first year of primary school get much higher scores in PISA 2009 than students whose parents don’t often read with them or not at all. Parents’ concern for their children is strongly connected with better results in PISA.
According to Schleicher, the leader of the team, just asking your children how their school day was and showing great interest in their learning can help a lot. It is something every parent can do, no matter what their education level.
The study found that getting parents concerned about their children’s learning at home is more powerful than parents attending parent-teacher meetings, volunteering in classrooms, taking part in money-raising, and showing up at back-to-school nights.
To be sure, nothing can replace a good teacher. But let’s stop putting the whole responsibility on teachers. We also need better parents. Better parents can make teaching more effective (有效的).The study was done in________ countries in total in 2009.
| A．4 | B．14 | C．18 | D．40 |
It is suggested in the study that parents should________.
| A．try to search for better teachers |
| B．put the whole duty on teachers |
| C．care about their children’s school life |
| D．ask their children to read more books |
What’s the best title for the passage?
| A．Better Parents Are Needed |
| B．Better Teachers Are Needed |
| C．A Study by the PISA Team |
| D．An Interview with Parents |
Johnson went to Penquay for the weekend. He arrived there late on Friday evening. The landlady of the guest house, Mrs. Smith, answered the door and showed him to his room. Johnson was very tired and went straight to bed. He slept well and didn’t wake up until nine o’clock the next morning.
Johnson went downstairs for breakfast. Because there were no other guests, Mrs. Smith invited him to have breakfast with her family. Her only daughter, Catherine, about 13, was already sitting in the dining-room. Mrs. Smith went to the kitchen to prepare breakfast. Johnson noticed there were four places at the table and asked Catherine if there was another guest. Catherine told him that it was an empty place. And it used to be her father’s place. Her father had been a fisherman. Three years before he had gone out in his boat, and had never returned. Her mother always kept that place for him and made his breakfast every morning. Catherine showed him his photo on the wall. Johnson said nothing, but looked very puzzled (迷惑不解). At that moment Mrs. Smith returned. She served four cups of tea, and put one in the empty place. Looking at the empty chair, Johnson was more puzzled.
Suddenly, Johnson heard footsteps outside the door and a tall man with a black beard walked into the room. Johnson looked scared. It was the man in the photo. He jumped up and ran out of the room. The man asked, “What’s the matter?” Catherine said, “I don’t know. He’s a guest from London. He’s here because a tall man with a black beard tried to kill him.” “Catherine,” the man said, “have you been telling stories again?” “Stories, father? Me?” the girl laughed.Why did Mrs. Smith invite Johnson to have breakfast with her family?
| A．He woke up too late for his breakfast. |
| B．There was an empty place at the table. |
| C．He was the only guest on that day. |
| D．Her daughter wanted to talk with him. |
Who was the tall man with a black beard?
| A．Another guest. | B．Catherine’s father. |
| C．A friend of the family. | D．Johnson’s enemy. |
What does the word “scared” probably mean?
| A．Excited. | B．Upset. | C．Frightened. | D．Calm. |
What can we infer from the passage?
| A．Catherine’s father got lost on the sea. |
| B．Mrs. Smith does not love her husband. |
| C．Johnson may be killed by the man. |
| D．Catherine is fond of telling stories. |
In 1985, a lionfish was caught off the coast of Florida. Now they can be found not only in the Atlantic Ocean but also in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea. And they are continuing to move south. Lionfish are native to the Indian and western Pacific Oceans. So how did they end up in the Atlantic? Scientists believe some pet owners abandoned their unwanted lionfish and poured them into the sea. Little did they know the trouble their actions would cause.
The Atlantic Ocean turned out to be a comfortable home for lionfish. Their venomous spines (毒刺) protect them from sharks and other fish. Female lionfish can spawn (产卵) every few days, producing as many as 2 million eggs per year. Other big fish would have competed with lionfish for food. Bet overfishing has removed many of these large fish. As a result, the fish have eaten so much that they have grown to be more then three times the size of their cousins in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. “They eat mostly fish,” says Stephanie Green, a scientist at Oregon State University.
All that eating has caused great changes. Scientists have found that when lionfish are present somewhere, many other fish, which are small enough for them to eat, disappear. Some of the fish they eat are greatly missed in their habitats. For example, parrotfish eat certain plants off corals(珊瑚), which allows corals to grow better. But they are now disappearing due to lionfish.
Scientists say lionfish are here to stay. But there are ways to deal with the problem. The key, says Green, is to keep lionfish numbers in check. In Florida, drivers can now go though a special training program and get certified(授予合格证书) to catch lionfish in areas where fishing is not usually allowed. And a number of restaurants have added the fish to the menu. “It’s going to be a long-term battle, but the missing sea species will come back someday,” says Green.What can we learn about lionfish?
| A．Its population is growing very quickly. |
| B．All of them are almost the same size. |
| C．They eat other big fish and even sharks |
| D．Most of them have gathered in the Atlantic. |
Parrotfish were mentioned to show lionfish’s _____.
| A．loneliness | B．carelessness |
| C．weakness | D．harmfulness |
What is Stephanie Green’s attitude to the battle against lionfish?
| A．She doubts it. |
| B．She is hopeful of it. |
| C．She is worried about it. |
| D．She thinks it is against the law. |
By 1938, Europe had been experiencing an increased number of attacks on Jews. With no end in sight, Jewish refugee(难民) agencies requested the British government to allow them to bring in only Jewish children under17 years of age. This was to be only temporary, until the situation in their home countries was improved.
Kindertransport, meaning “children transport” in German, was then born. Children from Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland and other Nazi-occupied regions were transported to the United Kingdom. There they were either placed with other families or in hostels. Later, it was found that many of these children were the only survivors of their families. Nicholas Winton was among those people who helped to save Jewish children. He managed to rescue 669 children from Czechoslovakia and bring them safely to England. In 1938 around Christmas, 29-year-old Nicky was about to leave for a skiing holiday. Suddenly, Martin Blake, one of his good friends, contacted(联络) him from Czechoslovakia, asking him to travel there to help political refugees on the run from the Nazis. And Nicholas agreed.
Nicky spent his entire holiday of 3 weeks in the capital city of Prague where he saw the situation first-hand. Once back in England, he immediately started organizing the evacuation(撤离) of children from the Czech region. From advertising for the necessary permits, Nicky worked tirelessly. By August 1939, 669 children had been helped by Nicky and his friends. Haplessly, the last group of children due to leave Prague in the beginning of September could not do so— World War Ⅱ broke out, and swallowed them up.
Nicky did not discuss his particular task with his wife, Grete. It was only when she found a scrapbook in 1988, with names of the rescued children, their (lost) parents and the foster families that had taken them in, that his heroism came to light. Nicky has received several awards in Britain and the Czech Republic.Kindertransport aimed to_____.
| A．help the homeless |
| B．transfer the affected |
| C．stop German attacks |
| D．save Jewish children |
We can learn from the text that Nicholas Winton_____.
| A．knew nothing about what happened in Prague |
| B．did a lot to help Jewish children out of danger |
| C．always told his wife what he was doing |
| D．saved 669 children and their parents |
The underlined word “Haplessly” in Paragraph 4 can best be replaced by “___”.
| A．Unfortunately | B．Hopefully |
| C．Strangely | D．Importantly |
Which of the following can best describe Nicholas Winton?
| A．Strict but caring |
| B．Proud but patient |
| C．Warm-hearted and cautious |
| D．Hard-working and humorous |
The Kinema, Lincolnshire
It’s a wooden building on the outside and a two-screen cinema on the inside, all nesting among pine trees in a tiny village. The Kinema showed its first film in 1922 and the first six rows were deckchair (折叠帆布躺椅). Today, it’s more richly decorated.
“People come here because it’s a fantastic experience,” says manager Philip Jones. “Many rooms in the Kinema are simple and not attractive, but we try to remain everything that makes it special.”
The Cube, Bristol
It’s not really a cinema. It is a not-for-profit cooperative run by volunteers, which has been operating for the last 15 years.
They are “unique for what we do, which is to operate seven nights a week and with no funding.” They make many things themselves, such as cola and yogurt.
The Broadway, Nottingham
A cinema has been here since the 1960s, when local fashion designer Paul Smith would come to see arty foreign films, which heavily influenced his career choice. Later, he designed the stripy(条纹的) sofas.
The Broadway was previously used as a church, but locals love it for its independent, art house, and DIY spirit. The Broadway also has a right-on restaurant, with locally sourced vegetables and salads, and even serves its own beer.
The Rex, Hertfordshire
It opened to the public in 1938 and has been named the most beautiful cinema in the UK. There’s a varied program with different films every night. Hot dogs and popcorn are banned. And a real person answers the phone when you call.
People speak very highly of the Rex. So do go, if only once, to see just how a cinema should be run.In Philip Jones’ opinion, the Kinema may attract people who_____.
| A．live in the nearby villages |
| B．are fond of rich decorations |
| C．are interested in wooden structures |
| D．want to experience something special |
We know from the text that the Broadway_____.
| A．was built in 1960 |
| B．owns a restaurant |
| C．is next to a church |
| D．was designed by Paul Smith |
The Cube and the Broadway are similar in the way that both_____.
| A．are non-profit cooperatives |
| B．show arty foreign films |
| C．offer homemade drinks |
| D．use stripy sofas |
Which of the following has the longest history?
| A．The Kinema. | B．The Cube. |
| C．The Broadway. | D．The Rex. |