Education and Training
Make sure your skills are up-to-date
If you’re looking for a new job or you want to change your career, having up-to-date skills is the key to a successful job search and your future earning power.
Choose the right training
If you need training to learn new skills or enhance（提高）existing skills, make sure you got to know the following : What training program is the best for you? How will you pay for your training? You need to consider all these and more when you choose your training.
Search for training providers
Massachusetts school information is made available by the Massachusetts career information system (CIS). This directory includes most of the training providers and colleges in the states. The data for trade schools covers programs, admissions, schedules and costs. Descriptions for two-year, four-year, and graduate schools include information about school size, setting, programs, admissions, schedules, and costs. A link to the school’s Internet home page is provided when available.
Learn about the Entrepreneurial（创业者的）training program
The Entrepreneurial training program (ETP) provides training and technical assistance to individuals with good business ideas and the desire to start their own business.
Learn about Apprenticeship(见习)programs
Division of apprentice training is a system for teaching highly technical skills through a combination of on-the-job training and related classroom instruction. Also, it is responsible for promoting, developing and providing services for apprenticeship programs in the state.
Many apprentice programs are in traditional building trade areas such as Carpentry, Electrical and Ironwork. In addition, apprentice programs are being developed in areas such as Information Technology, Banking and Finance, Childcare, Culinary Arts and Telecommunications.
Use Online Resources
Link directly to the websites of colleges and universities in the state of Massachusetts. Explore other online job databases.In order to gain new skills, you need to_____.
| A．look for a new job | B．turn to a training provider |
| C．choose the right training | D．start your own business |
According to the text, the CIS_____.
| A．designs schedules for training providers |
| B．organizes schools to do training |
| C．raises business ideas for training providers |
| D．provides information of training providers |
If you want to start your own company, you probably would turn to_____.
| A．an apprentice programs | B．the CIS | C．the Internet | D．the ETP |
Which of the following can be inferred from the text?
| A．Nobody but the unemployed will show interest in the information. |
| B．The CIS offers information about schools in Massachusetts. |
| C．Having up-to-date skills is necessary for starting one’s own business |
| D．Job hunters prefer online databases to other resources. |
Which of the following statements is true?
| A．If I want to find information about a four-year school, I should consult ETP. |
| B．CIS helps to train job seekers. |
| C．Apprentice programs provide training in areas like Carpentry, Electrical and Iron work. |
| D．On-the-job training is compulsory for those who want to start their own business. |
SPECIAL EVENTS THIS WEEKEND
Captain Goodfellow
Do your children enjoy interesting stories, funny games, and exciting dances? Captain Goodfellow will be ready to teach all these things to children of all ages at the City Theatre on Saturday morning at 10:00, free.
Walking Tour of the Town
Forget your worries on Saturday morning. Take a beautiful walk and learn about its history. Meet at the front entrance of City Hall at 9:30. Wear comfortable shoes!
Films at the Museum
Two European films will be shown Saturday afternoon at the Museum Theatre. See Broken Window at 1:30. The workers will be at 3:45. For further information, call 4987898.
International Picnic
Are you tired of eating the same food every day? Come to Central Park on Saturday and enjoy food from all over the world. Delicious and not expensive. Noon to 5:00 pm.
Do You Want to Hear “The Zoo”
“The Zoo”, a popular rock group from Australia, will give their first US concert tomorrow night at 8:00 at Rose Hall, City College. You can probably eat Chinese, Italian, and Arab food __________.
| A．at the front entrance of City Hall |
| B．at the game |
| C．at 5:00 pm |
| D．at Central Park on Saturday |
You can see movies at __________.
| A．the City College | B．the Museum Theatre |
| C．the City Theatre | D．the Central Park |
Walking Tour of the Town will be taken __________.
| A．outside | B．in the City Hall |
| C．at the gate | D．at the zoo |
“The Zoo” is __________.
| A．a park with lots of animals there |
| B．a US concert |
| C．a music group |
| D．an interesting event |
Once again, I was in a new school. So was a girl in my class named Lisa. That’s where the similarities ended.
I was tall and she was small. My thick black hair had been recently cut short into an untidy style. Her natural blonde hair flowed to her waist and looked great. I was 12 and one of the oldest in the class while she was 11 and the youngest. I was awkward and shy. She wasn’t. I couldn’t stand her, considering her my enemy. But she liked me and wanted to be friends.
One day, she invited me over and I said yes—I was too shocked to answer any other way. My family had moved six times in six years, and I had never managed to develop any friendships. But this girl who wore the latest fashions wanted me to go home with her after school.
She lived in a fun part of town that had two pizza places, an all-right bookstore, a movie theater and a park. As we walked from the school bus stop through her neighborhood, I tried to guess which house might be hers. Was it the white one with the perfect lawn or the three –story house with a front porch? I got very surprised when she led me into an old apartment building. She lived on the fourth floor in a two-room place with her mother, her stepfather, her two brothers and her sister.
When we got into the room she shared with her sister, she took out a big case of Barbies, which was my next surprise. I had never played with them. We sat on the floor, laughing as we made up crazy stories about the Barbies. We found out that we both wanted to be writers when we were older and both had wild imaginations. We had a great day that afternoon .
Lisa was loved by the whole neighborhood. The bookstore owners lent her fashion magazines; the movie theater gave her free tickets…. Soon I was included in her magic world. We slept over at each other’s houses and spent every free moment together.
Lisa, my first real friend since childhood, helped me get through the rough years of early adolescence and taught me an amazing and very surprising thing about making friends: your worst enemy can turn out to be your best friend.The writer and Lisa were similar in the way that.
| A．they were both new students |
| B．they had the same hair styles |
| C．they were both tall |
| D．they were of the same age |
One day Lisa invited the writer.
| A．to go to the movie |
| B．to go to walk in a park |
| C．to go to her home |
| D．to go to a pizza place |
In the passage the writer described Lisa as a girl who was.
| A．friendly and lovely | B．rich and happy |
| C．quiet and lonely | D．awkward and shy |
Which of the following did the writer learn from Lisa?
| A．How to make up stories. | B．How to deal with enemies. |
| C．How to live a better life. | D．How to make friends. |
A young father was visiting an old neighbor. They were standing in the old man's garden，and talking about children. The young man said，“How strict should parents be with their children？”
The old man pointed to a string（绳子）between a big strong tree and a thin young one．“Please untie（解开）that string，” he said．The young man untied it，and the young tree bent（弯）over to one side． “Now tie it again，please，” said the old man，“but first pull the string tight so that the young tree is straight again．”
The young man did so．Then the old man said，“There，it is the same with children．You must be strict with them，but sometimes you must untie the string to know how they are getting on． If they are not yet able to stand alone，you must tie the string tight again．But when you find that they are ready to stand alone，you can take the string away．”The story is about ______.
| A．how to take care of young trees |
| B． how strict parents should be with their children |
| C．how the young father should get on with his old neighbor |
| D． how to tie and untie the string |
The young man untied the string ______.
| A．in order to throw it away |
| B． so that both of the trees would grow straight |
| C．only to find that the thinner one bent over to one side |
| D． in order to let the old man teach him |
When can the string be taken away？______.
| A．When the old man has left |
| B．After you have untied it |
| C．When the young man has untied it next time |
| D．When the young tree grows strong enough |
In the story the relation（关系）of the big strong tree to the thin one is like that of ______.
| A．the young father to the old neighbor |
| B．parents to their children |
| C．the old neighbor to the children of the young father |
| D．grown ups to their parents |
Last year, two days after Christmas, we kicked China out of the house. Not the country obviously, but bits of plastic, metal, and wood with the words “Made in China”. We kept what we already had, but stopped bringing any more in. because it had coated our lives with toys, and useless stuff. Sometimes I worried about jobs sent overseas, but price triumphed over virtue at our house. We couldn’t resist what China was selling.
But on that dark Monday last year, an unease feeling washed over me as I sat on the sofa. It wasn’t until then that I noticed a fact: China was taking over the place.
It stared back at me from the empty screen of the television. I spied it in the pile of tennis shoes by the door. It glowed in the lights on the Christmas tree and watched me in the eyes of a doll lying on the floor, I slipped off the couch and sorted gifts into two piles: China and non-China. The count came to China, 25, the world, 14. Christmas, I realized, had become a holiday made by the Chinese. Suddenly I wanted China out.
I persuaded my husband, and on Jan. 1 st, we started a-year-long household embargo on Chinese imports. The idea wasn’t to punish China. And we didn’t fool ourselves into thinking because we wanted to measure how far it had pushed in. We wanted to know what it would take in time, money, and worry to kick our China habit!
In the spring, our 4-year-old son started a campaign to support “China things”. “It’s too long without China,” he cried. He kept at me all day. I have discovered for myself that China doesn’t control every aspect of our daily lives, but if you take a close look at the underside of boxes in the toy department, I promise it will give you pause. “When we can buy China things again? Let’s never stop.” My son said.
After a year without China I can tell you this: You can still live without it, but it’s getting costlier by the day. And a decade from now I may not be brave enough to try it again. The best title for the text could be _______.
| A．China Free Living: A Trouble One |
| B．A Year without “Made in China” |
| C．Why I Choose “Made in China” |
| D．“Made in China”: Good or Bad |
According to the passage, why did the author stop bringing in things “Made in China”?
| A．Because she wanted to bring back job opportunities for her natives. |
| B．Because she has a strong sense of nationalism against “Made in China”. |
| C．Because she wanted to learn what life would be like without “Made in China”. |
| D．Because too much stuff made in China was take over her house. |
The Underlined word “embargo” in the forth paragraph means ________.
| A．reaction | B．ban |
| C．restriction | D．cancellation |
The writer’s purpose in writing this passage is ________.
| A．to tell the readers an interesting experience |
| B．to describe the trouble facing a housewife |
| C．to explain the importance of Chinese goods |
| D．to show the difficulty without Chinese goods |
Old age may not sound exciting. But recent findings offer good news for older people and for people worried about getting older.
Researchers found that people become happier and experience less worry after they reach the age of fifty. In fact, they say by the age of eighty-five, people are happier with their life than they were when they were eighteen years old.
The findings came from a survey of more than three hundred forty thousand adults in the United States. The Gallup Organization questioned them by telephone in two thousand eight. At that time, the people were between the ages of eighteen and eighty-five.
The researchers asked questions about emotions like happiness, sadness and worry. They also asked about mental or emotional stress.
Arthur Stone in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science at Stony Brook University in New York led the study. His team found that levels of stress were highest among adults between the ages of twenty-two and twenty-five.
The findings showed that stress levels dropped sharply after people reached their fifties.
Happiness was highest among the youngest adults and those in their early seventies. The people least likely to report feeling negative emotions were those in their seventies and eighties.
The study also showed that men and women have similar emotional patterns as they grow older. However, women at all ages reported more sadness, stress and worry than men.
The findings appeared in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Researchers say they do not know why happiness increases as people get older. One theory is that, as people grow older, they grow more thankful for what they have and have better control of their emotions. They also spend less time thinking about bad experiences.
Professor Stone says the emotional patterns could be linked to changes in how people see the world, or maybe even changes in brain chemistry.
The researchers also considered possible influences like having young children, being unemployed or being single. But they found that influences like these did not affect the levels of happiness and well-being related to age. What is the report about?
| A．The relationship between happiness and age. |
| B．The influence between happiness and unemployment. |
| C．The tendency between family and health. |
| D．The expectation between age and children. |
Suppose John is 90 years old and Mike is 24, which of the following is True about them according to the research?
| A．John is happier and more energetic than Mike. |
| B．Mike is happier but weaker than John. |
| C．John is more sad and worried than Mike. |
| D．Mike is more worried and depressed than John. |
One of the possible reasons why the older one gets, the happier one becomes is that _______.
| A．they have had enough bad experiences |
| B．they become more grateful about the things they own |
| C．they have found it easy to forget their pains and pressures |
| D．they have lost their ability to control themselves |
Which of the following is true according to the passage?
| A．Having young children affects the levels of happiness of the old. |
| B．Emotional patterns can change the physical structures of human’s brains. |
| C．It’s reported that women at all ages are happier than men. |
| D．Why happiness increases as people get older is still an unsolved mystery. |