When should people be made to retire? 55? 65? Should there be a compulsory age limit?
Many old people work well into their 70s and 80s, running families, countries or corporations. Other people,however, despite being fit and highly talented, are forced to retire in their fifties or even earlier because of the regulations of a company or the nation. This essay will examine whether people should be allowed to continue working as long as they want or whether they should be encouraged to retire at a particular stage.
Some people think there are several arguments for allowing older people to continue working as long as they are able. First of all, older employees have an immense amount of knowledge and experience which can be lost to a business or organization if they are made to retire. A second point is that older employees are often extremely loyal employees and are more willing to carry out company policies than younger less committed staff. However, a more important point is regarding the attitudes in society to old people. To force someone to resign or retire at 60 indicates that the society does not value the input of these people and that effectively their useful life is over. Age is irrelevant to a working life, surely if older employees are told they cannot work after 60, this is age discrimination. That they become old does not necessarily mean they are going to be sick. Old people could be more aware, experienced and committed than some youngsters.
Others, however, think that allowing older people to work indefinitely is not a good policy. Age alone is no guarantee of ability. Old people are only ambitious workaholics who are too selfish and self-centered to believe that a younger person could do better. Actually, many younger employees have more experience or skills than older staff, who may have been stuck in one area or unit for most of their working lives. Having compulsory retirement allows new ideas in an organization. In addition, without age limits, however, many people would continue to work purely because they did not have any other plans or roles. A third point of view is that older people should be rewarded by society for their life’s labor by being given generous pensions and the freedom to enjoy their leisure. We now have youngsters who can’t find jobs because old people are choosing not to retire. Old people are not retiring because this new generation of “old people” think they will never die due to modern advances in medicine.
With many young people unemployed or frustrated in low-level positions, there are often calls to compulsorily retire older workers. However, this can affect the older individual’s freedom and right to work and can deprive(剥夺) society of valuable experience and insights. I feel that giving workers more flexibility and choice over their retirement age will benefit society and the individual.
1.What is the purpose of this passage?
A. To explain the compulsory age limit.
B. To discuss the retirement age.
C. To examine people’s working life.
D. To introduce a particular stage.
2.Which of the following is NOT a reason for allowing old people to continue working according to the passage?
A. Their contribution should be valued.
B. Their experience should be made use of.
C. They can help the youngsters.
D. They are loyal employees.
3.It can be inferred in the fourth passage that ______.
A. The young people have more creative spirits
B. Modern advances in medicine make old people never die
C. Pensions and freedom are not given to the old now
D. Old people believe that a younger person could do better
4.The passage is arranged as follows:
After we meet people it is up to us to make them our friends. Let us stop a moment and consider what really makes a friend. The major qualities like faithfulness, devotion, friendly company, flash through our minds. But it is the large number of very small particular qualities that make up one’s whole character, such as cheerfulness, friendliness, and punctuality (守时). After all, “ to make a friend, be a friend” is not such a big and difficult order. There are particular favorable qualities, which attract others to us, and some elements which do have an effect on people in fundamental psychology(基础心理学) or not.
If you are in the presence of a shy person, talking and asking casual (随意的) questions may bring him out of his shell. Think of what would be most acceptable to the other person, for you to talk, or to listen. Either way the goal is to make yourself pleasant.
Always remember to listen, but listen intelligently. To have anyone “ hang on our words” is the most unnoticeably clever way in the world to please somebody. For a few extremely happy seconds we are the center of attraction, but when it is our turn to be audience, let us remember how we felt as the actor, and let’s be genuinely (真正地) interested in what the other fellow is saying.
Other people will like us, if we like them. If you want friends, keep your mind and heart open to friendship. Be alive to the other person’s world.
1.This passage is mainly about_______.
A. the ways of talking to a shy person
B. some favorable qualities to be a psychologist
C. how to make yourself attractive to your listeners
D. how to make a friend and be a friend
2.The words “ bring him out of his shell” in this passage most probably mean _______.
A. make him become active
B. make him feel more nervous
C. help him understand the question better
D. help him listen intelligently
3.According to the passage, an important way in making friends is to ________.
A. attract them B. be attracted
C. listen attentively D. talk widely
Years ago a farmer owned land along the Atlantic. He constantly advertised for hired hands. Most people werr not willing to work on farms along the Atlantic because they worried about the terrible storms that would destroy buildings and crops. The farmer received a steady stream of refusals at the interview for a farmhand.
Finally, a short, thin man approached the farmer. “Are you a good farmhand?” the farmer asked him.
“Well, I can sleep when the wind blows. ” answered the little man.
Although puzzled by this answer ，the farmer, desperate for help, hired him. The little man worked well around the farm ，busy from dawn to dusk, and the farmer felt satisfied with the man's work.
Then one night the wind howled loudly from offshore. Jumping out of bed，the farmer grabbed a lantern and rushed next door to the hired hand’s sleeping quarters. He shook the little man and yelled， “ Get up! A storm is coming! Tie things down before they are blown away! ”
The little man rolled over in bed and said firmly, “No sir. I told you, I can sleep when the wind blows. ”
Enraged (激怒）by the response, the farmer was tempted to fire him on the spot . Instead, he hurried outside to prepare for the storm. To his amazement，he discovered that all of the hay had been covered. The cows were in the barn，the chickens were in the coops，and the doors were barred. The shutters were tightly secured. Everything was tied down. Nothing could be blown away.
The farmer then understood what his hired hand meant, so he also returned to his bed to sleep while the wind was still blowing.
1.Why did the farmer constantly advertise for hired hands?
A. Because he needed hired hands all the year round.
B. Because there was too much work to do on the farm.
C. Because he could hardly hire a farmhand.
D. Because he offered poor conditions for the hired hands.
2. The farmer felt amazed because _______.
A. the little man was sleeping
B. everything was in safety
C. the wind was too strong
D. he could not open the doors
3. What did the man mean by saying “I can sleep when the wind blows” ?
A. He needed much sleep after working hard on the farm.
B. He was very brave and not afraid of wind
C. He enjoyed sleeping when the wind blew.
D. He would get everything done before the wind blew.
4.Which of the following statements about the little man is TRUE?
A. He was not afraid of storms.
B. He was a heavy sleeper under any condition.
C. He was hard-working and devoted to his work.
D. He was fired shortly after he tied everything down.
In 1978, I was 18 and was working as a nurse in a small town about 270 km away from Sydney, Australia. I was looking forward to having five days off from duty. Unfortunately, the only one train a day back to my home in Sydney had already left. So I thought I’d hitch a ride (搭便车).
I waited by the side of the highway for three hours but no one stopped for me. Finally, a man walked over and introduced himself as Gordon. He said that although he couldn’t give me a lift, I should come back to his house for lunch. He noticed me standing for hours in the November heat and thought I must be hungry. I was doubtful as a young girl but he assured （使…放心）me I was safe, and he also offered to help me find a lift home afterwards. When we arrived at his house, he made us sandwiches. After lunch, he helped me find a lift home.
Twenty-five years later, in 2003, while I was driving to a nearby town one day, I saw an elderly man standing in the glaring heat, trying to hitch a ride. I thought it was another chance to repay someone for the favour I’d been given decades earlier. I pulled over and picked him up. I made him comfortable on the back seat and offered him some water.
After a few moments of small talk, the man said to me, “You haven’t changed a bit, even your red hair is still the same.”
I couldn’t remember where I’d met him. He then told me he was the man who had given me lunch and helped me find a lift all those years ago. It was Gordon.
1. The author had to hitch a ride one day in 1978 because .
A. her work delayed her trip to Sydney
B. she missed the only train back home
C. she was going home for her holidays
D. the town was far away from Sydney
2. Which of the following did Gordon do according to Paragraph 2?
A. He helped the girl find a ride.
B. He gave the girl a ride back home.
C. He bought sandwiches for the girl.
D. He watched the girl for three hours.
3.The reason why the author offered a lift to the elderly man was that .
A. she realized he was Gordon
B. she had known him for decades
C. she was going to the nearby town
D. she wanted to repay the favour she once got
4.What does the author want to tell the readers through the story?
A. Those who give rides will be repaid.
B. Good manners bring about happiness.
C. Giving sometimes produces nice results.
D. People should offer free rides to others.
根据短文内容，从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中的两项为多途选项。
Three Critical Truths We Forget All Too Soon
So much happens in our lives every day that we often forget what we have learned. In effect, the only thing faster than the speed of our thoughts is the speed of our forgetfulness. 1.
●Small steps get you to big places.
The greatest of all mistakes is to do nothing simply because you can only do a little. In fact, it is far more productive to take many small steps in the right direction than to make a giant leap. 2.Figure out where you want to go, take a step, and keep on stepping. Diligence and persistence will get you there.
● 3.
Two people can be affected by the same circumstance but respond in completely different ways. The reason is that it just depends on their attitudes. When you expect life to be unkind, it will always live up to your expectations. On the other hand, when you consider yourself to be in a fortunate situation, you will find yourself in many more. 4.
●You can only change yourself.
Don't wait for someone who hurt you to make it up to you; this kind of thinking only keeps your old wounds from healing. 5. You have no control over them, and they may never change. Inner peace is found by changing your thinking, not the people who hurt you. So forgive those who have hurt you in the past, and even more importantly, forgive yourself for allowing them to hurt you. Then smile like you've never cried re-open your heart and mind like you've never been hurt, and live the rest of your life like you're running out of time.
A. Fear always exists.
B. Attitude makes all the difference.
C. The path to every goal requires a hundred small steps--one after the other.
D. Here are some important reminders to jog your memory.(唤起记忆)
E. Waiting for them to change is not the answer.
F. In the end, we learn even more from our failures than we do from our successes.
G. It’s important to remember that there is value in every situation and circumstance.
Peter, a high school student, was pretty busy with school, and he was on the soccer team. High school was hard, because everyone wanted to have nice clothes, hang out, drive cars, and all these cost money. Peter’s father was the sort of guy that believed you had to earn whatever you got, so he wasn’t just about to hand over lots of money for Peter to use to have fun. So, he had to get a job.
During his freshman year summer vacation, his classmate got him a job working on a hay (干草) farm. He threw hay up into wagons as the tractor drove around fields, and then they stacked (剁起) it in the hot barn.（干草棚） It was a hot, low paying job.
He once worked a few nights a week at a grocery store. He put things on the shelf. It was a lot of lifting and carrying, and his arms were strong from this and the previous job. It was dull and didn’t pay much.
He took some time off when soccer got serious, but the following summer he tried working at a lumber（废旧家具）yard. It was hot outside, but he got a lot of exercise lifting and carrying things like boards and drywall. He also learned a lot about building supplies. It still didn’t pay well.
From there, he spent a year doing some tutoring for a friend of the family, but that was piecemeal. His first real job came the last year at school, when he fixed registers and worked on computers at a big box store. It was his favorite job yet, but it still didn’t pay well.
What Peter realized with all of these jobs was that he needed a better paying job! The only way to get that was to get trained or educated. He could go to school and get a 2year degree in an office or technical position. His other choices were going to a 4year college or joining the army. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do yet, but he knew he had to do something. Jobs were a lot of work, money was hard to earn, but he liked staying busy and being able to buy things. Peter wanted the most out of life, and that meant education.
1.How many jobs had Peter taken?
A. Three B. Four C. Five D. Six
2.All the jobs Peter had taken had one thing in common:________.
A. They were done during his vacation
B. They were dull and tiresome
C. They needed hard labour
D. They didn’t pay well
3.________was the most important for Peter if he wanted a good job.
A. Confidence B. Education C. Opportunity D. Wisdom
4.We can learn from the text that________.
A. Peter knew what to do for his future
B. Peter’s father didn’t care about him
C. it was very hard for Peter to make his choices
D. Peter was determined to do whatever he liked
