Work and the Young: Generation Jobless
“YOUNG people ought not to be idle (闲置的) . It is very bad for them," said MargaretThatcher in 1984. She was right: there are few worse things that society can do to its young than to leave them ignored.
Yet more young people are idle than ever. The International Labour Organization reports that 75m (m=million) young people globally are looking for a job. World Bank surveys suggest that 262m young people are economically inactive. The number of young people without a job is nearly as large as the population of America (311m).
Two factors play a big part. First, the long slowdown in the West has reduced demand for labour, and it is easier to put off hiring young people than it is to fire older workers. Second, inemerging economies population growth is the fastest in countries with disordered labour markets, such as India and Egypt.
One possible way to settle this problem is to stimulate growth. That is easier said than done in a world suffering from debt, and is anyway a possible answer. The countries where the problem is worst (such as Spain and Egypt) suffered from high youth unemployment even when their economies were growing. Throughout the recession ( 经济不景气)，companies have continued to complain that they cannot find young people with the right skills. This underlines the importance of two other solutions: reforming labour markets and improving education.
Youth unemployment is often at its worst in countries with inflexible labour markets. High taxes on hiring, strict rules about firing, high minimum wages: all these help force young people to the street corner. South Africa has some of the highest unemployment, in part because it has powerful trade unions and inflexible rules about hiring and firing. Many countries with high youth unemployment rate have high minimum wages and heavy taxes on labour. India has around 200 laws on work and pay.
Across the OECD (经合组织) , people who left school at the earliest opportunity are twice as likely to be unemployed as university graduates. But it is unwise to conclude that governments should simply continue increasing the number of people who graduate from university. In both Britain and the United States many people with arts degrees are finding it impossible to get appropriate jobs. In North Africa university graduates are twice as likely to be unemployed as non-graduates.
What matters is not just number of years of education people get, but its content. This means expanding the study of science and technology and closing the gap between the world of education and the world of work-for example by upgrading vocational education and by building closer relations between companies and schools. Germany, which has the second lowest level of youth unemployment in the rich world, owns long-history system of vocational schooling and apprenticeships (学徒制).
The problem of youth unemployment has been getting worse for several years. But there are at last some reasons for hope. Governments are trying to address the mismatch between education and the labour market. Companies are beginning to take more responsibility for the young. The world has a real chance of introducing an education-and-training revolution worthy of the solution to the problem.
1.According to the passage, which of the following statements may the author approve of ?
A. A flexible labour market is not enough to raise youth employment.
B. As long as the economy grows youth unemployment will soon be settled.
C. Firms fire more older workers than the young in the economic slowdown.
D. Powerful trade unions and high minimum wages lead to high employment.
2.The author mentioned the German's education system in order to show_____________.
A. rich countries are responsible for high youth unemployment
B. the problem of youth unemployment has been settled
C. companies have more responsibilities to settle youth unemployment
D. the match between education and the labour market can reduce youth unemployment
3.What does the underlined phrase "vocational education” mean in Para.7 ?
A. Technical training.
B. Higher education.
C. Moral education.
D. Business courses.
4.The passage mainly talks about _____________.
A. the need for labour market revolution
B. possible ways to settle global youth unemployment
C. the relations between education and employment
D. factors contributing to low youth unemployment
Senses That Work Together
When we think about how our senses work, we usually imagine them operating separately: you sniff a flower, and the smell is delivered uninterrupted from nose to brain. However, it's more complex than that. Most evidence for cross modal perception (知觉) comes from studies into sound and vision (视觉). But research that shows other senses crossing over is coming out all the time, and it seems that even sound and smell sometimes form an unlikely pairing.
When New York researchers, Daniel Wesson and Donald Wilson, tried to find out the truth about a "mysterious” area of the brain called the olfactory tubercle, they had to deal with this fact. Originally, they only intended to measure how olfactory tubercle cells in mice responded to smell. But during testing, Wesson noticed that every time he put his coffee cup down, the mouse cells jumped in activity. In fact, the olfactory tubercle is well-placed to receive both smell and sound information from the outside world. Later they found that among separate cells, most responded to a smell but a significant number were also active when a sound was made. Some cells even behaved differently when smell and sound were presented together, by increasing or decreasing their activity.
Of course, mice aren't people, so research team has been carrying out further experiments. They pulled together a group of people and gave them various drinks to smell. Participants were asked to sniff the drinks, and then match them to appropriate musical instruments and produce the notes at different levels. The results were interesting: piano was regularly paired with fruity fragrances; strong smells sounded like the instruments that are made of metal.
Further research found that listening to different sounds can change your perceptions. Studying taste this time, the team ordered some special toffee (太妃糖) and put together “soundscapes” corresponding to bitterness and sweetness. Participants tasted similar pieces of toffee while listening to each soundscape, and found the toffee more bitter or sweeter, depending on which soundrack they were listening to.
Studies like this are helping scientists correctly describe our understanding of the senses, and how the brain combines them with its advantage. The consequences are worth considering. Could we see musicians work together with chefs to produce sound-improved food and drink? Will you be ordering a coffee with a soundrack to bring out your favorite smell? Come to think of it, that could be one thing you hope coffee shop chains don’t get round to.
1.What does the underlined part in Paragraph 2 refer to?
A. A lot of research focuses on the senses.
B. There can be a link between sound and smell.
C. Sound and vision are relatively easy to study.
D. Evidence about the way senses work is hard to obtain.
2.In Wesson and Wilson's research,__________.
A. the mice were affected more significantly by sound
B. the result confirmed what the researchers had suspected
C. the connection between sound and smell was found by chance
D. the mice seemed to be afraid of certain sounds or smells
3.What is the main idea of Paragraph 3?
A. Participants took an active part in the experiments.
B. The purpose of the further experiments was totally different.
C. The result failed to support what was found in previous experiments.
D. Experiments showed that links between sound and smell were consistent.
4.How does the author feel about the effect of the research?
A. She is surprised at the recent developments.
B. She is excited about the creative chances.
C. She is convinced that the findings will be used soon.
D. She is worried about how the knowledge can be applied.
Envelope Budget
From McDonald's to Sonic, fast food had a bad effect on my waistline and my budget. It was nothing to run to a drive-through to pick up a cold drink or a quick bite to eat. It was so easy to use my card for a small purchase. For me, I got a lot of satisfaction from fast food.
One day I sat down and calculated that I was spending a surprising $40 a week on fast food. This was a lot of iced coffee and hamburgers! Instead of reducing my guilty pleasures, I decided to give myself a strong budget to reduce my consumption. Every Monday I placed an envelope with $20 in my purse. That was my fast food budget for the entire week. If there was anything left over at the end of the week, it was mine to save or spend. If I spent all of the money during the week, there were no more fast food stops that week.
The budget made me more mindful of my purchases. Instead of purchasing a large drink from Sonic, I would purchase a small. It was sill satisfying but not nearly as pricey. Instead of eating a whole meal, I would pick the part that I actually wanted. Many days, the thought of hanging onto the money for a special purpose meant more to me than the instant satisfaction of fast food. I never really felt unhappy because it was a conscious choice to spend or save with each purchase.
Envelope budget kept me honest. I had a clear idea how much money was spent each week on fast food purchases. I started to bring my lunches more often to save more money for the week. It was a fun challenge to see how much I could save every week.
Changing the way I spent on fast food not only helped my budget, but improved my weight. In the first month I was able to get rid of 5 pounds by simply changing the way I approached spending on fast food. Now I am more likely to bring my lunch than to buy it. I am not upset, but empowered to make positive choices to improve my life.
1.According to Paragraph 1, the author _____________.
A. was fond of fast food very much
B. had no time to cook for herself
C. lived with a small amount of money
D. got some benefits from using her card
2.The author set her envelope budget to _____________.
A. buy fast food at a good bargain
B. save money to buy more fast food
C. get rid of the habit of eating fast food
D. make fast food spending under control
3.We can infer from the last paragraph that _____________.
A. it is unusual to make some changes
B. the budget means a pressure on life
C. envelope budget is good for health
D. it is hard to enjoy a healthy lifestyle
4.What is the passage mainly about?
A. Why the author became addicted to fast food.
B. How envelope budget changed the author's life.
C. How fast food controlled the author's behavior.
D. Why the author took envelope budget seriously.
I am Henry Jekyll. I was born in the 1 800s. I inherited(继承) a large fortune, a healthy body and an excellent mind. I was naturally hard-working and soon I was very successful in my job. So the outside world saw a serious, hard-working, successful doctor. Behind this quiet character, however, was a wild, fun-loving, irresponsible young man. Both of them were me. They lived together in the same body.
“Was it possible," I wondered, “to find a drug that could give each side of my character its own separate face and body?"
After much thought and careful study I believed I had found the answer. I had read many scientific books and spent many hours in my laboratory, searching for the right mixture of chemicals to make my drug. At last I got everything ready.
Late one night, I mixed everything together and prepared my drug. I watched the smoke rising from the liquid as its color changed from red to purple and at last to green. Then, bravely, I drank every bitter drop.
I felt a violent sickness in my stomach and a terrible pain in all my bones. The room seemed to turn round and round and I trembled with fear. Then the fear and pain disappeared and a strange, sweet feeling took its place. Wild thoughts danced through my mind- the wild passions of an evil and cruel stranger. But inside myself I felt younger, lighter, more carefree than ever before. "If this is pure evil," I thought, “I like it.”
I stood there, enjoying these strange new thoughts and passions and suddenly realized that I was shorter. So I decided to go to my bedroom in my new body and take a look at myself in the mirror there. As I came into my room, I saw Edward Hyde for the first time.
At that time, the good side of my character was stronger than the evil side. Henry Jekyll had his faults, but he was mostly a good, kind man. I believe that is the reason why Edward Hyde was so much smaller than Henry Jekyll. But that was not the only difference between the two men. Henry Jekyll had a kind, open, honest face. But pure evil stared out of Edward Hyde's eyes. I felt no dislike, however. Indeed, I welcomed him. Edward Hyde was me, young and strong and full of life.
1.In others' eyes, the writer was _____________.
A. wild and successful B. fun-loving and responsible
C. serious and hard-working D. quiet and irresponsible
2.The writer wanted to find a drug to _____________.
A. discover the right mixture of chemicals
B. observe the change of the chemicals
C. create separate bodies for both sides
D. make himself smaller but stronger
3.From the passage we can learn that the writer _____________.
A. was satisfied with both of his bodies
B. preferred kind Henry to pure evil Edward
C. was very sick of the shorter Edward Hyde
D. felt quite delighted right after taking the drug
As a teenager, I was pretty lazy when it came to doing things for my family. I worked hard at school, and sometimes looked after my younger sister. Still, I found myself regularly resisting the urge to______out at home with even the simplest things.
Every Wednesday afternoon, for example, my mother ______ me to another town for a piano lesson. During my two-hour lesson, she'd rush to the nearby store and buy a week's worth of_______. Given the fact that my mom had driven me twelve miles there, twelve miles back,_____for my lesson, and bought me a candy bar, you'd think I'd be very_____ to help her bring the groceries into the house._____ I wasn't. I generally just brought in an armload and left the______ for Mom as I ran to my room, shut the door, and started studying.
Don't get me wrong: even back in my room, I felt______about not helping my mother more. Deep inside, I wanted to change my________ But I also realized that once I did change, there'd be no going back.________I took on more responsibility, my parents would start_______more of me. At age fifteen, I sensed that this one small change would ______ something much bigger: my personal change from a cared-for, spoiled (被宠坏的) child to a more_____caring and giving young man.
I'll never forget the Wednesday when I made a(n)________to jump in and see what happened. Returning home from the________I disappeared into my room, as usual. But once inside, I felt that deep and burning_______.Throwing my school books on the bed, I suddenly opened my door and_______back to the garage to help my mother. How happy I felt that day!
Surely, over time, I continued to help out with more housework. The neat thing was, the more I helped out, the_______I felt about myself and my place in my family. As Mom and Dad realized they could ______on me more, our trips became far less stressful, too. In short, it was a win-win situation for everyone.
Sometimes the little things we put off doing the longest________ out to be the simplest things to complete. And feeling happy beats feeling guilty any day.
1.A. start B. cry C. help D. work
2.A. sent B. guided C. walked D. drove
3.A. fruits B. flowers C. groceries D. vegetables
4.A. fought B. paid C. applied D. planned
5.A. grateful B. nervous C. confident D. unwilling
6.A. So B. And C. Thus D. But
7.A. one B. other C. next D. rest
8.A. excited B. curious C. doubtful D. guilty
9.A. way B. world C. career D. shape
10.A. Once B. Though C. Unless D. Since
11.A. warning B. reminding C. expecting D. informing
12.A. mark B. tell C. express D. describe
13.A. energetic B. ambitious C. outgoing D. responsible
14.A. excuse B. decision C. statement D. appointment
15.A. duty B. lesson C. store D. holiday
16.A. shame B. anger C. delight D. pleasure
17.A. called B. looked C. headed D. handed
18.A. smarter B. better C. warmer D. stronger
19.A. live B. press C. focus D. count
20.A. make B. turn C. point D. bring
Directions: Write an English composition in 120 - 150 words according to the instructions given below in Chinese.
假设你是育新中学学生王明。你校正开展“绿色校园”主题活动，通过校英语报向全校学生征集有助于节能的建议。你决定向校报投稿，内容包括：
1. 你认为校园里还可以采取哪些措施来达到节能的目的 （1至2个措施）
2. 这些措施如果实施，可以带来怎样的好处。
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