Much discussed and rarely achieved in full, work-life balance is an elusive prize in modern professional culture. While it can depend greatly on the priorities and values of an individual and their manager, some jobs provide strong opportunities for those looking to combine a fulfilling career with a thriving personal life.
“Work-life balance is not a situation anymore where you’re at work and then you’re at home, it’s more this balancing between the two,” said Lauren Griffin, senior vice president of Adecco Staffing U.S.
Topping the list of jobs that provide strong work-life balance is data scientist. According to IBM, “A data scientist represents an evolution from the business or data analyst role.” IBM notes that while the formal training in computer science and applications, modeling, statistics, analytics and math for these jobs is similar, “What sets the data scientist apart is strong business acumen, coupled with the ability to communicate findings to both business and IT leaders in a way that can influence how an organization approaches a business challenge.”
Stan Ahalt, director of the Renaissance Computing Institute at UNC Chapel Hill, said that the strong demand for data scientists, coupled with the anemic supply of these professionals currently available in talent pipelines, is likely creating a situation where companies will go above and beyond to attract the right talent.
“The demand for people who are able to analyze massive amounts of data and extract actionable decisions has really blossomed,” said Ahalt. “The people who are being hired are being highly sought-after, so I suspect they’re getting relatively good offers, and offers that include flexibility in their hours and locations simply because there are many more jobs than there are people.”
The list is also diverse and representative of a broad spectrum of occupations, with part-time and seasonal jobs like lifeguard and substitute teacher holding spots, as well as corporate jobs and skilled trades.
And for job-seekers or those planning a career change who want to prioritize work-life balance in their next role, Griffin said the most important step is identifying your greatest personal commitment so you can target a job that’s accommodating by nature, or an employer that will work with you to reach a solution.
“You need to define what’s non-negotiable for you,” said Griffin. “What’s that specific thing that you know you need some balance for, is it dropping your kids off, or taking your mother to a doctor’s appointment twice a month? What are those key points for you? Because then you can have a more open conversation with your employer.”
1.A job of work-life balance is suitable for those ____.
A.who gain a prize in professional culture
B.whose managers care about their priorities and values
C.who expect satisfaction from both career and personal life
D.who prefer to work anytime and anywhere at their wills
2."These jobs" in the third paragraph indicate jobs ____.
A.in the list which provide strong life-work balance
B.of the data scientists, the business analyst and the data analyst
C.that require strong business sense and communication skills
D.that influence new business challenge of an organization
3.Data scientists are people who ____.
A.are professionals likely to create a new situation in talent pipelines
B.can analyze massive amounts of data and extra actionable decisions
C.have relatively good offers including flexibility in their hours and locations
D.are more demanded than part-time lifeguards and substitute teachers
4.For job-seekers who want to highlight work life balance, they ____.
A.must be very committed to the targeted job personally
B.have to support employers decisions without negotiation
C.should first decide what the balance is needed for
D.should drop kids off on time and take care of mothers
The “Bystander Apathy Effect” was first studied by researchers in New York after neighbors ignored — and in some cases turned up the volume on their TVs — the cries of a woman as she was murdered (over a half-hour period). With regard to helping those in difficulty generally, they found that:
(1) women are helped more than men;
(2) men help more than women;
(3) attractive women are helped more than unattractive women.
Other factors relate to the number of people in the area, whether the person is thought to be in trouble through their own fault, and whether a person sees himself as being able to help.
According to Adrian Furnham, Professor of University College, London, there are three reasons why we tend to stand by doing nothing:
(1) “Shifting of responsibility”— the more people there are, the less likely help is to be given. Each person excuses himself by thinking someone else will help, so that the more “other people’ there are, the greater the total shifting of responsibility.
(2) “Fear of making a mistake” — situations are often not clear. People think that those involved in an accident may know each other or it may be a joke, so a fear of embarrassment makes them keep themselves to themselves.
(3) “Fear of the consequences if attention is turned on you, and the person is violent.”
Laurie Taylor, Professor of Sociology at London University, says: “In the experiments I’ve seen on intervention (介入), much depends on the neighborhood or setting. There is a silence on public transport which is hard to break. We are embarrassed to draw attention to something that is happening, while in a football match, people get involved, and a fight would easily follow.”
Psychotherapist Alan Dupuy identifies the importance of the individual: “The British as a whole have some difficulty intervening, but there are exceptional individuals in every group who are prepared to intervene, regardless of their own safety: These would be people with a strong moral code or religious ideals.”
1.Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?
A.Pretty women are more likely to be helped.
B.People on a bus are more likely to stop a crime.
C.Religious people are more likely to look on.
D.Criminals are more likely to harm women.
2.Which factor is NOT related with intervention according to the passage?
A.Sex. B.Nationality. C.Profession. D.Setting.
3.Which phenomenon can be described as the “Bystander Apathy Effect”?
A.When one is in trouble, people think it’s his own fault.
B.In a football match, people get involved in a fight.
C.Seeing a murder, people feel sorry that it should have happened.
D.On hearing a cry for help, people keep themselves to themselves.
4.The author wrote this article ______.
A.to explain why bystanders behave as they do
B.to urge people to stand out when in need
C.to criticize the selfishness of bystanders
D.to analyze the weakness of human nature
Nervous suspects(嫌疑犯) locked up in Britain's newest police station may feel relieved by a pleasant yellow colour on the door. If they are close to confessing a crime, the blue on the wall might tip the balance.
Gwent Police have abandoned colours such as greys and browns of the 20th-century police cell(牢房) and have used colour psychology to decorate them.
Ystrad Mynach station, which recently opened at a cost off5 million has four cells with glass doors for prisoners who suffer from claustrophobia（幽闭恐怖症）, Designers have painted the frames yellow, which researchers say is a calming colour. Other cells contain a royal blue line because psychologists believe that the colour is likely to encourage truthfulness.
The station has 31 cells, including 12 with a"live scan" system for drunken or disturbed prisoners, which detects the rise and fall of their chest. An alarm alerts officers if a prisoner's breathing stops and carries on ringing until the door is opened.
Designers and psychologists have worked for years on colour. Blue is said to suggest trust, efficiency, duty, logic, coolness, thinking and calm. It also suggests coldness and unfriendliness.It is thought that strong blues will stimulate clear thought and lighter, soft colours will calm the mind and aid concentration.
Yellow is linked with confidence, self-respect and friendliness. Get the colour wrong and it could cause fear, depression and anxiety, but the right yellow can lift spirits and self-respect.
Ingrid Collins, a psychologist who specializes in the effects of colour, said that colour was an"energy force", She said: "Blue does enhance communication but I am not sure it would enhance truthful communication.”
Yellow, she said, affected the mind. Red on the other hand, should never be considered because it could increase aggression. Mrs Collins praised the designers for using colours in the cells. Gwent is not the first British force to experiment with colour to calm down or persuade prisoners to co-operate. In the 1990s Strathclyde Police used pink in cells based on research carried out by the US Navy.
1.The expression"tip the balance" in paragraph 1 probably indicates that the blue might_________.
A.let suspects keep their balance.
B.make suspects cold and unfriendly in law court.
C.help suspects to confess their crimes.
D.enable suspects to change their attitudes to colours.
2.Which of the following colours should not be used in cells according to the passage?
A.Pink. B.Red.
C.Blue. D.Yellow.
3.Which of the following helps alert officers if someone stops breathing？
A.Royal blue lines. B.Scanning equipment.
C.Glass doors. D.Yellow frames.
4.The passage is mainly concerned with__________.
A.the relationship between colours and psychology.
B.a comparison of different functions of colours.
C.scientific ways to help criminals reform themselves in prison.
D.the use of colours in cells to affect criminals psychology.
There is a Web site called the “World Database of Happiness.” It combines and analyzes the results of hundreds of surveys from around the world that have been conducted on life satisfaction. Most of the findings are _______, but a few are surprising.
The database makes it clear that there is not a strong connection between material wealth and general contentment. It is a cliché to say that money can’t buy happiness, but the old saying seems to be _______ by research. Many people still cling to the belief that gaining riches will be the answer to all their problems, yet they are probably _______.
Studies have been _______ on people who acquired sudden wealth, such as lottery winners. In most cases, after the _______ joy had worn off, people were not left with a sense of lasting happiness. In fact, they tended to revert to the way they _______ before they became rich. Previously contented people continue to be contented, _______ those who were miserable before sink back into misery.
If material wealth does not bring happiness, then what does? Perhaps happiness has something to do with where you live. The authorities at the World Database on Happiness have surveyed _______ of happiness in different countries. _______, people in America, Canada, and Singapore are very happy; people living in India and Russia, not surprisingly, are not happy.
Other surveys consistently ________ the importance of relationships. ________ relationships in particular seem to be the key to long-term contentment. The Web site suggests that falling in love and having children are two of the ________ that bring the greatest happiness.
Nowadays people look to technology as an ________ source of satisfaction. People increasingly spend more time alone watching TV or surfing the Internet ________ spending time with family. Can technology truly make people happy? It is too difficult to tell, but one thing is sure: If the Web site’s research is accurate, time spent with your family is a better ________ than time spent making money.
1.A.different B.predictable C.satisfactory D.unexpected
2.A.challenged B.widespread C.overtaken D.supported
3.A.generous B.positive C.hesitated D.mistaken
4.A.turned out B.done with C.carried out D.put forward
5.A.essential B.pleasant C.initial D.enviable
6.A.felt B.had C.chose D.lived
7.A.as B.so C.and D.while
8.A.levels B.standards C.senses D.examples
9.A.Strangely B.Hopefully C.Apparently D.Surprisingly
10.A.point to B.hold up C.deal with D.depend on
11.A.Partner B.Family C.Relative D.Society
12.A.situations B.relations C.destinations D.references
13.A.convenient B.alternative C.everlasting D.adequate
14.A.as far as B.rather than C.as well as D.in case of
15.A.environment B.circumstance C.investment D.civilization
Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in the blanks to make the passage coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word; for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.
Social robots are going to become a lot more common in the next few years, 1. in the home or the workplace. Social robots are about to bring technology to the everyday world in a more humanized way, said Cynthia Breazeal, chief scientist at the robot company Jibo.
2. household robots today do the normal housework, social robots will be much more like companions than mere tools. For example, these robots will be able to distinguish when someone is happy or sad. This allows them 3. (respond) more appropriately to the user.
The Jibo robot, 4. (arrange) to ship later this year, is designed to be a personalized assistant. You can talk to the robot, ask it questions, and make requests for it to perform different tasks. The robot doesn’t just deliver general answers to questions; it responds based on 5. it learns about each individual in the household. It can do things such as reminding an elderly family member to take medicine or taking family photos.
Social robots are not just finding their way into the home. They have potential applications 6. everything from education to health care and are already finding their way into some of these spaces.
Fellow Robots is one company 7. (bring) social robots to the market. The company’s “Oshbot” robot is built to assist customers in a store, which can help the customers find items and help guide them to the product’s location in the store. It can also speak different languages and make recommendations for different items based on what the customer is shopping for.
The more interaction the robot has with humans, 8. (much) it learns.But Oshbot, like other social robots, 9. (not intend) to replace workers, but to work alongside other employees. “We have technologies to train social robots to do things not for us, but with us,” said Breazeal.
Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in the blanks to make the passage coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word; for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.
The ancient Chinese were stonewall masters. China 1. has the world's longest fortification (buildings or walls built to defend a place), the 21,196-kilometer-long Great Wall, but the world's longest circular city wall, the Ming City Wall, which was originally 35 kilometers around. The latter stands in Jiangsu's provincial capital of Nanjing. It's one of China's most underrated tourist attractions and many local residents think it is worthy 2. (visit).
Currently, visitors can access only about three kilometers of the wall, but about 22 of the 3. (remain) 25 kilometers of the once-inaccessible wall are scheduled to open to the public soon. "In the past, the wall was the end of the city," says Sun Xiaowei, 32, president of the Nanjing-based urban hiking community. "But now it's the starting point of Nanjing's culture.” Sun recently shared with us the greatest barbican (楼堡) (an outer defensive work) 4. attracts him most: Zhonghua Gate.
5. (locate) immediately to the north of Qinhuai River, Zhonghua Gate, is one of the best preserved and most intricate barbicans in the world, according to Sun.The gate is used as a grand entrance to any tour of the City Wall.
It once served as the southern gate of ancient Nanjing, a 15,168-square-meter fortification that contained four layers of defenses, as well as three grand castles, 6. the ruins are connected to each other by a wide ring of wall. If paying an entry fee, visitors 7. view former garrisons, an exhibition about the history and variety of bricks used to build the City Wall.
