4 Does a pushy person try to (a) persuade you to do something you don’t want to, or (b) help you by listening to what you have to say? 5 If you feel apathy, do you want to (a) change the world, or (b) stay at home and do nothing?
7 Answer the questions about the phrases. 1 Is fork out (a) a formal, or (b) an informal way of saying to pay for something?
2 If you are in the same boat as another person, are you (a) making the same journey together, or (b) in
the same difficult or unpleasant situation? 3 If you feel you have come full circle, do you (a) feel
you are back where you started, or (b) feel a sense of satisfaction because you have completed something?
4 If someone takes a soft line, do they deal with a person (a) in a kind and sympathetic way, or (b) in a
lazy way without making a decision? 5 If you strike the right note about something, are you expressing yourself (a) well, or (b) badly?
6 If you do something by all means, do you (a) try your
best to do it, or (b) not care about it? 7 If you nudge someone back into the saddle, are you
encouraging them to (a) take responsibility again, or (b) take it easy?
8 If you talk through a problem with someone, do you (a) examine it carefully and sensitively, or (b) refer to it quickly and then change the subject?
Reading and interpreting 8 Answer the questions.
1 “Will he ever get a job?” Who is asking this question? What mood does it express?
The parents are asking this because the paragraph is addressed to parents (earlier it says “your graduate
son”). The mood seems to express patience or resignation because the word “ever” suggests that getting
a job will take a long time.
2 Who describes Generation Y as “rebels without a cause”? Is it a fair description?
This is the writer’s description to indicate that this generation is rebelling against parents or society, but they have nothing particular to rebel against. This doesn’t seem very fair because the students are
trying to find work – it is just that they don’t like their parents nagging them. So they are a bit rebellious against their parents, but no more than that. 3 Jack “walked into the
university careers service and straight back out again”. What does this suggest
about Jack’s character?
It suggests that Jack is not very determined. As soon as he saw the queue he left without waiting and without trying to ask about jobs or
careers. 4 Jack spent the summer “hiding”. Hiding from what? Why are quotation marks used?
Probably this means he was hiding from the world of work, staying at home and not looking for a job.
The quotation marks tell us that he wasn’t literally hiding, he just spent a lot of time at home. 5 How is Mrs Goodwin’s point of view affected by her own personal experience?
In one way her experience hasn’t affected her attitude: She left school and went immediately to a job (without going to university) and has been working full-time since then and yet she is sympathetic and takes a soft line.
6 How is Lindenfield’s point of view affected by her own personal experience?
Her personal experience was that she worked in a bar before finding her first proper job as an aerial photographic assistant. So she says such work is a great networking opportunity. If new graduates are good at such work and bright, cheerful and polite, they will soon be promoted. Her personal experience thus reflects – or perhaps has created – her point
of view.
7 What would the first two paragraphs have focused on if they had been presented from the point of view of the students rather than the parents?
The first two paragraphs would have focused on the need for the new graduates to rest for a bit after their hard studies. It is OK for students to relax with the TV or to socialize with friends for a while, then they can start a serious search for employment after that.
Active reading (2) If you ask me
Background information
This is an informal and personalized account of an economics graduate who gets a job in a pub for a year and
then has an opportunity to be successful (a lucky break). She works in a London pub called “The Salisbury”
or “The Marquis Salisbury”, named after someone who was the British Prime Minister three times between 1885 and 1902 and whose family once owned the pub’s land. The 100 year old pub is in Leadenhall Street, just off the Charing Cross Road and Leicester Square. Daytime customers can get a pub lunch and evening customers include many office workers and theatre goers (the pub is near many West End theatres). The interior of this pub is dazzling, with large mirrors, cut glass and a mahogany décor.
British pubs are often named after famous people (Robin Hood, The Duke of Wellington) or royalty (The
Queen’s Arms, the Prince of Wales) or historical symbols (The Rose and Crown to represent King Edward
相关推荐：
loading