资源预览内容
第1页 / 共96页
第2页 / 共96页
第3页 / 共96页
第4页 / 共96页
第5页 / 共96页
第6页 / 共96页
第7页 / 共96页
第8页 / 共96页
第9页 / 共96页
第10页 / 共96页
亲,该文档总共96页,到这儿已超出免费预览范围,如果喜欢就下载吧!
资源描述
Handouts and Key to book4 unit1-4Unit 1Active reading (1)Looking for a job after university? First, get off the sofaBackground informationAbout the passage: This is an article by an Education Correspondent, Alexandra Blair, published inSeptember 2008 in The Times, a long-established British quality newspaper. In Europe generally, and inBritain in particular, for a number of years there has been a rising number of students who go to universityand therefore more new graduates seeking employment. However, for many graduates finding a job becameharder in 20212021 because the economic downturn then a recession meant that many employers werereducing their workforce. After their final exams, some students rested in the summer before looking for jobsand then they found that it was difficult to find employment in their field or at the level they wanted. Thearticle addresses the problems of such new graduates who might be stuck at home and advises their parentsto be there for their children (ie to be available if their children want to talk about the problem or if theyneed help). The article recommends finding work in a bar or supermarket rather than sitting unemployedat home since this is more likely to lead to better employment later. The style is partly of a report, but alsoof a humorous comment for light entertainment (seen in the jokey language and problem-solving advice toparents).Why finding a job in 2021 is so difficult for university graduates?Universities in Europe, particularly in Britain, have expanded greatly in the last fifteen years (over 45% ofyoung adults now go on to higher education), so there are more graduates looking for jobs. This competitivesituation became a lot worse in 2021 onwards with the credit crunch and economic depression, which meantthat there were fewer jobs available and a rise in unemployment. Thus new graduates have to be activeto seek a job, they need to fill in many application forms and try to get job interviews: they wont findemployment by lying on the sofa at home.Culture pointshonours degree: Traditionally, in the British university system, BA and BSc honours degrees are awardedin different categories: a first class degree (written using Roman numbers as I), a second (divided into twosubcategories, written as IIii and IIii, which are called “a two one and “a two two), a third (written III) anda pass degree. Most people get a second. There are also ordinary degrees with more general courses of studywithout these categories.Generation Y and Grunt: The main idea here is that there is a succession of different generations orcohorts of adults who come into the workforce in North America which are given different informal namesto characterize them. First, “Baby boomers were born in the great increase (the boom) of births after WorldWar II (19461960), followed by “Generation X people (born 19601980) who were said to bring newattitudes of being independent, informal, entrepreneurial, and expected to get skills and have a career beforethem. “GenerationY or the “Millenial Generation (born 1980s and 1990s and becoming adult in the newmillenium) are now making up an increasing percentage of the workforce; they are said to be spoilt by dotingparents, to have structured lives, to be used to teamwork and diverse people in a multicultural society. Inthe passage, this generation is now becoming (morphing into) Generation Grunt, which is an ironic namereferring to repetitive, low status, routine or mindless work this may be the only work available to somegraduates, who may have to take very ordinary jobs to get experience before they find something moresuitable. “Grunt also refers to coarse behaviour or bad manners and to the deep sound that is made by a pig;when people “grunt they express disgust but do not communicate with words this may be how the parentsof new graduates think their children communicate with them!A comprehensive refers to a British type of secondary school which became popular in the1960s. Before thatthere were academic “grammar schools and more general “secondary modern schools for those who didnot pass the grammar school entrance tests, but the comprehensive schools were designed for all students ina social philosophy of bringing diverse students together whether they were academic or not. Those studentswho went to a comprehensive school probably felt that had to study particularly hard (I worked my backsideoff) to get to university, compared to those who went to grammar schools where all students were academic comprehensive students felt they had to struggle to get to university.Chicken suit This refers to a large yellow costume that someone wears which makes the person look like agiant chicken. Before he became a famous actor, Brad Pitt once dressed in such a costume when he had a jobadvertising for a restaurant called El Pollo Loco (The Crazy
收藏 下载该资源
网站客服QQ:2055934822
金锄头文库版权所有
经营许可证:蜀ICP备13022795号 | 川公网安备 51140202000112号