There is a new type of small advertisement becoming increasingly common in newspaper classified columns.It is sometimes placed among "situations vacant", although it does not offer anyone a job, and sometimes it appears among "situations wanted", although it is not placed by someone looking for a job, either.What it does is to offer help in applying for a job. "Contact us before writing your application", or "Make use of our long experience in preparing your curriculum vitae or job history", is how it is usually expressed.The growth and apparent success of such a specialized service is, of course, a reflection on the current high levels of unemployment.It is also an indication of the growing importance of the CV, with the suggestion that it may now qualify as an art form in its own right. There was a time when job seekers simply wrote letters of application."Just put down your name, address, age and whether you have passed any exams", was about the average level of advice offered to young people applying for their first jobs when I left school.The letter was really just for openers, it was explained, everything else could and should be saved for the interview.And in those days of full employment the technique worked.The letter proved that you could write and were available for work.Your eager face and intelligent replies did the rest. There is no doubt, however, that it is increasing number of applicants with university education at all points in the process of engaging staff that has led to the greater importance of the CV. Nowadays a demand for this specialized type of service has been created because _ A) there are so many people out of work B) there are so many toplevel jobs available C) there is a lack of jobs available for artistic people D) the CV is considered to be a work of art
A
There is a very special wolf that lives in Africa. They are actually called, the African wild dog, of painted dogs. These animals live in open woodlands, or in the plains of Africa. Today, however, most of the animals can be found in eastern or southern Africa. These animals are beautiful. They have rounded ears instead of pointed like most dogs, and they have four toes on each of their four feet, also a unique characteristic because other dogs have five. Their fine fur is always different from each other. The fur is usually a combination of black, brown, red, and white, and sometimes even yellow. No wonder they're called the painted wolf. The African wild dog is a very social animal. They live in groups and have numbers from five to about twenty. The members of a group are always very close to one another. They communicate in their own language or body language. When someone is very old or sick, the others will help, and they are willing to share the food with the elders and with those who are weak, which is what we should learn from. The family does everything together, from raising young, to sleeping together, to hunting. When they hunt, they will work together suing team work to kill animals that are larger than them. They sometimes hunt farm animals. This is unfortunate, because both poachers , and people who own farms shoot the painted dogs who are just trying to survive. Before, there used to be many large groups throughout the land, but now the African wild god is very rare. They are also losing their population because of their own loss of habitat thanks to human's farming and forest cutting. According to the author, what should we learn from African wild dogs? A) They always do everything together. B) They help the sick, the elderly and the weak. C) They are always very close to one another. D) They communicate in their own language.
B
Q: Let's face it: Teenagers spend hours texting, socializing on Facebook and playing video games.And it's driving their parents nuts. Sure, there are real dangers connected with all this screen time--everything from cyberbullying to couch-potato obesity.Not to mention driving while texting, and shortened attention spans . Douglas Gentile, who studies the effects of media on children, says texting, Facebook and video games are not naturally bad.Nor are they naturally better or worse than watching TV, although they do lead to different risks, such as cyberbullying. But research has shown that the more time kids spend in front of screens--whether it's TV or instant-messaging--the worse their school performances are."That doesn't mean it's true for every kid, but it makes sense, that for every hour a kid is playing video games, it's an hour that they're not doing homework or reading or exploring or creating," he said.If screen time is taking the place of doing their homework, that's bad.But if their homework is done, well, so what? The study also found that the more time kids spend with media, the lower their grades and levels of personal satisfaction are.Gentile said the influence of screen time on school work can be reduced by what he calls "protective factors".Those might include good teachers and a high-performing school, love of reading, coming from a family where education is valued."If you had all these protective factors, then that one little risk factor, who cares?" One thing parents should worry about is the way electronic devices encourage multitasking . "As adults, your response speeds up, you're quicker to look over your shoulder and notice little noises or lights.However this is not what the kids need when they get to the classroom.Scanning to see when the next message comes may not be good for kids.The more distractions you have, the worse your performance is." Getting kids to turn off their phones, iPods in order to let them concentrate on homework is a fight worth having. What statement may Gentile agree to? A) Kids get bad marks when using Facebook. B) TV or texting affects kids equally. C) Kids prefer video games to books. D) Watching TV is better than playing video games.
A: B
*Question*
When I lived in Spain, some Spanish friends of mine decided to visit England by car. Before they left, they asked me for advice about how to find accommodation . I suggested that they should stay at "bed and breakfast" houses, because this kind of accommodation gives a foreign visitor a good chance to speak English with the family. My friends listened to my advice, but they came back with some funny stories. "We didn't stay at bed and breakfast houses," they said, "because we found that most families were away on holiday." I thought this was strange. Finally I understood what had happened. My friends spoke little English, and they thought "VACANCIES" meant "holidays", because the Spanish word for 'holidays" is "vacaciones". So they did not go to house where the sign outside said 'VACANCLES', which in English means there are free rooms. Then my friends went to house where the sign said 'NO VACANCLES', because they thought this meant the people who owned the house were not away on holiday. But they found that these houses were all full. As a result, they stayed at hotels! We laughed about this and about mistakes my friends made in reading other signs. In Spanish, the word 'DIVERSION' means fun. In English, it means that workmen are repairing the road, and that you must take a different road. When my friends saw the word 'DIVERSION' on a road sign, they thought they were going to have fun. Instead, the road ended in a large hole . English people have problems too when they learn foreign languages. Once in Paris when someone offered me some more coffee, I said 'Thank you' in French. I meant that I would like some more. However, to my surprise, the coffee pot was taken away! Later I found out that 'Thank you' in French means 'No, thank you.' My Spanish friends wanted advice about _ . A) learning English B) finding places to stay inEngland C) driving their car on English roads D) going toEnglandby car
**Answer**
B