2-1 Advice from a Hiring Manager As a hiring manager I’ve conducted hundreds of interviews over the years. I believe this puts me in a good position to offer advice about how to make the best possible impression at interview. First of all, it is a good idea to arrive early for the interview, but not too early. 10-15 minutes before your interview starts is ideal. Candidates often believe that they should arrive as early as possible for an interview. However, arriving too early can be inconvenient for the hiring manager, who may well be interviewing other candidates. Once you have arrived, make sure you’re polite to everyone you meet, especially the receptionist. As a hiring manager, I often check with the receptionist after interviews to find out which candidates were most polite. It is important to me that team members will get on well with everyone they work with. Another important tip is this: if the interviewer tries to make small talks with you (by talking about the weather for example), make sure you are friendly. I often ask candidates about how their journey was, as their response will tell me what they are like as a person. Finally, bring a copy of your résumé. So many candidates forget to mention important dates or qualifications. If you have your résumé in front of you, it can really help you to answer challenging questions. Follow this advice, research the job and the position and you’ll be in with a good chance of passing the interview. 13. Why does the writer always phone the receptionist after an interview?

6-2 New year, new goal! For the past five years, I made the same promise to myself every spring: “I am going to get into shape”. Each year, I promised myself that I was going to lose weight and go down two dress sizes, so that I would look good (or at least normal) on the beach. However, it was the same story every year. Just two weeks after I’d made the resolution, I went back to my old bad habits. This year I decided to do things differently. I realized that my goal of dropping two dress sizes was unrealistic, and probably even unhealthy. When I examined my goal, I decided that it was too short-sighted to be meaningful. Why would I work so hard for just two weeks on the beach? When I thought about it, I realized it was more important to be healthy and strong than to look slim. Examining and changing my goal made a big difference. Instead of trying to lose weight, a friend and I decided we’d run a marathon in July. We planned our exercise schedule together, which was really motivating. We ate healthily, without worrying about our weight. Instead of obsessing about how we looked, we focused on our running performance. So, what happened? Not only did I manage to run the marathon, I also went down a dress size. What did I take away from this experience? What we think we need isn’t always what’s good for us. It pays to examine our goals. 57. According to the writer, why didn’t she manage to achieve her goal?

A. 　 It focused on the long-term.

B. 　 It wasn’t challenging enough.

C. 　 It was unrealistic.

D. 　 It wasn’t time-bound.

4.To say yes to this question is not as crazy as you may think.

44. If I invite her for coffee after work， do you think she _______（says / will say）yes?

10-2 The benefits of flexible working Many job applicants cite paid vacation, health insurance and a good salary as being most important to them in a job. However, an increasing number of employers now offer flexible working. So, what could flexible working mean for you? Put simply, flexible working means that you, the employee, have some say over when you work. This could mean working from home for some of the time, job-sharing, or working flexitime (adapting your working hours to suit your own life, for example, starting later and finishing later). Flexible working can have many benefits. For example, it can reduce the time you spend travelling to work. If you work 9 to 5 every day, you will be travelling to and from work when the roads are busy. You might be surprised at how much shorter your journey is if you travel to work at 10am instead of 8am. A flexible working schedule can reduce employees’ stress and improve their work-life balance. A recent survey in The Business Times showed that 20 percent of working people are stressed by family relationships and the difficulty of managing their personal and private lives. Working flexibly can allow employees to switch off from their work when they need to, and to spend more quality time with their families. Improved work-life balance can give you more energy, and this will make you more productive when you are at work, leading to increased job satisfaction. So, next time you are job hunting, consider adding flexible working to your wish list. 96. Which sentence best describes the purpose of this article?

A. 　 To weigh up the pros and cons of flexible working

B. 　 To describe the advantages of flexible working

C. 　 To show that flexible working is good for employers

D. 　 To show that flexible working costs businesses money

1-2 My life as a bed tester Last year， I graduated from art school without any definite ideas about what I wanted to do. I knew I didn’t want to work nine to five， and I also didn’t really want to work in an office. Then one day， I saw an advertisement on the graduate career website. It said: “Do you appreciate the importance of a good night’s sleep? Are you interested in flexible working hours? Why not consider a career in bed testing!” I’ve always enjoyed sleeping， so I decided to send my résumé and a cover letter. The interview was very unusual. I was asked to lie down on two different beds and make notes on what I thought about them. It was the strangest interview I’ve ever had， and I couldn’t believe my luck when I found I had got the job. After that， I worked for a year testing beds. I think I slept in about 50 or 60 beds every month! My biggest job was when I visited a big， luxury hotel. I was offered $10，000 to sleep in each one of their hundreds of beds and write about how comfortable they were. It wasn’t a bad salary for such relaxing work. One of the best things about the job is when people at parties ask me what I do. Telling them I am a professional sleeper always gets the conversation started! I don’t know if I’ll do this job forever， but for now it suits me just fine. 8. What does the writer say about the biggest job?

A. 　 It was well-paid and relaxing.

B. 　 It was relaxing， but badly paid.

C. 　 It was very tiring.

D. 　 The writer had to sleep in 10，000 different beds.

4-2 Have you ever dreamed about turning your hobby into your full-time job? This may sound too good to be true， but for fashion writer and model Anna King， the dream is now a reality. Anna had always found it difficult to find clothes to fit her. She says， “I am a plus-size woman， and so when I went shopping with my friends， I could never find anything big enough to fit me. So， I went online and found lots of great shops which sold fashionable clothes in bigger sizes. I took photos of myself wearing the clothes and shared my shopping experiences online， on a weekly fashion blog.” The blog called “Large Looks” became popular. Anna says， “Soon I had followers from all over the world! It turns out that many bigger women were having similar problems finding nice clothes.” After two years of blogging， a publisher asked me to write a book about my experiences. Just one week later， a model agency asked me to model some plus-size clothes for them. I just couldn’t believe it! Anna says， “I was able to give up my job as a secretary for a law firm and concentrate on my hobby. Now I never feel sad about going back to work on a Monday!” She adds， “Lots of people tell me how lucky I am. I tell them that yes， I was lucky， but I also worked very hard. I wrote hundreds of blog posts before I was noticed!” 39. What job did Anna do before she started blogging?

A. 　 She was a lawyer.

B. 　 She was a secretary.

C. 　 She worked in a clothes shop.

D. 　 She was a model.

10-1 What makes a job rewarding Not everyone wants the same things in a job. For some people， a good salary and benefits is the most important thing， while others are looking for some flexibility and the freedom to make decisions. What makes a job rewarding is very personal， but there are some common factors. Want to find out what these factors are? Then read on. For a job to be rewarding， it should not be too stressful. If you’re working long hours non-stop， you are unlikely to feel happy about your chosen career. However， a little stress at work can be a positive thing， as people feel good when they successfully meet challenges at work. Most people find caring for others rewarding. Nurses and doctors are obvious examples of caring jobs， but there are many other jobs which involve caring for other people’s well-being， for example teaching or even looking after customers in a hotel. There are jobs in every industry that involve caring for others in some way. People who find their jobs rewarding usually have positive relationships with their bosses， colleagues and customers. This doesn’t mean you have to be best friends with your colleagues. It does mean that you can turn to your colleagues for help when you need it. Finally， if you find your job difficult and can’t get any better at it， no matter how hard you try， you will probably not find your job rewarding. For a job to be rewarding， you need to feel as if you can do it well. 91. According to the writer， what one thing makes a job rewarding?

A. 　 A good salary

B. 　 Flexible hours

C. 　 The freedom to make decisions

D. 　 It depends on the person

4.对我来说，最好晚一点再开始工作。

7. ——Shall we go to the zoo tomorrow?---_________

A. 　 It doesn’t matter.

B. 　 That’s nothing.

C. 　 Good idea!

D. 　 You’re welcome.

5-2 We all know that employers check out the social media accounts of potential candidates， but did you know that they also look at staff accounts? Three months ago， I had just started a job in a restaurant. The first Saturday I worked there we had a staff shortage as quite a few people were off ill. At lunch time， I was left to serve about 20 customers by myself! As you can imagine， service was slow， and a few customers were quite rude to me. By the end of the day， I had a terrible headache， sore feet and was in a very bad mood. I just wanted to let off some steam， so I went home and wrote a blog post about the terrible day I＇d had. It was supposed to be funny， but I did bad-mouth some of the customers， especially a large woman wearing a purple coat who had shouted at me because her coffee was cold. Then I shared the blog post to my social media accounts. That was a big mistake. I had forgotten that I was friends with my boss on social media. Unfortunately for me， the woman in the purple coat who I had described in my blog post turned out to be his wife! I was called into my boss’ office and fired the next day. What did I learn from this? Never write anything negative about your work on social media: it will always come back to bite you. 48. Why was there a staff shortage?

A. 　 The boss couldn’t afford to pay a lot of staff.

B. 　 The boss had fired a lot of staff.

C. 　 A lot of staff members were ill.

D. 　 Nobody wanted to work there.