Work

CAREER CHOICES

I'm often asked the question 'How did you become a journalist?' You see, everybody expected me to follow in my father's footsteps and become a doctor. Well, during my last year of school, I was allowed to visit a career guidance counsellor, and I drove her crazy with my choices.

My first choice was a chocolate tester. Although my counsellor wasn't very impressed, she got me the information. I discovered that chocolate testers earn a lot of money, so I was sure I had found my dream job. However, when I found out that chocolate testers don't just sit around eating chocolate all day, I lost my enthusiasm.

It seems that they are also brand managers, which means they are involved in the marketing and promotion of the product. I finally decided against it when I realised a university degree would be needed.

Next, I thought of becoming a football referee. I had loved football from a young age, but being a professional footballer was out of the question, as I couldn't play very well. Anyway, it seems that referees must be able to run two and a half miles in less than twelve minutes, and they are required to take exams throughout their training. On top of that, only after many years of experience - and if they are lucky - do they get the chance to referee big professional matches. So, my dream of showing David Beckham a red card was shattered.

Finally, I had this brilliant idea of becoming a dog stylist. That was after I realised how much money our dog stylist, Shirley, was being paid every time we visited her with our Lhasa Apso, Philipo. However, once, while she was styling Philipo, I noticed that he tried to bite her. 'It happens all the time,' she told me. As you can imagine, that really put me off.

To cut a long story short, all this research made me realise I had a gift for investigation, so by the end of the school year, I had decided to become a journalist.

1. What did the writer want to become when he was in his last year of school?                             [a doctor, a journalist, a career gudance counsellor, He wasn't sure]

2. What was the main reason why the writer decided not to become a chocolate tester? He didn't                                     [want to become a chocolate tester, want to study at university, like marketing, want to sit around eating chocolate]

3. Which of the following is NOT required to referee a big professional match?                                       [being able to play football very well, having a lot of experience, being physically fit, having a bit of luck]

4. Who is Philipo?                                     [a dog stylist, Shirley's dog, the dog of the writer's family, the dog of one of Shirley's clients]

5. What does the writer mean by the phrase 'a gift for investigation' in the last paragraph?                                  [an ability to write good stories, a present which was not expected, career in journalism, a talent at discovering facts]

Read the texts. Match choices (A-H) to (1-5). There are three choices you don't need to use.

Choose the correct number. Use zero (0) if necessary. Which of the advertisements/ positions ... ?

A. has age restrictions   [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

B. is a part-time job   [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

C. mentions earnings   [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

D. requires computer skills   [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

E. has to do with seasonal work   [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

F. offers opportunities for promotions   [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

G. requires a lot of past experience in the field   [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

H. requires knowledge of more than one foreign language   [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

Read the text. Choose the correct answer.

About unemployment

Unemployment is a strong indicator of a country's overall economic health, and an unemployment       [scale, level, force, rate]of between 3.5% and 4.5% is normal even in a healthy economy. Unemployment can be categorised into three types: frictional, structural, and cyclical. Frictional unemployment refers to people in the              [labour, employment, vocational, professional]market who have left jobs voluntarily or are seeking work for the first time, such as new graduates, parents returning from leave, or people who are moving to a new area. This type of unemployment is typically            [restricted, temporary, commited, unlisted], lasting only a few months. In contrast, structural unemployment affects people who have lost their jobs due to advances in technology or outsourcing, and is usually long-term.

These workers will often need to be            [revised, redirected, retrained, recovered]if they want to re-enter the workplace. Finally, cyclical unemployment occurs when there is a decreased demand for products and services. This forces employers to make workers            [profitable, monotonous, competent, redundant]and is associated with economies in recession.