Unit 8 Choice Versus Chance
Part Ⅰ Getting ready
Anyone who works regularly has a vocation. Making a choice, however, offers the opportunity to have a vocation that is satisfying and rewarding. The alternative is a job that is a matter of chance, depending only on what can be found easily. Leaving the choice to chance generally proves unsatisfactory and leads to boredom with work and difficulty in performing the job well.
A The following words and phrases will appear in this unit. Listen carefully and study the definitions.
1. career: the general course of a person's working life
2. make a fortune: earn a great amount of money, possessions, etc.
3. torture: severe pain or suffering caused in the mind or body
4. shift: a group of workers who take turns with one or more other groups
5. aptitude: natural ability or skill, especially in learning
6. team work: the ability of a group of people to work together effectively; (work done through) combined effort
7. client: a person who buys goods or services
8. survey: a general examination or study (of conditions, opinions, etc.), especially carried out by asking people questions
9. cross-section; a part or group that is typical or representative of the whole 10. brainstorm: have a sudden clever idea
B A new friend of yours is telling you about his career. Listen carefully. Rearrange the following events in the order of time, and then complete the following flow diagram.
A. Go to university
B. Leave school
C. Become a teacher
D. Go into the army
E. Look for anew job
F. Work as a clerk in a small office
G. Finish the university course
at 18 ->from 18 to 20 ->at 20 ->at 25 ->at 29 ->after graduation ->now
_____ _____________ _____ _____ _____ ________________ ___
Part Ⅱ Summer jobs
The knowledge of the world of work will be very helpful for a student's future career. Ignorance of the many ways in which people earn a living has been a great deterrent to freedom of occupational choice. To solve this problem, many students find holiday jobs to gain actual work experience as part of their educational preparation.
A You are going to hear an interview with some students who are doing holiday jobs in Brighton. While listening for the first time, add more key words in the left-hand column. After the second listening, answer the questions.
Questions
1. Where have the following people been working?
a. Christine: ________________
b. Kevin: ____________________
c. Kevin's brother: __________
2. How much has Christine earned?
3. In which part of the day has Christine been working mostly?
4. What has Christine done in the hotel?
5. Which of these statements about Christine are true and which are false?
( ) a. The most enjoyable part of being in Brighton for her has been the job.
( ) b. She has had free meals and accommodation.
( ) c. She has made a fortune in Brighton.
( ) d. She hasn't spent much money.
( ) e. She has been working as a waitress some of the time.
( ) f. She finds Brighton an interesting place.
6. Kevin's been doing two different kinds of work. What are they?
7. What was Kevin's main reason for coming to Brighton?
8. What has Kevin's brother done in Italy?
9. Why is Kevin's brother particularly lucky?
B Now listen to the interview again. Write in the missing words with the help of the above notes.
Interviewer: And have you been _________ it? Or has it been rather _________?
Christine: No, it hasn't been _______. I've found it _________ here, in fact. Not so much _________, but ________ I've got to know and _________ I've made, and I've managed to do lots of things in my __________ too. It's a ____________, so there's been quite a lot ________ in the evenings-you know, _______, ________, ________, and so on-and on my ________ I've been doing quite a bit of _________.
Part Ⅲ Jobs: my idea of hell, my idea of heaven
Job satisfaction in employees is extremely difficult to measure. Tasks that bore some people interest others and some people will work hard even though they are dissatisfied with their work (for example, to earn more money). Levels of punctuality, rates of absenteeism, and the rate of labour turnover are perhaps the best indicators to measure job satisfaction.
A You are going to hear three people describing the jobs they would hate to do. While listening for the first time, add more key words in the left-hand column. After the second listening, tick the places that they consider as hells in the right-
Places that offer job vacancies
an abattoir (屠宰场) an AIDS clinic
a factory a nuclear power station
a casino (赌场) a university
a chicken battery (层架式鸡笼)
B Now listen to the same three people describing the jobs they would really like to have. While listening for the first time, add more key words in the left-hand column. After the second listening, write down their ideal jobs in the right-hand column.
Ideal Jobs
First speaker: _________________________________
Second speaker: _________________________________
Third speaker: __________________________________
C Now try this: listen to some more authentic versions of the monologues. Pay close attention to the reasons given by each speaker. Complete the following chart with the help of the above notes.
Reasons given for jobs Reasons given for
undesirable jobs desirable
1st speaker It would be too repetitive. I'm paid a lot of ________.
It would drive me ________. I can _________ and see ___
______________.
2nd speaker It would be so The New York Mets is the___
It would be too much ______ ________ in the world.
__________ for me.
3rd speaker I could be _____________ of I can have an opportunity to
doing it. _____________.
It would be like a form of I can be __________ and work
_________. on my ________.
Part Ⅳ More about the topic: Occupational Outlook
The availability of occupations depends on shifts in the national economy and increasingly on economic developments worldwide. There are several ways to measure their effects, including the rate of unemployment, the international balance of trade, and the productivity of workers.
The following short passage is about the occupational outlook in America. Supply the missing words while listening.
For many people their lifework, or ________, is a matter of _________ rather than ________.
Yet there is great variety in the world of work. The task of _________ the right work from the thousands of available choices takes ____________. Individuals need to know many things about themselves and many things about ______________________. After they have this information in hand, the ____________ of the work can be matched against the _________ and potential qualifications of each individual, and a choice can be made. This procedure requires ______, ______, and _____, but the _______ are great.
There are several ________ to be considered when choosing a vocation: aptitudes, ______, education and ________, wages and ________, and physical demands. Each is __________ to making a good vocational choice.
Based on the Occupational Outlook Handbook, some American occupations are expected to _______ in the future and others are likes to __________ sharply. Changes are related to the Unites States __________. The occupational areas expected to be in greatest _____________ will be in response to __________ predicted in American society for the coming years. The following occupations are expected to have the fastest growth:
___________(会计师) and auditors (审计师);
Actuaries(保险精算师);
Computer _________, operators and technicians;
Corrections ________ (管教罪犯的警官)；
Electrical and electronic _________ and technicians;
___________ and legal assistants;
__________ practitioners (开业医生) and managers;
__________ specialists;
Securities and ________ analysts;
__________ programmers;
Travel __________.
Occupational areas expected to decline include jobs that require _________ skills, those that do not _________ computers or other technologies, and those that are unable to _______ to changes in society. This does not mean that there will be no jobs in these areas-simply fewer _____________ and fewer _________. They include:
________ and meat cutters;
Industrial truck and trailer (拖车) __________；
______________ carriers and postal clerks;
Statistical ________________;
Stenographers (速记员)
Telephone _________ and repairers.
Part Ⅴ Memory test: My Line of Work
You are going to hear three people describing the work they do. Listen carefully, and decide what each job is. Make notes of the aspects of their jobs the speakers like and dislike.
Job Likes Dislikes
1st speaker _________ ______________ _________________
2nd speaker _________ ______________ _________________
3rd speaker _________ ______________ _________________
part Ⅵ Reminder of key points in this unit
Verb & Verb Phrase Noun & Noun Phrase Other
Part Ⅰ criticize career unemployed
stay in economy increasingly
gather location various
remain at home aspect
community
Part Ⅱ make fortune accommodation boring
plus bowling obviously
peel sunbathing reasonable
hire out suntan fantastic
courier
Part Ⅲ melt down abattoir day in and day out
be capable of nuclear power station mad
comprehend casino revolting
pinpoint AIDS clinic self-explanatory
beat boredom sane
work on one's own responsibility independent
chicken battery amongst
night shift
torture
archaeologist
anthropologist
third baseman
photographer
contact
Part Ⅳ select requirement available
have sth. in hand reward vocational
match factor present
consider aptitude potential
expect decline accountant essential
relate auditor sharply
be in response to actuary electrical
predict programmer electronic
rely on technician legal
respond to medical practitioner financial
public-relations manual
specialist industrial
security postal
analyst statistical
stenographer
installer
Part Ⅴ stick behind client beforehand
deal with viewing impersonal
handle readership figure varied
build up survey creative
admit cross-section in hell of
persuade brainstorming session expensive
count team work tremendously
dry up campaign tedious
get the sack drawback
bother front man / woman
move on character
overload grapevine
battle-ax
