My newly-rented small apartment was far away from the centre of London and it was becoming essential for me to find a job, so finally I spent a whole morning getting to town and putting my name down to be considered by London Transport for a job on the underground. They were looking for guards, not drivers. This suited me. I couldn’t drive a car but thought that I could probably guard a train, and perhaps continue to write my poems between stations. The writers Keats and Chekhov had been doctors. T.S. Eliot had worked in a bank and Wallace Stevens for an insurance company. I’d be a subway guard. I could see myself being cheerful, useful, a good man in a crisis. Obviously I’d be overqualified but I was willing to forget about that in return for a steady income and travel privileges — those being particularly welcome to someone living a long way from the city centre.
The next day I sat down, with almost a hundred other candidates, for the intelligence test. I must have done all right because after about half an hour’s wait I was sent into another room for a psychological test. This time there were only about fifty candidates. The interviewer sat at a desk. Candidates were signaled forward to occupy the seat opposite him when the previous occupant had been dismissed, after a greater or shorter time. Obviously the long interviews were the more successful ones. Some of the interviews were as short as five minutes. Mine was the only one that lasted a minute and a half.
I can remember the questions now: “Why did you leave your last job?” “Why did you leave your job before that?” “And the one before that?” I can’t recall my answers, except that they were short at first and grew progressively shorter. His closing statement, I thought, revealed a lack of sensitivity which helped to explain why as a psychologist, he had risen no higher than the underground railway. “You’ve failed the psychological test and we are unable to offer you a position.”
Failing to get that job was my low point. Or so I thought, believing that the work was easy. Actually, such jobs — being a postman is another one I still desire — demand exactly the sort of elementary yet responsible awareness that the habitual dreamer is least qualified to give. But I was still far short of full self-understanding. I was also short of cash.
1.The writer applied for the job chiefly because _________.
A.he could no longer afford to live without one
B.he wanted to work in the centre of London
C.he was not interested in any other available job
D.he had received some suitable training
2.The writer thought he was overqualified for the job because _________.
A.he often traveled underground B.he had written many poems
C.he had worked in a company D.he could deal with difficult situations
3.What does the writer realize now that he did not realize then?
A.How unpleasant ordinary jobs can be
B.How unsuitable he was for the job.
C.How difficult it is to be a poet
D.How badly he did in the interview.
4.The length of his interview meant that _________.
A.he did not like the interviewer at all
B.he had not done well in the intelligence test
C.he was not going to be offered the job
D.he had little work experience to talk about
5.What’s the writer’s opinion of the psychologist?
A. He was rather unsympathetic. B. He was unhappy with his job.
C. He was quite inefficient. D. He was very aggressive(有进取心的).
An increase in students applying to study economics at university is being attributed to the global economic crisis awakening a public 36 for knowledge about how the financial system 37 .
Applications for degree courses beginning this autumn were up by 15% this January, 38 UCAS, the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service. A spokesman for the Royal Economic Society said applications to do economics at A-level were 39 up.
Professor John Beath, the president of the society, and a 40 lecturer at St Andrews University, said his first-year lectures—which are open to students from all departments—were 41 crowds of 400, rather than the 42 250.
“There are a large number of students who are not economics 43 who would like to learn something about it. One of the things I have done this year is to 44 my teaching to contemporary events in a way that one hasn’t 45 done.” He added.
University applications 46 7% last year. But there were rises 47 average in several subjects. Nursing saw a 15% jump, with people’s renewed 48 in careers in the public sector, which are seen as more secure in economic crisis.
A 49 study showed almost two thirds of parents believed schools should do more to teach pupils about financial 50 and almost half said their children had asked them what was 51 , although a minority of parents felt they did not understand it themselves well enough to explain.
Zack Hocking, the head of Child Trust Funds, said: “It’s possible that one good thing to arise from the 52 will be a generation that’s financially 53 and better equipped to 54 their money through times of economic 55 .”
1.A.concern B.thirst C.sense D.taste
2.A.works B.performs C.serves D.affects
3.A.in terms of B.according to C.on account of D.in spite of
4.A.yet B.once C.also D.still
5.A.outstanding B.inspiring C.convincing D.leading
6.A.catching B.appealing C.drawing D.covering
7.A.usual B.regular C. average D.common
8.A.majors B.interests C.preferences D.standards
9.A.attach B.adapt C.approach D.relate
10.A.generally B.frequently C.traditionally D.originally
11.A.raised B.rose C.fell D.struck
12.A.by B.in C.over D.above
13.A.effect B.focus C.interest D.benefit
14.A.recent B.late C.present D.unique
15.A.matters B.affairs C. events D.issues
16.A.taking up B.going on C.calling up D.keeping on
17.A.overturn B.downturn C.breakthrough D.breakout
18.A.cleverer B.smarter C.brighter D.wiser
19.A.strugglt B.measure C.manage D.earn
20.A.stability B.puzzle C.uncertainty D.recovery
Most highways are lined with billboards of advertisement,which__________by passing cardrivers.
A.are intended to be read B.are intended to be reading
C.are intending to reading D.are intending to read
The idea of travelling abroad really_______ a lot of Chinese people.That's why every year witnesses more people applying for passports.
A.takes to B.attends to C.appeals to D.Caters to
—I telephoned him twice and I couldn’t get through to him.
—The line might have been out of order, ?
A. don’t you B. wasn’t it C. do you D. hadn’t it
Can you____your car up so that I can get through !
A.hold B.look C.back D.rush