Question

It is a popular Internet thing to focus on the upside of being in your 30s, and it is nice to know how to do basic modern-human-being things like paying your taxes and cooking a simple meal. But it can be a less-encouraging story at work: People in their late 20s to early 40s tend to report lower levels of job satisfaction and higher levels of emotional exhaustion than other age groups, according to new research.

There’s an obvious reason: These tend to be the ages when people have young children at home, and the researchers did find that this group reported feeling increasingly crunched for time. But adding to that pressure, coworker support also tends to decline at this age. Some researchers interpret the findings:

Support from co-workers probably decreases in midlife as peers compete for limited resources（promotion bottlenecks are often encountered during this career stage. Also, whereas younger co-workers are often hungry to make up new social networks, and older workers seek identity-affirming work experiences in their remaining tenure（任期）, mid lifers find it demanding enough just to maintain existing social networks. Meanwhile, time pressure likely increases as colleagues are all trying to enrich their own knowledge and experience.

But the good news is that after about a decade of struggle, things start to pick back up again. Occupational psychologists say that happiness at work recovers when people reach their 40s, and that people in their 50s are more satisfied with their jobs than any other age group. Hang in there, 30-somethings-soon you will be older, but at least work will meet less frustration（挫折）!

1.What can we learn about people in their 30s according to the text?

A. They tend to feel less emotionally exhausted

B. They are more satisfied with their work.

C. They may feel more pressured at work.

D. They don’t know how to do basic modern-human-being things.

2.Which of the following can replace the underlined word “crunched” in Paragraph 2?

A. pressed    B. encouraged

C. relaxed    D. satisfied

3.Why do people in their late 20s to early 40s have less support from co-workers?

A. Because they have a family to support.

B. Because they are eager to form new social networks.

C. Because they try to seek identity-affirming work experiences.

D. Because they are faced with strong competition in promotion.

Answer

1.C

2.A

3.D

【解析】文章大意：研究显示：熬过40岁工作越来越顺心。

1.根据文章第一段It is a popular Internet thing to focus on the upside of being in your 30s, and it is nice to know how to do basic modern-human-being things like paying your taxes and cooking a simple meal.可知，30多岁的人感到工作压力更大。故选C。

2.词义猜测题。根据后句But adding to that pressure, coworker support also tends to decline at this age.可以猜测出，crunched为“压迫”之意。故选A。

3.细节理解题。根据文章第三段promotion bottlenecks are often encountered during this career stage.可知，因为他们在升职上面临着激烈的竞争。故选D。