As Americans live longer and the job market stays competitive, fast-food chains are increasingly hiring from senior centers, churches and aging advocacy groups like AARP, Bloomberg reports. And it’s not just death rate and economic trends driving the change. Seniors have more polished social skills, but teens are stopped from growing up online with fewer real-world connections.
“I spend a lot of time with young kids. They can be very disrespectful,” 63-year-old Church’s Chicken manager Stevenson Williams tells Bloomberg of his teen co-workers. “You have to coach them and tell them this is your job, not the street,” Williams says. “Having ‘soft skills’ such as politeness often comes more easily to the seniors, who have had a lifetime of experience in the workforce to learn how to treat customers compared with young people.”
Employers thus get a more mature worker at no additional cost — but the reasons for seniors outpacing teen hires are many. The US Census Bureau reported this year that, by 2035, there will be more Americans over age 65 than there are children under age 18. Plus, fewer people in their prime (盛年) are working — thanks to the unaffordable child care that forces many parents to stay at home, according to a joint study by Princeton University.
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) forecasts the number of American workers aged 65 to 74 will swell 4.5 percent by 2024, while the 16-to-24s will shrink 1.4 percent. By 2024, the BLS projects the labor force will grow to about 164 million people. That number includes about 41 million people aged 55 and older — about 13 million of those who are expected to be aged 65 and up.
So don’t be surprised to see even more service with a smile and silver hair in that drive-through lane.
1.What does the underlined part “the change” in Paragraph 1 refer to?
A.Americans live longer.
B.The job market gets competitive.
C.Senior centers are becoming more.
D.Fast-food chains hire more senior people.
2.Why are seniors the hot new fast-food employees according to Williams?
A.Teens are easy to quit.
B.They demand less pay.
C.Teens are hard to control and manage.
D.They are good at socializing.
3.Which of the following can be regarded as a “soft skill”?
A.Having high education. B.Knowing customers’ needs.
C.Being skillful at computer. D.Having lots of connections with real-world
4.Why do many parents stay at home according to Paragraph 3?
A.They find it hard to find a job.
B.They prefer to look after children.
C.They find it hard to pay for child care.
D.They are unwilling to work with senior citizens.
Chef Jeremy Pang and a team of helpers are on a task to help feed London’s homeless and those facing food shortage in London. Pang and about 180 volunteers wore aprons and sharpened their cooking skills to make 4,000 dumplings, 700 noodle stir-fries, and 700 liters of curry in just four hours on a cold morning in Borough Market.
Now in its third year, the aim of the event, which is called Wok for 1,000, is to raise awareness of food waste and food shortage throughout the United Kingdom. Pang, who founded School of Wok in London’s Covent Garden，led a team of experienced chefs in teaching volunteers how to cook the dishes. The hot meals were then packed up and loaded into trucks so they could be distributed to those in need.
The event was part of Pang’s work to support the charity (慈善组织) Plan Zheroes, which aims to help connect food businesses with charities in order to redistribute surplus (过剩的) food and support measures to help prevent food waste. “1,300 meals get distributed to around 10 charities across London who are fighting food shortage,” Pang said. “The idea is that with ‘small steps for big changes’, an event like this can show people that one person can easily cook for 10 people and feed a lot of people in need.”
The food materials used at the event were donated by School of Wok^ suppliers as well as from stallholders (摊主) in Borough Market.
“As soon as we met Plan Zheroes, it was clear to me that it was a charity we wanted to raise money for,” said Pang. “So, not only are we creating thousands of meals but, at the same time, we are raising around 5,000 to 6,000 pounds for a very small charity doing a huge job.’’
1.Why did Jeremy Pang hold the event Wok for 1,000?
A.To improve Pang’s food businesses.
B.To win a good reputation for himself.
C.To show his kindness to homeless people.
D.To raise people’s awareness of food problems.
2.What can we know about the event Wok for 1,000?
A.It has been carried out for three years.
B.It is held in London’s Covent Garden.
C.It directly distributes meals to the homeless.
D.It is part of the charity Plan Zheroes’s activity.
3.Where did the food materials used at the event come from?
A.They were offered by volunteer chefs.
B.They were donated by generous people.
C.They were provided by some charities.
D.They were bought from suppliers.
4.What’s the best title of the text?
A.A Charity Plan Zheroes
B.A Celebrity Chef Jeremy Pang
C.Volunteers Cooked Meals for the Homeless
D.Experienced Chefs Taught Volunteers How to Cook
Four Most Beautiful Villages in Italy
San Gimignano
San Gimignano is a small walled medieval (中世纪的) hill town in the province of Siena. It is the most beautiful village in Italy and also one of the most breathtaking places in the world. It’s one of the best preserved towns with 13 towers adding to its charm (魅力). A UNESCO World Heritage Site sitting in the middle of vineyards, sunflowers and trees, this village is truly one of a kind. To preserve its quality of being authentic, no traffic is allowed near its center. You’d better explore it on foot.
Menaggio
Set in the province of Como, right on the western shore of Lake Como, the area is frequently visited for its Menaggio and Cadenabbia Golf Club founded in 1907. This beautiful village still keeps its old charm, with beautiful surroundings that could be enjoyed from one of the many waterfront balconies. One of the best times to visit Menaggio is during the Guitar Festival that takes place every summer.
Montone
Apart from its rich history, the walled medieval village Montone has the advantage of being surrounded by the countryside in Umbria, an area filled with great wheat fields and grapevines that is truly beautiful and peaceful. Montone was a small industrial village during the middle age.
Positano
Positano is a village on the Amalfi Coast in Campania. It has a great beach and a lovely harbor from where you could take a boat to explore the scenic area. The roads leading here are narrow and with single tracks but there are buses that can take you to the town.
1.What’s the best way to get to the center of San Gimignano?
A.On foot. B.By boat. C.By bike. D.By bus.
2.Where is the village with great wheat fields?
A.In Siena. B.In Como. C.In Umbria. D.In Campania.
3.Which village provides great coastal scenery?
A.San Gimignano. B.Menaggio. C.Montone. D.Positano.
阅读下面短文，根据其内容和所给段落开头语续写两段，使之构成一个完整的故事。
Boys like to be considered to be brave,but what kind of things can be considered to be brave? It is not a question that can be answered by words,but by the actual deed.
A boy with the name Henry gave us a good example.Ronny and Henry were two friends in the same class.They always played together and went home together.One day as Ronny and Henry were going home after school,they saw some people fighting in the street corner.Ronny said excitedly,"Some people are fighting!Let's go and have a look!"But Henry refused,"It's none of our business.We'd better go home and don't get close to them.Also our parents are expecting to have dinner with us together at home and I don't want them to worry about me."
＂You are a coward((懦夫），and afraid to go,"said Ronny,and off he ran to the spot with some other boys.Henry had to go home alone and didn't think about it anymore.
But Ronny thought Henry was a coward and told all the boys that.They laughed at him a great deal.From then on,they looked down upon Henry and didn't want to play with him.
Henry was sad but he wasn't angry with Ronny for his rude behavior,because he had learned that true courage was shown most in bearing misunderstanding when it was not deserved,and that he ought to be afraid of nothing but doing wrong.Thus,he just ignored the other boys' laughter and continued to stick to his thought and go to school and study as well.However,Ronny didn't invite Henry to go home with him anymore.Instead,he had his new friends who also thought Henry was a coward.Every day after school,they didn't go home directly but went to the river or somewhere to play games and had lots of fun.
注意：
1.所续写的短文词数应为150左右；
2. 应使用5个以上短文中标有下划线的关键词语；
3. 续写部分分为二段，每段的开头语已经为你写好；
4. 续写完成后，请用下划线标出你所使用的关键词语。
Paragraph 1:
A few days later,something terrible happened to Ronny.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2:
At that moment,Henry happened to pass by.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
假定你是李华。下周一至周三因故不能上外教Mr. Smith的英语课，需要向他请假，请你用英文给他写一封电子邮件，内容包括:
1. 解释原因；
2. 请求同意；
3. 弥补措施。
注意:
1. 词数80左右；
2. 可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
根据所给汉语或首字母写出空缺处单词的适当形式，使句子完整，语法正确，每空一词。
1.These machines are c_________updated by improving the design of the computers all the time.
2.At home, however, there should be little difficulty a________the attention of private and foreign investors(投资者).
3.All photographs are by the author unless o__________stated.
4.Having been b________twice, the postman refused to deliver our letters unless we chained our dog up.
5.Many veterans(老兵) believe it is their job to bear witness to the horrors of war that they p______ experienced.
6.Whether he is i_________or guilty is a decision that will be made when the case is tried in court.
7.When people spend more and more time far from reality, they will find it hard to draw a d_________between the virtual world and the real one.
8.It is a well-known fact that China has made invaluable_________(贡献) to world peace, stability and development.
9.They accepted the invitation without a moment's_________(犹豫).
10.All seats__________(占用), he had to stand in the corner, listening to the speech.
11.For the_________(便利) of our classification; any over eighteen years old counts as an adult.
12.We are supposed to make decisions based on facts and___________(分析).
13.The after-sale service network of the company has spread___________(全国地).
14.It is__________(难堪的) to have someone looking over your shoulder while you're at work, as though you could not be trusted.
15.A group____________(构成)of several families visited the amusement park last week.
