Question

【題目】 At 23 I applied for full-time positions with no intention of working five days a week. As a housewife, I had two pre-school children then but wanted to work three days a week.

This was a huge deal for me. I needed to work, but also wanted to spend time with my children while they were young. I didn’t want to miss out on school drop-offs and pick-ups. But I also didn’t want to miss out on the opportunity of promotion.

Before the interviews, I prepared a plan of how I was going to make this work for me and the employer. I saw it as a two-way agreement — the business adapting to me and me adapting to the business.

Finally I became a member of EY at 33. EY was the only firm that seemed receptive to my plan; in fact, we spent time during that first interview talking about how we could make it work together. Most importantly, the person interviewing me worked flexibly too — four days a week.

I appreciated that I’m one of the lucky ones. Even 10 years on, flexible hiring and working remains the exception rather than the rule for most.

What will help shift views and behavior, in addition to organizations updating their hiring policies, is talking more openly about how most of us organize our day around our responsibilities. We all have a life outside of work and we shouldn’t be embarrassed to talk about it, even during a job interview.

It’s a change in the way of thinking, not just for employers but employees too. In the early days I was confident about my ability but I probably did have a preconception (先入之見) that working part-time would limit my career progression. What I quickly realized was that if I took responsibility for my development, I could make sure that I got the same opportunities as if I was working full-time. So I offered solutions to how we could make it work, and it made me stand out.

【1】Why did the author want a flexible job?

A.To balance her work and life.B.To have more time to relax.

C.To avoid too much stress in life.D.To stand out as a special woman.

【2】What perhaps made the author become a member of EY?

A.The time spent discussing her plan.

B.Her relationship with the interviewer.

C.Her great confidence in the interview.

D.The interviewer’s understanding her.

【3】What does the author advise to apply for a flexible job?

A.Trying to seize every opportunity one can get.

B.Persuading the company to change its hiring policies.

C.Being honest about one’s personal life outside of work.

D.Convincing the employer of one’s responsibility for the job.

【4】What can we infer about her job from the passage?

A.It weakened her ability.

B.It made her highly noticeable.

C.It limited her career promotion.

D.It caused her to earn less money.

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】A

【2】D

【3】D

【4】B

【解析】

這是一篇夾敘夾議的文章。文章主要講述了作者面試兼職工作時(shí)改變傳統(tǒng)思路，脫穎而出獲得機(jī)會(huì)，并以此而發(fā)表了自己的看法觀點(diǎn)。

【1】細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)題干定位到文章第二段1，2句：This was a huge deal for me. I needed to work, but also wanted to spend time with my children while they were young.（這對我來說是一件大事。我需要工作，但也想在孩子們小的時(shí)候多陪陪他們。）可知，作者需要彈性工作的原因是工作的同時(shí)又要照顧孩子，故選A項(xiàng)。

【2】推理判斷題。根據(jù)題干定位到文章第三段末尾句：EY was the only firm that seemed receptive to my plan; in fact, we spent time during that first interview talking about how we could make it work together. Most importantly, the person interviewing me worked flexibly too — four days a week.（EY是唯一一家似乎接受我的計(jì)劃的公司;事實(shí)上，在第一次面試的時(shí)候，我們花了很多時(shí)間來討論如何讓我們合作。最重要的是，面試我的那個(gè)人工作也很靈活——一周四天。）可推知，EY面試官同樣是靈活工作制，她/他能夠理解作者的境遇。故選D項(xiàng)。

【3】細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)文章第六段：What will help shift views and behavior, in addition to organizations updating their hiring policies, is talking more openly about how most of us organize our day around our responsibilities. We all have a life outside of work and we shouldn’t be embarrassed to talk about it, even during a job interview.（除了更新招聘政策外，更公開地談?wù)撐覀兇蠖鄶?shù)人如何圍繞職責(zé)安排我們的一天，將有助于改變觀點(diǎn)和行為。我們都有工作之外的生活，我們不應(yīng)該羞于談?wù)撍�，即使是在面試的時(shí)候。）可知，作者建議面試時(shí)討論職責(zé)安排分配以使面試官相信自己的能力。故選D項(xiàng)。

【4】推理判斷題。根據(jù)文章末尾：What I quickly realized was that if I took responsibility for my development, I could make sure that I got the same opportunities as if I was working full-time. So I offered solutions to how we could make it work, and it made me stand out.（我很快意識(shí)到，如果我對自己的發(fā)展負(fù)責(zé)，我就能確保自己得到和全職工作一樣的機(jī)會(huì)。所以我提出了解決方案，我們?nèi)绾问顾�工作，這使我脫穎而出。）可知，作者通過這次面試而改變思路，主動(dòng)提出了靈活工作的解決方式而使自己引起注意，得到關(guān)注。故選B項(xiàng)。