Question

What should you think about when trying to find your career? You are probably better at some school subjects than others. These may show strengths that you can use in your work. A boy who is good at mathematics can use that in an engineering career. A girl who spells well and likes English may be good at office work. So it is important to know the subjects you do well in at school. On the other hand, you may not have any especially strong subjects but your records show a general satisfactory standard. Although not all subjects can be used directly in a job, they may have indirect value. A knowledge of history is not required for most jobs but if history is one of your good subjects you will have learned to remember facts and details. This is an ability that can be useful in many jobs.
Your school may have taught you skills, such as typing or technical drawing, which you can use in your work. You may be good at metalwork or cookery and look for a job where you can improve these skills. If you have had a part-time job on Saturdays or in the summer, think what you gained from it. If nothing else, you may have learned how to get to work on time, to follow instructions and to get on with older workers. You may have learned to give correct change in a shop, for example. Just as important, you may become interested in a particular industry or career you see from the inside in a part-time job.
Facing your weak points is also part of knowing yourself. You may be all thumbs when you handle tools; perhaps you are a poor speller or cannot add up a column of figures. It is better to face any weakness than to pretend they do not exist. Your school record, for instance, may not be too good, yet it is an important part of your background. You should not be apologetic(认错的) about it but instead recognize that you will have a chance of a fresh start at work.
【小题1】What is the passage mainly about?

A．The importance of working hard at school.

B．Choosing a career according to one’s strengths.

C．How to face one’s weakness.

D．The value of school work.

【小题2】The writer thinks that a student have a part-time job is probably ______.

A．a good way to find out his weak points

B．one of the best ways of earning extra money

C．of great use for his work in the future

D．a waste of time he could have spent on study

【小题3】From the passage we learn that if a student’s school performance is not good, he _______.

A．should pay more attention to learning skills and developing abilities

B．will be regretful about his bad results

C．may also do well in his future work

D．should restart his study in school

【小题4】The underlined phrase “be all thumbs” (in Para 3) probably means “_______”.

A．be clumsy at doing things

B．be skillful in doing things

C．be not interested in certain things

D．be easily bored in doing things

Answer 1

【小题1】B
【小题2】C
【小题3】C
【小题4】A   

解析【小题1】主旨归纳题。从文章的开头句“What should you think about when trying to find your career ? ”可以看出作者会在下文对于如何找工作给出一些建议。
【小题2】答案在从第二段。译：“如果你周六或暑假曾做过兼职工作，想想你都从中得到了什么。如果没有什么其他的，你还可能学会了按时上班、服从指挥、与老员工相处。比如你可能学会了在商店里正确地找钱。同样重要的是，从兼职工作中你可以了解到你对某个行业感兴趣。”根据题意可以判定选项C 为正确答案。
【小题3】推理判断题，答案在文章末尾两句。这两句的意思是“你在学校里的成绩可能不好，但也是你个人背景的重要组成部分。你不必为此难过，相反你应该意识到你在工作中将会有一个全新开始的机会。”由文章最后一句可推断出，既然在工作中有全新的开始，将来的工作也会做得好，因此选C 。
【小题4】猜测词义题， “… when you handle tools ”意思是在你操作工具时，由此，短语 “ be all thumbs ”应该是描述人们操作工具时的状态或样子，而thumb 的原意是大拇指，这里显然不能用这个单词的含义来推断整个短语的意思。该句的前面是本段的主题句“正视自己的弱点也是了解自己的一部分”，而该句中分号后面的半句话意为“也许你拼写很糟糕或不能把一列数字相加”，分号表并列关系，由此判断出第三段第二句是基于该段主题句而举出的关于“弱点”的一些例子，前半句中的“be all thumbs ”应该是形容人们操作工具时不熟练、笨拙。