Question

【题目】 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 (先入之见) 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】

这是一篇夹叙夹议的文章。文章主要讲述了作者面试兼职工作时改变传统思路，脱颖而出获得机会，并以此而发表了自己的看法观点。

【1】细节理解题。根据题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.（这对我来说是一件大事。我需要工作，但也想在孩子们小的时候多陪陪他们。）可知，作者需要弹性工作的原因是工作的同时又要照顾孩子，故选A项。

【2】推理判断题。根据题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计划的公司;事实上，在第一次面试的时候，我们花了很多时间来讨论如何让我们合作。最重要的是，面试我的那个人工作也很灵活——一周四天。）可推知，EY面试官同样是灵活工作制，她/他能够理解作者的境遇。故选D项。

【3】细节理解题。根据文章第六段：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，更公开地谈论我们大多数人如何围绕职责安排我们的一天，将有助于改变观点和行为。我们都有工作之外的生活，我们不应该羞于谈论它，即使是在面试的时候。）可知，作者建议面试时讨论职责安排分配以使面试官相信自己的能力。故选D项。

【4】推理判断题。根据文章末尾：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.（我很快意识到，如果我对自己的发展负责，我就能确保自己得到和全职工作一样的机会。所以我提出了解决方案，我们如何使它工作，这使我脱颖而出。）可知，作者通过这次面试而改变思路，主动提出了灵活工作的解决方式而使自己引起注意，得到关注。故选B项。