12月大学英语四级阅读练习（3）

　　备考英语四级的同学不难发现，阅读是英语四级考试中非常重要的一部分，阅读理解题想要拿到比较理想的成绩，就要加强练习，不断提高自身的阅读能力。

　　Do todays kids make terrible entry-level workers? Thats a question much on employers minds as graduation season kicks off and young adults begin their first full-time jobs. Weve all heard the stories: assistants who wont assist, new workers who cant set an alarm, employees who cant grasp institutional hierarchies.

　　Bosses who toiled in the pre-self-esteem era salt mines have little patience for these upstarts. A popular advice columnist had some choice words last week for a young employee who dismissively waved her sandwich at a superior requesting backup during a critical meeting; the young woman explained that she was on her lunch break and was merely setting boundaries with a disrespectful colleague who sorely needs them. Moreover, she noted, being errand girl wasnt in her job description.

　　Its easy to laugh off these anecdotes, but there are some complex reasons for the lack of familiarity with work norms. For one thing, many 20-something adults have never held a menial summer job, once considered training wheels for adult life in the American middle class.

　　It was once common to see teenagers mowing lawns, waiting tables, digging ditches and bagging groceries for modest wages in the long summer months. Summer employment was a social equalizer, allowing both affluent and financially strapped teenagers to gain a foothold on adulthood, learning the virtues of hard work, respect and teamwork in a relatively low-stakes atmosphere. But youth employment has declined precipitously over the years, and young people are losing a chance to develop these important life skills in the process.

　　In 2010, the latest year for which numbers are available, less than half of the nations youths were employed during the month of July, traditionally the peak of summer employment, the lowest percentage since the Bureau of Labor Statistics started collecting data in 1948 and almost 20 points lower than the peak in 1989. Theres little indication of that number improving. Teenagers and 20-somethings are the least skilled and most expendable members of the workforce, so its not surprising that they would be edged out in a recession by more reliable full-time workers such as senior citizens, immigrants and other adults who need those jobs.

　　But other long-term factors are at play. Life is more competitive than ever before, and kids or perhaps their parents worry about wasting time on jobs that wont yield career dividends. On Harvards campus, where I work, students feel crushing pressure to build their rsums the instant they arrive, eschewing unskilled summer jobs for unpaid internships with nonprofit organizations, political campaigns and research labs. Others spend the summer studying foreign languages or preparing for grueling graduate-admissions exams.

　　The same pattern is found at the secondary-school level, where teen employment has been on a downward trend since 2000. Tougher graduation standards have created a threefold increase in summer-school attendance over the past 20 years. And students feel the need to pad their college applications with unique life experiences as the admissions process has grown more selective. High schools also now routinely require public service surely a good thing that can further limit the available hours to work for pay.

　　Many of these social changes are a sign of a healthy, and upwardly mobile, society. But theres a problem when more than 50% of the nations young workforce has never held a basic, paying job. We may be postponing their entry into adulthood. One paradox of contemporary life is that the lengthening of adolescence has not better prepared young people for what comes next. Despite unprecedented technological and cultural sophistication, this generations 20-year-olds lack some of the soft skills that are necessary to move up the professional ladder: perseverance, humility, flexibility and commitment.

　　In the end, though, its their elders who are responsible, and we shouldnt demonize young people for our own failings. Most graduates embarking on their first job are eager to perform well and desperately need the income. Its grownups, not teenagers, who have honed the values, expectations and opportunities from which our nations youth develop their work habits. If we want a more respectful and industrious workforce, we need to do a better job creating one.

　　【重点单词及短语】

　　kick off 开始 ;(足球比赛等)开球

　　dismissively adv. 轻蔑地;不屑一顾地

　　errand girl 供差遣的人

　　laugh off 一笑置之

　　menial adj. adj. 卑微的;仆人的;适合仆人做的

　　training wheels 辅助措施

　　mow lawns 修剪草坪

　　strapped adj. 身无分文的;资金短少的

　　edge out 挤掉;替代

　　unprecedented adj. 空前的;史无前例的

　　Question time:

　　1. Whats the benefits of summer jobs according to the author?

　　2. What are the soft skills necessary for work?