Unit1
Passage 1
I began learning Spanish when I was in high school, using a traditional academic method of studying verbs, sentence structures, and grammar by using textbooks and not much else. I found it very easy to learn, but was frustrated with the slow pace and repetitive nature of all my Spanish classes. So I worked extra hard in my spare time and asked my teacher if I could skip a level by the end of the semester.
This was unsuccessful, however, because the school was not willing to test me or otherwise prove that I could be successful in the top level after skipping a level. This made things even more frustrating, as then I was stuck in a class where I already knew the material!
Then I went on to college where I then used the language extensively both in and out of the classroom. I studied Spanish literature, culture, and linguistics and very much enjoyed the cultural and linguistic elements, but found the in-depth study of literature a very unbalanced way to study Spanish.
I got a lot out of using my Spanish outside of the classroom, including a trip to Mexico with a church group, where I found myself acting as an interpreter. It was certainly challenging, but it was also a lot of fun.
I then also volunteered to be an interpreter in the community schools and also
used my Spanish to teach English to some Spanish speakers. This is probably where I learned the most!
Passage 2
Have you ever heard of homeschooling? It is a legal choice for parents in most countries to provide their children with a learning environment as an 1) alternative to public or private schools outside the home. Parents cite 2) numerous reasons for homeschooling their children. The three reasons that are selected by the majority of parents in the United States are the concern about the 3) traditional school environment, the lack of religious or moral instruction, and the dissatisfaction with the 4) academic instruction at public and private schools. Homeschooling may also be a factor in the choice of parenting style. Homeschooling can be a choice for families living in isolated 5) countryside or living briefly abroad. Also many young 6) athletes and actors are taught at home.
Homeschoolers often 7) take advantage of educational opportunities at museums, libraries, community centers, athletic clubs, after-school programs, churches, parks, and other community resources. 8) Secondary school level students may take classes at community colleges, which typically have open admission policies.
Groups of homeschooling families often join up together to create homeschool co-ops. These groups typically meet once a week and provide a classroom environment. These are family-centered support groups whose
members seek to pool their talents and resources 9) in a collective effort to broaden the scope of their children's education. They provide a classroom environment where students can do hands-on and group learning such as performing, science experiments, art projects, foreign language study, spelling contests, discussions, etc. Parents whose children take the classes 10) serve as volunteers to keep costs low and make the program a success.
Test
Many people go to school for an education. They learn languages, history, (1) political methods, geography, physics, chemistry, and mathematics. Others go to school to learn skills in order to make a living. (2)Traditional education is very useful and important. Yet, no one can (3)acquire everything from school. A teacher, no matter how much he knows, cannot teach his students everything they want to know. The teacher's main job is to show his students how to learn. He teaches them how to read and how to think. So, much more is to be learned outside school by the students themselves.
It is always more important to know how to study by oneself than to (4)bear in mind some facts or some skills. It is quite easy to learn a certain fact in history or a formula in mathematics. But it is very (5) difficult to use a formula in working out a math problem.
Great scientists didn't get everything from school. Edison didn't even finish junior school. And yet, he (6) invented so many new things. These scientists were
so (7)successful, but their teachers only showed them the way. The (8) reason for their success was that they knew how to study. They read books that they were not taught at school. They would ask many questions as they read. They did (9)thousands of experiments. They worked hard all their lives, wasting not a single moment. Most important was that they knew how to use their (10)brains.
Unit 2
Passage 1
I believe watching nature programs on television is not going to give us and our children a real experience of nature. On the contrary, they may distance us from nature — actual nature — even further.
Because real nature experiences mean contact with nature. It means being with and within nature, to experience it with all five senses.
True, TV programs give us joy but they will never be able to help us form a relationship with nature. We watch our small screens come alive with the vivid colors and we all let out \"aahhhh...\" and \"wooooow\". But, never once will we feel the pleasure of being close to nature.
Worse still — the programs such as those on the Discovery Channel make nature seem so strange, and so far away, in the forests of the Amazon or in the wilds of Africa. Children may grow up without even realizing that the flowers,
plants or a couple of trees in their backyard are nature and they are equally precious. The truth is — nature is so close to us. We don't need to go anywhere far to enjoy such experiences. It is right there in our backyards. Or, in parks, gardens, forests, or national parks.
All we need to do is make an effort to get closer to nature — know it, appreciate it, and explore it. Feeling the soil under our feet and the wind in our hair; listening to the sound of the fallen leaves and taking in the smell of the wet soil — all these are pure joy to the senses that we must experience.
Passage 2
I have never been able to understand people who don't see the point in traveling. The common reason is that traveling is a waste of time and money. I've heard some are 1) scared to travel too far away. I can't help but feel sorry particularly for those who 2) perceive the experience of seeing a new place as a 100 percent 3) negative one. Telling them stories about unusual encounters doesn't 4) result in the expected curiosity but a \"Why would you wanna go there!?\" It makes me 5) lose faith in humanity. Experience is the best teacher and knowledge is power. The things traveling can teach you are beautiful because you learn to trust in what you see rather than what you are told.
It was Mark Twain who said, \"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness,\" which in my mind 6) goes down as the closest to the truth about traveling. Too bad there aren't enough people with the means to travel
actually doing it. If you have the means to go abroad, you should do it despite going out of your comfort zone. You might realize why you loved it once you're back home.
I think traveling is also the best thing you could do if you feel 7) depressed at home, don't know what to do with your future, your life, your partner — anything. Once you are away, 8) preferably somewhere very new and unknown, you are forced to 9) adapt and meet people. This works especially if you travel alone. A new life and especially the new relationships you build, even if only for a short period of time, 10) reveal opportunities and views you never would have thought of and had otherwise.
Test
Nowadays it is very common for people to get away on a (1)vacation trip any time. People from all (2)walks of life, both young and old, enjoy traveling. Some even consider traveling as part of their (3)routine lifestyle.
Most of the younger travelers tend to seek fun, discovery and (4)adventure in their travels. They prefer to visit strange and exotic (异国情调的) places. The older travelers, on the other hand, tend to look for a more pleasant and enjoyable trip. In fact, it was not too long ago that an increasing number of older people started to go for leisure trips more often. It could be that after spending a major part of their life working so hard, they felt that they needed to enjoy the fruits of their labor. Leisure traveling has become a (5)treat they give to themselves for the years of
hard work they have done.
Perhaps, the reason for the (6)popularity of traveling is that more people have come to realize its benefits. When we visit other countries, we (7)gain a better understanding of the people living there. We learn about their culture, history and background. We discover the (8)similarities they have with us, as well as their differences from us.
Also, traveling helps to enrich our lives. It increases our knowledge and widens our (9)perspective. When we visit interesting places, we discover new people and things, which not only provide us fun, but also provide us (10)marvelous insights and enlightens our minds.
Unit 3
Passage 1
Since I'm a student, I go to school on weekdays and so I don't have too much free time. I usually spend six or seven hours at school. After that I either go downtown for some shopping or go home and study. If I have some free time during the week I might read a book or watch TV. Lately my evenings have been spent preparing for my graduation examination, which takes up a lot of time.
Even though I have a lot to do, I still have some free time for leisure activities. On weekends I like to go with my family to our cottage. I like taking long walks
around the countryside and I like watching the seasons change. I have the most free time during the summer months. One of my favorite activities is to go canoeing with my friends. We borrow a couple of canoes and choose a nice spot on the river to begin. We spend the day floating down the river. Sometimes if it gets hot we jump in the water and go swimming. Of course we take breaks during the day; we stop along the river to prepare some food or to visit a local pub. In the evening we set up our tents and make a campfire. We spend the evening talking, singing songs, and enjoying nature. We often cook some sausages over the campfire. And one of my favorite things to do is wrap potatoes in foil and then cook them in the hot ashes. These wonderful trips, just like summer, always end too soon.
Passage 2
Rock climbing is an activity in which participants climb up, down or across natural rock formations or artificial rock walls. The goal of rock climbing is to reach the top of a formation or the endpoint of a predefined route without falling. Rock climbing competitions have 1) objectives of completing the route in the quickest possible time or reaching the 2) farthest point along an ever increasingly harder route. While not an Olympic event, rock climbing is 3) recognized by the International Olympic Committee as a sport.
Rock climbing has been 4) separated into several different styles and subdisciplines. At its most basic, rock climbing 5) involves climbing a route with one's own hands and feet and little more than a cushioned bouldering pad for
protection. This style of climbing 6) is referred to as bouldering, since the relevant routes are usually found on boulders no more than 10 to 15 feet tall. As routes get higher off the ground, the increased risk of 7) life-threatening injuries makes additional safety measures necessary. Climbers will usually work in pairs and use a system of ropes and anchors 8) designed to catch fallers. Rock climbing is a physically and mentally demanding sport that tests a climber's strength, 9) endurance, and balance along with their mental control. It can be a dangerous sport and climbers are 10) putting themselves at risk when they go climbing. However, the risk can be reduced by having the knowledge of proper climbing techniques and using specialized climbing equipment.
Test
Most young people enjoy some form of physical activity. It may be walking, cycling or swimming, or in winter, skating or skiing. It may be a game of some kind: football, golf or tennis. It may be mountaineering.
Those who (1)have a passion for climbing high and difficult mountains are often (2)looked upon with astonishment. Why are men and women willing to suffer cold and hardships, and to (3)take risks on high mountains? This astonishment is caused (4)probably by the difference between mountaineering and other forms of activity.
Mountaineering is a sport and not a game. There are no man-made rules, as
there are for such games as golf and football. There are, of course, rules of a different kind which it would be dangerous to (5)ignore, but it is this freedom from man-made rules that makes mountaineering (6)attractive to many people. Those who climb mountains are free to use their own methods.
If we compare mountaineering with other more (7)familiar sports, we might think that one big difference is that mountaineering is not a \"team game\". We are wrong about this. Yes, it's true that there are no \"matches\" between \"teams\" of climbers. But when climbers are on a rock face linked by a rope on which their lives may depend, there is (8)obviously teamwork.
The mountain climber knows that he may have to fight forces that are more (9)powerful than man. He has to fight the forces of nature. His sport (10)requires high mental and physical qualities.
Unit 4
Passage 1
Bill Gates was born on October 28, 1955 in a family having a rich business, political and community service background. From childhood Bill was intelligent and competitive. In school, he had excellent records in mathematics and science. Still he was getting very bored in school and his parents knew it, so they always tried to feed him with more information to keep him busy. Bill's parents came to know about their son's intelligence and decided to send him to a private school,
known for its serious academic environment. It was a very important decision in Bill's life, and it was there that he was introduced to a computer. Bill Gates and his friends were very much interested in the world of programming and formed the \"Programmers Group\" in late 1968. In the next year, they got their first opportunity in Information Sciences Inc. in which they were selected as programmers. Bill and his close friend Allen developed a small computer to measure traffic flow and they earned around $20,000 from this project. In 1973, he left home for Harvard University. He did well there, but he didn't find it interesting. He spent many long nights in front of the school's computer and the next day was asleep in class. Bill and his friend Allen remained in close contact even though Allen was away in Washington State University. They would often discuss new ideas for future projects and the possibility of starting a business one day. At the end of Bill's first year, Allen moved closer to him so that they could follow some of their ideas. Within a year, Bill Gates dropped out of Harvard, and then formed Microsoft with Allen.
Passage 2
Florence Nightingale was a celebrated English social reformer and the founder of modern nursing. She became famous while serving as a nurse during the Crimean War, where she tended to wounded soldiers. Early 21st century 1) commentators have asserted that Nightingale's achievements in the Crimean War had been 2) exaggerated by the media to satisfy the public's need for a hero. But later on her achievements remain widely accepted and she has generally been well regarded by historians.
Nightingale was born to a wealthy upper-class family, at a time when women of her class were expected to 3) focus on marriage and child bearing. Her father had progressive social views, providing his daughter with a well-rounded education that included math, and supported her desire to 4) lead an active life. Nightingale rejected proposals of marriage so as to be free to pursue her calling. In 1860, Nightingale 5) laid the foundation of professional nursing with the establishment of her nursing school in London. It was the first nursing school in the world. The Nightingale Pledge taken by new nurses was named in her honor, and the 6) annual International Nurses Day is celebrated around the world on her birthday. She made 7) a series of social reforms including improving health care for all sections of British society; improving healthcare and 8) advocating for better hunger relief in India; helping to 9) abolish laws that were overly harsh to women; and expanding the acceptable forms of female participation in the workforce. Nightingale's ability to effect reform rested on her extraordinary skills, her good reputation, and her network of 10) influential friends. Test
Unless you've been living under a rock, by now you have heard of Lance Armstrong. The unusual thing here is that you may have heard of him, but not always for the same reason. Some know him as a (1)champion cyclist who set the world record by winning the Tour de France six times. Others may know of him through his humanitarian works. Still others may know him as a cancer survivor who decided to meet the (2)challenges and came out the winner. (3)Regardless of how you know him, just knowing of him at all offers your life (4)inspiration when
you may need it most.
Millions around the world properly celebrate him and his lofty accomplishments, his (5)remarkable recovery from what was feared to be terminal cancer, his exhausting training program, his (6)legendary endurance, his dauntless determination, and his unequalled (7)dominance of cyclin's premier event.
But what explains the enormous interest in Armstrong's success — or that of any other sports hero? Why do sports fans set such a strong personal stake in the victories of their heroes? After all, little of any practical significance depends on such victories; a seventh Armstrong — win won't get his fans a raise or help send their children to college. Why do sports have such an enormous, enduring (8)appeal in human life?
The answer lies in a rarely recognized aspect of sports: their moral significance. Those of us who, physically, cannot cycle 2,000 miles or run the 100 meters in 9 seconds can still (9)aspire to significant achievements. The vision of Armstrong's (10)magnificent abilities and dauntless determination engenders in the best of us the question: What might I accomplish in my field and in my life if I embodied the same degree of dedication?
Unit 5
Passage 1
Living in the city is hard enough for a single person, but if you have kids life can get more complex. Finding ways to keep the little ones occupied can be a full-time job. So it should be no surprise that parents will go to great lengths to get a little peace and quiet.
However, when I first got to know that some parents bought their young children — not teenagers — iPads, I was shocked. Who spends $500 on an iPad for a young child when so many adults in the United States go without or have limited access to computers and the Internet? Whatever happened to Lego, building blocks and colored pencils? And for those slightly older kids how about a good, old-fashioned book instead of an iPad for the car journey to the beach?
Recently, I was at dinner with a couple and I brought up the subject of parents buying iPads for their young children. I was curious to see how they responded since I knew they had three young kids. It turned out they are a part of this growing trend. The iPad can download or stream cartoons, so it makes for excellent entertainment when they're trying to get to the grocery store or head out of the city for the annual family vacation. But the best thing about iPads is that there are games and educational applications for nearly every age level.
It got me thinking that maybe my first reaction was a little too \"reactionary\". Now I can understand the parents a little better. If I had three kids and was living in the city they would probably have an iPad, too.
Passage 2
Around the world smart cities are being built while those we have lived in for centuries are being upgraded for the future. A smart city may mean one that uses data on traffic to ease congestion or one that aims to 1) join up services to provide better information for citizens. For many it is about making cities greener and more efficient. It is partly a 2) reaction to overcrowding and pollution and partly because in an ever-connected world it 3) makes increasing sense to hook entire cities up to the network.
Masdar is a city that stands in the middle of the desert of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. It is designed to be one of the most 4) sustainable cities on the planet. With a solar power station at its heart and wind farms providing energy for it, it 5) aims to be carbon free. Everything in the city, from water to rubbish, is measured and 6) monitored, becoming a source of information. The city is built on a raised platform to allow its \"digital plumbers\" easy 7) access to the system of advanced technologies that run it. It is pedestrian-friendly and entirely car free. The city is 8) experimenting with a network of electric driverless podcars. The PRT — personal rapid transit — will run six meters under street level across the city. The buildings in the city have been designed by Norman Foster's architecture firm, which designed a number of 9) eye-catching buildings including The City Hall in London.
It is hoped that 40,000 people will eventually live in the city, with up to 50,000 10) commuting there each day. Test
Of the many problems in the world today, none is as (1)widespread or as old as crime. Crime has many forms, including crimes against (2)property, person, and government. In all its forms crime (3)penetrates every layer of society and touches every human being. You may never have been (4)robbed, but you suffer the increased cost of store-bought items because of others' shoplifting, and you pay higher taxes because of others' tax evasion (逃避). Whatever you do, wherever you live, you are a (5)victim of crime whether you like it or not, whether you know it or not.
Some people (6)argue about who is really to blame for criminal behavior: the individual or society. Researchers in the United States and Canada have identified several factors in society that (7)contribute to the crime rate: massive urbanization, unemployment and poverty, and a large immigrant (8)population. Other countries are more affected by factors such as politics, government corruption and religion. However, the most important problem that still (9)remains unsolved is how to stop crime from happening. So far, different types of solutions have been (10)proposed to combat various specific crimes. But they are not all very effective. Therefore, more effective measures and more powerful actions are to be taken against all sorts of crimes so that our world may be a better place to live in.
Unit 6
Passage 1
In 1964, 19 million women were employed in the United States. Today they
total 65 million, working in a wide variety of industries and increasingly pursuing higher education. The number of working women who have attended college has increased 200 percent since 1970, and the undergraduate class of 2011 was 57 percent female.
Yet as far as women have come, they still earn on average only 81.2 percent as much as men and remain in lower-end jobs. What are the best-paying jobs for women? Using data on the weekly earnings of full-time workers in 2010 collected by BLS, we discovered that tech and health care is where the money's at.
Female physicians and surgeons topped the list. These women earned a median of $1,618 per week, or about $84,000 a year, more than any other profession tracked by the BLS. Male doctors continue to earn more than female doctors, but the pay gap has narrowed each year; it's now at 29 percent versus 41 percent two years ago.
Interestingly, the second best-paying job for women is a pharmacist. Female pharmacists make a median of $1,605 per week or about $83,500 annually, nearly as much as physicians and surgeons and more than chief executives, which came in at No. 3 on our list. Women account for 48 percent of the pharmacy profession and earn 83 percent as much as male pharmacists. Meanwhile, only 26 percent of CEOs are women, and they earn just 72 percent as much as their male peers.
Now women have been moving into relatively higher-paying jobs that were traditionally male-dominated. It's been a very positive development. Overall, the
gender pay gap is narrowing.
Passage 2
When you receive a job offer, it's important to take the time to carefully 1) evaluate the offer so you are making a sensible decision to accept or to reject it.
Consider the entire 2) compensation package — salary, benefits, working environment — not just your paycheck. Money isn't the only factor to consider, but, it is an important one. Is the offer what you expected? If not, is it a salary you can accept without feeling insulted? If it isn't what you expected, consider 3) negotiating salary with your future employer.
Before accepting a job, be sure that you are clear on the hours you need to work. Also, 4) confirm what, if any, travel is involved. If the position requires 45 or 50 hours of work a week and you're used to working 35 hours, consider whether you will have difficulty committing to the 5) schedule.
The bottom line in accepting a job offer is that there really isn't one. Everyone has a different set of personal 6) circumstances. What might be the perfect job for you could be an awful job for someone else.
It's much easier to 7) turn down an offer than to leave a job that you have already started. The same is true for your potential employer. The employer would prefer that you decline, rather than having to 8) start over the hiring process a
couple of weeks down the road if you don't 9) work out. So, do take the time to thoroughly consider the offer. Ask questions, if you have them. Take your time to make an educated, 10) informed decision so you feel sure that you and the company make an excellent match.
Test
Every day we hear about people making radical career changes. The (1)opportunities exist, but will all these changes make us any happier once we get there? The following are four (2)practical steps toward coming to terms with why you do what you're doing.
First, realize that your job does not (3)define you, but how you do it does. Any job can be done well, done with (4)compassion, done with care. Second, stop (5)focusing on the money. Money will never be enough. Seeing where your money is really going can help you to refocus your spending toward the things you really want. Getting paid is only one small part of what you do; your work has to be more than just a pay check to be cashed. Third, find the (6)significance in what you do. This may require you to (7)think big, but it can be done. Take some time to really think about what you do. The perspective (8)plays a huge role in personal satisfaction and the sense of well-being. Try to remember why you've taken the job in the first place. Fourth, dare to ask yourself if it's worth it. Maybe all that's needed is some refocusing. Learn to say \"no\". As long as you can choose the things you spend your time on, don't (9)attend events or meetings only because everyone expects it.
Take a look at your life. How would you describe it? (10)Contented? Rushed? Exciting? Stressful? Moving forward? Being held back? For many of us it's all of the above at times. There are things we dream of doing one day; there are things we wish we could forget. What would your life look like if you could start over with a clean slate?
Unit 7
Passage 1
\"Wilfing\or surfing the Web without any real purpose, has become a new national pastime. It is the virtual equivalent of window shopping, and a lot of us seem to be spending a lot of time doing it.
Although a newly-identified habit, more than two-thirds of the 33.7 million Internet users in the UK admit to at least occasional \"wilfing\Internet.
The attraction of pop-up sites and flashing online advertisements is too appealing to resist for many Internet users. Almost a quarter of those surveyed said they spent 30 percent or more of their Internet time wilfing — the equivalent of spending an entire working day every fortnight pointlessly jumping between random pages.
The YouGov survey of more than 2,400 Web users found that shopping
websites are the most likely destinations for wilfers. Other popular pulls include news, music and travel websites.
The poll found the tendency to wilf is more widespread among men than women. Gazing at a series of pointless web pages also appeared to be the preserve of the young, with people aged 55 or over being three times less likely to browse absent-mindedly than those under 25.
The time-consuming practice appears to have destructive effects, too: A third of males admitted that wilfing has a damaging effect on the relationship with their partners.
One in five confessed to being \"distracted\" from work or study by adult entertainment websites, which often use pop-up mechanisms and bulk emails to trap users into transferring to their pages.
Passage 2
The New York Police Department (NYPD) announced it will form a new unit to search social media as part of the combined efforts against criminals. This is an official 1) response to criminals' growing use of some websites to plan and celebrate 2) illegal achievements. A Police Chief, Kevin O'Connor, is 3) in charge of an NYPD unit created specifically to comb social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and BlackBerry
Messenger for information on planned crimes and their offenders.
The efforts against criminals have linked social media to increasing incidents of robberies in the United States and the recent rioting in London. Public safety agencies are 4) consequently looking to step up their efforts in order to better protect citizens against these trends.
In the London riots in particular, the police suspect the rioters 5) relied heavily on BlackBerry Messenger to coordinate and plan their riots. Police there are working with BlackBerry Messenger to identify those messages that are 6) linked to burning and robbing London stores. BlackBerry Messenger and other smartphone messaging services make it hard for the police to 7) anticipate criminal activity, especially if they aren't as 8) familiar with the technology as the offenders are. The NYPD unit intends to educate officers about such technology to 9) remedy this defect.
For social media providers and smartphone makers, the criminals' preference for their products is putting them in the sticky position of determining how to assist police efforts without 10) betraying lawful customers' privacy.
Test
Identity theft and identity fraud are terms used to (1)refer to all types of crime in which someone wrongfully obtains and uses another person's personal data in
some way that (2)involves fraud or deception, typically for economic gain. Unlike your fingerprints, which are (3)unique to you and cannot be given to someone else for their use, your personal data, bank account or credit card number, telephone number and other (4)valuable identifying data can be used, if they fall into the wrong hands, to personally profit (5)at your expense. In many cases, a victim's losses may include not only out-of-pocket financial losses, but substantial additional financial costs (6)associated with trying to restore his reputation in the community and correcting false information for which the criminal is (7)responsible.
To reduce or (8)minimize the risk of becoming a victim of identity theft or fraud, there are some basic steps you can take. First, be careful about giving out your personal information to others unless you have a reason to trust them; second, check your financial information (9)regularly; third, ask periodically for a copy of your credit report which should list all bank and financial accounts under your name; finally, (10)maintain careful records of your banking and financial accounts. However, even if you take all of these steps, it's still possible that you can become a victim of identity theft.
Unit 8
Passage 1
As a researcher on managerial behavior, I have read hundreds of studies that have compared women and men as managers. On average, when all of that
research is summarized, some differences do show up.
As with all averages, there are many exceptions. But here's what we know from the research:
First, women are less \"bossy\even more than bossy men. As a result, female managers are more ready to work together with others and more democratic than male managers. Second, compared with men, women use a more positive approach by encouraging and urging others rather than a negative approach of criticizing and blaming them. Third, women attend more to the individuals they work with, by guiding them and taking their particular situations into account.
Finally, there is the matter of getting the job done efficiently. Most managers, male and female, get their work done in a timely way, but some do not. When you find one of those barely functioning managers — that is, someone who avoids solving problems and just doesn't get the job done, that person is more likely to be a man than a woman. Why? Perhaps because a woman would be fired or demoted more quickly for poor management.
So, are women better managers than men? In terms of their day-to-day actions, women managers should have advantages. But the answer is really not so simple because managers do well only if people accept their authority.
In roles that have been held mainly by men, women's competence is often
questioned. In these situations, women managers can face a double standard. They have to be extra-competent to be recognized as effective. Where women managers are more common, this type of bias is less likely to prevail.
Passage 2
My great-great-grandparents were the first in my family to arrive in the United States, immigrating to this country from Europe. However, I am the first in my bloodline to arrive in the States, as I was adopted from South Korea in my 1) infancy. I have for the most part 2) assumed the customs and practices of my adoptive parents because I was raised with their values and know nothing of my biological parents. I only 3) inherited their family name.
The significance of my race has been 4) rooted in my mind since my mother took my younger brother and me to Asian cultural 5) fairs before we had even started school. She did this in an effort to 6) compensate for the lack of cultural diversity in the area; my brother and I were the only Asian children at school and in the community. Thus, the realization that there are different \"types\" of people, as far as race is concerned, actually came to me in meeting other South Koreans.
Attending college has helped 7) cement the idea of my cultural identity, for that was the first time I ever came in contact with other peoples en masse. I was finally able to 8) witness various races of students and faculty from around the world. Most of my life I had only been 9) exposed to white people, so being able to experience how other people lived allowed me to see how I was racially different.
This encouraged me to learn more about these differences and how they truly affect how I live. Also, taking college courses with a multicultural focus 10) contributed to my perceptions concerning these differences and influences.
Test
I had a really hard time at high school. I was (1)kicked out of five institutions because of absence and acting up. It wasn't that I was a bad kid, but I found school pretty boring, so it was more fun to (2)hang out with my mates than sit in class. My high school days (3)involved a lot of discipline problems. I did very badly at school. My headmaster thought I was (4)useless. And when I was 14 he said, \"You're never going to be anything but a (5)failure.\"
I left school as soon as I could at 16 and got the only job I could get. After five years of poor jobs, I (6)fell in love with a very nice middle-class girl. It was the best thing that could have happened to me. I wanted to do something (7)positive with my life. That was because I wanted to prove to her that what people said about me was wrong, (8)especially her mother, who had said to me, \"Let's face it. You failed at everything you've done.\" So I tried hard with my writing and went to college. My first novel came out while I was at college.
My writing career (9)took off when I discovered my own style. Now I'm rich and famous, have been on TV, and have met lots of film stars. What is the meaning of all this? I just wish all the people that have put me down had said: \"I believe in you. You'll (10)succeed.\"
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