新标准大学英语综合教程4教师用书（外研社）

Handouts and Key to book4 unit1-4 Unit 1

Active reading (1)

Looking for a job after university? First, get off the sofa Background information

About the passage: This is an article by an Education Correspondent, Alexandra Blair, published in

September 2008 in The Times, a long-established British quality newspaper. In Europe generally, and in Britain in particular, for a number of years there has been a rising number of students who go to university

and therefore more new graduates seeking employment. However, for many graduates finding a job became

harder in 2008–2009 because the economic downturn – then a recession – meant that many employers werereducing their workforce. After their final exams, some students rested in the summer before looking for jobs and then they found that it was difficult to find employment in their field or at the level they wanted. The

article addresses the problems of such new graduates who might be stuck at home and advises their parents

to be there for their children (ie to be available if their children want to talk about the problem or if they

need help). The article recommends finding work in a bar or supermarket rather than sitting unemployed

at home since this is more likely to lead to better employment later. The style is partly of a report, but also

of a humorous comment for light entertainment (seen in the jokey language and problem-solving advice to parents).

Why finding a job in 2008 is so difficult for university graduates? Universities in Europe, particularly in Britain, have expanded greatly in the last fifteen years (over 45% of

young adults now go on to higher education), so there are more graduates looking for jobs. This competitive

situation became a lot worse in 2008 onwards with the credit crunch and economic depression, which meant

that there were fewer jobs available and a rise in unemployment. Thus new graduates have to be active

to seek a job, they need to fill in many application forms and try to get job interviews: they won’t find

employment by lying on the sofa at home. Culture points

honours degree: Traditionally, in the British university system, BA and BSc honours degrees are awarded in different categories: a first class degree (written using Roman numbers as I), a second (divided into two

subcategories, written as IIii and IIii, which are called “a two one” and “a two two”), a third (written III) and

a pass degree. Most people get a second. There are also ordinary degrees with more general courses of study without these categories.

Generation Y and Grunt: The main idea here is that there is a succession of different generations or

cohorts of adults who come into the workforce in North America which are given different informal names

to characterize them. First, “Baby boomers” were born in the great increase (the boom) of births after World War II (1946–1960), followed by “Generation X” people (born 1960–1980) who were said to bring new

attitudes of being independent, informal, entrepreneurial, and expected to get skills and have a career before

them. “GenerationY” or the “Millenial Generation” (born 1980s and 1990s and becoming adult in the new

millenium) are now making up an increasing percentage of the workforce; they are said to be spoilt by doting

parents, to have structured lives, to be used to teamwork and diverse people in a multicultural society. In

the passage, this generation is now becoming (morphing into) Generation Grunt, which is an ironic name

referring to repetitive, low status, routine or mindless work – this may be the only work available to some graduates, who may have to take very ordinary jobs to get experience before they find something more

suitable. “Grunt” also refers to coarse behaviour or bad manners and to the deep sound that is made by a pig;

when people “grunt” they express disgust but do not communicate with words – this may be how the parents

of new graduates think their children communicate with them!

A comprehensive refers to a British type of secondary school which became popular in the1960s. Before that

there were academic “grammar schools” and more general “secondary modern” schools for those who did

not pass the grammar school entrance tests, but the comprehensive schools

were designed for all students in

a social philosophy of bringing diverse students together whether they were academic or not. Those students

who went to a comprehensive school probably felt that had to study particularly hard (I worked my backside

off) to get to university, compared to those who went to grammar schools where all students were academic –comprehensive students felt they had to struggle to get to university. Chicken suit This refers to a large yellow costume that someone wears which makes the person look like a

giant chicken. Before he became a famous actor, Brad Pitt once dressed in such a costume when he had a job

advertising for a restaurant called El Pollo Loco (The Crazy Chicken’ in Spanish) – the job meant that he had

to walk around the streets like a chicken to attract customers to come to the restaurant. Language points

1 Those memories of forking out thousands of pounds a year so that he could eat well and go to the

odd party, began to fade. Until now. (Para 1) The parents paid a lot of money for their son’s university fees and living expenses (so that he could eat

well) and for occasional social events – at graduation these memories of money were mostly forgotten

because the parents were proud. But now the parents are thinking of money again because the son doesn’t

have a job and doesn’t seem to be actively seeking one.

2 This former scion of Generation Y has morphed overnight into a member of Generation Grunt. (Para 2)

The distinguished son of Generation X (of the parents’ generation who worked hard, got jobs, and had

good careers and expected their son to do the same) has changed into a member of Generation Grunt – he

doesn’t seem to communicate much, lies around and doesn’t get a job (or can only do a low status routing job).

3 I passed the exams, but at the interviews they accused me of being ?too detached? and talking in

language that was ?too technocratic?, which I didn?t think possible, but obviously it is. (Para 5)

He passed the entrance exams for a government post, but he was criticized in the selection interviews:

They said he was detached (not personally involved) and too technocratic (he used the language of a

technical expert or high authority). As a new graduate he probably wanted to show his expertise in his

language so he can’t understand this criticism.

4 For the rest it is 9-to-5 “chilling” before heading to the pub. (Para 6)

The others who do not have a routine low status job (like stacking goods on a supermarket shelf) chill out

all day (they spend their time casually relaxing – they don’t look for work) and go to pub for a drink in the evening.

5 I went to a comprehensive and I worked my backside off to go to a good university …(Para 6)

He went to a school for students of all abilities (not to a special school for academic students) and so he

had to work very hard to enter a good university: Your backside means your bottom – the part of your

body that you sit on – to work your backside off is informal and it means you work very hard indeed.

6 … but having worked full-time since leaving school herself, she and her husband find it tricky to

advise him on how to proceed. (Para 7)

The mother has always had a full-time job (presumably the father is also working full-time), so she does not have relevant personal experience. For her, it is tricky to give advice (difficult to do).

7 Carry on life as normal and don?t allow them to abuse your bank account or sap your reserve of

emotional energy. (Para 11) The advice from Gael Lindenfield here is that parents should live as usual. They should neither let theirchildren spend the parents’ money unnecessarily, nor let the problem take away all their energy and

emotions. Sap their reserve means use up their store of emotional energy. 8 After that the son or daughter needs to be nudged firmly back into the saddle. (Para 12)

Then the parents should gently push their children firmly so that they get back into control of their lives. Reading and understanding

2 Choose the best answer to the questions.

Teaching tips

Go over the correct answers with Ss and ask them to explain why the other answers are wrong (See

below).

1 Why hasn’t Jack Goodwin got a job yet? (a) He doesn’t have a very good degree.

(No, he has a 2:1 which is considered a good degree. ) (b) He refuses to apply for jobs with low salaries.

(He feels he should get a better job after studying at university.) (c) It isn’t easy to get a job in the current financial climate. (This may be true but the passage does not mention this.) (d) He prefers to stay at home and help his family.

(No, he doesn’t seem to be helping his family: he watches TV and talks to friends.)

2 How does he spend a typical day? (a) Doing a temporary job.

(No, some of his friends are working in temporary jobs but he doesn’t want to do this.) (b) Watching television. (He watches TV a lot.)

(c) Queuing up in the university careers service.

(No, he went there once but he didn’t want to queue so he walked away.) (d) Preparing for the next job interview.

(No, he doesn’t seem to be preparing for interviews.) 3 How do most of his friends spend the day?

(a) They do nothing all day and go to the pub in the evening.

(All except one of them do nothing except chill, then they go to the pub.) (b) They do outdoor activities such as sailing.

(No, none of them seem to do outdoor activities; there is no mention of sailing.)

(c) They are forced to work by their parents.

(No, only one of them has been forced out to stack shelves by his parents; the others seem to be like Jack.)

(d) They do part-time jobs such as working in a bar.

(No, the text mentions bar work but none of Jack’s friends seem to do this work.)

4 How are Jack’s parents helping him? (a) By looking for jobs for him.

(No, Jack has tried to get a job himself; there’s nothing here about his parents helping him look for a job.)

(b) By paying for a trip to South America.

(No, although he is going on a three-week trip to South America, the passage does not say that

Jack’s parents have paid for this.)

(c) By gradually making him more financially aware.

本文来源：https://www.bwwdw.com/article/szjv.html