Topic 1 . The world of jobs.
The
latest information relating to global employment, recruitment trends in
specific sectors, trends in the labor market worldwide and labor market
legislation are parameters forming the world of jobs. Meanwhile the official
list of top ten world jobs looks rather odd. For example: paradise island
caretaker, luxury bed tester, resort waterslide tester or bike
rider-photographer for Google Maps. All these jobs are surely attractive.
You’ll never call these occupations backbreaking, exhausting, monotonous or
messy. We all know that attractive jobs are usually creative, interesting,
satisfying and rewarding. To continue the list, it’s a great plus for any job
to be prestigious and fulfilling.
So,
we know what qualities are necessary for a good job. But people should also
have certain qualities to be good for a certain job. Different jobs require
different things. If you’re a designer, an architect or interior decorator, -
show good imagination. Any fireman or police officer should be specially
trained. Nurses or doctors often work night shifts. A travel agent or social
worker must be amiable as they meet people and work with them. Chemists,
physicists or pharmacists should demonstrate accuracy and patience. And so on.
Of course it’s hard to navigate in the right direction. That’s why choosing a
career is a matter of time and common sense. Use all possible hints: the
encouragement of close people; don’t be afraid to change your mind, but don’t
hurry to follow someone’s advice or follow in someone’s footsteps.
In
the next two decades, the world is likely to have too many workers who want to
be freelancers or work part-time. But regular jobs are mostly demanded. The
task of policy makers in both developing and advanced economies is to find ways
to produce high-skilled workers and at the same time create more jobs for not
highly educated people. Solutions include moving up the value chain in
developing economies (food processing creates more employment than growing
export crops, for example). They also include finding opportunities for workers
without a college education to participate in fast-growing fields—such as
health care and home-based personal services—in advanced economies.
It’s
important to build strategies for hiring, retaining, and training the workers to
give them competitive advantage. This will include finding ways to retain more
highly skilled women and older workers. That’s why public education and
training systems must be formed in order to build pipelines of workers with the
right skills for the 21st-century global economy.
Остальные топики:
Остальные топики:
Topic
2. How to choose a profession.
We
spend great part of our lives at our jobs, so choosing a right career is one of
the most important decisions you will make in your life. Many students leave
high school and enter college without a clear idea of what they want to do in
future. Part of the problem is the size of the job market itself. With so many
kinds of jobs (2000) how can you tell which will interest you? Some of
occupations are already overcrowded. In old industries there may be little need
for new workers, while new and growing industries will offer jobs now and in
the future. Therefore, it is extremely important to explore your choice of
occupations from every angle, collect as much information as you can. But above
all you must evaluate yourself. Find out where your interests and talents lie,
mind your ambition and personal qualities. Postponing a decision is a mistake
people make, because in this case you simply miss many opportunities. First,
start with yourself, make a list of your interests, talents and abilities. Most
people have a lot of these, but at the beginning they are undeveloped and may
not seem outstanding. By concentrating on a few, or on one you may surprise
yourself at how advanced you can become. Personal bent for the job that follows, covers
the major fields in which most people find careers: science, art, social
service, business, sales and so on. But no matter which profession you choose,
such prospects as promotion, financial reward, perks and bonuses will always be
beneficial for any career growth. When choosing a job, remember that you can
not only have a regular job, but work freelance, depending on your own self.
Sometimes
we say that someone we know is 'a square peg in a round hole'. This means that
person we are talking about is not suited for the job he is doing.
Unfortunately, many people in the world are 'square pegs'. But to be a 'square
peg' is not a real problem, a real problem for millions of people is to be
unemployed. Unemployment especially hits poor and working class families, not
because these people are more likely to be unemployed, but because they don't
have financial resource to fall back on. As for our country more than 10% of
our people are unemployed. There is no lack of work force in Russia, but at the
recent moment the need for professional workers is increasing. Old industries
are overcrowded and it is hard to get new education for people whose age is
35-40 years. The problem of unemployment is also connected with the economic
crisis in our country. But hopefully when this crisis comes to an end the
problem of unemployment will not be so urgent.
Topic 3. The world of learning.
According
to Longman dictionary “learning is knowledge gained through reading and study”.
So learning is equal to knowledge. Then the question “what is knowledge?”
arises. Let’s turn to the same dictionary again. “Knowledge is the information,
skills, and understanding that you have gained through learning or experience”. It’s evident that knowledge is not only
information you possess but practical experience you get with its help.
Sources
of knowledge are numerous. Anything can be helpful there, beginning with going
to school and getting knowledge in the lessons, finishing with travelling to
far–away countries and widening your practical outlook.
Children
of all ages absorb information eagerly and become curious about the world
around them. Parents are a child's most important teacher, and the home can be
the best learning environment. But still it’s impossible to do without school,
where children get not only educational basis but learn how to communicate with
their peers. University (or any other higher educational establishment) becomes
the next stage… Actually all life long people learn something and get
experience in return.
There
are plenty of quotes and saying about the world of learning. For example: “Live
as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.” or ““Any
fool can know. The point is to understand.”, also ““Tell me and I forget, teach
me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.”
The
main idea of all these words is that learning can be characterized as the
process which doesn’t depend on only one single person. It’s like constant exchange
of what you have and what you would like to get in return.
As
for me at present my world of learning consists of …………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
The
main sources of learning for me are ……………………………………………………………….
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
I
suppose that in future my world of learning ………………………………………………………..
……………………………………………….
because ……………………………………………………………..
Topic 4. Secondary education in Britain. (St’s book ex.14 p.50-52) + don’t
forget to express your opinion about the British educational system.
Topic 5. The world of money.
What
is “money”? Money is any object or record that is generally accepted as payment
for goods and services and repayment of debts in a given country or economy. Before
the invention of money, people traded things they had for things they needed.
This was called bartering.
Later,
some certain objects were valued and used as money. Some forms of money have
been valued for their beauty. Examples include those made from shells and
feathers. Feathers were used as money on some of the islands in the Pacific
Ocean, and certain colors were especially popular. Shells have been used as
currency in many places around the world. Cowrie shells were first used in
China and were also valued in other parts of the world including North America
and some of the islands of the Pacific Ocean.
The
earliest type of money still in use is the coin. Coins are small metal disks, originally
made of valuable metals. A banknote (often known as a bill) is a kind of money
made of paper. Usually coins are used for lower valued monetary units, while
banknotes are used for higher values. When money is made of physical things we can
carry around and trade, like coins and bills, this kind of money is called
cash.
A
wide variety of forms of money is used in the world today. Each of them has a
different history.
Banks
and governments store their reserves as ingots of gold. Loose change jingles in
our pockets and purses. Banknotes and cheque books provide a light-weight,
convenient alternative spending-power. Increasingly, however, we are entering a
'cashless society' where plastic cards provide instant credit and money can be
moved between bank accounts over the Internet.
Money
has been used in different forms across the world for over 5,000 years. No one,
anywhere, escapes the power and effects of money. How we feel about money is central to how we live our lives. It is
involved in the way in which we construct our world - the way we think, the way
we interact, the way we order our priorities.
By
the way, the British Museum has one of the largest collections of money in the
world, almost one million objects. This includes coins and banknotes as well as
other objects that have served as money in different times and different
places.
Topic 6. The world of shopping.
“Shopping
is an activity in which a customer browses the available goods or services
presented by one or more retailers with the intent to purchase a suitable
selection of them”. For some people shopping is a necessity (when we want to
buy food or clothes we really need) or pleasure (when we wish to relax and rest
from everyday routine).
There
are different types of shops. They include department stores (very big shops
that sell lots of different things), corner shops (small, local shops that
offer everyday things), supermarkets (large shops that sell mostly food and
drinks) and many others such as fishmonger, butcher, grocer, baker for our food
necessities, as well as hairdresser, launderette (a place where you can wash
your clothes and have your things dry cleaned), pet shop, stationery and so on
for other needs.
The
world of shopping can cure. There is a term “retail therapy”. It is shopping
with the primary purpose of improving the buyer's mood or disposition.
Psychologists say that retail therapy really makes you happier. Treating
yourself to something nice at the shops apparently has a ‘lasting positive
impact on mood’ and leaves ‘few if any negative emotional side-effects’.
But
the world of shopping can also harm people. We have all heard of shopaholics-
people addicted to shopping. They
overspend money and sometimes even steal against their will, they just can’t
stand this impulse.
But
we live in the world of shops day by day. Each country has certain types of
shops as well as the number of the most famous ones. England, for example, is
called the country of compulsive shoppers. Englishmen love to shop! It is their
number one leisure activity and accounts for around 37% of all money spent in
England.
Harrods
is probably the world’s most famous shop (the next one is Selfridges). For Londoners, there is a love-hate
relationship: most say they hate it but then assure you it is the best place
for silk socks, toys, flowers, tea or whatever. Its 230 departments on five
floors spread over twenty acres where 4 000 staff serve 50 000 customers.
There
are six restaurants, five bars, a library, bank, pet shop, dry cleaners,
everything from Indian cigarettes to domestic equipment to buy, a ticket agency
and departments for christening, weddings and funerals.
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