Read the text and say if you agree or disagree with the following statements.
13. Having a job and having a career are two very different things.
14. Planning a career can begin at any age.
15. The choice of a career doesn't only depend on a person's talents and interests.
16. To face a competitive job market is to have no guarantees for getting a job.
17. To take control of the future and to be well-prepared for the challenges of the job market, one should take several very important steps.
Text 2
Why People Work
Have you ever asked yourself what you are working for? If you have ever had the time to consider this question, or put it to others, you might well have heard some or all of the following. “It's the money of course,” some say with a smile, as if explaining something to a small child. Or it's the satisfaction of a job well done, the sense of achievement behind the clinching of an important deal. I worked as a bus conductor once, and I can't say I felt the same as I staggered along the swaying aisle trying to sell tickets without falling into someone's lap. It's the company of other people perhaps, but if that is the case, what about farmers? Is it the conversation in the farmyard that keeps them captivated by the job? “Work is power and a sense of status,” say those who have either attained these elusive goals, or feel distressed that nobody has yet recognized their leadership qualities. Or we can blame it all on someone else, the family or the taxman. I suspect, and I say this under my breath, that most of us work rather as Mr. Micawber lived, hoping for something to turn up. We'll win the lottery, and tell the boss what we really think. We'll scrape together the money and open that little shop we always dreamed of, or go around the world, or spend more time in the garden. One day we'll get that promotion we deserve, but until then at least we have something to do. And we are so busy doing it that we won't have time to wonder why.
Answer the questions.
1. Why do you think people don't usually ask themselves about their reasons for work?
2. What reasons for working are given in the passage? Do you think they are serious?
3. Who can say that work is power?
4. Does the author of the passage agree with the opinions he presents in the passage? Why?
5. What other reasons for working can you think of?