Unit 3 Job Interview Text A: Get the Job You Want pre-reading activity Part One : pre-reading...

Unit 3Job Interview

Text A: Get the Job You Wantpre-reading activity

Part One : pre-reading questions: Listen to the record two or three times and then think

over the following questions: Why do some people find it hard to find a job? Why do you think of the wife behaves in the song? How does the husband feel about his wife’s behavior? What about the husband? Do you think he is really

trying to get a job?

Text A: Get the Job You Want pre-reading activity

Class discussion:Imagine that you are an applicant,try to brainstorm how to prepare for a job interview.

Know the exact place and time of the interview, the interviewer’s full name,the correct pronunciation and his or her title.

Learn pertinent facts about the company such as annual sales revenue, principal lines of business and locations.

Find out why the hiring manager and/or client representative is interested in your qualifications.

Determine how the opportunity will impact your immediate and long-term career development.


An interview is a “two-way street ”. Know what questions to ask during the interview. Your questions allow the hiring manager to evaluate your professional and personal needs. Insightful questions help both of you determine if your relationship will be mutually rewarding. Lastly, the better you understand the opportunity, the more you will be able to communicate your interest in the position.

Put your best foot forward. Always wear proper attire and greet your interview with a firm handshake and an enthusiastic smile.


Part Two : comprehension questions What is the writer according to what he says at the

beginning of the text? What kind of answers did he get from the college

gradate who wanted a job? What conclusion did the writer draw from the young

applicant’s answers? What is the first suggestion the writer gives to job

applicants?


What changes have taken place with employees since the writer’s college days?

What example does the writer use in support of his second suggestion?

What’s the writer’s third suggestion mainly concerned with?

Why does the writer talk about the cabs in New York when he gives fourth suggestion?

What was it about the cabdriver that particularly impressed the writer?


What made the writer travel with his mentor Curt Carlson’s jet and what happened on the day of departure?

Why was Curt Carlson so happy when they were taxiing down the runway?

What point does the writer want to make by talking about his mentor,Curt Carlson?


Keys to the questions above:1. An company owner.2. The answers he got from the applicant were mostly

“No”3. Since the answer to every question was the

same :no,so the writer concluded from all these that this applicants are quite not suitable for this job.

4. To prepare themselves well for the jobs


5. They have to face more challenge than before.

6. A 90-year-old tennis player.

7. Believe in yourself, even when no one else does.

8. He just wanted to give the readers a living proof that you can always shift the odds in your favor.


9. His attitudes towards the customers.

10. The author had to get to a meeting and his friend,Curt offered him a ride,and it happened to be a day the city was hit by the worst snowstorms in years.

11. He was happy to be the first.

12. To be optimistic whenever you meet whatever kind of trouble.

Text A: Get the Job You Wantwhile-reading activity

Part Three:language points1.applicant: a person who applies for sth.,esp.a post

Eg: graduate schools generally require applicants to submit scores on the Graduate Record Exam(GRE)

2.interview:question to decide if sb.is right for a job

Eg: we’ve going to interview six candidates this afternoon.

John is being interviewed next week for the Chief Executive’s job.

Text A: Get the Job You Want while-reading activity

3.grill:(infml) question to decide if sb.is right for a jobEg: Tom was grilled by customs officers for several hours. The senior detective grilled the young suspect about the robbery

case. We could grill the chops on the barbecue.4.follow up: take additional steps to further (a previous action) (follow

ed by with ) Eg :If you make a hotel booking by phone,follow it up with written con

firmation. We are worried that terrorists will follow up their threats with bomb

attacks.

5.in sb’s hands: in sb’s possessionEg: All the relevant facts are in my solicitor’s hands. His father’s company has been in his hands for some

years.6.prospective:likely to become or beEg: The chief function of direct-mail advertising is to famili

arize prospective buyers with a product.The college had applications from nearly 200 prospective

students.



7.as I see it:in my opinion

Eg: As I see it ,this is the best book on the subject.

As I see it ,this press conference is the most successful one we have ever had .

8.(as) the saying goes :used to introduce a particular phrase that people often say

Eg: As an old English saying goes, “If you want to live and thrive, let a spider run alive”

As the saying goes, “He who laughs last laughs longest.”


9.endeavor:an effect or attempt to do sth.;try (to do sth.)

E.g.: The government has endeavored to forbid the employment of children under the age of 16.

The company endeavors to deal with clients’ complaints as promptly as possible.

10.employment:an occupation,esp.,regular paid work

E.g.: The automobile industry continues to be an important source of employment in that country.

Minorities often face barriers in education and employment.


11.do one’s homework:make preparations beforehande.g: Before you go near a stockbroker,do your homework. He had done his homework before he delivered the s

peech.12.go after:try hard to obtaine.g: Are you planning to go after Peter’s job when he leav

es? He went after first prize in the English speech contes

t.


13.close every sale:complete every sale or be successful in every sale.

14.I shouldn't have : I shouldn't’t have worried about having the 90-year-old man as my partner.

15.incidentally: by the way (used when adding more information to what was said before, or when you want to talk about sth else you have just thought of .)

e.g: Incidentally, this wine goes particularly well with cheese.

Incidentally, if you want to see her again, let me know.


16.partner:one of a pair or team in a sport or game; person who takes part in an activity with another or others

e.g: She id one of the five partners in the firm of lawyer.He didn't’t take in the contest because his partner was ill.17.chuckle:laugh quietly E.g: The professor chuckled when we told her that we we

re afraid of her.


She sat reading the comic, chuckling to herself.

18. Bracket:a group or category that has a particular range;pieces of metal, wood, or plastic that are fastened to a wall in order to support something such as a shelf.

e.g: This new car is out of my price bracket.

Women outnumbered men three to two in the the over-65 age bracket.

Fix the beam with the brackets and screws.


We need some adjustable wall brackets.

19.physical: of or concerning the body;of or concerning the laws of nature

e.g: Human populations differ in their skin color,eye color and shape , hair color and other physical characteristics.

Regular exercise enhances people’s sense of mental well being along with their general physical health


It is a physical impossibility to be in two places at once.

20.structure:the way in which sth is organized, built or put together.

e.g: Morphology is concerned with the structure of words, syntax with the structure of phrases and sentence.

The structure of the family varies from society to society .The house was a handsome four-story brick structure.


21.take/have a crack (at): try to do (sth.)

e.g: They have decided to have a crack at the doubles championship.

I would like to take a crack at the Olympic title again before I retire.

22. At the gun: when a starting fun signaled the start of a race.

23. Deadline: a time limit by which sth. must be done

e.g: Tomorrow is the deadline for the students to hand in their term paper.


April 15 is the deadline for tax forms to be mailed.

24. Make a difference:change the situation or outlook;have an effect

e.g: Having a good teacher has made all the difference for Alex.

Where you live can make such a difference to the way you feel.

25. Partition: a thin wall or screen that divides a room or other indoor space

e.g: Glass partitions divided the room into individual offices.


Her taxicab has a thick Perspex partition between the passengers’ seats and the driver.

26.blurt: utter abruptly and thoughtlessly

e.g: Peter blurted the secret (out) before we could stop him.

As soon as the the teacher put forward the question, he blurted the answer out.

27.pry: try to look into private facts about a person (used in the patterns: pry into sth.)

e.g: We don’t want people prying into our affairs.


Some reports like to pry into film stars’ private life.28.in the neighborhood of : aboute.g: He has an annual salary in the neighborhood of

$40,000. I am hoping to buy an apartment in the neighborhood

of 200,000 yuan.29.generous: giving or ready to give freelye.g: It was generous of you to share your food with me. Peter is very generous to his friends.


The company announced a generous, unprecedented $20 per day wage for new workers.

30.jet: an aircraft with one or more jet engines

e.g: British jet fighters have joined the UN forces.

Commercial air transport has experienced massive growth with the advent of jet airliners.

31.As we were taxiing down it: as the jet moved slowly on a runway. Here “taxi” is used as a verb.

32.beyond anyone’s\ones’s wildest dreams: more than anyone\one can ever imagine


e.g: Ten years ago it was beyond my wildest dreams that I could afford a car.

Scientists have made an invention which is to change our lives beyond our wildest dreams.

33.sparkle: shine in small bright flashes

e.g: The stone sparkles when properly cut.

The diamond ring sparkled in the sunlight.

34.from one’s\the standpoint (of): from one’s\the viewpoint(of)

e.g: From a human standpoint, all of the world’s physical resources are in finite supply.


Part Four: text Analysis According to the Writing Strategy in Unit 4, there are usually five

ways to begin an essay: using a quotation, stating the time and place of the event to be described,providing relevant background information, and giving a surprising or interesting fact.

Text A of this unit starts with a personal story, which could also be very appealing to readers. Personal experiences sound real. They can also narrow the distance between the author and the reader.


Then the author offers four keys to getting hired. All are instructive yet each id begun in a way different from the rest stylistically. Let’t have a closer look at then one buy one.

Key 1 starts with a quotation– “If you miss one day of practice, you notice the difference,” the saying goes among musicians. “ If you miss two days of practice, the critics notice the difference. If you miss three days of practice, the audience notices the difference.”


Key 2 starts with a surprising fact– “Recently I played a doubles tennis match paired with a 90-year-old.”

Key 3 begins with a question— “Do you remember the four-minute mile?”

Key 4 begins with a personal opinion– “ In my opinion, the majority of New York cabdrivers are unfriendly,if not downright rude. Most of the cabs are filthy,and almost all of them sport an impenetrable, bulletproof partition”.

All this makes the article more appealing to the reader.


A recent college graduate failed to answer the questions at an interview because of lack of preparation.

Prepare to win

Never stop learning

Believe in yourself, even when no one else does

Find a way to make a difference

The end :to sum up the four points

Part five: text structure

Text A: Get the Job You Want post-reading activity

Part six: culture notesMichael Jordan (1963- ):


American professional basketball player,considered by many to be the greatest player in basketball history. The 6 ft 6 in (198 cm) shooting guard first became known as an explosive individual scorer,but as he matured as a player he adopted a more team oriented approach to the game. Jordan led the Chicago Bulls to six National Basketball Association (NBA) championships (1991-1993,1996-1998). His widespread appeal to fans has helped keep basketball one of the world’s popular spectator sports.


John Michael Landy (1930- ):


Australian athlete,and the second runner, after England’s Sir Roger Bannister,to break the four-minute mile. He did so in 3 minutes 58 seconds in 1954,two months after Bannister set his mark.

Sir Roger Bannister (1929-? ):


British physician and the first athlete in history to run a mile less than 4 min. Born in Harrow,England, he was educated at the University of Oxford and at Saint Mary’s Hospital Medical school. At a meet in Oxford on May 6,1954,Bannister ran the mile in 3 min 59.4 sec, establishing a world record. This was bettered less than two months later by the Australasian athlete John Landy, who set a record of 3 min 58 sec. Banninster defeated Landy in a mile race held at Vancouver, Canada, in August 1954.


Although neither set a record, both men again ran the mile in less than 4 min. banninster retired

from athletic competition in December 1954 to practice medicine. He wrote an autobiography, Four Minute Mile, published in 1955, and was knighted in 1975.


The New York Marathon:


:in the fall, the largest running event in the U.S.,annually attracting 30,000 or more entrants in a race through the five boroughs.


Part Seven:exercise 1.translation Translate the following passage into English, using the words and

phrases given below.

Applicant; interview; prospective ; endeavor; employment; (as) the saying goes; do one’s homework ; make a difference ; in the neighborhood of; from one’s/the standpoint(of)


常言道，好的开端是成功的一半。在求职时，求职者事先做好充分的准备是非常重要的。我认为，事先作不作准备常常会影响求职者的成功机会。

我的一位朋友在一家计算机软件公司供职，年薪十万美元左右。他根据自己的经历告诉我说，那些对未来的雇员具有录用决定权的人喜欢有充分准备的人。那些在没有了解未来的雇主方面尽全力的人很难有成功的希望。


Keys: Well begun is half done, as the saying goes. It is

extremely important for a job applicant to do his homework while seeking employment. From my standpoint, whether or not one has done his homework clearly makes a difference in his chance of success.

I have a friend who is earning somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 thousand dollars a year in a large computer software company. He told


me that from his own experience the decision makers who interview prospective employees like people who are well prepared. Those who make no endeavor to learn as much about his prospective employer as possible don’t have much of a chance of success.

2.Cloze: Complete the following passage with words chosen from the words and phrases to Drill box.Change the form where necessary.


What is the best way to impress a _____(1)employer when you go for an_____(2)for a job?___ ____ ___ ____(3),the best thing is to demonstrate that you have ____ ____ _____(4)and know all about the firm. You should make every ____(5),for the company, including the different lines of business it is involved in. Be enthusiastic,let the interviewer know that that you are not frightened by new challenges, but are willing to ___ ___ ___(7)at anything.


Try to look at the situation___ ____ ____(8)of the person offering the opportunity of _____(9). What sort of qualities is he likely to be looking for? Enthusiasm, certainly.

So don’t leave your application waiting until just before the ______(10). Apply early. Another thing that can___ ___ ____(11)is to ___ ___(12)your interview with a letter expressing your enthusiasm to join the company.


Keys:1.prospective 2interview 3.As I see i

t 4.done your homework 5endeavor 6.structure

7take a crack 8.from the standpoint 9.employ

ment10.deadline 11.make a difference 12.follow

Text B A Mortal Flower

Part eight :Key Words Exercises

excerpt foundation coil

dictated quivered intricate

took away came out outer

administration benign

get in scraps


1.I have seen a short ___ from the film on television.

2. You may be able able to get support from an arts______.

3. The snake _____around the branch.

4. This long book is _____by his mother , a illiterate woman.

5. He ______ for the chilly wind.

6. The palace is really a _______one.

7. When Tom and his wife got divorced, his wife ___their son and everything that mattered to him.


8. When I was a child, whenever a nurse_____me with the needle, I would scream,my eyes filled with tears of fright.

9. The ozone in the ____atmosphere protects us from ultraviolet rays from the sun which can cause skin cancer and probably many other unknown disease.

10. The ____of a big university is difficult since it must offer various services to meet the needs of the students who may come from all over the world.


11. Some people have spoken of Edward’s violent temper, but, as his wife,I have found him my most ____,my best company all these years.

12. Civil service careers offer some of the most rewarding job opportunities you can find,but to _____you need to pass an exam.

13. My mom and I used collect _____of bread in paper bags and take them to feed the ducks in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park.


Keys:1. Excerpt 2. Foundation 3. coiled

4.dictated 5.quivered 6.intricate

7.took away 8.came out 9.outer

10.administration 11.benign

12.get in 13.scraps


Part nine:comprehension questions1. Why were the author’s parents not confident of her success

when she wrote for the job?

2. Why did the author want to get the job ?

3. What kind of situation can you infer the author’s parents were in?


4. What did the author do to disguise her age?

5. How did the author feel at the interview ?

6. What did the author impress deeply on the Comptroller?


Keys:1. They thought she lacked connections.

2. To support herself in her education.3. They were poor.

4. She applied makeup.

5. Nervous.

6. Good English.

The end

Unit 3 Job Interview Text A: Get the Job You Want pre-reading activity Part One : pre-reading...

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