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Reading 1/2:
Read the article and choose the best answer (A, B, C or D) for each question.
The accepted concept of a career path followed a similar pattern for decades. After completing their education, people would enter the adult world of work, settling down to a job in which they would likely remain from that point onward. Not only would this occupation provide their income for their entire working life, it would also allow them a healthy pension when they retired and moved into old age. Over the past twenty years, however, the relationship between a wage earner and their chosen profession has changed enormously. Today, the idea of a 'job-for-life' has all but disappeared, to be replaced by an unforgiving world of unstable employment. Some observers even argue that current society appears to pit old against young in a constant battle to find work of some description, all against a backdrop of increasing debt and economic difficulties.At the same time, the government regularly releases figures that suggest that the economy is prospering, evidencing this claim with the fact that the unemployment rate continues to fall
annually. Given this claim, logic would seem to dictate that, since there are fewer people out of work, an increasing number of people are enjoying a regular income. To dispute this. Frank
Thomas's 2016 study on the nature of work. Employment as a Myth, revealed an interesting and contradictory interpretation. There are indeed more jobs available. However, a huge number
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of these are casual, temporary or short-term positions, all of which are low-paid and create little in the way of tax income for the government. This has a number of debilitating long-term effects, not least because this assurance of a growing economy is based more in myth than fact. Thomas explains. 'Without tax income, the economy cannot grow; if the economy stays weak,new jobs will not be created.'He also illustrates how, around the world, increases in life expectancy have created a problem for a huge number of retired workers, who are starting to find that the sum of money they have saved for their retirement does not stretch far enough to provide the financial security that they had expected. As a result, there has been a widespread return of these workers to the job market, very often in search of the type of casual employment that was once the preserve of people in their late teens and early 20s. Lois Lawrence expands on this view in Unfair Returns:'Older people are taking opportunities away from their grandchildren. Post-education, those new to the world of work are not able to earn any sort of living wage, nor are they getting the
opportunity to develop the 'soft skills', e.g. social intelligence, that will enable them to flourish in the job market.'
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1) What is the main argument about the traditional career path?
A. It remains unchanged over the past decades.B. It has become more stable in recent years.
C. It is the cause of economic difficulties.D. It has evolved into a world of unstable employment.
2) What does Lois Lawrence mention as essential for growing in the job market?A. Technical expertise
B. Academic qualifications C. Leadership skills
D. Soft skills
3) How does the passage describe the current job market for many individuals?A. It is limited to the younger generation.
