ENGLISH TEST- YEAR 9 Name: _____________________________________ No._ Class: _________ Date: __________________ EVALUATION Teacher: ____________________________________ Topic: Unit 4: Vocabulary contents – Work out your future (Textbook “New getting on9”) 45 min. test The 2 Biggest Reasons You Can’t Decide on a Career Direction Have you ever heard a story about someone whose childhood interest grew comfortably into a career? There’s the kid who constantly messed around with his parent’s computer and naturally pursued a career as a programmer. Or the child with an utter fascination for drawing that led her securely down the path of being a graphic designer. But guess what? For most of us, that doesn’t happen. Most of us look at others’ seemingly effortless career choices with envy, because we’re still wondering what we want to be when we grow up. Oh yeah, and we’ve already grown up. If that’s you, have a look at these reasons that likely explain why you’re having trouble choosing a career direction: 1. You Don’t Know What You Like The basis for choosing a rewarding career direction is recognizing the topics, activities or environments that are more interesting to you than most other things. Identifying these categories is tremendously helpful because it focuses your career search. You can learn about potential jobs, and develop your skills in a manner that is specifically targeted to your areas of interest. If you don’t know what you like, the opposite scenario occurs. Every job in the world becomes a possibility. Or perhaps you try to hit the moving target of today’s coolest or most lucrative career paths. Your attention scatters and your attempts at developing a career suffer. To remedy this issue, turn an interested eye toward the boy (or girl) in the mirror. Take a look at your computer’s bookmarked sites, the books on your bookshelf and the television programs you enjoy. Ask friends what they’ve noticed about your interests. Try to remember experiences that were particularly enjoyable for you. A few themes will likely emerge. If your internal search results come back empty, invest time into exploring new things, particularly those things you think you might like. These do not need to be immediately relevant to a career path. It may sound silly, but knowing you prefer attending a ballroom dancing class over a book group matters. Ask yourself why you like a certain topic to gain a deeper insight into your preferences, and remember that the main goal with this exploration is to increase your self-knowledge. 2. You Know What You Like, But You Don’t Think It’s Okay One unfortunate result of humans being such socially oriented creatures is that we’re extremely susceptible to the opinions and doubts of other people. If you’ve been feeling confused about your career direction for a while, my guess is that the true issue probably isn’t a lack of knowledge of what you want. Instead, the confusion stems from the fact that what you want conflicts with what the people around you tell you is acceptable or possible. Often when this occurs, we dismiss what we truly want and instead try to conform to others’ expectations. The core solution to conquering this issue is to modify your social environment. Find and surround yourself with people who naturally accept who you are deep down. They may be particularly accepting and supportive friends. Or they may take the form of a coach or mentor with whom you click. Focusing on creating an environment full of social acceptance for what you want will help you to calm down, drop the confusion and realize that your true career aspirations are legitimate and worth honoring. http://blog.brazencareerist.com/2012/11/01/the-2-biggest-reasons-you-cant-decide-on-a-career-direction/ (abridged and adapted) A. Find synonyms for the following words in the introductory part of the text. The word order is random!!! 1.complete 2. followed 3. easy 4. caused to happen 5. jealousy 6. busied oneself without purpose or plan B. Read Paragraph 1 and write True or False next to the following statements. 1. In order to make a good career choice, you should first know your areas of interest. _______ 2. If you are uncertain about your future job, anything can be a possibility. _______ 3. Some people make their career choices based on what’s in fashion or what pays off better. _______ 4. If money prospects and career trends are top priorities for you, the chance is that you’ll make the best choice possible. _______ 5. Your mass media interests may not be of good help. _______ 6. Perhaps your childhood memories can help to ring a bell. _______ 7. When introspection doesn’t work, all hope is lost. _______ 8. All the tips given throughout this paragraph, will ultimately allow you to learn more about yourself. _______ C. Read paragraph 2 and match a phrase from the two columns to make a summary of its contents. 1. Because most of us are socially oriented 2. Sometimes the question is not knowing what you want 3. You may have to 4. A teacher you have empathy with 5. Finding the proper atmosphere 1. 2. a. but believing in what others lead you to believe. b. can be of great help. c. will naturally help you to relax and make the best choice. d. we are prone to being influenced by what other people think. e. start hanging out with totally different people. 3. 4. Writing Write a few lines on what your possible career choice will be based on and why. 5.
