Question

A job is more than just a job，especially to the older generation.“It’s not the money that matters，but the sense of self­worth，” 56­year­old Cheng Wonlan said.So，every day Ms Cheng carries a bag of parcels，letters and documents of all shapes and sizes and does her rounds in North Point.She’s a courier(快递人员)．
Five years ago，Ms Cheng was a nurse at a private clinic.She had worked there for almost 30 years but was made jobless when the doctor migrated(移居)．It was extremely difficult for her to find another job.“People do not trust my ability when they learn how old I am，” she said.After two years of searching，the mother of two eventually found another nursing job.But then after two years，she quit.Why?
“My colleagues were young and they didn’t understand me because of my age.They often asked me，‘You are so old；what are you working for？’ I was very unhappy.” she said.So while the rest of her family left for work，she was left to lonely boredom at home.The urge to work drove her to suffering.Then，one of Ms Cheng’s neighbours told her about Employee’s Retraining Board (ERB) offering retraining courses for older people on specific occupations，such as convenience store assistants，junior clerks and so on.
“I was interested in courier work.I didn’t think my age was a barrier because I was fit and healthy.So I thought why not give it a try.” she said.Upon graduation from the ERB，Ms Cheng was offered a job by the Speeding Shuttle Courier Service Company Limited.But then Ms Cheng was faced with a conflict：she was caught between honour and employment.It took Ms Cheng 24 hours to make up her mind and eventually came to the conclusion that there was nothing wrong or embarrassing about doing the job.So she took heart and went off to work as a courier.
Ms Cheng’s employer is delighted with her，“Ms Cheng has been working with us for two months and has shown a good responsible attitude to work.”Anthony Chong，who runs the company，said.Currently，Mr Chong has 60 couriers working for his company：five of them are over fifty，four of whom have been through the ERB plan.Mr Chong said he hired older people because they were able and reliable.“Age is not an important factor but attitude is.Many old people are more capable than the youngsters.They will not run from difficulties but the young ones will，” he said.“It is not easy to recruit (招募) young people since they shy away from hardship and challenges.”
小题1:Why was it difficult for Ms Cheng to find another nursing job?

A．Nursing clinics were hard to find.

B．People thought that old people couldn’t be trusted.

C．People thought she was too old to take on a new job.

D．People didn’t think she had enough working experience.

小题2:Ms Cheng left her second nursing job because ________.

A．she was bored

B．it was too difficult

C．she was too old to do the job

D．the other staff made her feel uncomfortable

小题3:Employee’s Retraining Board is a plan for ________.

A．finding jobs for older people

B．teaching new skills to older people

C．training older people to be couriers

D．giving older people something to do in their spare time

小题4:When Ms Cheng was offered the courier job she ________.

A．took it straight away

B．thought it over and then accepted it

C．thought about it and then refused it

D．refused it straight away but then changed her mind

Answer 1

小题1:C
小题2:D
小题3:B
小题4:B

小题1:　C
解析　细节理解题。根据第二段的“‘People do not trust my ability when they learn how old I am，’”可知答案。
小题2:　D
解析　细节理解题。第三段开头告诉我们程女士辞去第二份护士工作的原因：她的同事们都很年轻，不理解程女士这个年纪还出来工作，所以会经常问她到底是为了什么工作，这使得程女士很不开心，只好辞职。
小题3:　B
解析　细节理解题。根据第三段对ERB的描述：向老年人提供特殊职业再培训课程，例如便利店工作人员、初级职员等，可知ERB的目的是给老年人培训新的技能。
小题4:B
解析　细节理解题。由第四段可知，当程女士得到这份工作时，很犹豫。她足足考虑了24个小时，才最终下定决心接受这份工作。