Why do people undertake volunteer work and wh...

Why do people undertake volunteer work and what keeps their interest in the work?

Let’s begin with the question of why people volunteer. Researchers have identified several factors that motivate people to get involved. For example, people volunteer to express personal values related to unselfishness, to expand their range of experiences, and to strengthen social relationships. If volunteer positions do not meet these needs, people may not wish to participate. To select volunteers, you may need to understand the motivations of the people you wish to attract.

People also volunteer because they are required to do so. To increase levels of community service, some schools have launched compulsory volunteer programs. Unfortunately, these programs can shift people’s wish of participation from an internal factor to an external factor. When that happens, people become less likely to volunteer in the future. People must be sensitive to this possibility when they make volunteer activities a must.

Once people begin to volunteer, what leads them-to remain in their positions over time? To answer this question, researchers have conducted follow-up studies in which they track volunteers over time. For instance, one study followed 238 volunteers in Florida over a year. One of the most important factors that influenced their satisfaction as volunteers was the amount of suffering they experienced in their volunteer positions. Although this result may not surprise you, it leads to important practical advice. The researchers note that attention should be given to “training methods that would prepare volunteers for troublesome situations or provide them with strategies for coping with the problem they do experience”.

Another study of 302 volunteers at hospitals in Chicago focused on individual differences in the degree to which people view “volunteer” as an important social role. It was assumed that those people for whom the role of volunteer was most part of their personal identity would also be most likely to continue volunteer work. Participants indicated the degree to which the social role mattered by responding to statements such as “Volunteering in hospital is an important part of who I am.” Consistent with the researchers’ expectations, they found a positive correlation (正相关) between the strength of role identity and the length of time people continued to volunteer. These results, once again, result in concrete advice: “Once an individual begins volunteering, continued efforts might focus on developing a volunteer role identity... Items like T-shirts that allow volunteers to be recognized publicly for their contributions can help strengthen role identity.”

1.People volunteer mainly out of ________.

A.school requirements B.social expectations

C.financial rewards D.internal needs

2.What does the author want to tell us in the third paragraph?

A.People who participate in volunteer programs in schools are sensitive.

B.External factors are more important than internal factors in volunteer work.

C.Being required to be volunteers may make people reluctant to do volunteer work.

D.Volunteer programs in school can encourage people to do more volunteer work in future.

3.What can we learn from the Florida study?

A.Follow-up studies should last-for one year.

B.Volunteers should get mentally prepared.

C.Strategy training is a must in research.

D.Volunteers are provided with concrete advice.

4.What is most likely to motivate volunteers to continue their work?

A.Individual differences in role identity.

B.Practical advice from researchers.

C.Role identity as a volunteer.

D.Publicly identifiable volunteer T-shirts.

高三英语阅读理解困难题查看答案及解析

—Why do many people keep dogs as pets?

—Because they are our ____ friends and they never desert their masters.

高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析

NEW YORK - People who keep doing some work in their field after they retire may enjoy better physical and mental health than those who stop work completely or switch to another area of work, according to a U.S. study.

Researchers from the University of Maryland said the findings suggest that prospective retirees should consider moving into so-called "bridge employment" as a transition to full retirement.

"In essence, if someone is in a field where part-time work or self-employment is possible, he or she should consider it as they plan for retirement," researcher Dr. Mo Wang, an assistant professor of psychology, told Reuters Health.

For their study, Wang and his colleagues used data on more than 12,000 workers in a U.S. health study begun in 1992. Participants, who were between the ages of 51 and 61 at the outset, were surveyed every two years over a six-year period.

Overall, Wang's team found, people who went into some form of bridge employment reported lower rates of major diseases like high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes and arthritis during the study period than their counterparts who went straight into full retirement.

The findings were not explained by older age or worse initial health among people who opted for full retirement, the investigators report in the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology.

On top of their better physical health, "bridge" workers also tended to report fewer mental health problems, such as depression.

The same mental health benefits were not seen, however, when retirees took part-time work in other fields -- possibly, Wang said, because many of these people may have taken those jobs out of financial need rather than choice.

He noted that the lack of benefit could also stem from the fact that these retirees had to adjust to an unfamiliar job position or had to make lifestyle changes.

Bridge work, particularly in one's accustomed field, may benefit physical and mental health for a number of reasons, according to Wang.

In general, he explained, such work may help older adults maintain the active lifestyles they had during their careers and decrease any stress they might feel from the transition into retirement.  wwwWang said when it comes to mental health, for instance, bridge work may help by allowing people to keep some of the "role identity" that they have formed over their careers.

Staying active in general, not only through work, can also benefit retirees' physical health, Wang noted. He added, however, that any mental health benefits are likely to depend on the type of activity -- whether it is something that the person truly enjoys, and that helps ease any stress of moving into retirement.

"These findings," Wang said, "suggest that for retirees and prospective retirees, carefully considering whether to engage in bridge employment -- and if so, what types of bridge employment -- is quite important."

1. What does the underlined phrase “at the outset” mean?__________

2. People who went into some form of bridge employment have less chances to get the following diseases, EXCEPT___________.

3.Which of the following statement is WRONG?_________

4.What can we infer from the passage?________

5.Which is the best title of the passage?

高三英语阅读理解简单题查看答案及解析

What are your goals? Why is setting goals important?

Wise people imagine how their life should be and set lots , of goals. By setting goals you are taking control 1.your life. It’s like having a map to show you where you want to go. Think of it in this way. These are two drivers. One with a destination in mind can drive straight there without any 2. (waste) time or wrong turns. The 3.driver having no goal or destination just starts and drives aimlessly around, never 4. (get) anywhere.

5. (win) in life set goals and follow them. They decide what they want in life and then get there by, making plans and setting goals. 6. (success) people just let life happen to them by accident. Goals aren’t difficult to set 7.they aren’t difficulty to reach. It’s up to you to find out 8.your goals really are. You are the one who must decide what to achieve and in what direction to aim your life.

Research tells us that when we write a goal down we are more likely to achieve it, .Written goals can 9. (view) regularly and have more power. When you write your goals in a particular way, you are able to make yourself 10. (continuous) aware of situations where you are nearer to your goal.

高三英语语法填空中等难度题查看答案及解析

E

Some people have it easy. When their kids ask them what they do at work, they can give a simple, direct answer: “I put out fires” or “I teach primary school”. As a theoretical physicist, I never had this luck. Society has come to expect many things from the physicists. It used to be that we only had to discover the basic laws of the world and supply the techniques that would power the next Silicon Valley. With these expectations we were fairly comfortable: they are the sorts of things we think we know how to do. What makes us uncomfortable and what makes it hard for us to tell our kids what we’re up to is that in this century we have become, though unwillingly, gurus on questions such as “What is the nature of Reality?”

We now deal with a whole new class of problems. We ask how the world began and what the nature of matter is. The answers we are coming up with are just not easy to comprehend for the average person.

So, when physicists get out of their cars in the morning, have a cup of coffee and sit down in front of their computers, they leave a familiar world and enter a place where things act in strange ways that are impossible for ordinary people to understand.

72. According to the passage, in a way physicists are ________ .

A. honest         B. comfortable    C. strange        D. unlucky

73. By what the writer says about physicists, we know that physicists ________ .

A. don’t like their careers

B. live in two different worlds

C. are coming up with new answers to old questions

D. don’t have to tell people what they are doing

74. From the passage we can conclude that theoretical physicists ________ .

A. contributed to the new industry in Silicon Valley

B. only have to answer the basic questions about the world

C. have disappointed the expectations of many people

D. have found it hard to make themselves popular

75. What’s the main idea of the passage?

A. Society seems to know a bit about physicists’ work.

B. Most people are expecting to know what physicists are doing.

C. Physicists are doing more and more difficult jobs.

D. It’s impossible for average people to know physicists’ work.

高三英语阅读理解简单题查看答案及解析

Why do many people take vacations frequently? We need to take time out from work to relax, and just be ourselves. 　 1.　 We should all be allowed to leave our jobs behind us—at least for a few weeks each year—and just have fun. This might be something as simple as reading a good book in front of a warm fireplace through to traveling to the most interesting places on our planet. Whatever we fancy doing is worth taking time out for.

As we know, workplace stress is on the rise. 　 2. These include disease, depression and even death. We all seem to be running from one place to the next, never finding out where we want to go in the first place. I intend to break that trend in the coming days.　 3.　 I will sleep late, write, watch movies, drink the occasional glass of wine, and eat to my heart's content, ignoring calorie counting. My plan is to just enjoy the fleeting(飞逝的) moments of being alive. 4.　 Spend your next vacation the way you want; Do what will restore your mental health. You're very valuable to the people who are close to you, and to those who depend on it. Like it or not, we are all interdependent（互相依存的）in this great life of ours. There's no doubt that you are valuable. Just remember that the next time you look at a mirror and take a deep breath. Remind yourself that there will never be anyone like you ever on this earth again.　 5.　 1you have to do is just ask yourself what you want to do.

A. Draw up a detailed plan so that you can see more.

B. With it come many health problems.

C. When you finally get home you'll be greatly refreshed.

D. Life is not all about work, or at least it shouldn't be.

E. And only you know how to take a vacation in your way.

F. I challenge each one of you to do the same.

G. For my next holiday, I will do all the things that I love doing.

高三英语七选五中等难度题查看答案及解析

______yourself with positive people and you will keep focused on what you can do instead of what you can’t.

A. Surrounding　　　　　　 B. Surrounded

C. Surround　　　　　 D. Having surrounded

高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析

______yourself　 with　 positive　 people　 and　 you　 will　 keep　 focused　 on　 what　 you　 can　 do　 instead　 of　 what　 you　 can’t.

A.　 Surrounding　　　　　　　　 B.　 Surrounded

C.　 Surround　　　　　　　　　　 D.　 Having　 surrounded

高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析

Many people wonder what they can do to become well-rounded and competitive while increasing their rate of success. An often overlooked yet simple way to improve is to increase your knowledge by being a self-starter.

1. Rid yourself of assumptions and convictions so that you can be open and receptive to new information. This at times may even contradict what you have always believed to be true. You will eventually come across information that challenges your worldview. Rather than remaining resting in your comfort zone, use this time to stop, reflect and shed light on these ideas in a way that can develop and expand your vision.

After the mind has been ready, the next step is application. Create a to-learn list just as you would a to-do list. Learning information you can utilize in your daily life is very important to having a continuous desire to further advance your education. 2. Reading a book on automobile repair isn’t the same as physically changing the oil or tire on your car. Reading about art isn’t the same as picking up a brush. If your knowledge can be directly applied in a functional and fun fashion, put it into practice! 3.

Surround yourself with like-minded individuals and try to always take something valuable away from your daily interactions. Many people are professionals in their field and have valuable information and insight to share. 4. Never be too prideful, for each question you don’t ask is a missed opportunity!

Go ahead and challenge yourself today. Commit to expanding your mind, continuing your education and becoming a student of life. 5.　 Remember to cultivate your mind so it is prepared to expand, blossom and grow. And share your fountain of knowledge.

A. Be willing to expand your mind.

B. Get ready to seek new information.

C. Many people learn by being hands-on.

D. Learning on the go has actually never been easier!

E. If you come across anything that bewilders you, ask them!

F. Skill-based learning, for example, is useless if it isn’t applied.

G. Utilize the world as your classroom, and always come away with a lesson.

高三英语七选五中等难度题查看答案及解析

— Why do you do volunteer work in the North-West?

　　　　　　　　 — I___ to improve the lives of the children there through my efforts．

A．was trying　　　　　　　　　　 　　　　　　　　　 B．have tried

C．am trying　　　　　　　 　　　　　　　　　 D．tried

高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析