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12004ReadingText1Huntingforajoblatelastyear,lawyerGantRedmonstumbledacrossCareerBuilder,ajobdatabaseontheInternet.Hesearcheditwithnosuccessbutwasattractedbythesite’s“personalsearchagent”.It’saninteractivefeaturethatletsvisitorskeyinjobcriteriasuchaslocation,title,andsalary,thenE-mailsthemwhenamatchingpositionispostedinthedatabase.Redmonchosethekeywordslegal,intellectualproperty,andWashington,D.C.Threeweekslater,hegothisfirstnotificationofanopening.“Istruckgold,’saysRedmon,whoE-mailedhisresumetotheemployerandwonapositionasin-housecounselforacompany.Withthousandsofcareer-relatedsitesontheInternet,findingpromisingopeningscanbetime-consumingandinefficient.Searchagentsreducetheneedforrepeatedvisitstothedatabases.ButalthoughasearchagentworkedforRedmon,careerexpertsseedrawbacks.Narrowingyourcriteria,forexample,mayworkagainstyou:“Everytimeyouansweraquestionyoueliminateapossibility.”saysoneexpert.Foranyjobsearch,youshouldstartwithanarrowconcept–whatyouthinkyouwanttodo–thenbroadenit.“Noneoftheseprogramsdothat,”saysanotherexpert.“There’snocareercounselingimplicitinallofthis.”Instead,thebeststrategyistousetheagentasakindoftipservicetokeepabreastofjobsinaparticulardatabase;whenyougetE-mail,consideritaremindertocheckthedatabaseagain.“Iwouldnotrelyonagentsforfindingeverythingthatisaddedtoadatabasethatmightinterestme,”saystheauthorofajob-searchingguide.Somesitesdesigntheiragentstotemptjobhunterstoreturn.WhenCareerSite’sagentsendsoutmessagestothosewhohavesignedupforitsservice,forexample,itincludesonlythreepotentialjobs——thoseitconsidersthebestmatches.Theremaybemorematchesinthedatabase;jobhunterswillhavetovisitthesiteagaintofindthem——andtheydo.“Onthedayafterwesendourmessages,weseeasharpincreaseinourtraffic,”saysSethPeets,vicepresidentofmarketingforCareerSite.Eventhosewhoaren’thuntingforjobsmayfindsearchagentsworthwhile.Someusethemtokeepaclosewatchonthedemandfortheirlineofworkorgatherinformationoncompensationtoarmthemselveswhennegotiatingforaraise.Althoughhappilyemployed,RedmonmaintainshisagentatCareerBuilder.“Youalwayskeepyoureyesopen,”hesays.Workingwithapersonalsearchagentmeanshavinganothersetofeyeslookingoutforyou.41.HowdidRedmonfindhisjob?[A]Bysearchingopeningsinajobdatabase.[B]Bypostingamatchingpositioninadatabase.[C]Byusingaspecialserviceofadatabase.[D]ByE-mailinghisresumetoadatabase.42.Whichofthefollowingcanbeadisadvantageofsearchagents?[A]Lackofcounseling.[B]Limitednumberofvisits.[C]Lowerefficiency.[D]Fewersuccessfulmatches.43.Theexpression“tipservice”(Line4,Paragraph3)mostprobablymeans__________.[A]advisory.[B]compensation.[C]interaction.[D]reminder.244.WhydoesCareerSite’sagentoffereachjobhunteronlythreejoboptions?[A]Tofocusonbetterjobmatches.[B]Toattractmorereturningvisits.[C]Toreservespaceformoremessages.[D]Toincreasetherateofsuccess.45.Whichofthefollowingistrueaccordingtothetext?[A]Personalsearchagentsareindispensabletojob-hunters.[B]SomesiteskeepE-mailingjobseekerstotracetheirdemands.[C]Personalsearchagentsarealsohelpfultothosealreadyemployed.[D]Someagentsstopsendinginformationtopeopleoncetheyareemployed.Text2Overthepastcentury,allkindsofunfairnessanddiscriminationhavebeencondemnedormadeillegal.Butoneinsidiousformcontinuestothrive:alphabetism.This,forthoseasyetunawareofsuchadisadvantage,referstodiscriminationagainstthosewhosesurnamesbeginwithaletterinthelowerhalfofthealphabet.IthaslongbeenknownthatataxifirmcalledAAAAcarshasabigadvantageoverZodiaccarswhencustomersthumbthroughtheirphonedirectories.LesswellknownistheadvantagethatAdamAbbotthasinlifeoverZoeZysman.Englishnamesarefairlyevenlyspreadbetweenthehalvesofthealphabet.YetasuspiciouslylargenumberoftoppeoplehavesurnamesbeginningwithlettersbetweenAandK.ThustheAmericanpresidentandvice-presidenthavesurnamesstartingwithBandCrespectively;and26ofGeorgeBush’spredecessors(includinghisfather)hadsurnamesinthefirsthalfofthealphabetagainstjust16inthesecondhalf.Evenmorestriking,sixofthesevenheadsofgovernmentoftheG7richcountriesarealphabeticallyadvantaged(Berlusconi,Blair,Bush,Chirac,ChrétienandKoizumi).Theworld’sthreetopcentralbankers(Greenspan,DuisenbergandHayami)areallclosetothetopofthealphabet,evenifoneofthemreallyusesJapanesecharacters.Asaretheworld’sfiverichestmen(Gates,Buffett,Allen,EllisonandAlbrecht).Canthismerelybecoincidence?Onetheory,dreamtupinallthesparetimeenjoyedbythealphabeticallydisadvantaged,isthattherotsetsinearly.Atthestartofthefirstyearininfantschool,teachersseatpupilsalphabeticallyfromthefront,tomakeiteasiertoremembertheirnames.Soshort-sightedZysmanjuniorgetsstuckinthebackrow,andisrarelyaskedtheimprovingquestionsposedbythoseinsensitiveteachers.Atthetimethealphabeticallydisadvantagedmaythinktheyhavehadaluckyescape.Yettheresultmaybeworsequalifications,becausetheygetlessindividualattention,aswellaslessconfidenceinspeakingpublicly.Thehumiliationcontinues.Atuniversitygraduationceremonies,theABCsproudlygettheirawardsfirst;bythetimetheyreachtheZysmansmostpeopleareliterallyhavingaZZZ.Shortlistsforjobinterviews,electionballotpapers,listsofconferencespeakersandatt