英语高级口语教程(18)

Criticism in the workplace, whether you're giving it or getting it, is always more effective when you focus on the task rather than on the person. Fixing the problem, not the blame, means that nobody has to feel chewed out or chewed up. We can still feel whole and learn something in the process.

Lesson 5

Is It Good for Students to Have Part-time Jobs?

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School Part-timers

More and more high school students in Beijing are turning their minds to ways of making money.

They are capitalizing on opportunities such as one group of students who went to the front gate of the Children's Centre in the East District of Beijing when a film studio was there conducting auditions.

The group sold the young hopefuls application forms at five fen a piece after getting the forms from the centre for free.

Young entrepreneurs are also capitalizing on high demand commodities not always available away from the big shopping centres. Birthday or greeting cards are an example. One department store estimated that 80 percent of its sales of cards are to students for resale.

Xiao Li, a junior high school student at Fengtai District in the southwest region of the capital, spent 40 yuan buying cards from downtown shops just before the last Spring Festival.

She sold them at her school and schools nearby at prices 15 to 20 percent higher than what she had paid. In a month, she earned 100 yuan, representing a 250 percent return on her initial investment.

A senior high school student who had been selling cards has now become an amateur wholesale dealer. His wholesale price is 8 percent higher than his purchasing price and 10 percent lower than the retail price. Within two months, he had earned several hundred yuan in profits.

Many students have merged their activities to avoid price wars. For example, in an area with few State-owned shops and far from the city centre, student union heads from the schools