Questões de Inglês - Palavras conectivas | Connective words para Concurso

Building a Practical College Degree for the New Economy

This is not a great time to be a recent college graduate.

Average student-loan debt is $29,400. The underemployment rate is 44 percent for graduates ages 22 to 27, meaning they are holding jobs that don’t require bachelor’s degrees. And the average age of financial independence for college graduate these days is 30.

Such statistics have given rise to the narrative that a college degree is no longer worth it, although volumes of economic studies on lifetime earnings prove otherwise. Even so, given the number of college graduates struggling to launch their careers, a wide gap has emerged between what the workforce needs in employees and what colleges are producing in graduates.

Part of the problem is that we have high expectations for the bachelor’s degree today. Thirty years ago, when fewer people required a higher education to get ahead in life, the bachelor’s degree was seen as a vehicle for broad learning. The training part came later by going to graduate school or getting a job where the new employer trained you.

Now we demand that skills training move in tandem with broad learning, and expect both to be completed in the four years of an undergraduate education. For too many students, however, the bachelor’s degree is not providing that dual experience - high-impact, in-classroom learning and out-of-the- classroom, experiential, and hands-on learning necessary for success in today’s economy.

Because of student loan debt, graduate or professional school is no longer an option for many recent college graduates. They’re searching for quick and cheap add- on boot camps that give them what they’re missing. And a whole new set of providers are emerging outside of the traditional higher-education ecosystem to provide that lift.

Last year, General Assembly, which offers courses of a few hours to a few weeks in everything from digital marketing to web development, expanded to Washington, DC, where it is selling out of nearly all of its offerings. Its average student is in his mid-20s and just a few years out of college.

House Approves Higher Debt Limit Without Condition
By JONATHAN WEISMAN and ASHLEY PARKER
Feb. 11, 2014


      WASHINGTON - Ending three years of brinkmanship in which the threat of a devastating default on the nation’s debt was used to wring conservative concessions from President Obama, the House on Tuesday voted to raise the government’s borrowing limit until March 2015, without any conditions.
      The vote - 221 to 201 - relied almost entirely on Democrats in the Republican-controlled House to carry the measure and represented the first debt ceiling increase since 2009 that was not attached to other legislation. Only 28 Republicans voted yes, and only two Democrats voted no.
      Simply by holding the vote, Speaker John A. Boehner of Ohio effectively ended a three-year Tea Party-inspired era of budget showdowns that had raised the threat of default and government shutdowns, rattled economic confidence and brought serious scrutiny from other nations questioning Washington’s ability to govern. In the process, though, Mr. Boehner also set off a series of reprisals from fellow Republican congressmen and outside groups that showcased the party’s deep internal divisions.
      During the October 2013 government shutdown, The Times’s David Leonhardt explained the debt limit and how a failure to raise it could have affected the economy both at home and abroad.
      “He gave the president exactly what he wanted, which is exactly what the Republican Party said we did not want,” said a Republican representative, Tim Huelskamp of Kansas, who last year unsuccessfully tried to rally enough support to derail Mr. Boehner’s re-election as speaker. “It’s going to really demoralize the base.”
      The vote was a victory for President Obama, Democrats and those Senate Republicans who have argued that spending money for previously incurred obligations was essential for the financial standing of the federal government. “Tonight’s vote is a positive step in moving away from the political brinkmanship that’s a needless drag on our economy,” Jay Carney, the White House press secretary, said in a statement.
      “A clean debt ceiling is a complete capitulation on the speaker’s part and demonstrates that he has lost the ability to lead the House of Representatives, let alone his own party,” said Jenny Beth Martin, co-founder of the Tea Party Patriots. “It is time for him to go.”
      Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader, commended the speaker and promised to pass the bill as soon as possible. “We’re happy to see the House is legislating the way they should have legislated for a long time,” he said.

            (Adapted from http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/12/us/politics/ boehner-to-bring-debt-
            ceiling-to-vote-without-policy- attachments. html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_2014021 2&_r=0)

Read the text below and answer the questions that follow:

Text 2:

English for Adults & Seniors!

Learning a language isn’t only for the young! It’s for everyone and if you are an older learner,maybe 40+ to 70+ then joining an English Language Course in an environment with people in similar age groups is a greatway to do it.

When you join a course at one of the International Schools you will find that approximately more than 20% of our students are aged 30 to 44 and a further 32% are aged 45 to 75 - sometimes older. You aremore than likely to find yourself in a class with people of a similar age;

Some mature students choose Business English courses for their working needs but many more join standard General English courses or the Intensive English Mini-Group courses. Courses like these help you to combine your language course with a holiday and you can make your own afternoon programme or join social programmes which are designed to have a variety of different activities suitable for all the age groups at the school. The programme changes every week and you can see samples of all the different activities on the social programme pages or on Facebook pages.

Mature learners will feel safe joining one of the International Schools. You will find others of a similar age in your class at all times of year

The International School ( I S ) accommodation is also suitable for older clients - you can choose froma homestay with a private bathroom, an apartment, but most convenient of all is Club IS Hotel which is opposite the school. Club IS is for mature individuals who are studying at the school. Classes are always organised according to level and according to age groups.

(Adapted from: < http: www.tisenglish.co.uk /courses-for-adults- seniors>)