Time I think a lot about time and not just because it’s the name of the news organization I work for. Like most working people, I find time or the lack of it, are never ending frustration and an unwinable battle. My every day is a race against the clock that I never ever seem to win. This is hardly a lonesome complaint, according to the families and work institutes, national study of the changing work force. 55% of the employees say they don’t have enough time for themselves, 63% don’t have enough time for their spouses or partners, and 67% don’t have enough time for their children. It’s also not a new complaint. I bet our ancestors returned home from hunting wild animals and gathering nuts, and complained about how little time they had to paint battle scenes on their cave walls. The differences about the boresome animal hunting and ahead of not gathering probably told them to shut up or no survival for you. Today’s workers are still demanding control over their time, the differences today’s bosses are listening. I’ve been reading your report issued today called when work works, produced jointly by 3 organizations. They set out to find and warn the employers who employ the most creative and most effective ways to give their workers flexibility. I found this report worth reading and suggest every boss should read it for ideas. Questions 26 to 28 are based on the passage you have just heard. 26. What is the speaker complaining about? He’s in a hurry to work everyday and doesn’t have enough spare time. 27. What does the speaker say about our ancestors? They were busy with finding food outside in order to survive. 28. Why does the speaker suggest all the bosses read the report by the 3 organizations? Because this report may help them keep their most creative and effective workers working without too much complaint.

Passage 2    Loving a child is a circular business. The more you give, the more you get. The more you want to give, Penalaeone said. What she said proves to be true of my blended family. I was born in 1931as the youngest of 6 children, I learn to share my parents’ love. Raising 6 children during the difficult time of the Great Depression took its toll on my parents’ relationship and resulted in their divorce when I was 18 years old. Daddy never had very close relationship with his children and drifted even farther away from us after the divorce. Several years later, a wonderful woman came into his life, and they were married. She had 2 sons. One of them is still at home. Under her influence we became a blended family and a good relationship developed between the 2 families. She always treated us as if we were her own children. It was because of our other mother, daddy’s second wife, that he became closer to his own children. They shared over 25 years together before our father passed away. At the time of his death, the question came up of my mother, daddy’s first wife, attending his funeral. I will never forget the unconditional love shown by my stepmother. When I asked her if she would object mother attending daddy’s funeral. Without giving it a second thought, she immediately replied, “of course not honey, she is the mother of my children.”