The Future of work Many of the rich worlds notions about old age are dying.

While the streamlining effects of international competition are focusing attention on the need to create and keep good jobs, those fears will eventually give way to worries about the growing shortage of young workers. One unavoidable solution: putting older people back to work, whether they like it or not. ndeed, cutting!edge "uropean economies like those of #inland and $enmark have already raised their retirement ages, reversing the postwar trend toward ever!earlier retirement. Others are under severe pressure to follow suit, as both the "uropean %ommission and the Organi&ation for "conomic %ooperation and $evelopment 'O"%$( have recently warned their members that their future prosperity depends on a growing contribution from the elderly. )his erosion of one the cornerstones of the good life *rela+ed golden years! has not gone unremarked . n the last year, ,elgium, taly and #rance have all been hit with massive protests against pension reforms that would, among other things, have raised the retirement age. -( )he author calls the readers attention to the: a( need to reduce young workers benefits. b( benefits of subsidi&ing early retirement. c( growing lack of young staff. d( advantages of current retirement policies. e( drawbacks of e+tending the working life. .( n relation to the retirement ages, two specific countries have: a( recently decreased them. b( increased them. c( not e+tended them. d( drastically reduced them. e( reinforced them. /( 0ccording to the te+t, a( efforts to raise the retirement age have been largely supported. b( there has been a decline in 1ualified older workers. c( ageism in the workplaces a danger to corporate productivity. d( staff ! aging issues may soon need to be addressed. e( there has been a shift in a long * held belief concerning retirement. 2( #inland and $enmark are described as 3cutting! edge economies4, which means they are considered : a( e+tremely modern and advanced. b( wealthy, but outdated. c( unconventional and revolutionary. d( rather traditional and conservative. e( affluent and traditional

The global union What would a global union look like5 )hink more corporate partnership than class struggle. )oday, capital is global and employers are global. %ompanies not countries make the rules. )o survive, unions need an organi&ation that, in a sense, will manage their labor and protect workers rights. 0 global union would set standard practices and codes of conduct ! perhaps even minimum wages and work hours. My critics in the labor movement cringe when use words like 3partnership4 and 3value added4. )he reality is that unions need to add value or corporations will ignore us. f we want an e1uitable stake in the company, we need to define what our goals are. We cant just demand a raise in pay without offering an incentive to the company. Were already far behind multinational corporations in the global game. We made the mistake of transferring the industrial model of unionism of the last country to the .-st . We lost market share: in -678, one in four workers was in a union9 now its one in -.. -( n paragraph -, the author: a( b( c( d( e( praises the dynamism of todays unions. disregards the pivotal role played by globali&ation. critici&es the global workers lack of attitude. depicts some of the features of a global union. proposes specific policies to protect workers rights.

.( :aragraph . of the te+t allows us to discover that the writer is: a( b( c( d( e( a unionist who seeks the best for workers and the company. a loner worker seeking a raise in his salary through the union. a critical member of a global multinational corporation. a stakeholder in the e1uity of a large corporation. a critic of the labor union movement from outside it.

/( 0ccording to the te+t, the number of workers affiliated to a union has : a( b( c( d( e( soared. stabili&ed. not decreased. gone up. fallen.

The perils of prosperity Midway through the first decade of the .-st century, economic growth is pulling millions out of poverty. ;rowth, so devoutly desired yet often so elusive for developing countries, is occurring in %hina and ndia on a heroic scale. <et once affluence is achieved, its value is often 1uestioned. n the -678s and -6=8s, economists started worrying about environmental and social limits to growth. >ow 0vner Offer, professor of economic history at O+ford ?niversity, has added a weighty new criti1ue to this tradition. 3)he %hallenge of 0ffluence4 accepts that the populations of poor countries gain from growth, but says that the main benefits of prosperity are achieved at 1uite modest levels. ts central thesis is that rising living standards in ,ritain and 0merica have engendered impatience, which undermines well!being. )he fruits of affluence are bitter ones, and include addiction, obesity, family breakdown and mental disorders. -( 0ccording to :rofessor 0vner Offer, affluence: a( b( c( d( e( prevents people from achieving happiness. must not be sought by individuals. also entails unpleasant conse1uences. entails well!being and freedom. derives from hard work and commitment.

.( :rofessor Offers new criti1ue is described as weighty. )herefore, a( b( c( d( e( serious and relevant. not thought! provoking. rather short! sighted. over! optimistic. bitter and pessimistic.

/( 0ccording to the te+t: a( b( c( d( e( affluence erodes the value of work . some nations are certainly benefiting from growth. poor societies e+perience higher rates of growth. wealth and happiness are inseparable elements . healthier citi&ens hardly ever come from poorer societies.