Read the passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the best answer to each of the following questions from 3...

Read the passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the best answer to each of the following questions from 31 to 40.

        In many countries, a growing number of people in their twenties are turning to social media in the hope of finding work. [I] Services like the social networking site Twitter and the professional networking site LinkedIn offer the chance for more direct contact with would-be employers than has previously been the case. But with greater access comes a greater chance to make mistakes.

        Take the case of a young jobseeker in the US who contacted a senior marketing executive via LinkedIn. The marketing executive in question had an impressive list of influential people in her contact list; people whom the young jobseeker felt could help him land a job. The marketing executive, however, had other ideas. Indignant at the suggestion that she would willingly share a list of contacts painstakingly built up over many years with a complete stranger who’d done nothing to deserve such an opportunity, she not only rejected his contact request but sent a vicious and heavily sarcastic rejection note that has since gone viral. [II] But if the incident makes young people think more carefully about how they use social media in a professional capacity, she may have actually ended up doing them a favour. She has drawn attention to an unfortunate truth. Social media is a potentially dangerous tool for job hunters who don’t know how to use it. And a worrying number are getting it wrong.

        There’s a horrible irony here, because in many countries, social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter have been the bread and butter of twenty-somethings’ social lives for years. [III] It was a cyberextension of the playground pecking order - a place to impress, to embellish and experiment. However, when it comes to using social media for professional networking, our very knowledge and experience of sites like Facebook may actually be a hindrance.

        Using social media in a professional capacity is a completely different ball game, but for some twenty-somethings, the division is not clear-cut. We first earned our online presence by being bold and overconfident, which could explain why some of us still come across like this. Just because a lot of people ‘liked’ your posts on Facebook, it doesn’t mean you’ll be able to use LinkedIn to show potential employers that you’re someone worth employing. [IV] We need to realise that what we learned about social networking as teenagers no longer applies, and we must live up to employers’ standards if we want to get on in the world of work.

Question 31. The word “land” in paragraph 2 could be best replaced ____________.        

        A. supervise                B. cover                        C. compete                        D. secure

Question 32. Which of the following best paraphrases the underlined sentence in paragraph 3?

A. Surprisingly, familiarity with platforms such as Facebook can act as an obstacle when we attempt to build career-related connections online.

B. Having a lot of experience on Facebook is essential for young people to avoid making common mistakes in professional networking.

C. Despite the popularity of Facebook, the lack of technical knowledge among twenty-somethings is preventing them from finding work.

D. People who have used social media for years are generally more successful at navigating the complexities of professional platforms like LinkedIn.

Question 33. According to paragraph 2, when contacted by the job seeker, the senior marketing executive felt ____________.

        A. annoyed by the timing of his message                B. regretful that she had to reject his request

        C. surprised that he offered nothing in return                D. furious at his assumption of her cooperation

Question 34. The word “they” in paragraph 2 refers to ____________.

        A. contacts                B. young people                C. job hunters                        D. mistakes

Question 35. Which of the following best summarises the main idea of paragraph 4?

A. Young people should continue using the bold and overconfident online style that earned them popularity on personal social media to impress potential employers.

B. While Facebook and LinkedIn are both social networking sites, LinkedIn is far more effective for gaining 'likes' and building a professional reputation.

C. Due to their early habits on personal sites, young people may struggle to distinguish between social and professional networking, necessitating a shift to meet workplace standards.

D. The majority of employers now use Facebook and LinkedIn to evaluate whether twenty-somethings possess the necessary skills for the modern world of work.

Question 36. The word “sarcastic” in paragraph 2 is OPPOSITE in meaning to ____________.

        A. disrespectful        B. complimentary                C. cynical                        D. mocking

Question 37. Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage?

A. Professional networking sites are more popular than traditional CVs and cover letters for job applications.

B. Younger generations may misuse social media because they grew up seeing it as a casual social space.

C. A marketing executive’s strong reaction went viral after she refused a stranger’s contact request.

D. Some young job seekers may not understand professional boundaries when using social media.

Question 38. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?

A. Teenagers should limit their use of social media platforms to avoid difficulties in their future professional lives.

B. Employers often evaluate job applicants solely through what they post on networks such as Facebook and LinkedIn.

C. Casual online habits formed during adolescence may shape how young people present themselves in professional settings.

D. Many people in their twenties across countries have already adjusted their social media behaviour to fit professional expectations.

Question 39. Which of the following best summarises the passage?

A. Social media platforms like LinkedIn and Twitter are revolutionary tools that have completely replaced traditional job-hunting methods for people in their twenties.

B. Using social media for job seeking offers direct access to employers but carries significant risks if young people fail to adapt their personal online habits to professional standards.

C. The viral story of a US jobseeker and a marketing executive serves as a warning that senior professionals are often unwilling to help strangers on networking sites.

D. Twenty-somethings are increasingly successful in their careers because the overconfident online presence they developed as teenagers is highly valued by modern employers.

Question 40. Where in the passage does the following sentence best fit?

“When my generation was teenagers, social media was our escape from the prying eyes of parents and teachers.”

        A. [II]                        B. [IV]                                C. [I]                                D. [III]