The Score: Looking for Jobs Online

In Search of Skilled Workers, Employers Go to Summer Camp

With skilled-labor shortages looming, some employers are moving to solve the problem by winning the hearts and minds of the young -- the very young. In an effort to tap future workers in middle school or earlier, big employers, including IBM and Boeing, are increasing their backing of career-driven summer camps. The camps promote kids' interest in all kinds of fields. The efforts are yielding new opportunities for families, and insights into how to help kids explore promising careers.

More Women Decide to Extend Careers

Three years ago, after a long career with FedEx, Anne made a difficult decision: She accepted an early retirement offer when the company was downsizing.

"It was a bit of an identity crisis for me," says Anne, who is in her early 60s and divorced. "I wasn't sure what I wanted to do." After a lengthy search, she found another position in public relations at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis. "I needed the structure of a full-time job, the stimulation of working with others, and the reward of being productive," she says. "The income was also welcome."

　　A. clothes B. jobs C. monsters D. foods

37. In order to get skilled workers for the future, most big companies .

　　A. go to world-famous universities to hire employees

　　B. spend much money on training their employees

　　C. begin to train middle school students even earlier in many ways

　　D. begin to support the career-driven summer camps

38. From the last paragraph we can know that .

　　A. Anne was very happy to retire and found a new job

　　B. Anne enjoys a higher salary than before

　　C. Anne really didn't want to retire early

　　D. Anne found the present job easily

　 B

American workers often call their employers ' bosses'. The word 'boss' comes from the Dutch word 'baas' meaning master. Sometimes company bosses are called the brass. They are also sometimes called 'top brass' or 'brass hats'. Experts disagree about how the strange expression started, but they may have come from Britain. Leaders of the 19th century British army wore pieces of metal called oak leaves on their hats. The metal brass has a color similar to that of gold. So a leader came to be called a brass hat or even the top brass.

By the 1940s, the expression had spread beyond military leaders. It also included civilian officials. Other expressions that mean boss or employer have nothing to do with brass or hats. One of these is 'big cheese'. A cheese is a solid food made from milk. The expression probably started in America in the late 19th century. Cheese, the meaning is a thing. So the meaning of ' big cheese'