Name:____________________________________________________ Date:__________

Teacher:__________________________________________________ Level:__________

ACHIEVE 1
5 UNIT 7 TEST
Vocational School: An Alternative to University
“I love flowers, and would like to work with flowers in future,” says high school
graduate Christine Baker. “I want to have my own flower shop some day, but what
college will teach me to be a successful florist?”

10 Lots of students are asking similar questions. Many high school graduates decide to
take the traditional educational path – a four-year college degree. But many students
want to work in careers that traditional universities don’t always give them the
qualifications for. These careers, which are often interesting, and in some cases high-
paying, include working with flowers and other specialized skill areas such as forestry,
15 carpentry, auto mechanics, television production, cooking, plumbing, hairdressing, or
computer graphics.

For students interested in specialized jobs, perhaps the best option is a vocational
school. Youth life coach Max Johnson says, “There are lots of great jobs out there.
Students are sometimes so focused on the big college scene, and the corporate jobs
20 that will result from that, that they overlook vocational training. But there are many jobs
that require highly specialized abilities, abilities that don’t come from a college degree.

Just ask chef Michael Davis, who works at one of Chicago’s top restaurants. “Yes, I
can train people myself to be professional cooks, and after several years they move up
and start making pretty good money. But when I get cooks who have been trained at a
25 vocational school, I’m going to end up hiring them, and paying more, right away.”

Hairdresser Rose Davis went to a vocational school in her city. “I liked school but what
I always dreamed of was the challenge of opening my own business. So I asked
myself what was better, a longer education I might not use or a shorter, more specific
one I could use the second I graduated?” Today Rose owns two successful hair
30 salons. “The most important thing is to be good at what you do. And to be good, you
need to be trained. It doesn’t matter if you’re the CEO of a company or an auto
mechanic. Get the training you need and be the best in your town.”

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 Read the text again. Choose the
correct answers.
1 Some students decide not to have a
5 traditional college education because
they …
a) want to work for large corporations.
b) learned everything they needed to
learn in high school.
10 c) want jobs in areas that traditional
colleges don’t prepare them for.
d) want to work without doing training
for their jobs.
e) don’t want to continue their
15 education.
e) They are ready to work immediately
because they’ve already been trained.
50 5 Rose’s advice to high school students
is that they need to …
a) choose the shortest education
possible.
b) be well-trained, no matter what
55 career they choose.
c) own their own business to be good
at what they do.
d) work for the person in their town who
is the best in their career.
60 e) go to a traditional university to get a
good job.

2 Three examples of jobs that Circle the correct alternatives.

vocational schools help students 6 Experts predict that teenagers who
become are … 65 don’t finish high school ___ a harder
20 a) computer programmers, CEOs, and time finding a job than those who do.
biologists. a) will have
b) auto mechanics, plumbers, and b) had
hairdressers. c) didn’t have
c) cooks, professors, and teachers. 70 d) can have
25 d) life coaches, psychologists, and e) are having
plumbers.
e) doctors, lawyers, and chefs. 7 Next week I ___ two vocational
schools to see what they offer.
3 Vocational schools help students 75 a) visiting
30 learn how to … b) visit
a) run large corporations. c) visited
b) prepare for university life. d) am visiting
c) succeed at traditional colleges. e) would visit
d) work in highly specialized areas. 80
35 e) pass university entrance exams. 8 What are you ___ after you graduate
from high school?
4 What does chef Michael Davis see as a) going
an advantage of hiring cooks who went b) will do
to vocational school? 85 c) do
40 a) They know how to do more than d) will
cook. They can manage money too. e) going to do
b) They don’t need to be paid a good
salary. 9 In any field you choose to work, it’s
c) They insist on being paid a high 90 important to have the ___ that
45 salary. companies require.
d) They can be trained by the head a) qualifications
chef of the restaurant. b) salary
c) challenges
A00115
2

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 d) vocational school e) himself
e) goals
10 Students need to ask ___ what they
want to do in the future, before deciding
5 on a traditional college education or 15
vocational school.
a) yourselves
b) herself
c) themselves
10 d) myself
20

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