Text IV

“Suddenly, it seemed that there WAS no gold left in the ground. The miners [TO PACK] their tools, their pans, and their bags, and [TO GO] off somewhere else, to try their luck again. There WERE no more emigrants either; as soon as the first transcontinental railroad had opened in 1869, the old emigrant trails had been completely abandoned. The hotels closed, the shops closed, the bars closed, the jail closed; and before long, Atlantic City WAS a ghost town, uninhabited except by the occasional rancher or hunter, and the wandering coyotes. I didn't expect to find much in Atlantic City. I knew that a few people lived there again now, some of the old houses had been restored, and others had been built. But I didn't expect much. We drove round a dusty bend, and there in front of us lay the town, a couple of dozen wooden buildings, some old, some new, and mostly pretty plain.”

(Linguapress)

Text III

“Since the late 1980s, there has been strong popular interest in the subject of working hours and in the socalled workaholic. There has been less interest in the academic literature on the subject of long working hours and the motivations of those who work beyond the limits of what is necessary. This study proposes a typology of those who put in excessive time and effort by introducing a second dimension: equity of perceived rewards. The new dimension points to another group alongside workaholics: overworkers. One hundred seventy-four managers and professionals with master of business administration degrees rated themselves on work and reward dimensions and provided data about work behaviors, rewards, attitudes, and job progression as part of a longitudinal study. Overworkers and workaholics [TO FIND] to differ on a number of dimensions. Implications for these groups, including their potential roles in the context of boundaryless careers, and for the organizations that employ them are discussed”.

(Sage Journals)

Text V

Heroes and celebrities

Back in the twentieth century there was a British punk rock song that repeated over and over again the claim that there were "no more heroes anymore". Calmer critics and social commentators have agreed that the age of the hero is over. In the past people had heroes. They were the most prominent figures in the public consciousness - people who had achieved great things, people who had done great deeds - proud, noble leaders and bold pioneers.