Reading Comprehension
Directions: Read the following passage. Choose the best answer from the four choices marked A, B, C and D for each question.

     A boom economy coupled with dramatic changes in technology has created entirely new jobs and expanded opportunities in age-old professions. Many of these occupations —from computer programmers and Web page designers to chefs and police officers — don’t require a bachelor’s degree. Neither do many good jobs in the arts, crafts, skilled trades, construction, service industry, science, and health fields. Such jobs include: aircraft mechanic , cardiovascular technologist, electronic technician, law clerk, registered nurse , sales rep, secretary, travel agent …. This list goes on.
     Jenna Novell, 21, is now full of career ideas thanks to a ten-month cosmetology program she attended at the Aveda Institute in Minneapolis. Although Novell got lots of career leads from salon recruiters at a career fair hosted by the institute, she didn’t meet any from California — where she wants to live. So she plans to find a job out West on her own, perhaps in television or maybe doing makeup for fashion shows. Or selling cosmetics. Or managing a salon. “You’d be surprised how many occupations there are in this field, ”she says.
     High school students often don’t understand there are so many options available to them, says Farr, author of America’s Jobs for People Without a Four-Year Degree. “That’s a shame. People who are interested in various things really can earn a decent living even if they don’t want to go to college.”
     It’s still true that people with more education, on average, earn more money. But 28% of workers without a four-year degree earn more than the average worker with a bachelor’s degree, according to Harlow G Unger, author of But if I Don’t Want to Go to College?, a guide to educational alternatives to college. And more and more computer-savvy young people are skipping college to join the high-tech revolution as computer network engineers, Internet entrepreneurs, and game designers.
     Don’t get the wrong idea. This doesn’t mean you can waltz into a great job straight out of high school with no skills, training, or effort. To get a good job without a four-year degree, you still must have at least a solid high school education. “Even if you think you’re not going to college, you still need to pay attention, ”says Farr. “You need to know how to be part of a team, how to communicate effectively, how to learn.”