XX 年职称英语等级考试用书（综合类）新增阅读理解 3 Career With a Uniform WANT to be the next Xu Sanduo? The TV drama Soldiers Sortie (Shibing Tuji) might have caused millions of young people to dream idly of putting on an army uniform and going off to boot camp2. In fact, a large number of students graduating might consider doing just that. Last month, the peoples Liberation Army (pLA) announced that there will be 120,000 job openings this year for college grads3. So, one out of every 50 grads has a chance if he or she would like to march down to the local recruiting office. Anyone enlisting will get preferential treatment in tuition compensation and in job opportunities. This decision comes against a backdrop of bad employment news and a cooling economy. This years recruitment quota outnumbers last years 39,000 by about three-fold. "Its important to pull in fresh, talented people who can deal with the new equipment and a high-tech military to modernize the nations defense," said Bai Zixing, a senior officer in the pLA General Staff Department4. The age limit for college recruits has been raised to 24, and theres one more important policy change: Grads who have already volunteered to sign up can quit if they change their minds after finding another job before November, the deadline for enlistment. This gives grads an extra choice in starting a career. The following is a list of preferential things that college grads qualify for if they join the army: A one-time recruitment payment of up to 24,000 yuan, to cover four years of college tuition and loans (this has to be returned if the person is forced to leave the army before completing the service contract). priority in promotions and ...
