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Twenty years ago most people 'HAVE STARTED / STARTED' work around the age of twenty and 'RETIRED / HAVE RETIRED' at the age of sixty-five. Normally they worked for the same company all their life. In the last twenty years things are 'CHANGING / HAVE CHANGED'. Today people often 'WORK / ARE WORKING' for different employers, many are self-employed and many, unfortunately, are unemployed. Companies employ fewer people and many processes 'COMPUTERIZE / ARE COMPUTERIZED'. People change jobs for different reasons. "I was forty," says Jürgen Klimmer, an IT engineer. "I liked my job, but the prospects weren't good, and there was very little chance of promotion. I read the papers and wrote one or two letters. One day I got a telephone call and an offer from Lufthansa. I said immediately, 'I'll TAKE IT'. The job offered a better salary and excellent prospects, but I had to move which was a problem for my family." Jürgen took the job and has been with the company for the last three years. Sergio Laguardia, an accountant in Milan, was less fortunate. "I WAS made redundant six months ago. I am over fifty and it is hard to get another job. People think I am too old. I read the papers every day. I HAVE WRITTEN / WRITES a lot of letters of application in the last few weeks."

Правильный вариант:

Twenty years ago most people started work around the age of twenty and retired at the age of sixty-five. Normally they worked for the same company all their life. In the last twenty years things have changed. Today people often work for different employers, many are self-employed and many, unfortunately, are unemployed. Companies employ fewer people and many processes are computerized.

People change jobs for different reasons. "I was forty," says Jürgen Klimmer, an IT engineer. "I liked my job, but the prospects weren't good, and there was very little chance of promotion. I read the papers and wrote one or two letters. One day I got a telephone call and an offer from Lufthansa. I said immediately, 'I'll take it'. The job offered a better salary and excellent prospects, but I had to move which was a problem for my family."

Jürgen took the job and has been with the company for the last three years. Sergio Laguardia, an accountant in Milan, was less fortunate. "I was made redundant six months ago. I am over fifty and it is hard to get another job. People think I am too old. I read the papers every day. I have written a lot of letters of application in the last few weeks."

Объяснение выбора:

• started / retired — простое прошедшее время (Past Simple), потому что речь идет о завершенном периоде twenty years ago.

• have changed — Present Perfect, потому что изменения начались в прошлом и имеют результат сейчас (In the last twenty years).

• work — Present Simple, потому что говорится об общем факте: люди часто работают у разных работодателей.

• are computerized — Present Simple Passive, потому что процессы подвергаются компьютеризации (это действие над ними).

• take — после фразы I'll используется начальная форма глагола: I'll take it.

• was made redundant — пассивная форма в прошлом: его уволили/сократили шесть месяцев назад.

• have written — Present Perfect, потому что он написал много писем за последние несколько недель, и этот период еще связан с настоящим.