In recent years many countries of the world have been faced with the problem of how to make their workers more productive . Some experts claim the answer is to make jobs more varied. But do more various jobs lead to greater productivity ?There is evidence to suggest that while variety certainly makes the worker's life more enjoyable ,it does not actually make him work harder . As far as increasing productivity is concerned, then variety is not an important factor.
Other experts feel that giving the worker freedom to do his job in his own way is important ,and there is no doubt that this is true. The problem is that this kind of freedom cannot easily be given in the modern factory with its complicated machinery which must be used in a fixed way .Thus while freedom of choice may be important ,there is usually very little that can be done to create it .
Another very important consideration is how each worker contributes to the product he is making .In most factories the worker sees only one part of the product .Some car factories are now experimenting with having many small production lines rather than one large one ,so that each worker contributes more to the production of the cars on his line .It would seem that not only is degree of the worker contribution an important factor, therefore ,but it is also one we can do something about .
To what extent does more money lead to greater productivity ?The workers themselves certainly think this is important. Maybe they want more money only because the work they do is boring. Money just lets them enjoy their spare time more. A similar argument may explain demands for shorter working hours. Perhaps if we succeed in making their jobs more interesting ,they will neither want more money ,nor will shorter working hours be so important to them. Which of the following is the best way to make workers work harder according to the author?
| A．Increasing their pay. |
| B．Giving them more spare time. |
| C．Making the work itself meaningful. |
| D．Replacing large production lines with small ones . |
The reason why a worker cannot have freedom in doing the job in his own way is that .
| A．the machinery is so badly needed that more of it should be bought |
| B．there are production lines in factories |
| C．the bosses can create very little freedom of choices |
| D．the machines must be operated strictly according to instructions and rules |
Besides money, what may make workers work more actively?
| A．Extra free hours. | B．More comfort of life. |
| C．Interesting jobs. | D．Better working conditions. |
The best title for this passage may be .
| A．Problems of Modern Workers | B．Making Jobs More Interesting |
| C．Pushing Workers to Produce More | D．How to Improve Labor Productivity． |
A few days ago we ––– that’s me and the husband ––– took a cab to the station. Chat with the driver fell to the wrong of cyclists, and the misunderstanding of the road rules. So far as the rules of the road go, there seems to be one basic principle: when you are driving a car you hate bikes, when you are riding a bike you hate cars (and I guess walkers hate everyone).
There is an obvious difference of viewpoint built in here. It wasn’t until I started to drive a car (almost 20 years after I had first ridden a bike) that I actually realized that you could not see a cyclist at night without lights. In fact I now want to shout at late night cyclists without lights (like motorists once did at me): “ You’ll get killed, sunshine, I can’t see you.”
The problem is that cyclists do ride headlong into danger. It's not just not having lights. It’s biking on pavements (and so threatening to injure a load of innocent walkers in the process) and biking down one-way streets the wrong way.
I admit that I do bike the wrong way down a one-way street sometimes. My feeble(软弱无力) defense is that I try always to do it as if I know I was doing wrong. That is slowly, with an apologetic look on the face, and ready to get off at any minute. I can’t bear the guys(一伙人) (usually, but not always it is guys) who do it as if they owned the place, and at high speed.
So cyclists are not entirely innocent. But they are among the disadvantaged groups, because the bottom line is that a car or a lorry can kill a cyclist and not the other way around. When did the writer realize the danger for late night cyclists without lights?
| A．Not until she became a driver herself. |
| B．Not until she had driven a car for 20 years. |
| C．After she was shouted at by a motorist. |
| D．After she was once knocked down by a group of guys. |
When the writer biked the wrong way down a one way street, she felt ________.
| A．angry | B．guilty |
| C．innocent | D．proud |
Which group is most likely to face danger according to the writer?
| A．drivers | B．passers-by |
| C．cyclists | D．motorists |
What can we learn about the writer?
| A．She often took a cab with her husband. |
| B．She has been a motorist for over 20 years. |
| C．She used to ride a bike without lights at night. |
| D．She often biked the wrong way down a one-way street. |
Walking down a path through some woods in Georgia, I saw a small pool of water ahead on the path. I angled my direction to go around it on the part of the path that wasn't covered by water or mud. As I reached the pool, I was suddenly attacked!
Yet I did nothing for the attack. It was so unpredictable and from somewhere totally unexpected. I was surprised as well as unhurt though I had been struck four or five times. I backed up a foot and my attacker stopped attacking me. Had I been hurt I wouldn't have found it amusing. And I was laughing. After all, I was being attacked by a butterfly!
Having stopped laughing, I took a step forward. My attacker rushed me again. He charged towards me at full speed, attempting to hurt me but in vain. For a second time, I took a step backwards while my attacker paused. I wasn't sure what to do. After all, it’s just not every day that one is attacked by a butterfly. I stepped back to look the situation over. My attacker moved back to land on the ground. That's when I discovered why my attacker was charging me only moments earlier. He had a mate and she was dying.
Sitting close beside her, he opened and closed his wings as if to fan her. I could only admire the love and courage of that butterfly in his concern for his mate. He had taken it up on himself to attack me for his mate’s sake, even though she was clearly dying and I was so large. He did so just to give her those extra few precious moments of life. Should I have been careless enough to step on her? His courage in attacking something thousands of times larger and heavier than himself just for his mate’s safety seemed admirable. I couldn’t do anything other than reward him by walking on the more difficult side of the pool. He had truly earned those moments to be with her, undisturbed.
Since then, I’ve used that butterfly’s courage as an inspiration and to remind myself that good things are worth fighting for.The writer changed his direction while walking down a path because he wanted_______.
| A．to get close to a butterfly |
| B．to escape a sudden attack |
| C．to look over the bad situation |
| D．to avoid getting his shoes dirty |
From the passage we can learn that the attacker _________.
| A．struck the author four or five times and made him badly hurt |
| B．paused until the author took a step backwards |
| C．thought it was the author who caused the death of his mate |
| D．attacked the author for his mate’s safety and to accompany her for the last moments of life |
From this experience the man learned_____.
| A．butterflies are brave insects |
| B．the small can defeat the large |
| C．how to deal with challenges in his life |
| D．people should try their best to fight for everything |
Which of the following words can best describe the butterfly?
| A．caring | B．ambitious |
| C．courageous | D．aggressive |
Two new studies suggest that modern running shoes could increase the risk of injuries to runners.
One study involved sixty-eight healthy young women and men who ran at least twenty-four kilometers a week. The runners were observed on a treadmill machine (跑步机). Sometimes they wore running shoes. Other times they ran barefoot (赤脚).
Researchers from the JKM Technologies Company in Virginia, the University of Virginia and the University of Colorado did the study.
They found that running shoes create more stress that could damage knees, hips and ankle joints than running barefoot. They observed that the effect was even greater than the effect reported earlier for walking in high heels.
The study appeared in the official scientific journal of The American Academy of Physical Medicine.
The other study appeared in the journal Nature. It compared runners in the United States and Kenya. The researchers were from Harvard University in Massachusetts, Moi University in Kenya and the University of Glasgow in Scotland.
They divided the runners into three groups. One group had always run shoeless. Another group had always run with shoes. And the third group had changed to shoeless running.
Runners who wear shoes usually come down heel first. That puts great force on the back of the foot. But the study found that barefoot runners generally land on the front or middle of their foot. That way they ease into their landing and avoid striking their heel.
Harvard’s Daniel Lieberman led the study. He says the way most running shoes are designed may explain why those who wear them land on their heels. The heel of the shoe is bigger and heavier than other parts of the shoe, so it would seem more likely to come down first. Also, the heel generally has thick material under it to soften landings.
But the researchers do not suggest that runners immediately start running barefoot. They say it takes some training. And there can be risks, like running when your feet are too cold to feel if you get injured.
The study was partly supported by Vibram, which makes a kind of footwear that it says is like running barefoot. The findings have gotten a lot of attention. But the researchers say there are many problems in the way the press has reported in their paper. So they have tried to explain their findings on a Harvard Website. What’s the main idea of the passage?
| A．Walking in high heels could cause less serious effects than running barefoot. |
| B．Two new discoveries encourage people to run in high heels. |
| C．Running in shoes is partly good to runners. |
| D．Two new studies prove running without shoes is beneficial to runners in most cases. |
Which part of our body could be injured if we run in running shoes?
| A．Toes. | B．Hips. |
| C．Feet. | D．Legs. |
What can we learn from the passage?
| A．The way that we run by landing on the front or middle of our foot could avoid damaging our heel. |
| B．We should start running barefoot in no time. |
| C．Running in modern running shoes could cause more serious effects than running in high heels. |
| D．We won’t be injured if we run barefoot. |
Are you reading this while sitting in an office cubicle（办公室格子间）? If so, please take a moment and glance around you. Are there photos of your last vacation hung on the wall? One of your kid’s drawings? A yellowed print of a favorite cartoon?
If so, you are doing something good for both yourself and your organization. Newly published research suggests working in an environment that offers little privacy can lead to emotional exhaustion and burnout（过度疲劳）. But personalizing one’s workplace is an effective protection against such unwanted outcomes.
“Individuals may take comfort from the items with which they surround themselves at work, and these items may help employees to keep emotional energy high in the face of stresses that come from their work,” writes a research team led by Gregory Laurence of the University of Michigan-Flint, Michigan, in north central U.S.
In the Journal of Environmental Psychology, Laurence and his colleagues describe a study featuring 87 white-collar employees at a large, urban university in the Midwestern United States.
Research assistants noted whether they worked in a private office (with a door that can be closed) or a cubicle. They also counted the number of items each worker had brought from home to decorate his or her workspace – a list that included photographs, posters, artworks.
Not surprisingly, Laurence and his colleagues found a connection between the amount of privacy an employee enjoys and his or her rate of burnout. “High privacy conditions tend to serve as strong protectors against unwelcome interferences and distractions（干扰和分心的事）,” they noted, “contributing to a work environment supporting reduced emotional exhaustion.”
But this link disappeared when those employees had personalized their cubicles. Employees who had turned their workspaces into areas that reflect their interests and personalities reported the same (relatively low) level of emotional exhaustion, no matter whether they worked in an office or a cubicle.
The research confirms “the calming effect” of having your own stuff around you. So if you’re feeling exhausted at work, relief could be as simple as hanging a few of your kindergartener’s colorful creations on your cubicle wall. Who might be most interested in the passage?
| A．Job hunters. |
| B．Office workers. |
| C．Kid’s parents |
| D．Employment researchers. |
For employees, decorating cubicles with their own items __________.
| A．offers them little privacy |
| B．may help improve their work efficiency |
| C．will sometimes cause burnout |
| D．serve as interferences and distractions |
The participant of the research __________.
| A．come from the university of Michigan-Flint |
| B．all suffer high levels of emotional exhaustion |
| C．may work in a private office or in a cubicle |
| D．like personalizing their homes with little items |
Where does this passage probably come from?
| A．A book review | B．A research plan |
| C．An official document | D．A news report |
50 years ago Barbie Millicent Roberts first appeared in the world of toys. Barbie, as everyone called her, has become the most successful toy in history. According to Barbie’s parents, the Mattel Company, 90% of all American girls between 3 and 10 have at least one Barbie at home.
In today’s world, however, Barbie is facing an identity crisis. There are many rivals on the market. For example, Bratz dolls, which are very popular among older girls, came to life seven years ago. They look more like today’s pop stars with heavy make-up（浓妆）and fashionable miniskirts. Today Bratz is a challenge for Barbie, because the company offers a wide variety of clothing, too.
It seems that Barbie has lost her appeal to older girls. “For younger girls playing with a Barbie is much fun, but when you get older you want something chic, says Alina Foley, a shop assistant in a New York toy store. Indeed, sales have been going down over the past year, partly because of the world’s economic crisis.
Barbie still has a lot going for her. More and more doll lovers all over the globe have become collectors. They trade Barbies or buy them on eBay. Others look for special and rare Barbie dolls, like Scarlett O’Hara from “Gone with the Wind”.
On the international market, Barbie remains number one. Although Mattel has been selling fewer Barbies in the United States over the past year, sales in other countries have been going up. In January Mattel opened its first Barbie store in Shanghai, where girls can shop, eat or even become their own fashion designer.
Barbie has changed her image many times over the past decades. Originally she worn blond pony tails and had bright red lips. In the 80s she changed to a more colorful new look.
For her 50th birthday Mattel is planning some big events. Fashion designers from all over the world have been called to make new clothes for Barbie. She is also scheduled to be a big star during the New York Fashion Week.
How long will Barbie stay on as a celebrity（名人）in the world of toy dolls? Hard to say, but 50 is definitely not the age to retire.The author mentions Bratz in Paragraph 2 in order to show that __________.
| A．even pop stars have their own favorite toy dolls |
| B．Barbie is facing tough competition on the market |
| C．clothing plays the key role in the design of toy dolls |
| D．the toy market has been expanding greatly over the years |
The underlined word “chic” in Paragraph 3 probably means “__________”.
| A．valuable | B．scientific |
| C．complex | D．fashionable |
We can learn from the text that Barbie __________.
| A．plays a role in a film directed by Scarlett O’Hara |
| B．is most popular with girls under the age of ten |
| C．has rarely changed its image since its birth 50 years ago |
| D．has long lost its leading position on the market of toy dolls |
What would be the best title for the text?
| A．Barbie Turns Fifty |
| B．Hottest Toys for Girls |
| C．Mattel’s Barbie Sales |
| D．Play with Bratz Toys |
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