In recent years，researchers from diverse fields have agreed that short﹣termism is now a significant problem in industrialised societies. The inability to engage with longer﹣term causes and consequences leads to some of the world's most serious problems：climate change，biodiversity collapse，and more.The historian Francis Cole argues that the West has entered a period where "only the present exists，a present characterised at once by the cruelty of the instant and by the boredom of an unending now".
It has been proved that people have a bias（偏向） towards the present，focusing on loud attractions in the moment at the expense of the health，well﹣being and financial stability of their future selves or community. In business，this bias surfaces as short﹣sighted decisions. And on slow﹣burning problems like climate change，it translates into the unwillingness to make small sacrifices（牺牲） today that could make a major difference tomorrow. Instead，all that matters is next quarter's profit，or satisfying some other near﹣term desires.
These biased perspectives cannot be blamed on one single cause. It is fair to say，though，that our psychological biases play a major role. People's hesitancy to delay satisfaction is the most obvious example，but there are others. One of them is about how the most accessible information in the present affects decisions about the future. For instance，you might hear someone say："It's cold this winter，so I needn't worry about global warming." Another is that loud and urgent matters are given too much importance，making people ignore longer﹣term trends that arguably matter more. This is when a pop star draws far more attention than，say，gradual biodiversity decline.
As a psychologist once joked，if aliens（外星人）wanted to weaken humanity，they wouldn't send ships；they would invent climate change. Indeed，when it comes to environmental transformations，we can develop a form of collective "poor memory"，and each new generation can believe the state of affairs they encounter is nothing out of the ordinary. Older people today，for example，can remember a time with insect﹣covered car windscreens after long drives. Children，on the other hand，have no idea that insect population has dropped dramatically.
（1）The author quotes Francis Cole mainly to .
| A． |
draw a comparison |
| B． |
introduce a topic |
| C． |
evaluate a statement |
| D． |
highlight a problem |
（2）What can be inferred from the last paragraph？
| A． |
Climate change has been forgotten. |
| B． |
Lessons of history are highly valued. |
| C． |
The human mind is bad at noting slow change. |
| D． |
Humans are unwilling to admit their shortcomings. |
（3）What does the author intend to tell us？
| A． |
Far﹣sighted thinking matters to humans. |
| B． |
Humans tend to make long﹣term sacrifices. |
| C． |
Current policies facilitate future decision﹣making. |
| D． |
Bias towards the present helps reduce near﹣term desires. |
In today's throw away society, dealing with the city's growing mountain of waste is an inereasing challenge for the city countil(市议会)。
Recently. Edinburgh is faced with the problem of dssposing of(处理)about250,000 Million tons of waster a year . Despite different ways to dispose of much of it in a green manner---largely through encouraging tecycling---its aging facilities such as the Powderhall landfill do not have the ability to deal with it.
The European Union(EU) has issued a new policy, regulating how such mountains of waster are to hr disposed of. The five councils (Edinburgh. East Lothian. West Lothian. Midlethian and Borders) face fine around $18million a year from 2013 it they don't inerease recycling levels and rely less on landfill. With this in mind, the coumlls got together with the idea of building a lage incinerator plant (垃圾焚烧厂)to burn half of the waste produced in their districts. But the plan fell apart after the change of target levels by a new UK government waste policy which required that no more than 25% of the city's waste should be disposed of in this way by 2025.
After the plan was abandoned, a private company which already transported millions of tons of the city's wast by train to a landfill site near Dunbar, offered an alternative soution when it suggested opening a huge waste site near Portobello.
Since Powderhall is supposed to close in 2015, it seemed necessary for the members of the Edinburgh Council to accept the suggestion. But soon they turned it down-after 700 local objections reached them-because it would have meant hundreds of lorries a day making loud noise through heavily populated areas.
That still leaves eth council with a problem. By 2013,only50%of 1995 levels of waste will benllewed to be sent to landfill. Even if recveling large are met, there will still be a large amount of rubbish to be burnt up. Due build an Edinburgh and Midlothian councils have now decided to work together to build an ineinerator plant as time to find a solution is fast running out.
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The main way of handling waste in a green manmer in Edinburgh is.
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| 2． |
The five councils worked out a plan to build an incinerator plant to.
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| 3． |
The city council of Edinburgh rejected the suggestion to open a huge landfill site near Portobello because.
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| 4． |
What is the final dream an Edinburgh and Midlothian Country ?
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Howling is a behavior commonly observed among a wolf nark. An animals, wolves work together to hunt and rely on howling was an important means of communication each other. There are different explants of a wolf’s howl and it appears that there may be more to discover. One theory is that wolves howl to bend better together. It’s almost as if howling together helps the pack stay together. Perhaps something similar to people feeling a sense of involvement with each other when singing a song together . But this theory may be wrong, explains Fred H. Harington, a professor who studies wolf behavior. Indeed, there have been tines when wolves have been seen one moment howling in a exhorts, and the next, quarreling anions each other. It appears that usually the lowest-tanking menthes of the pack may actually be “punished” for
Joining in the churs at times. So is howling a way to strcagthen a social boad or just a way to reconfirm status among its members? ——Why do welves howl for sure?
What is cleat, however, is that howling is often used among packmates to locate each other. Hunting grounds are distant and it happens that woloves may separate from one another at times. When this happens, howling appcars to be an ercellent means of gathering.
Howling, interestingly, is a contagious behaviour. When one wolf starts to howl, very likely others will follow. This is often seen to occat in the morning, as if wolves were doing some sotr of “roll rall”where wolves all howl togeter to howl, very likely others will follow. This is often seen to occar in the morning, as if wolves were doing w some sotr of “roll call”where wolves all howl together to repotr their pteence..What the por similarity between wolves’ how humaes ting in chorus?
| A．The act of calling each other. |
| B．the sense of accomplishment. |
| C．The act of hunting for something. |
| D．The sense of belonging to a group. |
.Why does Harrington think the“secial boad”theory may be wrong?
| A．Wolves separate from each other after howling. |
| B．Wolves tend to protect their hunting grounds. |
| C．Wolves sometimes have quarrels after howling together. |
| D．Wolves of low rank are encouraged to join in the chorus. |
Reseatchers are sure that wolves often howl to______.
| A．show their ranks |
| B．find their companion |
| C．report the missing ones |
| D．express their lonelingess |
“Howling… is a contagious behaviour”(in the last paragraph)means_ ______.
| A．howling is a signal for hunting |
| B．howling is a way of communication |
| C．howling aften occurs in the morning |
| D．howling spreads from one to another |
Honesty, my mum always used to tell me, is the best policy. Of course, this didin’t include her when she told me that if I didn’t eat all my vegetables Father Christmas would find out and wouldn’t give me any presents.
But when it comes to medicine, I had assumed it was important to always be honest with my patients. After all, the doctor patient relationship is based on trust, and therefore honesty is essential, Or so I thought.
I had just started working in geriatrics(老年病科). Mr. McMahon was brought in when his baby was faound very swollen. I took a medical history from his daughter would accompanied him in the ambulance. She’d been his main carer for years. I stood looking at him as she gave a detailed history. “Has he lost any weight recently?” I asked, “Well, it’s funny you should mention that, but yes.” She said slowly. There was silence for a few moments. “Why? What are you worried about?” she asked, I hesitated. She was obviously very involved in his care and it was only fair that I told her the truth. “Well, we need to prove it’s not cancer.” I said and talked briefly about some of the tests I was going to order.
Half an hour later, a nurse called me: “Mr. McMahon’s daughter broke down－she said you told her he had cancer.” My heart sank. By the time I arrived at the ward, my consultant was already there, explaining that we still had to run lots of tests and that it was by no means confirmed that he had cancer. I stood silently at the end of the bed. My consultant was obviously angry with me and as we left Mr. McMahon, she turned to me. “Why on carch did you do that?” she asked to disbelief. I looked at her andbit my hp. “She asked me what I was worried about and I told her.” I said, hanging my head. “And give her more to worry about?” replied my consultant. “You don’t say the word ‘cancer’ until it’s confirmed. Even if you suspect it, think very carefully before you tell people.”
As it turned out, it wasn’t cancer. But I did learn that when somecone is stressed and worried about their loved one they’re sometimes selective in what they hear－and as a doctor it’s important to be mindful of this. In being truthful, I’d made the situation worse..The purpose of the first two paragraphs is to show that the author .
| A．misunderstood the doctor-patient relationship | |
| B．was anxious to receive Christmas gifts | |
| C．regarded honesty as the best policy | D．had an unhealthy eating habit |
The author’s consultant was angry with him because .
| A．he told the daughter what he suspected. |
| B．he delayed running the necessary tests. |
| C．he failed to confirm the parent’s disease. |
| D．he forgot what the consultant had advised. |
The author hung his head (the underlined part in Para.4) because he was feeling
| A．guilty | B．hurt | C．disappointed | D．helpless |
.What lesson has the author learnt from his experience?
| A．Learning form parents is necessary. |
| B．Jumping to a conclusion is dangerous. |
| C．Telling the truth may not always be the best solution. |
| D．Selecting pleasant words may not be the perfect policy. |
In business, there is a speed difference: It's the difference between how important a firms leaders say speed is to their competitive (竞争的) strategy（策略）and how fast the company actually moves. The difference is important regardless of industry and company size .Companies fearful of losing their competitive advantage spend much time and money looking for ways to pick up the speed.
In our study of 343 businesses, the companies that choose to go, go, go to try to gain an edge ended up with lower sales and operating incomes than those that paused at key moments to make sure they were on the right track, What’s more, the firms that “slowed down to speed up “improved their top and bottom lines, averaging 40% higher sales and 52% higher operating incomes over a three-year period.
How did they disobey the laws of business physics, taking more time than competitors yet performing better? They thought differently about what “slower” and “faster” mean. Firms sometimes fail to understand the difference between operation speed (moving quickly )and strategic speed (reducing the time it takes to deliver value ).Simply increasing the speed of production, for example ,may be one way to try to reduce the speed difference .But that often leads to reduced value over time, in the form of lower-quality products and services.
In our study, higher-performing companies with strategic speed always made changes when necessary. They became more open to ideas and discussion. They encouraged new ways of thinking. And they allowed time to look back and learn. By contrast (相比而言), performance suffered at firms that moved fast all the time, paid too much attention to improving efficiency, stuck to tested methods, didn’t develop team spirit among their employees, and had little time thinking about changes.
Strategic speed serves as a kind of leadership. Teams that regularly take time to get things right , rather than plough ahead full bore , are more successful in meeting their business goals . That kind of strategy must come from the top. What does the underlined part “gain an edge ”in Paragraph 2 mean ?
| A．Increase the speed. |
| B．Get an advantage. |
| C．Reach the limit. |
| D．Set a goal. |
. The underlined part “the laws of business physics” in Paragraph 3 means ___________.
| A．spending more time and performing worse. |
| B．spending more time and performing better |
| C．spending less time and performing worse |
| D．spending less time and performing better |
What can we learn from the text?
| A．how fast a firm moves depends on how big it is. |
| B．how competitive a firm is depends on what it produces. |
| C．Firms guided by strategic speed take time to make necessary changes. |
| D．Firms guided by operational speed take time to develop necessary team spirit. |
. Which could be the best title for the text?
| A．Improve quality? Serve better. |
| B．Deliver value? Plough ahead. |
| C．Reduce time? Move faster. |
| D．Need speed? Slow down. |
"Experience may possibly be the best teacher, but it is not a particularly good teacher." You might think that Winston Churhill or perhaps Mark Twain spoke those words, but they actually come from James March, a professor at Stanford University and a pioneer in the field of organization decision making. For years March( possibly be wisest philosopher of management) has studied how humans think and act, and he continues to do so in his new book The Ambiguities of Experience.
He begins by reminding us of just how firmly we have been sticking to the idea of experiential learning :"Experience is respected；experience is sought；experience is explained."The problem is that learning from experience involves（涉及）serious complications（复杂化），ones that are part of the nature of experience itself and which March discusses in the body of this book.
In one interesting part of book，for example，he turns a double eye toward the use of stories as the most effective way of experiential learning. He says"The more accurately（精确的）reality is presented，the less understandable the story，and the more understandable the story, the less realistic it is."
Besides being a broadly knowledgeable researcher. March is also a poet, and his gift shines though in the depth of views he offers and the simple language he uses. Though the book is short, it is demanding；Don't pick it up looking for quick, easy lessons. Rather, be ready to think deeply about learning from experience in work and life.
| 1． |
According to the text, James March is.
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| 2． |
According to James March, experience.
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| 3． |
What can we learn from Paragraph 3?
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| 4． |
What's the purpose of this text?
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