Passage Three
Questions 21 to 25 are based on the following passage.
New technology links the world as never before. Our planet has shrunk. It‘s now a ―global village‖ where countries are only seconds away by fax or phone or satellite link. And, of course, our ability to benefit from this high-tech communications equipment is greatly enhanced by foreign language skills.
Deeply involved with this new technology is a breed of modern businesspeople who have a growing respect for the economic value of doing business abroad. In modern markets, success overseas often helps support domestic business efforts.
Overseas assignments are becoming increasingly important to advancement within executive ranks. The executive stationed in another country no longer need fear being ―out of sight and out of mind.‖ He or she can be sure that the overseas effort is central to the company‘s plan for success, and that promotions often follow or accompany an assignment abroad. If an employee can succeed in a difficult assignment overseas, superiors will have greater confidence in his or her ability to cope back in the United States where cross-cultural considerations and foreign language issues are becoming more and more prevalent (普遍的).
Thanks to a variety of relatively inexpensive communications devices with business applications, even small businesses in the United States are able to get into international markets.
English is still the international language of business. But there is an ever-growing need for people who can speak another language. A second language isn‘t generally required to get a job in business, but having language skills gives a candidate the edge when other qualifications appear to be equal
The employee posted abroad who speaks the country‘s principal language has an opportunity to fast-forward certain negotiations, and cam have the cultural insight to know when it is better to move more slowly. The employee at the home office who can communicate well with foreign clients over the telephone or by fax machine is an obvious asset to the firm. 21. What is the author‘s attitude toward high-tech communications equipment? A) Critical. B) Prejudiced. C) Indifferent. D) Positive.
22. With the increased use of high-tech communications equipment, businesspeople ________. A) have to get familiar with modern technology
B) are gaining more economic benefits from domestic operations C) are attaching more importance to their overseas business D) are eager to work overseas
23. In this passage, ―out of sight and out of mind‖ (Lines 2-3, Para. 3) probably means ________. A) being unable to think properly for lack of insight B) being totally out of touch with business at home C) missing opportunities for promotion when abroad D) leaving all care and worry behind
24. According to the passage, what is an important consideration of international corporations in employing people today? A) Connections with businesses overseas. B) Ability to speak the client‘s language. C) Technical know-how. D) Business experience.
25. The advantage of employees having foreign language skills is that they can ________. A) better control the whole negotiation process
B) easily find new approaches to meet market needs C) fast-forward their proposals to headquarters D) easily make friends with businesspeople abroad
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21. D 22. C 23. C 24. B 25. A
Passage Four
Questions 26 to 30 are based on the following passage.
In recent years, Israeli consumers have grown more demanding as they‘ve become wealthier and more worldly-wise. Foreign travel is a national passion; this summer alone, one in 10 citizens will go abroad. Exposed to higher standards of service elsewhere, Israelis are returning home expecting the same. American firms have also begun arriving in large numbers. Chains such as KFC, McDonald‘s and Pizza Hut are setting a new standard of customer service, using strict employee training and constant monitoring to ensure the friendliness of frontline staff. Even the American habit of telling departing customers to ―Have a nice day‖ has caught on all over Israel. ―Nobody wakes up in the morning and says, ?Let‘s be nicer,‘‖ says Itsik Cohen, director of a consulting firm. ―Nothing happens without competition.‖
Privatization, or the threat of it, is a motivation as well. Monopolies (垄断者) that until recently have been free to take their customers for granted now fear what Michael Perry, a marketing professor, calls ―the revengeful (报复的) consumer.‖ When the government opened up competition with Bezaq, the phone company, its international branch lost 40% of its market share, even while offering competitive rates. Says Perry, ―People wanted revenge for all the years of bad service.‖ The electric company, whose monopoly may be short-lived, has suddenly mopped requiring users to wait half a day for a repairman. Now, appointments are scheduled to the half-hour. The graceless El Al Airlines, which is already at auction (拍卖), has retrained its employees to emphasize service and is boasting about the results in an ad campaign with the slogan, ―You can feel the change in the air.‖ For the first time, praise outnumbers complaints on customer survey sheets. 26. It may be inferred from the passage that ________. A) customer service in Israel is now improving B) wealthy Israeli customers are hard to please
C) the tourist industry has brought chain stores to Israel
D) Israeli customers prefer foreign products to domestic ones
27. In the author‘s view, higher service standards are impossible in Israel ________. A) if customer complaints go unnoticed by the management B) unless foreign companies are introduced in greater numbers C) if there‘s no competition among companies D) without strict routine training of employees
28. If someone in Israel today needs a repairman in case of a power failure, ________. A) they can have it fixed in no time
B) it‘s no longer necessary to make an appointment C) the appointment takes only half a day to make D) they only have to wait half an hour at most
29. The example of El A1 Airlines shows that ________.
A) revengeful customers are a threat to the monopoly of enterprises B) an ad campaign is a way out for enterprises in financial difficulty C) a good slogan has great potential for improving service D) staff retraining is essential for better service
30. Why did Bezaq‘s international branch lose 40% of its market share? A) Because the rates it offered were not competitive enough. B) Because customers were dissatisfied with its past service. C) Because the service offered by its competitors was far better. D) Because it no longer received any support from the government.
26. A 27.C 28. D 29. D 30. B
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2003.6
Passage One
Questions 21 to 25 are based on the following passage.
On average, American kids ages 3 to 12 spent 29 hours a week in school, eight hours more that they did in 1981. They also did more household work and participated in more of such organized activities as soccer and ballet (芭蕾舞). Involvement in sports, in particular, rose almost 50% from 1981 to 1997: boys now spend an average of four hours a week playing sports; girls log hall that time. All in all, however, children‘s leisure time dropped from 40% of the day in 1981 to 25%
―Children are affected by the same time crunch (危机) that affects their parents,‖ says Sandra Hofferth, who headed the recent study of children‘s timetable. A chief reason, she says, is that more mothers are working outside the home. (Nevertheless, children in both double-income and ―male breadwinner‖ households spent comparable amounts of time interacting with their parents 19 hours and 22 hours respectively. In contrast, children spent only 9 hours with their single mothers.)
All work and no play could make for some very messed-up kids. ―Play is the most powerful way a child explores the world and learns about himself,‖ says T. Berry Brazelton, professor at Harvard Medical School Unstructured play encourages independent thinking and allows the young to negotiate their relationships with their peers, but kids ages 3 to 12 spent only 12 hours a week engaged in it.
The children sampled spent a quarter of their rapidly decreasing ―free time‖ watching television. But that, believe it or not, was one of the findings parents might regard as good news. If they‘re spending less time in front of the TV set, however, kids aren‘t replacing it with reading. Despite efforts to get kids more interested in books, the children spent just over an hour a week reading. Let‘s face it, who‘s got the time?
21. By mentioning ―the same time crunch‖ (Line 1, Para. 2) Sandra Hofferth means ________. A) children have little time to play with their parents
B) children are not taken good care of by their working parents C) both parents and children suffer from lack of leisure time D) both parents and children have trouble managing their time
22. According to the author, the reason given by Sandra Hofferth for the time crunch is ________. A) quite convincing B) partially true C) totally groundless D) rather confusing
23. According to the author a child develops better if ________. A) he has plenty of time reading and studying B) he is left to play with his peers in his own way C) he has more time participating in school activities D) he is free to interact with his working parents
24. The author is concerned about the fact that American kids ________. A) are engaged in more and more structured activities B) are increasingly neglected by their working mothers C) are spending more and more time watching TV D) are involved less and less in household work 25. We can infer from the passage that ________.
A) extracurricular activities promote children‘s intelligence B) most children will turn to reading with TV sets switched off C) efforts to get kids interested in reading have been fruitful D) most parents believe reading to be beneficial to children
21. C 22. B 23. B 24. A 25. A
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Passage Two
Questions 26 to 30 are based on the following passage.
Henry Ford, the famous U.S. inventor and car manufacturer, once said, ―The business of America is business.‖ By this he meant that the U.S. way of life is based on the values of the business world.
Few would argue with Ford‘s statement. A brief glimpse at a daily newspaper vividly shows how much people in the United States think about business. For example, nearly every newspaper has a business section, in which the deals and projects, finances and management, stock prices and labor problems of corporations are reported daily. In addition, business news can appear in every other section. Most national news has an important financial aspect to it. Welfare, foreign aid, the federal budget, and the policies of the Federal Reserve Bank are all heavily affected by business. Moreover, business news appears in some of the unlikeliest places. The world of arts and entertainment is often referred to as ―the entertainment industry‖ or ―show business.‖
The positive side of Henry Ford‘s statement can be seen in the prosperity that business has brought to U.S. life. One of the most important reasons so many people from all over the world come to live in the United States is the dream of a better job. Jobs are produced in abundance (大量地) because the U.S. economic system is driven by competition. People believe that this system crates more wealth, more jobs, and a materially better way of life.
The negative side of Henry Ford‘s statement, however, can be seen when the word business is taken to mean big business. And the term big business—referring to the biggest companies, is seen in opposition to labor. Throughout U.S. history working people have had to fight hard for higher wages, better working conditions, and the fight to form unions. Today, many of the old labor disputes are over, but there is still some employee anxiety. Downsizing—the laying off of thousands of workers to keep expenses low and profits high—creates feelings of insecurity for many. 26. The United States is a typical country ________. A) which encourages free trade at home and abroad B) where people‘s chief concern is how to make money C) where all businesses are managed scientifically
D) which normally works according to the federal budget
27. The influence of business in the U.S. is evidenced by the fact that ________. A) most newspapers are run by big businesses
B) even public organizations concentrate on working for profits C) Americans of all professions know how to do business D) even arts and entertainment are regarded as business
28. According to the passage, immigrants choose to settle in the U.S., dreaming that ________. A) they can start profitable businesses there B) they can be more competitive in business C) they will make a fortune overnight there D) they will find better chances of employment
29. Henry Ford‘s statement can be taken negatively because ________. A) working people are discouraged to fight for their fights B) there are many industries controlled by a few big capitalists
C) there is a conflicting relationship between big corporations and labor D) public services are not run by the federal government
30. A company‘s efforts to keep expenses low and profits high may result in ________. A) reduction in the number of employees B) improvement of working conditions
C) fewer disputes between labor and management D) a rise in workers‘ wages
26. B 27. D 28. D 29. C 30. A
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Passage Three
Questions 31 to 35 are based on the following passage.
Professor Smith recently persuaded 35 people, 23 of them women, to keep a diary of all their absent-minded actions for a fortnight. When he came to analyse their embarrassing lapses (差错) in a scientific report, he was surprised to find that nearly all of them fell into a few groupings, Nor did the lapses appear to be entirely random (随机的).
One of the women, for instance, on leaving her house for work one morning threw her dog her earrings and tried to fix a dog biscuit on her ear. ―the explanation for this is that the brain is like a computer,‖ explains the professor. ―People programme themselves to do certain activities regularly. It was the woman‘s custom every morning to throw her dog two biscuits and then put on her earrings. But somehow the action got reversed in the programme,‖ About one in twenty of the incidents the volunteers reported were these ―programme assembly failures.‖
Altogether the volunteers logged 433 unintentional actions that they found themselves doing—an average of twelve each, There appear to be peak periods in the day when we are at our zaniest (荒谬可笑的). These are two hours some time between eight a.m. and noon, between four and six p.m. with a smaller peak between eight and ten p.m. ―Among men the peak seems to be when a changeover in brain ?programmes‘ occurs, as for instance between going to and from work.‖ Women on average reported slightly more lapses—12.5 compared with 10.9 for men—probably because they were more reliable reporters.
A startling finding of the research is that the absent-minded activity is a hazard of doing things in which we are skilled. Normally, you would expect that skill reduces the number of errors we make. But trying to avoid silly slips by concentrating more could make things a lot worse—even dangerous.
31. In his study Professor Smith asked the subjects ________. A) to keep track of people who tend to forget things B) to report their embarrassing lapses at random
C) to analyse their awkward experiences scientifically D) to keep a record of what they did unintentionally 32. Professor Smith discovered that ________.
A) certain patterns can be identified in the recorded incidents
B) many people were too embarrassed to admit their absent-mindedness C) men tend to be more absent-minded than women D) absent-mindedness is an excusable human weakness
33. ―Programme assembly failures‖ (Line 6, Para. 2) refers to the phenomenon that people ________. A) often fail to programme their routines beforehand B) tend to make mistakes when they are in a hurry C) unconsciously change the sequence of doing things D) are likely to mess things up if they are too tired 34. We learn from the third paragraph that ________.
A) absent-mindedness tends to occur during certain hours of the day B) women are very careful to perform actions during peak periods C) women experience more peak periods of absent-mindedness D) men‘s absent-mindedness often results in funny situations 35. It can be concluded from the passage that ________.
A) people should avoid doing important things during peak periods of lapses B) hazards can be avoided when people do things they are good at C) people should be careful when programming their actions D) lapses cannot always be attributed to lack of concentration
31. B 32. A 33. C 34. A 35. D
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