In business, there is a speed difference: It's the difference between how important firm leaders say speed is to their competitive strategy and how fast the company actually moves. The difference is important regardless of industry and company size. ________
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.
________ 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. ________ And they allowed time to look back and learn. By contrast, 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. ________ That kind of strategy must come from the top.
A. How did they disobey the laws of business physics, taking more time than competitors yet performing better?
B. Teams that regularly take time to get things right, rather than plough ahead full bore, are more successful in meeting their business goals.
C. More haste, less speed, which in the study proves wrong.
D. Companies fearful of losing their competitive advantage spend much time and money looking for ways to pick up the speed.
E. They valued efficiency rather than consideration.
F. They encouraged new ways of thinking.
【答案】 D；A；F；B
【解析】【分析】本文是一篇议论文，围绕速度展开，否定了一味强调速度的盲目性，区分了operational speed”操作速度“与strategic speed”战略速度“，强调了适当时间采取战略速度的重要性。
（1）考查对上下文的理解和推理判断能力。根据空前”The difference is important regardles s of industry and company size.“可知，无论行业和公司规模如何，那些担心失去竞争优势的公
司会花费大量的时间和金钱来寻找加快速度的方法。panies fearful of losing their competitive advantage spend much time and money looking for ways to pick up the speed.符合此处语境。故选D。
（2）考查对上下文的理解和推理判断能力。根据空前”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.“可知，那些“放慢速度以加快速度”的公司改善了他们的最高和最低收入，在三年内平均销售额提高了40%，营业收入提高了52%。
A.How did they disobey the laws of business physics, taking more time than competitors yet performing better?”他们是如何违反商业物理定律的，他们比竞争对手花费了更多的时间，却表现得更好的呢？“符合语境。故选A。
（3）考查对上下文的理解和推理判断能力。根据空前”They became more open to ideas and discussion.及下文And they allowed time to look back and learn.“可知，他们对思想和讨论变得更加开放，允许时间回顾和学习。F.They encouraged new ways of thinking”他们鼓励新的思维方式“符合语境。故选F。
（4）考查对上下文的理解和推理判断能力。根据空前”Strategic speed serves as a kind of leadership.“；以及及空后”That kind of strategy must come from the top.“可知，战略速度是一种领导力，而这种战略必须来自最高层。B.Teams that regularly take time to get things right, rather than plough ahead full bore, are more successful in meeting their business goals.”那些经常花时间把事情做好，而不是埋头苦干的人，更能成功地实现他们的商业目标“符合语境。故选B。
【点评】本题要求在理解细节信息的基础上，着重考查对上下文的理解和推理判断能力。
3．请认真阅读下面短文，并根据所读内容在文章后表格中的空格里填入一个最恰当的单词。每个空格只填一个单词。
A psychotherapist once taught me a little trick that helped me feel less angry at my partner and less sad about the failings of our relationship.
She said, "Look at him and imagine him as a very little boy; that way, you separate yourself somewhat from the adult, and you are likely to understand and forgive him."
It actually helped. I couldn't be as mad at or disappointed by a child as I could be with a grown man. So, at least on some occasions, we were both spared the heartache of an uncomfortable silence or a not-so-silent argument. And I sometimes still use versions of that trick whenever I feel frustrated or angry in other relationships or personal exchanges.
But what if you could mentally change the form of the emotion itself? According to scientists at the University of Texas, maybe you can.