Unit1
Part A
Directions:
Read the following four texts. Answer the questions below each text by choosing A, B, C or D. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET 1. (40 points)
Text 4
It's possible that while you are at work, you may dream about a month of Sundays, but your boss wishes for a week of Tuesday. That's because she/he probably knows that productivity is one of the main factors bolstering (supporting) a company's growth. And a recent poll shows that workers are most productive on Tuesdays! Accountemps, an employment agency, conducted a national survey of office managers, which shows that by the middle of the week, they see a dramatic productivity decrease. While Monday is considered second in "productivity value", only nine percent of office managers think Wednesday is the peak productivity day. Five percent believe it is Thursday. And Friday, well, you can just imagine! However, forty-eight percent of the managers polled said that Tuesday is, by far, the most productive day of the week.
A close analysis of workweek rhythms would turn up some obvious reasons for those survey results. First of all, Monday is overloaded with meetings, designed to "get things moving," and everybody knows meetings aren' t very productive. Wednesday is "hump day"(駝峰日) — get over it as painlessly as possible, a worker thinks, and the week is more than halfway over. On Thursday, people are running out of steam; and Friday, everybody's thinking about the weekend. There are reasons why the other days aren't productive, but what makes Tuesday special? Tuesdays, employees hit peak performance because they are very focused on day-to-day activities. Also, it's usually the first day of the week when they're focused on their own task. They're not in meetings that take them away from their primary responsibilities. Actually, Tuesdays can be quite hectic (full of excitement and without rest). Workers are arriving at work fairly frantic (wildly excited). And so, in 10 hours, they're doing 20-hour work. That's productive, but it's also tough.
This does not mean that nothing happens on the last three days of the workweek. Things do not get so lax that people are sitting with their feet on desks, sipping coffee and talking on the phone all day, but there's a definite lack of focus. The pace softens and the rhythm slows down. And this is not healthy: it produces fatigue and lowers productivity. To prevent this midweek slowdown, some management consultants suggest that employers avoid jamming so many meetings into Mondays. Work deadlines can be rescheduled to stretch out the workflow. Variations in productivity are only natural, but both workers and bosses win when the peaks and valleys are less dramatic than they are now.
16. According to the poll, which of the following days is most productive?
[A] Thursday.
[B] Friday.
[C] Monday.
[D] Wednesday.
17. The peak productivity day of the week is marked by
[A] violent excitement and activity.
[B] due enthusiasm and creativity.
[C] hurried and disordered movement.
[D] full concentration and efficiency.
18. The word “l(fā)ax” in the last paragraph means
[A] usually negligible.
[B] lacking in control.
[C] totally distractive.
[D] worthy of relaxing.
19. With respect to the changes in productivity, the text suggests that
[A] work deadlines can be readjusted.
[B] they are reasonable and expectable.
[C] Monday meetings may be called off.
[D] their differences are to be minimized.
20. The author has explained all of the following EXCEPT
[A] the steps taken to alter workweek rhythms.
[B] the productivity on the 6th day of the week.
[C] the reason why midweek slowdown takes place.
[D] the concern bosses have about low productivity.
答案】C D B D A
【譯文】
你可能會在上班的時候夢想一個月都是星期天，但你的老板卻希望一周都是星期二。原因是她/他極可能知道，效率是一個公司發(fā)展的主要原因。最近的一個民意測驗顯示，員工周二的工作效率。一個叫
Accountemps的職業(yè)介紹所，對全國的業(yè)務(wù)經(jīng)理做了一個調(diào)查。調(diào)查顯示，到一周中段時，工作效率顯著下降。周一在效率排行上位列第二，而只有百分之九的業(yè)務(wù)經(jīng)理認同周三是率的一天。百分之五的人認為是周四。至于周五，你想想就知道了。然而，百分之四十八的接受調(diào)查的經(jīng)理說周二是一周里效率的一天。
仔細分析工作周節(jié)奏后，你就會發(fā)現(xiàn)這些調(diào)查結(jié)果明顯的成因。首先，周一有過多的會議，其目的是“讓事情動起來”，但大家都知道會議并不富有成效。周三是“駝峰日”，員工會想，盡可能輕松地度過這一天吧，一周已經(jīng)過去大半拉。周四，人們快筋疲力盡了;周五，人人都想著周末。這些工作日效率不高是有原因的，那么是什么讓周二與眾不同呢?周二，員工全神貫注于他們的日常工作，所以他們的工作表現(xiàn)達到頂峰。而且，這通常是一周中他們專注于自己工作的第一天。他們不用因會議而放下自己的首要工作。的確，周二會相當忙碌，員工會手忙腳亂地進入工作狀態(tài)。結(jié)果，只用了10個鐘頭他們就干完了20個鐘頭的活——效率很高，但也很累人。
這并不是說接下來的三天就什么都不用做了。事情并未如此失去控制，以至于員工可以整天閑坐著，腳蹺上辦公桌，啜著咖啡，煲著電話粥。但的的確確缺乏專注了。節(jié)奏緩和了、放慢了。這并不益于健康，它會帶來疲倦，降低效率。為防止這種周三開始的松弛，有些管理顧問建議雇主應(yīng)避免把這么多的會議塞進星期一，可以通過重訂工作截止日期來延續(xù)工作流程。工作效率有變化，這很正常，但變化的高峰和低谷不像現(xiàn)在這樣突出時，員工和老板就會雙贏。
Part A
Directions:
Read the following four texts. Answer the questions below each text by choosing A, B, C or D. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET 1. (40 points)
Text 4
It's possible that while you are at work, you may dream about a month of Sundays, but your boss wishes for a week of Tuesday. That's because she/he probably knows that productivity is one of the main factors bolstering (supporting) a company's growth. And a recent poll shows that workers are most productive on Tuesdays! Accountemps, an employment agency, conducted a national survey of office managers, which shows that by the middle of the week, they see a dramatic productivity decrease. While Monday is considered second in "productivity value", only nine percent of office managers think Wednesday is the peak productivity day. Five percent believe it is Thursday. And Friday, well, you can just imagine! However, forty-eight percent of the managers polled said that Tuesday is, by far, the most productive day of the week.
A close analysis of workweek rhythms would turn up some obvious reasons for those survey results. First of all, Monday is overloaded with meetings, designed to "get things moving," and everybody knows meetings aren' t very productive. Wednesday is "hump day"(駝峰日) — get over it as painlessly as possible, a worker thinks, and the week is more than halfway over. On Thursday, people are running out of steam; and Friday, everybody's thinking about the weekend. There are reasons why the other days aren't productive, but what makes Tuesday special? Tuesdays, employees hit peak performance because they are very focused on day-to-day activities. Also, it's usually the first day of the week when they're focused on their own task. They're not in meetings that take them away from their primary responsibilities. Actually, Tuesdays can be quite hectic (full of excitement and without rest). Workers are arriving at work fairly frantic (wildly excited). And so, in 10 hours, they're doing 20-hour work. That's productive, but it's also tough.
This does not mean that nothing happens on the last three days of the workweek. Things do not get so lax that people are sitting with their feet on desks, sipping coffee and talking on the phone all day, but there's a definite lack of focus. The pace softens and the rhythm slows down. And this is not healthy: it produces fatigue and lowers productivity. To prevent this midweek slowdown, some management consultants suggest that employers avoid jamming so many meetings into Mondays. Work deadlines can be rescheduled to stretch out the workflow. Variations in productivity are only natural, but both workers and bosses win when the peaks and valleys are less dramatic than they are now.
16. According to the poll, which of the following days is most productive?
[A] Thursday.
[B] Friday.
[C] Monday.
[D] Wednesday.
17. The peak productivity day of the week is marked by
[A] violent excitement and activity.
[B] due enthusiasm and creativity.
[C] hurried and disordered movement.
[D] full concentration and efficiency.
18. The word “l(fā)ax” in the last paragraph means
[A] usually negligible.
[B] lacking in control.
[C] totally distractive.
[D] worthy of relaxing.
19. With respect to the changes in productivity, the text suggests that
[A] work deadlines can be readjusted.
[B] they are reasonable and expectable.
[C] Monday meetings may be called off.
[D] their differences are to be minimized.
20. The author has explained all of the following EXCEPT
[A] the steps taken to alter workweek rhythms.
[B] the productivity on the 6th day of the week.
[C] the reason why midweek slowdown takes place.
[D] the concern bosses have about low productivity.
答案】C D B D A
【譯文】
你可能會在上班的時候夢想一個月都是星期天，但你的老板卻希望一周都是星期二。原因是她/他極可能知道，效率是一個公司發(fā)展的主要原因。最近的一個民意測驗顯示，員工周二的工作效率。一個叫
Accountemps的職業(yè)介紹所，對全國的業(yè)務(wù)經(jīng)理做了一個調(diào)查。調(diào)查顯示，到一周中段時，工作效率顯著下降。周一在效率排行上位列第二，而只有百分之九的業(yè)務(wù)經(jīng)理認同周三是率的一天。百分之五的人認為是周四。至于周五，你想想就知道了。然而，百分之四十八的接受調(diào)查的經(jīng)理說周二是一周里效率的一天。
仔細分析工作周節(jié)奏后，你就會發(fā)現(xiàn)這些調(diào)查結(jié)果明顯的成因。首先，周一有過多的會議，其目的是“讓事情動起來”，但大家都知道會議并不富有成效。周三是“駝峰日”，員工會想，盡可能輕松地度過這一天吧，一周已經(jīng)過去大半拉。周四，人們快筋疲力盡了;周五，人人都想著周末。這些工作日效率不高是有原因的，那么是什么讓周二與眾不同呢?周二，員工全神貫注于他們的日常工作，所以他們的工作表現(xiàn)達到頂峰。而且，這通常是一周中他們專注于自己工作的第一天。他們不用因會議而放下自己的首要工作。的確，周二會相當忙碌，員工會手忙腳亂地進入工作狀態(tài)。結(jié)果，只用了10個鐘頭他們就干完了20個鐘頭的活——效率很高，但也很累人。
這并不是說接下來的三天就什么都不用做了。事情并未如此失去控制，以至于員工可以整天閑坐著，腳蹺上辦公桌，啜著咖啡，煲著電話粥。但的的確確缺乏專注了。節(jié)奏緩和了、放慢了。這并不益于健康，它會帶來疲倦，降低效率。為防止這種周三開始的松弛，有些管理顧問建議雇主應(yīng)避免把這么多的會議塞進星期一，可以通過重訂工作截止日期來延續(xù)工作流程。工作效率有變化，這很正常，但變化的高峰和低谷不像現(xiàn)在這樣突出時，員工和老板就會雙贏。