A survey by an international temporary service agency found that U. S. managers believe that people with a sense of humour do better at their jobs, compared with those who have little or no sense of humour. In fact, about 96 percent of those surveyed said people with a sense of humour do better.
The survey went on to point out that the results suggest that a sense of humour may help light-hearted employees keep their jobs during tough times. And, what's more, it may push them up the corporate ladder past their humourless colleagues. Why? It seems that those with a sense of humour are better communicators and better team players.
Studies have shown that happy workers are more productive. In fact, a researcher at California State University found that humour could help the employees to release tension.
Research done by psychologist Dr. Ashton Trice at Mary Baldwin College in Virginia showed that humour helps us think. When people feel stuck on important projects, they tend to feel angry or depressed. According to Dr. Trice's research, taking time out to laugh can help us to get rid of negative feelings and allow us to return to a task or move on to another project unaffected by past defeat.
If humour is really this important, then why don't we use it more often on the job? Most likely, the main reason is that many people are unaware of the positive effects of humour in the workplace. However, it is important to realize that some humour is not suitable for the workplace, and that it is often used at wrong times.
1. Most people think a sense of humour can ________.
A. help you to do your work better
B. make you have a rich life
C. make you pleased with your work
D. help you to make more friends
2. Many people don't use humour more in the workplace because __________.
A. they like keeping silent when working
B. they don't know the positive effects of humour
C. they think they should obey the rules
D. they don't like joking or laughing
3. A person without a sense of humour is easier __________.
A. to feel surprised B. to get along with C. to be worried D. to be successful
4. What is probably the best title for the article?
A. People with a Sense of Humour.
B. Humour Is Important in the Workplace.
C. Humour and Humourless.
D. Everyone Likes Humour.
No one wants to look silly or do the wrong thing at a new job. It is important to make the right impression from the very first day. You will face new people. You will be in a new place. It may be difficult to know what to do. Here are five tips to help you make it through the first days at a new job:
First impressions can last forever: Make sure you make a good one. Before your first day, find out if your new job has a dress code. If so, be sure to follow it. No matter what, always be neat and clean.
Get to work in time: Give yourself an extra 15 minutes to make sure you arrive on time.
Pay attention to introductions: One of the first things that your supervisor may do is to introduce you to co-workers. These co-workers will be important to you. They are the ones who will answer your questions when the boss is not around.
Ask plenty of questions: Make sure that your supervisor has told you what is expected of you. If he or she has not told you your duties, ask for a list. Set daily and weekly goals for yourself
.
Never be the first one to leave: Observe what your co-workers do around quitting time. It does not look good for you to be eager to leave.
1. Before you arrive at work, you should_________.
A. introduce yourself B. dress in a right way
C. know your duties D. know your co-workers well
2. According to the passage, which of the following statements is True?
A. You should be the first one to arrive at work.
B. You should ask your co-workers for your duties.
C. You are required to arrive 15 minutes earlier.
D. You should not be eager to go back home.
3. According to the passage, your supervisor is most likely your _____.
A. leaderB. teacherC. workmateD. visitor
4. What is the best title for this passage?
A. Getting a New Job. B. Tips on How to Work.
C. The First-Day Work. D. The Importance of Co-workers.
How many people have I met who have told me about the book they have been planning to write but have never found the time? Far too m
any.
This is life, all right, but we do treat it like a rehearsal(排演)and, unhappily, we do miss so many of its best moments.
We take jobs to stay alive and provide homes for our families always making ourselves believe that this style of life is merely a temporary state of affairs along the road to what we really want to do. Then, at 60 or 65, we are suddenly presente
d with a clock and several grandchildren and we look back and realize that all those years waiting for real life 
to come along were in fact real life.
In America they have a saying much laughed at by the English: “Have a nice day”. They speak slowly and seriously in their shops, hotels and sandwich bars. I think it is a wonderful phrase, reminding us, in effect, to enjoy the moment: to value this very day .
How often do we say to ourselves “I’ll take up horse-riding( or golf, or sailing) as soon as I get a higher position,” only to do none of those things when I do get the higher position.
When I first became a reporter I knew a man who gave up a very well paid respectable job at the Daily Telegraph to go and edit a small weekly newspaper. At the time I was astonished by what appeared to me to be completely abnormal(反常的) mental state. How could anyone turn his back on Fleet Street in central London for a small local area? I wanted to know.
Now I am a little older and possibly wiser, I see the sense in it. In Fleet Street the man was under continual pressure. He lived in an unattractive London suburb and he spent much of his life sitting on Southern Region trains.
1.Thefirstparagraphofthepassagetellsusthat___________.
A.wealwaystrytofindsometimetowriteabook
B.wealwaysmakeplansbutseldomfulfillthem
C.wealwaysenjoymanyoflife'sbestmoments
D.we
alwaysdowhatwereallywanttodo
2.Theunderlinedphrase"turnhisbackon"mostprobablymeans________.
A.leaveforB.returntoC.giveupD.relyon
3.Themanlefthisfirstjobpartlybecausehewas_________.
A.inanabnormalmentalstateB.undertoomuchpressure
C.notwellpaidD.notre
spected
4.Whatisprobablythebesttitleforthepassage?
A.ProvideHomesForOurFamilyB.TakeUpHorse-riding
C.ValueThisVeryDayD.StayAlive
第四部分：阅读理解（共20小题；每小题2分，满分40分）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
The Man of Many S
ecrets — Harry Houdini — was one of the greatest American entertainers in the theater this century. He was a man famous for his escapes — from prison cells, from wooden boxes floating in rivers, from locked tanks full of water. He appeared in theaters all over Europe and America. Crowds came to see the great Houdini and his “magic” tricks.
Of course, his secret was not magic, or supernatural powers. It was simply strength. He had the ability to move his toes as well as he moved his fing
ers. He could move his body into almost any position he wanted.
Houdini started working in the entertainment world when he was 17, in 1891. He and his brother Theo performed card tricks in club in New York. They called themselves the Houdini Brothers. When Harry married in 1894, he and his wife Bess worked together as magician and assistant. But for a long time they were not very successful. Then Harry performed his first prison escape, in Chicago in 1898. Harry persuaded a detective to let him try to escape from the prison, and he invited the local newspapermen to watch.
It was the publicity(宣传) that came from this that started Harry Houdini’s success. Harry had fingers trained to escape from handcuffs(手铐) and toes trained to escape ankle chains. But his biggest secret was how he unlocked the prison doors. Every time he went into the prison cell, Bess gave him a kiss for good luck — and a small skeleton key, which is a key that fits many locks, passed quickly from her mouth to his.
Harry used these prison escapes to build his fame. He arranged to escape from the local prison of every town he visited. In the afternoon, the people of the town would read about it in their local newspapers, and in the evening every seat in the local theater would be full. What was the result? World-wild fame, and a name remembered today.
1. According to the passage, Houdini’s success in prison escapes depends on _______.
A. his special tricks and supernatural powers
B. his wisdom and magic tricks
C. his magic trick
s and unhuman powers
D. his unusual ability and a skeleton key
2. In the fourth paragraph, the underlined word “this” refers to _______.
A. the year 1898 B. his first prison escape
C. the publicity D. Harry Houdini’s success
3. It can be inferred from the passage that Houdini became famous _______.
A. in 1894 B. before he married
C. when he was about 24 D. at the age of 17
4. Which of the following is the best title for the passage?
A. A Man of Many Secrets B. A Skeleton Key
C. World-wild Fame D. Great Escape
Could you stand the noise of a street-sweeping truck going up and down the street outside of your house three times a week at 4 a.m.? The noise—described by Blomberg as “loud as a NASCAR (全国运动汽车竞赛协会) race car but at a speed of 5 miles per hour—annoyed him so much that he tried to persuade the city to rearrange for street sweeping to begin at 6 a. m. He also founded the non-profit Noise Pollution Clearinghouse, an organization that provides research and information to others whose request for quiet might otherwise fall on deaf ears.
Hearing los
s is the most obvious medical consequence of noise pollution, but it is hardly the only one, explains environmental psychologist Airline Bronzaft. In her research, Bronzaft found that constant noise exposure can reduce children’s learning ability and cognitive（认知的） development. “Most importantly, each day, you’ve got to take a break from sound regularly.” says Bronzaft.
“The bad news,” says Blomberg, “is that the last century was the noisiest in history. The good news,” he continues, “is that the greener we get, the quieter we’ll also get.” Electric cars and lawn equipment make less noise, just as more fuel-efficient vehicles. Improved technology can also provide measures to make the problem less serious. Police cars could replace those loud sirens (警报器) with models that better aim the sound in one direction.
“I don’t think you can name a noise source that I can’t find a way to make it quieter,” says Blomberg. But the real challenge is to change people’s attitudes. “ In the 1960s, we made it unacceptable to throw litter out of the window of your car,” he says. Today it’s time to recognize that “noise is to the soundscape as rubbish is to the landscape.” The goal is to “create a culture where you do not throw your ‘noise’ litter out of the window.”
1. What do we know about the Noise Pollution Clearingh
ouse?
A. It was founded by the city leaders.
B. It is supported by NASCAR.
C. It can rearrange the street sweeping time.
D. It aims to help those who want more peace and quiet.
2. What can be inferred from the environmental Psychologist Arline Bronzaft?
A. Hearing loss is the most serious problem caused by noise pollution.
B. Children are the least affected by noise.
C. We should avoid noise for some time every day.
D. We should have a break once in a while if tired.
3. What did Blomberg do when he was greatly annoyed by the noise of a street-sweeping truck?
A. He suggested that the street-sweeping truck should go faster.
B. He suggested that the street-sweeping time should be changed.
C. He called on the citizens to do research on noise pollution.
D. He persuaded the city to change the street-sweeping truck for
a new model.
4. According to Blomberg, _________.
A. it’s impossible to make a noise-maker quieter
B. noise problem can be solved through everyone’s efforts.
C. in the 1960s, throwing ‘sound’ litter out of the window was forbidden
D. street sweeping should be stopped forever
It was 3:00 a.m. Rain beat against the windows. Tamsen Bell’s cellphone began to ring so she jumped out of bed quickly for she knew that someone was in trouble, and it was up to her and the other members of the Marin Search and Rescue Team to help. The team has a motto: “Any time, any place, any weather.” Bell, 18, joined the search-and-rescue team when she was 14 years old, the youngest age at which a person can join. “I remember the first search I ever went on,” Bell says. “I was very nervous.” Thanks to the strict training program, Bell now is no longer nervous and a lot more confident.
When Bell was 16 years old, she took a lead role in a tough search-and-rescue action that she says changed her life. While hiking, a 60-year-old woman fell off a cliff and landed on a mountain ledge(岩石架). Bell slid down in a seated position to get to where the injured woman lay. The situation was very dangerous and she had to make a quick decision which could have endangered the woman’s life. Bell helped to lift the woman onto a litter(担架), and her teammates then pulled the litter up the mountain using ropes. The rescue took more than eight hours , the longest in the history of the team.
Afterwards, Bell said she realized that she could keep cool in stressful situations. The experience inspired her to devote her life to helping others. She remains a search-and-rescue member and plans to study nursing in college.
“Search-and-rescue work may be tough, but it is rewarding. The best part is the support, and the common feeling that everyone on the team wants to make people’s lives better.” Said Bell.
1. According to the passage, we know that Bell ______.
A. was the youngest member in the team
B. plays a leading role in every task
C. majored in nursing in college
D. learned a lot through the training program
2. Why does Bell say that the tough action changed her life?
A. She learnt to make quick decisions when in danger.
B. She learnt to transport the injured to safety through a litter.
C. The experience inspired her to devote herself to helping others
D. The experience made her realize that she could calm down even in danger.
3. Which of the following is TURE about Bell’s tough task?
A. It was the toughest task in the history of the team.
B. Bell slid down the cliff seated in a litter.
C. It’s the first task Bell took part in after the training program.
D. Bell played a very important role in the action.
4. The passage is mainly about_______.
A. a tough task Bell carried out
B. Bell’s job as a young search-and-rescue member
C. how people keep cool in dangerous situations
D. what search-and-rescue tasks are