Weekend getaways and romantic dinners used to be sweet escapes from the daily working life. Nowadays, vacations are often interrupted by the ding of an instant message on a wireless laptop. That’s not news to modern workers, many of whom may just be getting back from a long winter break during which they worked more than in years past. One-fifth of Americans carry a laptop on vacation. Countless more carry cell phones, many of which can be used to check company e-mail.
And why not? With wireless coverage extending, staying connected is simple. Recently, JetBlue Airways announced a trial of free e-mail and instant messaging services for passengers on one of its aircraft. Other airlines are expected to follow suit. But there’s a hidden cost to companies: employee burnout. Using work cell phones and checking company e-mail at the poolside is not a vacation.
“If I were a manager, I would insist that my employees leave their cell phones at work during their vacation and not check their e-mail while away ,” said Dov Eden, an organizational psychologist. “In the long run, the employee will be better rested and better able to perform his or her job.”
A nine-year study of more than 12,000 middle-aged men at high risk of heart disease showed that participants who vacationed more had a lower risk of dying than the vacation-deprived(剥夺的). In a nationwide survey, nearly half of the 2,000 adults questioned said stress has increased in the past five years, with 75 percent ranking money and work as the leading causes of stress.
One way to beat work stress could be to work from home or another remote location. This alternative work arrangement is a win-win set-up. Telecommuting（远程办公）has an overall beneficial effect, because the arrangement provides employees with more control over how they do their work. Telecommuters reported more job satisfaction, less stress and improved work-family balance.
71. According to the first paragraph, Americans carry a cell phone or a laptop on vacation mainly to .
A. entertain themselves B. keep in touch with their family
C. check company emails D. tell their managers about their experiences
72. What does the underlined phrase “employee burnout” in Paragraph 2 mean?
A. Employees become very angry. B. Employees get extremely tired
C. Employees leave the company. D. Employees demand a pay rise.
73. We can learn from the last paragraph that .
A. companies have more control over telecommuters
B. telecommuting is good for both companies and employees
C. employees will work more slowly if they work at home
D. telecommuting can reduce the company’s stress
74. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
A. In the past, people on vacation were seldom interrupted by work.
B. Dov Eden agrees with JetBlue Airways’ announcement.
C. Many airlines have been providing their passengers with instant service.
D. Most people are under stress because they have no vacation to relax.
75. What would be the best title for the passage?
A. How to spend your holidays B. The modern vacation: fully wired, totally ruined
C. Modern life with cell phones D. Telecommuting-----a win-win set-up
WE NEED OFFICE CLEANERS!
Three people are required to work as cleaners in the CBD area. Working hours from 5:00 pm on Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays. About five hours per shift (轮班). A good record is necessary. Experience preferred. Phone 6345-7843 now.
INTERESTED IN CHILDCARE?
Qualified person or preschool teacher needed for busy childcare centre, south of the river. Full-time work guaranteed. Immediate start necessary. The candidate must be able to work as a cooperative team member. Phone 6345-2345 for an interview and fax resume to 6345-2345.
WANT TO WORK AS A DENTAL NURSE?
This is an exciting opportunity for a qualified dental nurse with a confident and cheerful personality to work in the School Dental Health Schemas. You must be able to get along well with children because the work involves talking to groups about dental health practices. For further information, visit our website: schooldentalservices@gov.sg. And fax your resume to 6234-4567.
FLORIST WANTED!
Are you a creative and trained florist(花匠) with at least two years of experience? Then this may be just what you are seeking. The city’s leading Florist Artist Studio needs another part-time member on their wedding team. Please phone 6098-7888 now!You may most probably find the above advertisements ________.
| A．in a store window | B．in a school magazine |
| C．in a newspaper | D．on a company notice-board |
The position of a(n)_______is a part-time job.
| A．florist | B．artist | C．preschool teacher | D．dental nurse |
Which of the following is the most important for the childcare job?
| A．Cooking skills |
| B．Childcare experience |
| C．The ability to start work in two weeks. |
| D．The ability to work well with other members. |
The office cleaners will be required to work about ______hours a week.
| A．5 | B．10 | C．15 | D．20 |
Friend is better than fortune. Friend is worse than poison in some cases. The two sentences above are opposite and seem to be unreasonable, but they can be explained as follows: the first refers to all good friends who drive us towards good while the second all bad ones who lead us to wrong ways.
My ideal friend is of course a good friend whose goodness is shown below---he has no bad likings, such as smoking and drinking. He lives in frugality (节俭). He studies hard so as not to waste his golden time. At home he honors his parents and loves his brothers; at school he respects his teachers and shares feelings with his classmates. He treats those truly who are true to him. In a word, he has all the good characters better than mine. I can follow him as a model. With his help I am free from all difficulties.
Indeed, if I have such a person as my friend, I shall never fear difficulty and I shall never know the existence of the word "failure".This passage tells us ______.
| A．how to make friends with others |
| B．how the writer' s friend helps him |
| C．what kind of person the writer's friend is |
| D．what kind of person we should make friends with |
According to the author, an ideal friend is ______.
| A．a bad friend | B．a false friend |
| C．a true friend | D．a lovely friend |
From the passage we can learn that ______.
| A．the writer and his ideal friend have a lot to learn from each other |
| B．the writer has a lot to learn from his ideal friend |
| C．the writer's ideal friend has a lot to learn from him |
| D．the writer has only a little to learn from his ideal friend |
Whenever the sun dropped and the blue sky came up, my father and I used to climb the mountain near my house. Walking together, my father and I used to have a lot of conversations through which I learned lessons from his experiences. He always told me, “You should have goals like climbing the mountain.” Without the mountain-climbing that we both enjoyed ，we couldn’t have enough time to spend together because my father was very busy. I really got a lot from mountain-climbing. It gave me time to talk with my father and to be in deep thought as well as develop my patience (耐力).
Once we climbed a very high mountain. It was so challenging for me because I was only ten years old. During the first few hours of climbing . I enjoyed the flowers and trees, and the birds’ singing, but as time passed, I got a pain in both of my legs. I wanted to quit climbing. In fact, I hated it at that mountain, but my father said to me, “You can always see a beautiful sky at the top of the mountain, but you can’t see it before you reach the top. Only there at the top, can you see all of the nice things, just like in life.”
At that time, I was too young to understand his words. But later after that, I got new hope and confidence. I found myself standing at the top of the sky, which was as clear as crystal (水晶).The passage tells us that mountain-climbing was _____for Father and Son.
| A．hard | B．enjoyable | C．boring | D．comfortable |
The word “quit” in the passage means “______”.
| A．carry on | B．put off | C．give up | D．pick up |
We can infer from the last paragraph that ______.
| A．the writer was very successful in his life. |
| B．the writer reached the top of the mountain. |
| C．though the writer was young, he could understand his father. |
| D．the writer used to stop half-way when he climbed the mountain. |
The best title for the passage is “______”.
| A．Reaching the Top of the Mountain |
| B．Standing at the Top of the Mountain |
| C．What a beautiful Mountain |
| D．How to Get to the Top of the Mountain |
While traveling abroad, Mr. Jackson Frank ran short of money. So he wrote to his brother, asking for $500. “Send the money by telegram,” he wrote, “to the Fisher Bank in P...”After a week he began calling at the Fisher Bank. He showed his passport. “ Nothing has come for you,” he was told. This went on for two weeks and Mr. Frank got very worried. He sent a telegram to his brother， but there was no reply. In the fourth week Mr. Frank was arrested for failing to pay his hotel bill. His passport was taken from him. He tried to explain the problem, but no one believed him. He was sent to prison for six days.
When he came out, he went immediately to the Fisher bank. The clerk he spoke to was a new man. “Have you received $500 for me?” he ask, “My name is Jackson Frank.” The clerk checked his books. “Yes, Jackson, it's here. It came by telegram.—let me see—oh, more than two months ago. We wondered where you were.” He showed Mr. Frank the order. The order read:” Pay Mr. Frank Jackson the sum of $500...” “ But my name is Jackson Frank, not Frank Jackson.” “ Oh, that's all right, sir. It was in our books under the letter ‘J', but it's your money.” The clerk laughed,” A human mistake, sir! We're all human beings, so we all make mistakes. A family name like Frank sounds strange to me.” Mr. Frank was silent. He really wanted to hit somebody. At last he said,” A human mistake—I think some humans need kicking.”Jacksondidn’tjustgotohisbrotherandgetsomemoneybecause____.
| A．hewasafraidtoseehisbrother |
| B．hewasinprisonandwasnotallowedtogoanywhere |
| C．hewastravelinginaforeigncountryandwasfarfromhisbrother |
| D．heknewthathisbrotherhadnomoney |
Jacksonwasarrestedandsenttoprisonbecause____.
| A．hisbrotherhadn’tsenthimanymoneyandhecouldn’tpayhishotelbill |
| B．hehadspentalmostallhismoneyandcouldn’tpayhishotelbill |
| C．hehadlostallhismoneyandcouldn’tpayhishotelbill |
| D．hisbrotherhadn’tsenthimasmuchmoneyasheaskedforandhecouldn’tpay |
hishotelbill Whichofthefollowingstatementsistrue?
| A．ThemoneydidnotreachtheFisherBank. |
| B．Themoneyreachedthewrongbank. |
| C．Themoneyreachedthebankafterhewasarrested. |
| D．Themoneyreachedthebankbeforehewasarrested. |
Theclerksputhisnameunderthewrongletter____.
| A．throughcarelessness. | B．becausetheywerehumanbeings |
| C．becausehehadastrangename | D．bypronouncinghisnameincorrectly |
Son’s Help
Mr. Lang worked in a factory. As a driver, he was busy so he was paid much. His wife was an able woman and did all the housework. When he came back, she took good care of him and he never did anything at home. So he had enough time when he had a holiday. A few friends of his liked gambling(赌博) and he learned it soon. So he was interested in it and hardly forgot anything except gambling. He lost all his money and later he began to sell the television, watches and so on. His wife told him not to do it but he didn’t listen to her. She had to tell the police. He and his friends were punished for it. And he was hardly sent away. After he came out of lockup(拘留所), he hated her very much and the woman had to leave him.
It was New Year’s Day. Mr. Lang didn’t go to work. He felt lonely and wanted to gamble again. He called his friends and they came soon. But they were afraid the police would come. He told his five-year-old son to go to find out if there were the policemen outside and his son hated the bad habit of his father. They waited for a long time and didn’t think the police would come and began to gamble. Suddenly opened the door and in came a few policemen.
“I saw there weren’t any policemen outside, daddy,” said the boy, “so I went to the crossing and asked some to come.”
66. Mr. Lang was paid much because _______.
| A．he was a driver | B．he worked in a factory |
| C．he had a lot of work to do | D．he had worked there for a long time |
67. Mrs. Lang did all housework because _______.
| A．she couldn’t find any work |
| B．she thought her husband was tired |
| C．her husband spent all time in gambling |
| D．she wouldn’t stop her husband gambling |
68._______, so he was put into lockup.
| A．Mr. Lang often gambled |
| B．Mr. Lang was late for work |
| C．Mr. Lang didn’t help his wife at home |
| D．Mr. Lang wasn’t polite to the police |
69. The woman had to leave Mr. Lang because _______.
| A．he didn’t love her any longer | B．he wouldn’t stop gambling |
| C．he had been put into lockup | D．he was hardly sent away by the factory |
70. Which of the following is right?
| A．The boy expected his father to be put into lockup again. |
| B．The boy thought his father needed some policemen. |
| C．The boy expected his father to stop gambling soon. |
| D．The boy expected his mother to come back. |