A lot of management training each year for Circle K Corporation, a national chain of convenience stores. Among the topics we address in our course is the retention(保护力) of quality employees-a real challenge to managers when you consider the pay scale(标准)in the service industry. During these discussions, I ask the participants(参加者), “What has caused you to stay long enough to become a manager?” Some time back a new manager took the question and slowly, with her voice almost breaking, said, “It was a $19 baseball glove.”
Cynthia told the group that she originally took a Circle K clerk job as an interim(临时的) position while she looked for something better. On her second or third day behind the counter, she received a phone call from her nine-year-old son, Jessie. He needed a baseball glove for Little League. She explained that as a single mother, money was very tight, and her first check would have to go for paying bills. Perhaps she could buy his baseball glove with her second or third check. When Cynthia arrived for work the next morning, Patricia, the store manager, asked her to come to the small room in the back of the store that served as an office. Cynthia wondered if she had done something wrong or left some part of her job incomplete from the day before. She was concerned and confused.
Patricia handed her a box. “I overheard you talking to your son yesterday,” she said, “and I know that it is hard to explain things to kids. This is a baseball glove for Jessie because he may not understand how important he is, even though you have to pay bills before you can buy gloves. You know we can’t pay good people like you as much as we would like to; but we do care, and I want you to know you are important to us.”
The thoughtfulness, empathy and love of this convenience store manager demonstrates vividly that people remember more how much an employer cares than how much the employer pays. An important lesson for the price of a Little League baseball glove.Among many of the problems in the service industry, talked about in this passage, is .
A.how to ensure his employees’ high pay |
B.how to attract more customers |
C.how to look carefully after the employees |
D.how to keep the good employees from leaving |
Although a new manager, Cynthia would do her job well in keeping quality employees because she .
A.had mastered all the courses for the manager |
B.had already formed good relationship with the employees |
C.know the way how to deal with her employees |
D.had her own personal experience |
This passage shows us that to run a business well it is necessary for managers to let their employees know .
A.how much they can get for their job. |
B.what good positions they can get later |
C.they are very necessary to the business |
D.they are nice as well as useful |
The story told in this passage tells us that employees care about .
A.only how large a pay they can get |
B.love from the managing people rather than only money |
C.if their children could be properly taken care of |
D.what position they can be offered |
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The manager expects to meet and talk successful applicant in Paris in June and July.What is the purpose of the text?
A.To introduce a language school in Japan. |
B.To hire language teachers to work in Japan |
C.To describe working conditions in Japan. |
D.To make clear the requirements for Japanese teachers |
we know from the text that who are going to Japan will__________.
A.only teacher English in Osaka |
B.receive a degree from a university |
C.have free accommodation |
D.get trained for the job |
Before going to Japan , you need _________
A.to see the manager of NOVA France |
B.to take some computer courses |
C.to find a place to live |
D.to write a letter to Japan |
If you want to work in Japan you should __________
A.have some working experience |
B.know how to use computer |
C.present good teaching plans |
D.speak several language |
Who owns the large American companies that produce cars, washing machines, and television sets? They are owned by a large group of people called stockholders.
A company must have money to build factories and to buy machinery. To get this money, it sells shares of stock(股份). Each share of stock is a share in the ownership of the company. The person who buys a share of stock becomes a part owner of the company. He is called a stockholder. A company can have thousands of stockholders. Sometimes a very large company is owned by millions of stockholders.
Few persons can afford to buy a whole company, but the average individual can become part owner of a business. He can save his dollars and buy a share of stock in a large company. A person does not have to be wealthy to be a stockholder.
When a company makes money, each stockholder may receive a dividend(股息) check, which is his share of the profits(利润). Parts of a company’s profits are not paid out to the stockholders. This money is used by the company so it can grow larger. If the company does well, its shares of stock become more valuable.
More than 20 million people own shares of stock in America’s companies. By owning stock, they are helping America’s businesses grow. They are also putting their money to work to earn more money. The story makes you think that _____.
A.a farmer is not allowed to buy the shares of stock |
B.if a company does well, its shares of stock have no value |
C.a person may own a part of the company that makes TV sets |
D.the only people who can buy stocks are those who are wealthy |
A dividend is the stockholder’s share of the _____.
A.company’s profits |
B.company’s savings |
C.company’s income |
D.products made by the company |
Why do companies keep part of their profits?
A.They want to buy the shares of stock, too. |
B.They cannot find all the names of their stockholders. |
C.They use the money to help the company grow larger. |
D.They think they have sent their stockholders enough money. |
A Brooklyn man who was quarreling with his girlfriend yesterday threw a dog off the balcony(阳台) of her 23rd-story apartment in TriBeCa, killing it, the police said.
The man, John Jefferson, 43, of Bedford-Stuyvesant, has been charged(指控) with robbery, criminal possession of a weapon and animal cruelty, the police said. He was taken to Bellevue Hospital Center yesterday for psychiatric evaluation(精神病鉴定), they said.
The incident began shortly before 11 a.m., the police said, when Mr. Jefferson went to visit his girlfriend, Eugenia Miller, 41, at her apartment on 80 North Moore Street. She had filed a police report on Friday accusing(控告)Mr. Jefferson of stealing from her, but yesterday she allowed him in and they began arguing, the police said.
Mr. Jefferson threatened Ms. Miller with a knife, and she called 911, the police said. When officers arrived at her door, she ran into the hallway and Mr. Jefferson stayed in the apartment, they said. Mr. Jefferson began throwing Ms. Miller’s things off the balcony, first the television, the air-conditioner and clothes, then her dog, Ribsy, the police and witnesses said.
The dog had lived in the neighborhood for more than a decade and was well liked by children. “He was like a person and he would hang out with us guys or go visit kids at the basketball court,” said neighbors. The man was taken to hospital because _____.
A.he killed a pet dog |
B.he was badly injured |
C.his girlfriend asked to do so |
D.he needed a psychiatric evaluation |
John Jefferson was accused of the following except _____.
A.his arguing with his girlfriend |
B.criminal possession of a weapon |
C.animal cruelty |
D.robbery |
From the passage we know that _____.
A.the dog was badly hurt and sent to hospital |
B.the dog was popular in the neighborhood |
C.the dog was able to play basketball |
D.the dog never went out |
Some students get so nervous before a test, they do poorly even if they know the material. Sian Beilock has studied these highly anxious test-takers.
Sian Beilock: “They start worrying about the consequences. They might even start worrying about whether this exam is going to prevent them from getting into the college they want. And when we worry, it actually uses up attention and memory resources.I talk about it as your cognitive horsepower that you could otherwise be using to focus on the exam.”
Professor Beilock and another researcher, Gerardo Ramirez, have developed a possible solution. Just before an exam, highly anxious test-takers spend ten minutes writing about their worries about the test.
Sian Beilock: “what we think happens is when students put it down on paper , they think about the worst that could happen and they reappraise the situation. They might realize it’s not as had as they might think it was before and, in essence(本质上), it prevents these thoughts from popping up when they’re actually taking a test.”
The researchers tested the idea on a group of twenty anxious college students. They gave them two short math tests. After the first one, they asked the students to either sit quietly or write about their feelings about the upcoming second test.
The researchers added to the pressure. They told the students that those who did well on the second test would get money. They also told them that their performance would affect other students as part of a team effort.
Professor Beilock says those who sat quietly scored an average of twelve percent worse on the second test. But the students who had written about their fears improved their performance by an average of five percent.
Next, the researchers used younger students in a biology class. They told them before final exams either to write about their feelings or to think about things unrelated to the test.
Prefessor Beilock says highly anxious students who did the writing got an average grade of B+, compared to a B- for those who did not.
Sian Beilock: “What we showed is that for students who are highly test-anxious, who’d done our writing intervention, all of a sudden there was no relationship between test anxiety and performance. Those students most likely to worry were performing just as well as their classmates who don’t normally get nervous in these testing situations.”
But what if students do not have a chance to write about their fears immediately before an exam or presentation? Professor Beilock says students can try it themselves at home or in the library and still improve their performance.What may happen if students have the problem of test anxiety?
A.Test anxiety can improve students’ performance to some degree. |
B.Students’ attention and memory resources run out when worried. |
C.Students may not be admitted into their favorite college if worried |
D.Test anxiety is sure to cause students to fail the test. |
Which of the following if TRUE?
A.In the first math test, students who sat quietly performed better. |
B.In the second math test, students who wrote about their feelings did worse. |
C.Some college students are highly anxious test-takers while others are not in the tests. |
D.The result in the math test agrees with that in the biology test. |
What does the underlined phrase “popping up” mean?
A.Giving out | B.Fading away | C.Becoming clearly | D.Appearing suddenly |
what is most probably Sian Beilock?
A.A psychology professor. | B.A philosophy researcher. |
C.A politics professor | D.A tutor |
What is the main idea of the passage?
A.It is a common practice for students being worried before a test. |
B.Being worried before tests does harm to students’ performance. |
C.Anxious students overcome test anxiety by writing down fears. |
D.It is important for students to overcome test anxiety. |
American society is not nap (午睡)-friendly. In fact, says David Dinges, a sleep specialist at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, “There’s even a prohibition against admitting we need sleep”. Nobody wants to be caught napping or found asleep at work. To quote a proverb: “Some sleep five hours, nature requires seven, laziness nine and wickedness eleven.”
Wrong. The way not to fall asleep at work is to take naps when you need them. “We have to totally change our attitude toward napping,” says Dr. William Dement of Stanford University, the godfather of sleep research.
Last year a national commission led by Dement identified an “American sleep debt” which one member said was as important as the national debt. The commission was concerned about the dangers of sleepiness: people causing industrial accidents or falling asleep while driving. This may be why we have a new sleep policy in the White House. According to recent reports, President Clinton is trying to take a ha1f-hour snooze (瞌睡) every afternoon.
About 60 percent of American adults nap when given the opportunity. We seem to have “a mid afternoon quiet phase,” also called “a secondary sleep gate.” Sleeping 15 minutes to two hours in the early afternoon can reduce stress and make us refreshed. Clearly, we were born to nap.
We Superstars of Snooze don't nap to replace lost shut-eye or to prepare for a night shift.Rather, we “snack” on sleep, whenever, wherever and at whatever time we feel like it. I myself have napped in buses, cars, planes and on boats; on floors and beds; and in libraries, offices and museums.It is commonly accepted in American society that too much sleep is.
A.unreasonable | B.criminal | C.harmful | D.costly |
The research done by the Dement Commission shows that Americans ________.
A.don't like to take naps |
B.are terribly worried about their national debt |
C.sleep less than is good for them |
D.have caused many industrial and traffic accidents |
The purpose of this article is to.
A.warn us of the wickedness of napping |
B.explain the danger of sleepiness |
C.discuss the side effects of napping |
D.convince the reader of the necessity of napping |
The underlined phrase “American sleep debt” in Para. 3 is the result of.
A.the traditional misconception the Americans have about sleep |
B.the new sleep policy of the Clinton Administration |
C.the rapid development of American industry |
D.the Americans' worry about the danger of sleepiness |
The second sentence of the last paragraph tells us that it is .
A.preferable to have a sound sleep before a night shift |
B.good practice to eat something light before we go to bed |
C.essential to make up for cost sleep |
D.natural to take a nap whenever we feel the need for it |