Five years ago, David Smith wore an expensive suit to work every day. “I was a clothes addict,” he jokes. “I used to carry a fresh suit to work with me so I could change if my clothes got wrinkled.” Today David wears casual clothes—khaki pants and sports shirt—to the office. He hardly ever wears a necktie. “I’m working harder than ever,” David says, “and I need to feel comfortable.”
More and more companies are allowing their office workers to wear casual clothes to work. In the United States, the change from formal to casual office wear has been gradual. In the early 1990s, many companies allowed their employees to wear casual clothes on Friday, but only on Friday. This became known as “dress-down Friday” or “casual Friday”. “What started out as an extra one-day-a-week benefit for employees has really become an everyday thing.” said business consultant Maisly Jones.
Why have so many companies started allowing their employees to wear casual clothes? One reason is that it’s easier for a company to attract new employees if it has a casual dress code. “A lot of young people don’t want to dress up for work,” says the owner of a software company, “so it’s hard to hire people if you have a conservative dress code.” Another reason is that people seem happier and more productive when they are wearing comfortable clothes. In a study conducted by Levi Strauss Company, 85 percent of employers said that they believe that casual dress improves employee morale（士气）. Only 4 percent of employers said that casual dress has a negative effect on productivity. Supporters of casual office wear also argue that a casual dress code helps them save money. “Suits are expensive, if you have to wear one every day,” one person said. “For the same amount of money, you can buy a lot more casual clothes.” David Smith refers to himself as having been “a clothes addict,” because __________.
| A．he often wore khaki pants and a sports shirt |
| B．he couldn’t stand a clean appearance |
| C．he wanted his clothes to look neat all the time |
| D．he didn’t want to spend much money on clothes |
David Smith wears casual clothes now, because __________.
| A．they make him feel at ease when working |
| B．he cannot afford to buy expensive clothes |
| C．he looks handsome in casual clothes |
| D．he no longer works for any company |
According to this passage, which of the following statements is FALSE?
| A．Many employees don’t like a conservative dress code. |
| B．Comfortable clothes make employees more productive. |
| C．A casual clothes code is welcomed by young employees. |
| D．All the employers in the U.S. are for casual office wear. |
According to this passage, which of the following statements is TRUE?
| A．Company workers started to dress down about twenty years ago. |
| B．Dress-down has become an everyday phenomenon since the early 1990s. |
| C．“Dress-down Friday” was first given as a favor from employers. |
| D．Many workers want to wear casual clothes to impress people. |
In this passage, the following advantages of casual office wear are mentioned except
__________.
| A．saving employees’ money | B．making employees more attractive |
| C．improving employees’ motivation | D．making employees happier |
Testing has taken the place of teaching in most public schools. Pretests, drills, tests, and retests. They know that the best way to read a textbook is to look at the questions at the end of the chapter and then read the text quickly for the answers. I believe that my daughter Erica, who gets excellent marks, has never read a chapter of any of her school textbooks all the way through. And teachers are often heard to say proudly and openly that they teach to the test.
Teaching to the test is a curious phenomenon（现象）. Instead of deciding what skills students ought to learn, helping students learn them, and then using some methods of assessment（评价） to discover whether students have mastered the skills, teachers are encouraged to teach the students in the opposite way. First one looks at a test. Then one chooses the skills needed not to master reading, but to do well in the test. Finally, the test skills are taught.
The ability to read or write might suggest the ability to do reasonably well on standardized tests. However, neither reading nor writing develops simply through being taught to take tests. We must be careful to avoid mistaking preparations for a test of a skill with the acquisition（习得）of that skill. Too many discussions of basic skills make this misunderstanding because people are tested rather than concerned with the nature and quality of what is taught.
Recently, many schools have faced what could be called the crisis of comprehension or, in simple words, the phenomenon of students with grammar skills still being unable to understand what they read. These students are quite good at test taking and filling in workbooks. However, they have little or no experience reading or thinking, and talking about what they read. They know the details but can’t see or understand the whole. They are taught to be so concerned with grades that they have no time to think about meaning, and reread things if necessary. The author mentions Erica’s performance in her study in order to show_________.
| A．her cleverness in test taking | B．the good way to take tests |
| C．the improper way of teaching | D．the best way to read textbooks |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．The teachers are curious about teaching to the test. |
| B．Skills in general are not only useless but often mislead students. |
| C．Ability to read and write has nothing to do with ability to do well in tests. |
| D．Preparations for a test of a skill do not mean the acquisition of that skill. |
In the author’s opinion, __________.
| A．some good methods of assessment should take the place of tests |
| B．more attention should be paid to the nature and quality of what is taught |
| C．students should not be concerned with grades but do more reading and thinking |
| D．students needn’t learn grammar skills because they are useless for understanding |
By “crisis of comprehension” (in Paragraph 4) the author means many students ______.
| A．are too much concerned with grades |
| B．fail to understand the real goal of education |
| C．lack proper practice in grammar drills |
| D．do well on tests but can’t understand what they read |
Most, if not all, Chinese have become richer thanks to 28 years of reform and opening up. But are we any happier?
Various surveys attempt to answer this question. Though experts have presented varying percentages based on different standards, their answers tend to find we are generally happier, and the number of optimists rises each year. The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences’ 2006 Blue Book on social progress says 70 per cent of rural and urban citizens surveyed in 2005 reported a feeling of happiness and were optimistic about their futures.
But each survey shows a worrisome fact that 10 per cent, at the lowest, of citizens were not content with their lives or not hopeful about the future. We cannot be content with the fact that at least 130 million of our countrymen are not happy.
Although a sense of happiness remains a luxury（奢望）for many of our countrymen because of poverty, we agree wealth is not the only factor of happiness. For most of us, except the extremely rich and naturally born optimists, there simply are too many variables (可变物) that may kill the feeling of happiness. These include, but are not limited to, rising housing prices, tight and instable job market, back-breaking schooling expenses and medical bills.
The most common one, however, is a low sense of security (安全). Some experts pointed that in the low-and-middle income group there was too much uncertainty regarding employment, income, housing, medical situations, and education. How can you feel happy when you always have to prepare yourself for the unexpected?
It may be beyond the government’s reach, not to mention duty, to guarantee (保证) higher income for every citizen. But it does have a burden to create an environment where all citizens can feel a reasonable level of security.From the second paragraph we learn _____________________.
| A．70 % of Chinese people feel happy and optimistic about their future |
| B．the data and the conclusions of the surveys are the same |
| C．the surveys about the sense of happiness were carried out in 2006 |
| D．the purpose of the surveys is to find out the percentage of rich people |
The following factors of happiness are mentioned in the passage EXCEPT _________.
| A．security | B．environment | C．wealth | D．employment |
The underlined word “countrymen” in Paragraph 3 refers to ___________.
| A．people from the countryside | B．people from cities |
| C．people from all countries | D．Chinese citizens |
According to the passage, the author tends to hold the view that _________.
| A．the wealthier we get, the happier we become |
| B．though we get wealthier, we do not feel happier |
| C．it is the government’s duty to raise every citizen’s income |
| D．the government should make sure all citizens feel a good level of security |
Women turn to online shopping
Women have jumped ahead of men for the first time in using the Internet to do their holiday shopping，according to a study published last week in the US.
For Years men have been more likely to shop on the Internet than women，but during the 2004 holiday season 58 percent of those making online purchases were women.
“It shows how mainstream the Internet is becoming”，said Lee Rainie，director of the Pew Internet and American Life Project group，which carried out the study.
Rainie said it was only a matter of time before women shoppers caught up with men. This is because women traditionally make decisions about spending.
Users were more likely to shop online to save time. Internet users between the ages of 18 and 29 were responsible for some of the most dramatic（显著的）increases in the online gift-buying population this time around.
However，three-quarters of the US Internet users did not buy holiday gifts online in 2004．They worried about credit card security，or just compared online prices with off-line prices，then dashed off to the shops to get the best deals.
“But even if shoppers don’t buy online，websites are becoming promotion tools for stores，”said Dan Hess，vice president of Comscore Networks Inc．Hess said that actually most stores’ websites can make customers fully believe the security of their credit card numbers. And most are able to ensure that gifts arrive on time.
“It’s all about making the shopping experience more efficient，more reliable and more comfortable，” Hess said.Which of the following statements is true?
| A．There were fewer women online shoppers than men in 2004． |
| B．Most of the Internet users between the ages of 18 and 29 are women. |
| C．People in the US were more likely to buy gifts online. |
| D．More women shopped online than men in 2004. |
From the passage we can infer that________.
| A．men usually decide how to spend money in the family |
| B．women usually decide what to buy in the family |
| C．the Internet is used in all the shops. |
| D．more and more shops will sell their goods online. |
According to Dan Hess，shopping online___________.
| A．is unsafe | B．is convenient | C．is a waste of time | D．is cheaper |
What can we know from the passage?
| A．American people only buy gifts in holidays. |
| B．Shopping online is fun for women. |
| C．Shopping off-line provides better service. |
| D．Young people like to do gift-shopping online. |
“Mom, can I bake some bread?” We were 15, my best friend, Hanna, and I, determined to try our hands at creating some beautiful bread.
“It’s not worth the trouble,” my mother said. “It takes lots of time and makes a big mess. Our bakery bread is delicious without all that effort.”
Begging was useless. Mom’s “no” meant “No!”
But several weeks later, opportunity knocked: My parents were going out for the evening. I immediately invited Hanna to be my partner in bread-baking crime.
We studied the recipe. That was easy. “Mix oil into flour then beat in four of the eggs, one at a time, with remaining sugar and salt.”
We were not good at breaking eggs. I tried to learn from my mother.
“Gradually add eight cups of flour. When dough (面团) holds together, squeeze it.”
We took turns working like that. “Is the dough ‘holding together’?” we asked each other.
I remembered my neighbor’s instructions: “If it’s too sticky, add some flour; if too dry, add water.”
We added water. Then more flour. Then more water. By then, the mass of our dough had grown very much.
“Place dough on floured surface and squeeze till smooth,” the recipe instructed.
We took turns burying our hands in the damp dough, pinching, squeezing, and feeling it leak between fingers.
“Clean and oil bowl, then return dough to bowl. Cover and let dough rise in warm place for 1 hour.”
This was good news --- we’d have a break. On dirtied kitchen chairs, we dreamed about our beautiful bread. “See?” we would tell my mom. “Isn’t it worth the work?”
Hanna and I couldn’t help glancing at the rising process every few minutes. But nothing was happening.
“Maybe something will happen in the hot oven,” I said.
Unfortunately, when we removed the loaves from the oven, they were like hard stones.
Mom was right; it takes time and effort. It sometimes makes a mess. But still it feels good, somehow, to be part of that long, ongoing chain of bread bakers. Since that night, both Hanna and I have learned to do it right.To the writer, what her mother said was __________.
| A．law | B．rubbish | C．advice | D．warning |
Which of the following can best describe the children’s feelings while making their first bread?
| A．Confident; hopeful; disappointed. | B．Curious; hopeful; disappointed. |
| C．Interested; excited; satisfied. | D．Worried; satisfied; proud. |
Which of the following did the writer do without instructions?
| A．Placed dough on floured surface. | B．Added eight cups of flour to eggs. |
| C．Returned dough to a cleaned bowl. | D．Placed the dough into the hot oven. |
The passage mainly tells us ______________.
| A．the process of making bread | B．the conflict between mother and daughter |
| C．the first experience of making bread | D．the way of doing housework |
How do you get a man to do his share of the housework? If you are like most women, you’ve faced this question the hard way.
A man will enjoy a clean, orderly house, but he usually won’t make the effort to clean or organise it. This doesn't mean that a woman has to do all the housework:; she may have to manage many of the household duties, and request her partner’s participation（参与）. A woman can often say that men and women should take equal responsibility（责任） for housework.
Very few men are raised to be fully responsible for housework, and many men look on housework as women’s work. On the other hand, most men will readily work around the yard, make repairs and complete projects on weekends or evenings, and it’s important that you give your man appreciation for those things, too. Most men will take on a little additional housework around the house if asked politely. They are even more likely to do housework if they can choose what they want to do, and do it without being monitored.
Here’s the key: men want to feel that they are doing housework either because they want to do a task, or because they simply want to please their women. Men are much less likely to take on household tasks they consider uninteresting and unimportant. In other words, men are likely to do a household task just for the good of the house. The passage is mainly about how to _____.
| A．get men to take on some housework |
| B．get men to serve their families |
| C．praise men’ housework |
| D．make men do all the housework |
According to the passage, a man_____.
| A．is willing to do housework |
| B．likes to be told to do housework |
| C．is taught to be responsible for housework from childhood |
| D．likes a clean house but doesn’t make efforts to clean it |
In order to get men to do some housework, women should often_____.
| A．order them to do their share |
| B．ask them to do some housework politely |
| C．blame men’s laziness |
| D．monitor men’s work |
According to the passage, the underlined sentence in the last paragraph means that men won’t _____.
| A．work without any payment |
| B．do unimportant household tasks |
| C．do housework without women’s praise |
| D．please their wives |
According to the passage, which of the following would a husband most probably like to do?
| A．Cleaning the table. | B．Doing some sewing. |
| C．Painting the fence. | D．Asking his wife to work on the yard. |