请认真阅读下列短文,并根据所读内容在文章后表格中的空格里填入一个最恰当的单词。
注意:请将答案写在答题卡上相应题号的横线上。每个空格只填一个单词。
Trust is in rare supply these days. People are having trouble trusting each other, according to an AP-GFK poll conducted in November 2013, which found that Americans are suspicious of each other in their everyday life. Only one-third of Americans say most people can be trusted—down from half who felt that way in 1972. A record high of nearly two-thirds says “you can’t be too careful” in dealing with people in 2013.
This can be carried over into the workplace, where employees want their leaders to be more trustworthy. Employees have grown tired of unexpected outcomes resulting from the lack of preparation. They want to be informed of any change management efforts before—not after the fact. Employees desire to know what is expected of them and be given the opportunity to better themselves, rather than be told they are not qualified for new roles and responsibilities.
Here are four early warning signs for you to course-correct when employees are having trouble trusting their leaders.
Lack courage
Leaders that don’t stand up for what they believe in are difficult to respect and trust. Too many leaders waste too much of their valuable time trying to act like other leaders in the organization—rather than attempting to establish their own identity and leadership style. Employees know that if their leaders are not savvy (精明) enough to move themselves into a position of greater influence, it will make it much more difficult for them to get noticed and discovered as well. When leaders lack the courage to enable their full potential and that of others, it becomes a challenge to trust.
Self-centered
When a leader is only looking out for themselves and lacks any sense of commitment to the advancement of their employees—this shuts off employees quickly. Great leaders are great coaches and are always looking to help their employees grow. When leaders lack any real desire to coach or 'guide the career advancement of their employees—it becomes increasingly difficult for employees to trust them. But when leaders are too disruptive (指手画脚), their employees sense that they are in it for themselves and/or don’t trust the talent around them.
Reputation issues
When people begin to speak negatively about their leader, it makes it more difficult for others to trust their intentions. For example, look at what has happened to President Barack Obama since December 2009 when his approval rating was 69%. Four years later, Obama’s approval rating is at 43%. Many who have followed him for years are now having trouble trusting him.
Every leader must be aware that they are constantly being evaluated and thus they can never grow self-satisfied. When they do, this begins to negatively impact their reputation and the trust employees have in their leadership.
Inconsistent Behavior
People are more inclined to trust those who are consistent with their behavior. Isn’t it easy to begin questioning one’s judgment when they are inconsistent? When everyone but the leader is on board with a strategy—you begin to wonder if their intentions are to support the organization’s advancement or their own. Leaders need to refresh their leadership style before they lose the trust of their employees.
This is what today leaders must consider: how to lead in new ways that focus less on oneself, but more on the betterment of a healthier whole.
| Trust between employees and their leaders |
|
| Problem |
【1】 _________ has been declining among Americans in their daily life as well as in the workplace. |
| Employees’ hopes for leaders 【2】 _________ trust |
● Employees want to be 【3】 _________ to get prepared for any change management efforts in advance. ● Employees desire to know their leaders’ expectations of them and want to get 【4】 _________ to better themselves. |
| Warnings for leaders to 【5】 _________ the breakdown of trust |
● Don’t 【6】 _________ other leaders and stand up for what you believe in. ● Be 【7】 _________ to helping your employees grow. ● Never let 【8】 _________ negatively impact your reputation. ● Behave【9】 _________ or your judgment will be questioned. |
| Suggestion |
For leaders, more focus on the betterment of a healthier whole should be taken into 【10】 _________. |
The basics of infrastructure design
It is rightly pointed out various intellectuals that the lifestyle of today is vastly different from that of the earlier times especially in terms of its pace. Lifestyle of today is remarkablyfast paced and so in order to catch up with such a pace of life, the adoption of smart and time saving methods is of real significance. Well, the highways have certainly contributed in this direction and have made our lives a lot easier. Thanks to the modern flyovers and expressways, a single route can be accessed by twice the number of vehicles at the same time.
These facilities and supplies have made our lives double free but it needs to be realized that designing and constructing it is a very complex and a long process. You have to hold fast to the various rules of designing, government standards and most importantly, their safety and usability for the people. In the end it is a joint effort of a number of skilled engineers, scientists and statisticians. The material that is used in the construction is finalized after it undergoes certain tests for evaluating their qualities like hardness, roughness, thickness and all that is required.
Some of the points you have to take care of while laying an infrastructure design are as follows:
The basic layout (布局) of the road — At this level of planning, various civil engineers have meetings to figure out the basic requirements of the road like thickness of the asphalt (沥青), the size of lanes, distance to be covered, degree of curves and much more. These fundamental points help them decide the further line of action.
The prior steps — Before any work is stated over the basic plan layout, there are various preparations to be made like placing road signs, the removal of trees that may prove to be dangerous in the event of a storm or other natural causes, the positioning of fire hydrants (消防栓) based on special designs to be useful when required, etc.
Inclusion of safety barriers — The safety barriers are placed on almost all roads and highways that are made over or near to rivers and cliffs. These barriers keep the vehicles from moving into the traffic in instances of accidents. These should also be designed in advance of placing them on a road and the design should be such that it makes minimum impact upon the people sitting in the car. These include supplies like side rails and light poles.
Asphalt pavement marking — It is the process of using a reflective material to indicate various important points on the road like lanes, turns, passing areas, two way and one way roads.
Though the smooth and wide highways constructed in big cities seem to be very attractive for the drivers, the ease of use is also the cause of accidents. Cars rushing at extremely high speeds and insecure change of lanes are a common sight on the highways. With the help of novel infrastructure design engineers, we can make the best possible use of highways. If these are designed properly and sign boards are placed at the required points, a number of road accidents can be avoided.
The basics of infrastructure design |
|
| Reason for construction of infrastructure |
Infrastructure must |
| Challenges of design and |
Various rules, standards, safety and usability should be taken into careful consideration. |
| Skilled engineers, scientists and statisticians have to work hard |
|
| Materials must be |
|
| Points to follow |
Various engineers meet to make sure about fundamental |
| Things like |
|
| Safety barriers should be carefully |
|
| Material that can |
|
| Possible problems and solutions |
Smooth and wide highways may |
| Highways should be designed properly and sign boards |
It was a winter morning, just before Christmas, while most people were warming up their cars, my husband, Trevor, had to ride his bike 4 kilometers away from home to work. On his (arrive), he parked his bike outside the back door
usual. After 10 hours of labor, he returned to find his bike gone,
was our only transport. Trevor used it to get to work, and also the bike was used
(get) groceries, saving us from having to walk long distances from where we live. I was so sad
I wrote to the newspaper and told them our story. Shortly after that, several people in our area offered to help. One wonderful stranger even bought a bike, and then called my husband to fetch
. Once again my husband had a way to get to and
his job. It really is
honor that a complete stranger would go out of their way for someone they have never met before. People say that a smile can
(pass) from one person to another, but acts of kindness from strangers are even more so. This experience has had a spreading effect on our lives because it
(strong) our faith in humanity. And it has influenced us to be more mindful of ways we, too, can share with others.
In the days when an ice cream cost much less, Tom, ___ __8-year-old boy, entered a hotel coffee shop __
sat at a table. A waitress put a glass of water in front of him. “How much is an ice cream?” “Fifty-cents,” replied the waitress. The little boy pulled __
_ right hand out of the pocket and studied a number of
in it. “How much is a dish of plain ice cream?” he asked. Some people were now waiting for her service and the waitress grew a bit __
_ (patience). “Thirty-five cents.” she said __
_(rude). The little boy carefully counted the coins __
___.“I will have a plain ice cream,” he said. The waitress walked _
__ __. The boy finished the ice cream, paid the cashier and left. It was not long
__the waitress came back and then she began to wipe down the table and suddenly was surprised at what she saw. There, _
__(place) neatly beside the empty dish, were two nickels and five pennies — her tip!
Paul Lucas can often be seen walking around the city of San Francisco. Sometimes people are surprised to see him walkingany shoes or socks,
Lucas doesn’t mind at all.
likes to walk barefoot, and so do 640 other members of Dirty Sole Society, the club that Lucas
(start) years ago. Lucas’ idea for this is to encourage others to live
(free) --- free of shoes.
According to Lucas, the barefoot life has many advantages.most important is simply that it feels good. He also says
walking barefoot allows you to experience the world directly by touching it with your feet.
addition, the feet do not smell so much because they stay dry,
(make) it hard for bacteria to grow. And, of course, walking barefoot keeps your feet in good shape, so it’s actually
(healthy) than wearing shoes.
请认真阅读下列短文,并根据所读内容在文章后表格中的空格填入最恰当的单词。
注意:每空格一个单词。
Eat more, Play more—Weight Less
In the United States, 20 to 40 percent of the adult population have a “weight problem”. To many people, the cause seems obvious: we eat too much. But scientific evidence does little to support this idea.
Several modern studies have shown that fatter people do not eat more on average than thinner people and that slim people are more active than fat people.
I believe that this shows overweight people can become relatively slim gradually via a progressive program of regular exercise. The key is regular, enjoyable activity.
Use of energy(calories) by the body falls into two categories. The first is energy used for essential bodily functions—digestion, heart beat, breathing—and BMR(新陈代谢). In an average-sized adult, BMR requires about 1400 calories per day.
The second category is energy used for physical activity—standing, walking and all other movements. Together with the BMR, it makes up total calorie use, which should be balanced by food intake for weight to remain stable.
For years now, we have known that dieting—especially severe dieting(400 calories per day, for instance)—decreases BMR. This is the body's defense system to keep energy when food supply is reduced. Unfortunately, it tends to weaken the diet's effects by enabling the body to “get by” on fewer calories. For this reason, I believe that severe dieting is not a good way to lose weight, and all dieting should be seen as a temporary measure.
In addition to helping weight loss and continued weight control, regular exercise has many other features to recommend it. While weight loss by dieting alone results in some loss of muscle as well as fat, weight loss by exercise and moderate dieting leads to an increased proportion(均衡)of muscle mass. The regular exerciser has good heart function too.
Regular exercise helps to raise blood levels of high-density lipoprotein(HDL) and increased exercise leads to increased food intake and thus to increased intake of critical nutrients (营养).
The benefits of eating more because of an increase in physical activity are not widely appreciated. Many people in this country, by actual measurement, have remarkably low calorie intake. Often the amount is so low (1 200 to 1 800 calories a day) that nutritionists worry about the adequacy(足够的)of their vitamin and mineral intake. And too little food, with inadequate fiber content, leads in the old population to chronic constipation(长期便秘).
To sum up, most Americans still get too little regular exercise, and it is within this group that almost all obesity is found. Severe dieting should not be used as it is unpleasant and tends to be self-defeating. Moderate dieting combined with regular exercise is much more effective and enjoyable. The choice is yours: life on the sofa, nibbling celery or the active, healthy-eating, healthful way.
| Title |
Eat more, Play more—Weight Less |
| Causes of weight problems |
●It's commonly believed that adults' weight problems are due to ●Studies show that fat people eat less and are |
| ●Energy used for essential bodily functions, BMR, and ●Food intake offers |
|
| Ways of weight loss |
●Dieting alone—a temporary measure ●Tending to weaken the diet's effects ● ●Exercising ●Having good heart function ●Helping to raise blood levels of HDL ●Attaining critical nutrients |
| ●Doing little exercise has much to do with obesity. ●Severe dieting should be ●Moderate dieting as well as regular exercise is much more effective and enjoyable. |