Leadership is the most significant word in todays competitive business environment because it directs the manager of a business to focus inward on their personal abilities and style.Experts on leadership will quickly point out that“how things get done”influences the success of the outcomes and indicates a right way and a wrong way to do things.When a noted leader on the art of management,Peter Drucker,coined the phrase“Management is doing things right;leadership is doing the right things,”he was seeking to clarify the distinctions he associates with the terms.
When Stephen Covey,founder and director of the Leadership Institute,explored leadership styles in the past decade,he focused on the habits of a great number of higllly effective individuals.His Seven Habits of Highly Effective People became a popular bestseller very quickly. His ideas forced a reexamination of the early leadership example,which centered on the feature that was found in the character ethic(道德)and the personality ethic.The former ethic suggested success was founded on modesty,loyalty,courage,patience,and so on. The personality ethic suggested it was one’s attitude,not behavior,that inspired success, and this ethic was founded on a belief of positive mental attitude.In contrast to each of these ideas,Covey advocates that leaders need to understand universal principles of effectiveness,and he highlights how vital it is for leaders to first personally manage themselves if they are to enjoy any hope of outstanding success in their work environments;To achieve a desired vision for your business,it is essential that you have a personal vision of where you are headed and what you value.Business leadership means that managers need to“put first things first,” which implies that before leading others,you need to be clear on your own values,abilities,and strengths and be seen as trustworthy.What does Peter Drucker’s phrase infer?
| A.Leaders should be good at making right decisions. |
| B.Leaders should be good at doing things right. |
| C.Leaders should be good at ignoring distinctions. |
| D.Leaders should be skilled in predicting future. |
Under what condition are people likely to succeed,in terms of what the personality ethic suggests?
| A.When people have little determination,they will be successful. |
| B.When people have good behaviour,they will gain success. |
| C.If people have positive mental attitude, they are likely to succeed. |
| D.If people have negative mental attitude,they are certain to succeed. |
How Can leaders enjoy outstanding success in their work environments,according to Stephen Covey?
| A.Firstly they have to think highly of themselves. |
| B.They are supposed to benefit themselves. |
| C.They can not adjust themselves. |
| D.First they must manage themselves. |
What is the meaning ofthe underlined word “vision”?
| A.Bright future. | B.Good beginning. |
| C.Good scenery. | D.Pretty background. |
To be good leaders.what must managers Pay close attention to?
| A.Universal principles of effectiveness. |
| B.Values,abilities and strengths. |
| C.Good qualities such as modesty. |
| D.Courage as well as patience. |
During an interview for one of my books,my interviewer said something I still think aboutoften.Annoyed by the level of distraction(干扰)in his open office, he said,"That's why I have a membership at the coworking space across the street-so I can focus. "His comment struckme as strange. After all, coworking spaces also typically use an openofficelayout (布局). But I recently came across a study that shows why his approach works.
The researchers examined various levels of noise on participants as they completed tests of creative thinking .They were randomly divided into four groups and exposed to various noise levels in the background, from total silence to 50 decibels(分贝),70 decibels, and 85 decibels. The differences between most of the groups were statistically insignificant; however,the participants in the 70 decibels group-those exposed to a level of noise similar to background chatter in a coffee shop-significantly outperformed the other groups. Since the effects were small, this may suggest that our creative thinking does not differ that much in response to total silence and 85 decibels of background noise.
But since the results at 70 decibels were significant,the study also suggests that the right level of background noise-not too loud and not total silence-may actually improve one's creative thinking ability.The right level of background noise may interrupt our normal patterns of thinking just enough to allow our imaginations to wander, without making it impossible to focus.This kind of"distracted focus"appears to be the best state for working on creative tasks.
So why do so many of us hate our open offices?The problem may be that, in our offices, we can't stop ourselvesfrom getting drawn into others' conversations while we're trying to focus. Indeed, the researchers found that face-to-face interactions and conversations affect the creative process,and yet a coworking space or a coffee shop provides a certain level of noise while also providing freedom from interruptions.
12.Why does the interviewer prefer a coworking space?
| A. |
It helps him concentrate. |
| B. |
It blocks out background noise. |
| C. |
It has a pleasant atmosphere. |
| D. |
It encourages face-to-face interactions. |
13.Which level of background noise may promote creative thinking ability?
| A. |
Total silence. |
| B. |
50 decibels. |
| C. |
70 decibels. |
| D. |
85 decibels. |
14.What makes an open office unwelcome to many people?
| A. |
Personal privacy unprotected. |
| B. |
Limited working space. |
| C. |
Restrictions on group discussion. |
| D. |
Constant interruptions. |
15.What can we infer about the author from the text?
| A. |
He's a news reporter. |
B. |
He's an office manager. |
| C. |
He's a professional designer. |
D. |
He's a published writer. |
You've heard that plastic is polluting the oceans-between4.8 and 12.7 million tonnes enter ocean ecosystems every year. But does one plastic straw or cup really make a difference? Artist Benjamin Von Wong wants you to know that it does. He builds massive sculptures out of plastic garbage, foreing viewers to re-examine their relationship to single-use plastic products.
At the beginning of the year, the artist built a piece called"Strawpocalypse,"a pair of 10-foot-tall plastic waves, frozen mid-crash. Made of 168,000 plastic straws collected from several volunteer beach cleanups, the sculpture made its first appearance at the Estella Place shopping center in Ho Chi Minh City,Vietnam.
Just 9% of global plastic waste is recycled. Plastic straws are by no means the biggest source (来源)of plastic pollution, but they've recently come under fire because most people don't need them to drink with and, because of their small size and weight,they cannot be recycled.Every straw that's part of Von Wong's artwork likely came from a drink that someone used for only a few minutes. Once the drink is gone,the straw will take centuries to disappear.
In a piece from 2018,Von Wong wanted to illustrate (说明) a specific statistic:Every 60 seconds, a truckload's worth of plastic enters the ocean. For this work, titled "Truckload of Plastic, " Von Wong and a group of volunteers collected more than 10,000 pieces of plastic ,which were then tied together to look like they'd been dumped(倾倒)from a truck all at once.
Von Wong hopes that his work will also help pressure big companies to reduce their plastic footprint.
8.What are Von Wong's artworks in tended for?
| A. |
Beautifying the city he lives in. |
| B. |
Introducing eco-friendly products. |
| C. |
Drawing public attention to plastic waste. |
| D. |
Reducing garbage on the beach. |
9.Why does the author discuss plastic straws in paragraph 3?
| A. |
To show the difficulty of their recycling. |
| B. |
To explain why they are useful. |
| C. |
To voice his views on modern art. |
| D. |
To find a substitute for them. |
10.What effect would "Truckload of Plastic"have on viewers?
| A. |
Calming. |
| B. |
Disturbing |
| C. |
Refreshing |
| D. |
Challenging. |
11.Which of the following can be the best title for the text?
| A. |
Artists'Opinions on Plastic Safety |
| B. |
MediaInterest in Contemporary Art |
| C. |
Responsibility Demanded of Big Companies |
| D. |
Ocean Plastics Transformed into Sculptures |
When almost everyone has a mobile phone,why are more than half of Australian homes still paying for a landline (座机)?
These days you'd be hard pressed to find anyone in Australia over the age of 15 who doesn'town a mobile phone. In fact plenty of younger kids have one in their pocket. Practically everyone can make and receive calls anywhere,anytime.
Still,55percent of Australians have a landline phone at home and only just over a quarter(29%) rely only on their smartphones ,according to a survey(调查).Of thoseAustralianswhostillhave a landline,a third concedethat it's not really necessary and they're keeping it as a security blanket - 19 percent say they never use it while afurther 13 percent keep it in case of emergencies. I think my home falls into that category.
More than half of Australian homes are still choosing to stick with their home phone .Age is naturally a factor (因素)-only 58 percent of Generation Ys still use landlines now and then, compared to 84 percent of Baby Boomers who've perhaps had the same homenumber for 50years.Age isn't the only factor;I'd say it's also to do with the makeup of your household.
Generation Xers with young families,like my wife and I,can still find it convenient to have a home phone rather than providing a mobile phone for every family member. That said, to be honest the only people who ever ring our home phone are our Baby Boomers parents,to the point where we play a game and guess who is calling before we pick up the phone (using Caller ID would take the fun out of it).
How attached are you to your landline? How long until they go the way of gas street lamps and morning milk deliveries?
4.What does paragraph 2 mainly tell us about mobile phones?
| A. |
Their target users. |
| B. |
Their wide popularity. |
| C. |
Their major functions. |
| D. |
Their complex design. |
5.What does the underlined word "concede"in paragraph 3 mean?
| A. |
Admit. |
| B. |
Argue. |
| C. |
Remember. |
| D. |
Remark. |
6.What can we say about Baby Boomers?
| A. |
They like smartphone games. |
| B. |
Theyenjoyguessingcallers'identity. |
| C. |
They keep using landline phones. |
| D. |
They are attached to their family. |
7.What can be inferred about the landline from the last paragraph?
| A. |
It remains a family necessity. |
| B. |
It will fall out of use someday. |
| C. |
It may increase daily expenses. |
| D. |
It is as important as the gas light. |
The Biggest Stadiums in the World
People have been pouring into stadiums since the days of ancient Greece. In around 80 A.D. , the Romans built the Colosseum, which remains the world's best known stadium and continues to inform contemporary design. Rome's Colosseum was 157 feet tall and had 80 entrances, seating 50,000 people. However, that was small fry compared with the city's Circus Maximus, which accommodated around 250,000 people.
These days,safety regulations-not to mention the modern sports fan's desire for a good view and a comfo rt able sea t -tend to k eep stad ium cap acitie s(容量 ) slight ly lo w e r. Even soccer fans tend to have a seat each; gone are the days of thousands standing to watch the match.
For the biggest stadiums in the world, we have used data supplied by the World Atlas list so far, which ranks them by their stated permanentcapacity,as well as updated information from official stadium websites.
All these stadiums are still functional,still open and still hosting the biggest events in world sport.
• Rungrado 1st of May Stadium,Pyongyang,D.P.R-Korea.Capacity.150,000.Opened:May1,1989.
• Michigan Stadium,Ann Arbor, Michigan,U.S. Capacity:107,601.Opened.October1, 1927.
• Beaver Stadium,State College,Pennsylvania,U.S.Capacity:106,572.Opened:September17,I960.
• Ohio Stadium,Columbus,Ohio,U.S.Capacity:104,944.Opened:October7,1922.
• Kyle Field,College Station,Texas,U.S.Capacity:102,512.Opened:September24,1927.
1.How many people could the Circus Maximus hold?
| A. |
104,944. |
B. |
107,601. |
C. |
About150,000. |
D. |
About 250,000. |
2.Of the following stadiums,which is the oldest?
| A. |
MichiganStadium. |
| B. |
BeaverStadium. |
| C. |
OhioStadium. |
| D. |
KyleField. |
3.What do the listed stadiums have in common?
| A. |
They host big games. |
| B. |
They have become tourist attractions |
| C. |
Theywere built by Americans. |
| D. |
They are favored by architects |
Romecanbepriceyfortravelers, whichiswhymanychoosetostayinahostel( 旅社). ThehostelsinRomeofferabedinadormroomforaround
$25anight,andforthat,you'lloftengettostayinacentrallocation(位置) withsecurity andcomfort.
YellowHostel
If I had to make just one recommendation for where to stay in Rome, it would beYellowHostel.It'soneofthebest-rated hostelsinthe city,andforgood reason.It'saffordable,andit'sgotafunatmospherewithoutbeingtoonoisy.Asanaddedbonus,it'sclosetothemaintrainstation.
Hostel AlessandroPalace
If you love social hostels, this is the best hostel for you in Rome. HostelAlessandroPalaceisfun.Staffmembersholdplentyofbareventsforguestslikefree shots,barcrawlsandkaraoke.There'salsoanareaontherooftopforhangingoutwith othertravelersduringthesummer.
YouthStation Hostel
If you'relooking for cleanlinessanda modernhostel,look no further thanYouthStation.Itoffersbeautifulfurnishingsandbeds.Thereareplentyofotherbenefits,too;itdoesn'tchargecitytax;ithas both air conditioning and a heaterfortherooms;it also hasfree Wi-Fi ineveryroom.
Hoteland Hostel Des Artistes
Hotel and Hostel Des Artistes is located just a 10-minute walk fromthe central city station and it'sclose to all of the city's main attractions. The staff is friendly and helpful,providing you with a map of the city when you arrive,and offering advice if you requiresome. However,you need to pay 2 euros a day for Wi-Fi.
What is probably the major concern of travelers who choose to stay in a hostel?
| A. |
Comfort. |
B. |
Security. |
C. |
Price. |
D. |
Location. |
Which hotel best suits people who enjoy anactive social life?
| A. |
Yellow Hostel. |
B. |
Hostel AlessandroPalace. |
| C. |
YouthStationHostel. |
D. |
HotelandHostelDesArtistes. |
What is the disadvantage of Hotel and Hostel Des Artistes?
| A. |
It gets noisy at night. |
| B. |
Its staff is too talkative. |
| C. |
It charges for Wi-Fi. |
| D. |
It's inconveniently located. |