As a manager, Tiffany is responsible for interviewing applicants for some of the positions with her company. During one interview, she noticed that the candidate never made direct eye contact. She was puzzled and somewhat disappointed because she liked the individual otherwise.
He had a perfect resume and gave good responses to her questions, but the fact that he never looked her in the eye said “untrustworthy,” so she decided to offer the job to her second choice. “It wasn’t until I attended a diversity workshop that I realized the person we passed over was the perfect person.” Tiffany admits. What she hadn’t known at the time of the interview was that the candidate’s “different” behavior was simply a cultural misunderstanding. He was an Asian-American raised in a family where respect for those in authority was shown by turning away your eyes. “I was just thrown off by the lack of eye contact, not realizing it was cultural,” Tiffany says. “I missed out, but will not miss that opportunity again.”
Many of us have had similar experiences with behaviors we describe as different. As the world becomes smaller and our workplaces more diverse, it is becoming essential to expand our understanding of others and to reexamine some of our false assumptions (假设) .
Hire Advantage
At a time when hiring qualified people is becoming more difficult, employers who can have no personal biases (偏见) from the process have an obvious advantage. My company, Mindsets LLC, helps organizations and individuals see their own blind spots. A real estate (房产) agent we worked with illustrates the positive difference such training can make .
“During my Mindsets coaching period, I was taught how to own a diversified workforce. I employed people from different cultures and skill sets. The agents were able to make use of their full potential and experiences to build up the company. When the real estate market began to change, it was because we had a diverse agent pool that we were able to stay in the real estate market much longer than others in the same profession.”
Blinded by Gender
Dale is an account executive who attended one of my workshops in charge of a diverse workforce. “Through some of the lessons, I discovered my personal bias.” he recalls. “I learned I had not been looking at a person as a whole person, and being open to differences.” In his case, the blindness was not about culture but rather gender.
“I had a management position open in my department; and the two finalists were a man and a woman. Had I not attended this workshop, I would have automatically assumed the man was the best candidate because the position required quite a bit of extensive travel. My assumption would have been that even though both candidates were great and could have been successful in the position, I assumed the woman would have wanted to be home with her children and not travel.” Dale’s assumptions are another example of the well-intentioned but incorrect thinking that limits an organization’s ability to promote the full potential of a diverse workforce. “I learned from the class that instead of forcing my gender biases into the situation, I needed to present the full range of duties, responsibilities and expectations to all candidates and allow them to make an informed decision.” Dale sings high praise for the workshop, “because it helped me make decisions based on fairness.”
A better Bottom Line
An open mind about diversity not only improves organizations from inside, it is profitable as well. These comments from a customer service representative show how an inclusive attitude can improve sales.” Most of my customers speak English as a second language. One of the best things my company has done is to contract with a language service that offers translations over the phone. It wasn’t until my boss received Mindsets’ training that she was able to understand how important inclusiveness was to customer service. As a result, our customer base has increased.”
Once we start to see people as individuals, we can move positively toward inclusiveness for everyone. Diversity is about coming together and taking advantage of our differences and similarities and about building better communities and organizations. When we begin to question our assumptions and challenge what we think we have learned from our past , from the media, peers, family, friends, etc, we begin to realize that some of our conclusions are imperfect or contrary to our fundamental values. We need to train ourselves to think differently, shift our mindsets and realize that diversity opens doors for all of us, creating opportunities in organizations and communities that benefit everyone. In Tiffany’s view, the first candidate was passed over because he ________.
| A．was an Asian-American |
| B．didn’t perform as perfectly as the second one |
| C．was untrustworthy |
| D．showed no respect for authority |
Tiffany’s misjudgment about the candidate originated from ________.
| A．racial discrimination |
| B．cultural differences |
| C．gender discrimination |
| D．emphasis on physical appearance |
What kind of organization is Mindsets LLC?
| A．A real estate agency. |
| B．A hi-tech company. |
| C．A company dealing with financial affairs. |
| D．A company training workforce. |
Which of the following statements will Dale not agree with about Mindsets LLC’s workshop?
| A．It helped him make fair decisions. |
| B．It helped him discover his personal bias about gender. |
| C．It helped him look at a person as a whole one. |
| D．It helped him find successful candidates. |
The last paragraph is intended to tell us the importance of ________.
| A．viewing people as individuals |
| B．challenging our past |
| C．training ourselves in Mindsets’ workshops |
| D．building better communications |
Before coming to France， I always thought that French people wear formal clothes. But， when I arrived in Paris， I came to know why France could remain the lead in world fashion and Paris could attract so many designers from all over the world to come.
On the boulevard of Champs-elysees， there are many fashion shops of famous brands， such as Chanel， Dior， Pierre Cardin. In daily life， however， most of Parisians never wear clothes like those on the super models. On the opposite， I found people in Paris often dress in very simple designs and usually in dark.
Such situation doesn‘t affect French designers to create more and more new styles. But I would say people in Paris dress more formally than those in the rest of France. In other French cities， what people wear are usually casual dresses， such as T-shirts and jeans.
French people act as the fashion leaders， but they accept other clothes styles as well. Montpellier， the city I live in， is in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. Here are many immigrants（移民） from Algeria， Morocco and other African countries. The Arabian and African cultures are influential（有影响的） in this city. Therefore， you can find a lot of young people dress in the North African style.
1. France could remain the lead in world fashion and Paris could attract so many designers from all over the world because .
A. French people never wear fashionable clothes
B. French designers are creative
C. French people accept fashionable clothes and other styles
D. both B and C
2. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage？
A. The majority of Parisians always wear formal clothes.
B. Most of Parisians never wear fashionable clothes.
C. Parisians usually wear casual dresses like T- shirts and jeans.
D. Most Parisians often dress in simple designs and usually in dark.
3. The underlined part “boulevard of Champs-elysees”possibly is .
A. a name of a famous street in Paris B. a name of a famous person in Paris
C. a name of a famous city in France D. a name of a famous brand in France
It was a winter morning， just a couple of weeks before Christmas 2005. While most people were warming up their cars， Trevor， my husband， had to get up early to ride his bike four kilometers away from home to work. On arrival， he parked his bike outside the back door as he usually does. After putting in 10 hours of labor， he returned to find his bike gone.
The bike， a black Kona 18 speed， was our only transport. Trevor used it to get to work， putting in 60-hour weeks to support his young family. And the bike was also used to get groceries （食品杂货）， saving us from having to walk along long distances from where we live.
I was so sad that someone would steal our bike that 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， then called my husband to pick it up. Once again my husband had a way to get to and from his job. It really is an honor that a complete stranger would go out of their way for someone they have never met before.
People say that a smile can be passed from one person to another， but acts of kindness from strangers are even more so. This experience has had a spreading effect in our lives because it strengthened our faith in humanity （人性） as a whole. And it has influenced us to be more mindful of ways we， too， can share with others. No matter how big or how small， an act of kindness shows that someone cares. And the results can be everlasting.
1. Why was the bike so important to the couple？
A. They used it for work and daily life. B. It was their only possession(财产).
C. It was a nice Kona 18 speed. D. The man‘s job was bike racing.
2. We can infer from the passage that __________.
A. the couple worked 60 hours a week B. people were busy before Christmas
C. the stranger brought over the bike D. life was hard for the young family
3. How did people get to know the couple‘s problem？
A. From a stranger. B. From a newspaper.
C. From TV news D. From radio broadcasts.
4. What do the couple learn from their experience？
A. Strangers are usually of little help. B. One should take care of their bike.
C. News reports make people famous. D. An act of kindness can mean a lot.
5. From this story， we can see humanity is __________.
A. selfish B. commercial C. kind D. cold-hearted
Trees are useful to man in three important ways: they give him wood and other useful things, they give him cool places, and they help to stop drought and flood.
Unluckily, in many parts of the world, man has not found that the third of these points is the most important. Man wants to make money from trees, so he has cut them down in large numbers, only to find that without them he has lost the best friends he had. And also, he is usually too careless to plant and look after new trees. So the forests slowly disappear.
This does not only mean that man will have fewer trees. The results are even worse: for where there are trees, their roots break up soil-make the rain in-and also bind the soil, thus stopping it from being washed away easily; but where there are no trees, the rain falls on hard ground and flows away, causing floods and carrying away the rich top-soil. When all the top-soil is gone, nothing is left but useless desert.
1.The most important points of trees to man is ________.
A. they help him to make money B. they give him cool
C. they give him wood and other things D. they help him to stop drought and floods
2.In many places forests slowly disappear because ________ .
A. many trees have been cut down by man
B. new trees are not well looked after
C. man has not paid enough attention to planting trees
D. all the above
3.Land becomes desert after all trees are cut down because ________ .
A. roots of trees break up the soil
B. there are too many rainfalls
C. strong winds bring a lot of sand
D. there are no longer trees to keep the rain and protect the top-soil.
4.Which title best fits the passage?
A. Trees and Man B. The Function of Tree Wood
C. How do People do with Trees? D. The Usage of Tree Roots
第二部分阅读理解（共20小题；每小题2分，满分40分）
“How can I learn English well?” This is a question many students ask. In my opinion, the most effective way is to learn lessons by heart. If you can recite the text and write it out, you’ve learned it fairly well. And if you can tell, in your own words, what the lesson says you’re a very successful learner indeed. Your English will be quite perfect.
This is a difficult task. However, if you try to learn by heart only part of each lesson, you’ll find it not half so hard as you might have thought.
Learning this way, you will make rapid progress. Of course, writing is also necessary. It helps you a lot on our way to success in English.
Equally important is to feel the language. You should be able to laugh at jokes and be shocked at bad news. When using English, try to forget your mother tongue. Instead of helping you, your own language gets in your way. So, never try to see English through translation.
1.In the writer’s opinion, the most effective way in learning English is ____.
A. to practise speaking, writing and feeling it
B. to forget your own native language
C. to translate everything into his own language
D. to memorize the English words and grammatical rules
2. “Instead of helping you, your own language gets in your way.”This sentence means that memorizing your own language can ________.
A. help you to study English well B. stop you mastering English
C. make English easy to learn D. help you notice mistakes
3.Equally important is to feel the language. “to feel the language” here means_____.
A. to get a knowledge of English by touching
B. to be able to read and write English
C. to translate English into your own by imagining
D. to be able to experience the rich sensation of the language
B
One of the main challenges facing many countries is how to maintain their identity in the face of globalization and the growing multi-language trend. “One of the main reasons for economic failure in many African countries is the fact that, with a few important exceptions, mother-tongue education is not practiced in any of the independent African states.” said Neville Alexander, Director of the Project for the Study of Alternative Education in South Africa at the University of Cape Town.
In response to the spread of English and the increased multi-language trends arising from immigration, many countries have introduced language laws in the last decade. In some, the use of languages other than the national language is banned in public spaces such as advertising posters. One of the first such legal provisions was the 1994 “Toubon law” in France, and the idea has been copied in many countries since then. Such efforts to govern language use are often considered as futile by language experts, who are well aware of the difficulty in controlling fashions in speech and know from research that language switching among bilinguals is a natural process.
It is especially difficult for native speakers of English to understand the desire to maintain the “purity” of a language by law. Since the time of Shakespeare, English has continually absorbed foreign words into its own language. English is one of the most mixed and rapidly changing languages in the world. But that has not been a barrier to acquiring superiority and power. Another reason for the failure of many native English speakers to understand the role of state regulation is that it has never been the Anglo-Saxon way of doing things. English has never had a state-controlled authority for the language, similar, for example, to the Academic Francaise in France.
The need to protect national languages is, for most western Europeans, a recent phenomenon- especially the need to ensure that English does not unnecessarily take over too many fields. Public communication, education and new ways of communication promoted by technology, may be key fields to defend.
1. Neville Alexander believes that lack of mother-tongue education can lead to .
A. the independence of African states B. economic failure
C. globalization D. multi-language trends
2. The underlined word “futile” in paragraph 2 most probably means .
A. useless B. practical C. workable D. unnecessary
3. Why do many English-speaking countries not support the language protection efforts?
A. They think language protection laws are ineffective.
B. They want their language to spread to other countries.
C. They have a long history of taking words from other languages.
D. It reduces economic development of the countries in Europe.
4. The best title for the passage is “ ”.
A. Fighting against the rule of English
B. Globalization and multi-language trends
C. Protecting local languages and identities
D. Ensuring the change of language by law