While working in Southeast Asia in the mid 1990’s, I became a branch manager in a factory. At the beginning, I used human relations principles, such as putting myself into the others place to help gain trust. After a few months, I was told that the factory team members liked and trusted me.
Then the owner, seeing how everyone thought well of me, believed that I could become an instrument of change to carry out his several unpopular programs. The factory members resisted and eventually saw me as a puppet controlled by the owner. The more I insisted that they ‘follow orders’ the more they found ways to weaken the new changes.
Finally, I was replaced by a manager who knew enough to please both masters. Even though the owner did not like the fact that his new changes were not immediately applied, the new manager gained his power by the support received from his team together with an intention to find a way. What I learned was that your team must always see you as supportive of their needs, even to the extent that the owner may not be pleased that you are unable to follow their wishes. At the end of the day, if your people do not follow you then you are no longer in charge and will be replaced.
At first I blamed my boss for putting me in such a position. Then in honest reflection, I began to realize that he had probably hoped that I would have found some middle ground. What I could have done was to first obtain their advice about why they did not wish to follow the new policy changes, and then I should have used my influence with both the owner and team members to find a better way.
Though, in fact it is a painful lesson for me, it has served me well along my career path!What can we learn from the passage?
| A．Obeying is the best quality. |
| B．Giving is always a pleasure. |
| C．Appreciating others will benefit a lot. |
| D．Dealing with relationship is important. |
The underlined word “puppet” has the similar meaning to .
| A．instrument | B．assistant |
| C．wretch | D．winner |
Which is the right order according to the passage?
a. He was removed from his position.
b. He got on poorly with the coworkers.
c. He carried out the orders of the owner.
d. He became a branch manager.
f. He was believed in not only by coworkers but leaders.
| A．a, b, d, c, f | B．f, d, c, b, a |
| C．d, f, c, b, a | D．d, c, f, b, a |
From the third paragraph we can infer that .
| A．the new manager carried out the programs at once |
| B．the new manager got on badly with workers |
| C．workers need to be recognized and supported |
| D．you should make full use of your power |
| Part-time Front Desk Position Kirchoff, Inc．，a book development company，is looking for a part-time front desk office worker．This position is perfect for a person who is cheerful，dependable，and pleasant to work with．Also，you should be able to welcome guests，redirect phone calls，and take messages．More importantly，you can stay cool under pressure．You are expected to work 5：00—6：00 pm weekdays．You need to fill in some forms if you are interested． Forms can be collected at Kirchoff，Inc． 866 United Nations Plaza,#525 New York, NY 10017 |
|
| Important Points to Remember When Swimming ·Wait at least an hour after meals. ·Follow the advice of lifeguards. ·Don’t dive into unknown waters. Always swim in line with the shore. ·Find out at the seaside when and where it is safe to swim. ·Don’t use floating toys on the water. Wind can easily sweep them out to sea. ·Get out of the water if you feel tired or cold. Cold can kill even strong swimmers. Help Telephone:212-543-5902 Atlantic City Beach Office |
|
* Arrive on time. * Introduce yourself in a polite manner. * Read company materials while you wait. * Have a firm handshake. * Listen. * Use body language to show interest. * Smile and nod to the interviewer. * Ask about the next thing you should do. * Thank the interviewer. * Write a thank-you letter to anyone you have spoken to. For more information, please visit jobweb.com 368 Cooper Square, New York，NY 10008 |
If you want to work in an office, where can you get the forms to fill in?
| A．Website：jobweb. com． |
| B．Atlantic City Beach Office. |
| C．368 Cooper Square，New York，NY 10008. |
| D．866 United Nations Plaza，#525，New York, NY 10017． |
What does a person need most to be fit for the one-hour weekday job?
| A．He should be cheerful，dependable, and easy-going. |
| B．He has to work from Monday to Friday. |
| C．He can remain calm in a difficult situation. |
| D．He can welcome guests and deal with phone calls. |
According to the above information，what is the right thing to do when you swim?
| A．To keep close to the beach． | B．To dive into unknown waters. |
| C．To use floating toys on the water. | D．To swim soon after lunch． |
The best title for the last piece of information would be．
| A．Tips on Showing Interest in a Job |
| B．Steps to a Successful Interview |
| C．Advice on Introducing Yourself Politely |
| D．Rules of Body Language in an Interview |
See a cell phone cover that you like on Taobao? Forget about placing an order, paying the bill online and waiting for days for it to be delivered to you. In the near future, you'll be able to get it in minutes just by hitting "print" on your computer.
You might find it hard to believe that you could actually "print" an object like you would a picture.But it is not that hard to understand how it would work. Just as a traditional printer sprays (喷) ink onto paper line by line, modern 3-D printers spread material onto a surface layer by layer, from the bottom to the top, gradually building up a shape.
Instead of ink, the materials the 3-D printer uses are mainly plastic, resin (树脂)and certain metals. The thinner each layer is --- from a millimeter to less than the width of a hair --- the smoother and finer the object will be.
This may sound like a completely new technology, but the truth is that 3-D printing has been around since the late 1980s. Back then, it was hardly affordable for most people, so few knew about it.
Last year, though, saw a big change in the 3-D printing industry--- printers became much cheaper. For example, 10 years ago a desktop 3-D printer might have cost £20,000 (200,000 yuan), while now they cost only about £ 1,000, according to the BBC.
Taken out of the factory and introduced to more diverse and common uses, 3-D printing can create just about anything you can think of ---flutes (笛子), bikinis, jewelry, aircraft parts and even human organs. In fact, scientists from Cornell University in New York have just made an artificial ear using a 3-D printer, according to Science Daily. The fake ear looks and acts exactly like a natural one.
However, as 3-D printing becomes more common, it may bring about certain problems --- such as piracy(盗版). "Once you can download a coffee maker, or print out a new set of kitchen utensils (餐具) on your personal 3-D printer, who will visit a retail (零售的) store again?" an expert in 3-D printing told Forbes News. Even more frightening, what if anyone in the world could use a 3-D printer to print out a fully functioning gun?According to the article, in the future, the 3-D printing technology will ___.
| A．enable people to make better purchases online |
| B．be applied as widely in our daily lives as computers |
| C．change the way we make many products |
| D．shorten the time it takes for people to get what they buy online |
What was the big event happening in the 3-D printing industry last year?
| A．The 3-D printing technology was taken out ofthe factory. |
| B．The 3-D printer became more affordable forconsumers. |
| C．The 3-D printer was used for medical treatmentfor the first time. |
| D．3-D printing technology began to be used invarious fields. |
How is the last paragraph developed?
| A．By analyzing a cause and an effect. | B．By making comparisons. |
| C．By giving examples. | D．By presenting research findings. |
What is the best title of the passage?
| A．Printing out everything | B．Technology in the future |
| C．Online shopping disappearing | D．Great demand for 3-D printers |
When the Berlin Wall came down in 1989, Leonard Bernstein gave a concert in Berlin, including Beethoven's Ode to Joy, with the word "Joy" changed to "Freedom" in the lyrics sung．The orchestra（管弦乐队）were drawn from both East and West Germany, as well as the United Kingdom, France, the Soviet Union, and the United States．
Freedom was in the air and it was not just for people． The wall between East and West Germany had also kept a large population of wild pigs within the eastern forests of Brandenburg．The wall's falling down made it easier for the big pigs—a very big one can weigh over 300 pounds—to leave the woodlands and walk into the town． Warm winters and easy access to food have helped the population increase． Now about 10,000 wild pigs walk around Berlin．
The nature of the beast has added to the boom（兴旺）．"The pigs are intelligent," says Marc Franusch, a spokesman for the Berlin forestry department． "They learn to use the neighborhoods．They get used to people, dogs, and traffic．"
The wild pigs tend to travel in small groups and have been found searching rubbish and gardens, feeding their piglets（小猪）in the shadow of parked cars, and crossing busy roads．On average, the animals are involved in one traffic accident every day． And despite the fact that it's illegal, some Berliners have been known to give the pigs food．
Though wild pigs are protected under German law, the city's forestry department is permitted to kill 2,000 of the creatures every year, targeting mostly young adult animals in forests surrounding Berlin． Pigs within city limits are only shot if they make an immediate threat．No humans have yet been seriously wounded by them, but local dogs have been the victims of their tusks． "The forestry department is not aiming to get rid of the pigs," explains Franusch, "but we do have to reduce dangerous situations．"The concert in the first paragraph is given to ．
| A．celebrate Bernstein's success | B．remind people of fighting for rights |
| C．show the artists' delight of life | D．express people's joy for freedom |
The following factors contribute to the boom of wild pigs EXCEPT．
| A．the Berlin Wall | B．adequate food |
| C．their own nature | D．warm winter |
From the text we can know that．
| A．in Berlin people can never kill any wild pig |
| B．it is against law to offer food to wild pigs |
| C．wild pigs each weigh more than three hundred pounds |
| D．traffic accidents are mainly caused by wild pigs in Berlin |
The article mainly talks about．
| A．why wild pigs in Berlin enjoy so much freedom |
| B．when wild pigs were united in Berlin |
| C．how wild pigs are living in Berlin |
| D．what damage wild pigs have done to Berliners |
A young man from a village called Nawalapitiya married a young woman from Maliyuwa, a nearby village. They lived with the man’s big family—his parents, his brothers, their wives and children. The family kept an elephant, in which the young woman soon took a great interest. Every day she fed it with fruit and sugar.
Three months later the woman went back to her parents’ home, having quarreled with her husband. Soon the elephant refused to eat and work. It appeared to be ill and heart-broken. One morning after several weeks the animal disappeared from the house.
It went to the woman’s home. On seeing her, the elephant waved its trunk and touched her with it. The young woman was so moved (感动) by the act of the animal that she returned to her husband’s home. The writer wrote the story in order to ______.
| A．show that elephants are very clever |
| B．tell how a woman trained a wild animal |
| C．show that women care more for animals than men do |
| D．tell how an animal reunited (团圆) a husband and wife |
The woman left her new home ______.
| A．to visit her own parents in Maliyuwa |
| B．to see if the elephant would follow her |
| C．because she was angry with her husband |
| D．because she was tired of the large family |
After the young woman left her husband’s home, the elephant ______.
| A．returned to the forest | B．was sad because it missed her |
| C．went to look for a new home | D．was sick because nobody fed it |
The young wife went back to her husband because ______.
| A．she knew he had sent the animal to her |
| B．the elephant had come to look for her |
| C．her parents told her to |
| D．she missed her new home |
May: Happenings from the Past
May 5, 1884
Isaac Murphy, son of a slave and perhaps the greatest horse rider in American history, rides Buchanan to win his first Kentucky Derby. He becomes the first rider ever to win the race three times.
May 9, 1754
Benjamin Franklin’s Pennsylvania Gazette produces perhaps the first American political cartoon (漫画), showing a snake cut in pieces with the words “Join or Die” printed under the picture.
May 11, 1934
The first great dust storm of the Great Plains Dust Bowl, the result of years of drought (干旱), blows topsoil all the way to New York City and Washington, D.C.
May 19, 1994
Jacqueline Lee Bouvier Kennedy Onassis, former first lady and one of the most famous people of the 1960s died of cancer in New York City at the age of 64.
May 24, 1844
Samuel F.B Morse taps out the first message, “What hath God wrought,” over the experimental long-distance telegraph line which runs from Washington, D.C., to Baltimore, Md.We know from the text that Buchanan is ______.
| A．Isaac’s father |
| B．a winning horse |
| C．a slave taking care of horses |
| D．the first racing horse in Kentucky |
What is the title of the first American political cartoon?
| A．Join or Die | B．Pennsylvania Gazette |
| C．What Hath God Wrought | D．Kentucky Derby |
In which year did the former first lady Jacqueline die?
| A．1934 | B．1960 | C．1964 | D．1994 |
Which of the following places has to do with the first telegram in history?
A. Washing to, D.C. B. New York City C. Kentucky D. Pennsylvania