ReadingComprehension6.doc

1、Reading Comprehension 6Passage OneQuestions 1 to 5 are based on the following passage.A is for always getting to work on time.B is for being extremely busy.C is for the conscientious (勤勤恳恳的) way you do your job.You may be all these things at the office, and more. But when it comes to getting ahead,

2、experts say, the ABCs of business should include a P, for politics, as in office politics.Dale Carnegie suggested as much more than 50 years ago: Hard work alone doesnt ensure career advancement. You have to be able to sell yourself and your ideas, both publicly and behind the scenes. Yet, despite t

3、he obvious rewards of engaging in office politicsa better job, a raise, praisemany people are still unableor unwillingto “play the game.“People assume that office politics involves some manipulative (工于心计的) behavior,“ says Deborah Comer, an assistant professor of management at Hofstra University. “B

4、ut politics derives from the word polite. It can mean lobbying and forming associations. It can mean being kind and helpful, or even trying to please your superior, and then expecting something in return.“In fact, today, experts define office politics as proper behavior used to pursue ones own self-

5、interest in the workplace. In many cases, this involves some form of socializing within the office environmentnot just in large companies, but in small workplaces as well.“The first thing people are usually judged on is their ability to perform well on a consistent basis,“ says Neil P. Lewis, a mana

6、gement psychologist. “But if two or three candidates are up for a promotion, each of whom has reasonably similar ability, a manager is going to promote the person he or she likes best. Its simple human nature.“ Yet, psychologists say, many employees and employers have trouble with the concept of pol

7、itics in the office. Some people, they say, have an idealistic vision of work and what it takes to succeed. Still others associate politics with flattery(奉承), fearful that, if they speak up for themselves, they may appear to be flattering their boss for favors.Experts suggest altering this negative

8、picture by recognizing the need for some self-promotion.1. “Office politics“ (Line 2, Para. 4) is used in the passage to refer to _.A) the code of behavior for company staff B) the political views and beliefs of office workersC) the interpersonal relationships within a company D) the various qualiti

9、es required for a successful career 2. To get promoted, one must not only be competent but _.A) give his boss a good impression B) honest and loyal to his company C) get along well with his colleagues D) avoid being too outstanding3. Why are many people unwilling to “play the game“ (Line 4, Para. 5)

10、?A) They believe that doing so is impractical. B) They feel that such behavior is unprincipled.C) They are not good at manipulating colleagues. D) They think the effort will get them nowhere. 4. The author considers office politics to be _.A) unwelcome at the workplace B) bad for interpersonal relat

11、ionshipsC) indispensable to the development of company culture D) an important factor for personal advancement5. It is the authors view that _.A) speaking up for oneself is part of human nature B) self-promotion does not necessarily mean flatteryC) hard work contributes very little to ones promotion

12、D) many employees fail to recognize the need of flatteryPassage TwoQuestions 6 to 10 are based on the following passage.As soon as it was revealed that a reporter for Progressive magazine had discovered how to make a hydrogen bomb, a group of firearm (火器) fans formed the National Hydrogen Bomb Assoc

13、iation, and they are now lobbying against any legislation to stop Americans from owning one.“The Constitution,“ said the associations spokesman, “gives everyone the right to own arms. It doesnt spell out what kind of arms. But since anyone can now make a hydrogen bomb, the public should be able to b

14、uy it to protect themselves.“Dont you think its dangerous to have one in the house, particularly where there are children around?“The National Hydrogen Bomb Association hopes to educate people in the safe handling of this type of weapon. We are instructing owners to keep the bomb in a locked cabinet

15、 and the fuse (导火索 ) separately in a drawer.“Some people consider the hydrogen bomb a very fatal weapon which could kill somebody.“The spokesman said, “Hydrogen bombs dont kill peoplepeople kill people. The bomb is for self-protection and it also has a deterrent effect. If somebody knows you have a

16、nuclear weapon in your house, theyre going to think twice about breaking in.“But those who want to ban the bomb for American citizens claim that if you have one locked in the cabinet, with the fuse in a drawer, you would never be able to assemble it in time to stop an intruder (侵入者).“Another argumen

17、t against allowing people to own a bomb is that at the moment it is very expensive to build one. So what your association is backing is a program which would allow the middle and upper classes to acquire a bomb while poor people will be left defenseless with just handguns.“6. According to the passag

18、e, some people started a national association so as to _.A) block any legislation to ban the private possession of the bombB) coordinate the mass production of the destructive weaponC) instruct people how to keep the bomb safe at homeD) promote the large-scale sale of this newly invented weapon7. So

19、me people oppose the ownership of H-bombs by individuals on the grounds that _.A) the size of the bomb makes it difficult to keep in a drawer B) most people dont know how to handle the weaponC) peoples lives will be threatened by the weaponD) they may fall into the hands of criminals8. By saying tha

20、t the bomb also has a deterrent effect the spokesman means that it .A) will frighten away any possible intruders B) can show the special status of its ownersC) will threaten the safety of the owners as well D) can kill those entering others houses by force9. According to the passage, opponents of th

21、e private ownership of H-bombs are very much worried that _.A) the influence of the association is too powerful for the less privileged to overcomeB) poorly-educated Americans will find it difficult to make use of the weaponC) the wide use of the weapon will push up living expenses tremendouslyD) th

22、e cost of the weapon will put citizens on an unequal basis10. From the tone of the passage we know that the author is _.A) doubtful about the necessity of keeping H-bombs at home for safetyB) unhappy with those who vote against the ownership of H-bombsC) not serious about the private ownership of H-

23、bombsD) concerned about the spread of nuclear weaponsPassage ThreeQuestions 11 to 15 are based on the following passage.Sign has become a scientific hot button. Only in the past 20 years have specialists in language study realized that signed languages are uniquea speech of the hand. They offer a ne

24、w way to probe how the brain generates and understands language, and throw new light on an old scientific controversy: whether language, complete with grammar, is something that we are born with, or whether it is a learned behavior. The current interest in sign language has roots in the pioneering w

25、ork of one rebel teacher at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., the worlds only liberal arts university for deaf people.When Bill Stokoe went to Gallaudet to teach English, the school enrolled him in a course in signing. But Stokoe noticed something odd: among themselves, students signed diffe

26、rently from his classroom teacher.Stokoe had been taught a sort of gestural code, each movement of the hands representing a word in English. At the time, American Sign Language (ASL) was thought to be no more than a form of pidgin English (混杂英语 ). But Stokoe believed the “hand talk“ his students use

27、d looked richer. He wondered: Might deaf people actually have a genuine language? And could that language be unlike any other on Earth? It was 1955, when even deaf people dismissed their signing as “substandard“. Stokoes idea was academic heresy (异端邪说).It is 37 years later. Stokoenow devoting his ti

28、me to writing and editing books and journals and to producing video materials on ASL and the deaf cultureis having lunch at a caf near the Gallaudet campus and explaining how he started a revolution. For decades educators fought his idea that signed languages are natural languages like English, Fren

29、ch and Japanese. They assumed language must be based on speech, the modulation (调节) of sound. But sign language is based on the movement of hands, the modulation of space. “What I said,“ Stokoe explains, “is that language is not mouth stuffits brain stuff.“11. The study of sign language is thought t

30、o be _.A) a new way to look at the learning of languageB) a challenge to traditional views on the nature of languageC) an approach to simplifying the grammatical structure of a languageD) an attempt to clarify misunderstanding about the origin of language12. The present growing interest in sign lang

31、uage was stimulated by _.A) a famous scholar in the study of the human brain B) a leading specialist in the study of liberal artsC) an English teacher in a university for the deaf D) some senior experts in American Sign Language13. According to Stokoe, sign language is _.A) a substandard language B)

32、 a genuine language C) an artificial language D) an international language14. Most educators objected to Stokoes idea because they thought _.A) sign language was not extensively used even by deaf peopleB) sign language was too artificial to be widely acceptedC) a language should be easy to use and u

33、nderstandD) a language could only exist in the form of speech sounds15. Stokoes argument is based on his belief that _.A) sign language is as efficient as any other language B) sign language is derived from natural languageC) language is a system of meaningful codes D) language is a product of the brain