MBA英语阅读习题和答案八.doc

MBA英语阅读习题和答案（八） If you intend using humor in your talk to make people smile, you must know how to identify shared experiences and problems. Your humor must be relevant to the audience and should help to show them that you are one of them or that you understand their situation and are in sympathy with their point of view. Depending on whom you are addressing, the problems will be different. If you are talking to a group of managers, you may refer to the disorganized methods of their secretaries; alternatively if you are addressing secretaries, you may want to comment on their disorganized bosses. Here is an example, which I heard at a nurses convention, of a story which works well because the audience all shared the same view of doctors. A man arrives in heaven and is being shown around by St. Peter. He sees wonderful accommodations, beautiful gardens, sunny weather, and so on. Everyone is very peaceful, polite and friendly until, waiting in a line for lunch, the new arrival is suddenly pushed aside by a man in a white coat, who rushes to the head of the line, grabs his food and stomps over to a table by himself. “Who is that?” the new arrival asked St. Peter. “On, thats God,” came the reply, “but sometimes he thinks hes a doctor.” If you are part of the group which you are addressing, you will be in a position to know the experiences and problems which are common to all of you and itll be appropriate for you to make a passing remark about the inedible canteen food or the chairmans notorious bad taste in ties. With other audiences you mustnt attempt to cut in with humor as they will resent an outsider making disparaging remarks about their canteen or their chairman. You will be on safer ground if you stick to scapegoats like the Post Office or the telephone system. If you feel awkward being humorous, you must practice so that it becomes more natural. Include a few casual and apparently off-the-cuff remarks which you can deliver in a relaxed and unforced manner. Often its the delivery which causes the audience to smile, so speak slowly and remember that a raised eyebrow or an unbelieving look may help to show that you are making a light-hearted remark. Look for the humor. It often comes from the unexpected. A twist on a familiar quote “If at first you dont succeed, give up” or a play on words or on a situation. Search for exaggeration and understatements. Look at your talk and pick out a few words or sentences which you can turn about and inject with humor. 1. To make your humor work, you should . A. take advantage of different kinds of audience B. make fun of the disorganized people C. address different problems to different people D. show sympathy for your listeners 2. The joke about doctors implies that, in the eyes of nurses, they are . A. impolite to new arrivals B. very conscious of their godlike role C. entitled to some privileges D. very busy even during lunch hours 3. It can be inferred from the text that public services . A. have benefited many people B. are the focus of public attention C. are an inappropriate subject for humor D. have often been the laughing stock 4. To achieve the desired result, humorous stories should be delivered . A. in well-worded language B. as awkwardly as possible C. in exaggerated statements D. as casually as possible 5. The best title for the text may be . A. Use Humor Effectively B. Various Kinds of Humor C. Add Humor to Speech D. Different Humor Strategies 参考答案：CBDDAIt is said that the public and Congressional concern about deceptive (欺骗性的) packaging rumpus (喧嚣) started because Senator Hart discovered that the boxes of cereals consumed by him, Mrs. Hart, and their children were becoming higher and narrower, with a decline of net weight from 12 to 10-1/2 ounces, without any reduction in price. There were still twelve biscuits, but they had been reduced in size. Later, the Senator rightly complained of a store- bought pie in a handsomely illustrated box that pictured, in a single slice, almost as many cherries as there were in the whole pie. The manufacturer who increases the unit price of his product by changing his package size to lower the quantity delivered can, without undue hardship, put his product into boxes, bags, and tins that will contain even 4-ounce, 8-ounce, one-pound, two-pound quantities of breakfast foods, cake mixes, etc. A study of drugstore (杂货店) and supermarket shelves will convince any observer that all possible sizes and shapes of boxes, jars, bottles, and tins are in use at the same time, and, as the package journals show, week by week, there is never any hesitation in introducing a new size and shape of box or bottle when it aids in product differentiation. The producers of packaged products argue strongly against changing sizes of packages to contain even weights and volumes, but no one in the trade comments unfavorably on the huge costs incurred by endless changes of package sizes, materials, shape, art work, and net weights that are used for improving a products market position. When a packaging expert explained that he was able to multiply the price of hard sweets by 2.5, from $1 to $ 2.50 by changing to a fancy jar, or that he had made a 5-ounce bottle look as though it held 8 ounces, he was in effect telling the public that packaging can be a very expensive luxury. It evidently does come high, when an average family pays about $ 200 a year for bottles, cans, boxes, jars and other containers, most of which cant be used for anything but stuffing the garbage can. 1. What started the public and Congressional concern about deceptive packaging rumpus? A. Consumers complaints about the changes in package size. B. Expensive packaging for poor quality products. C. A senators discovery of the tricks in packaging. D. The rise in the unit price for many products. 2. The word “undue” (Line 2, Para. 2) means “ “. A. improper C. unexpected B. adequate D. excessive 3. Consumers are concerned about the changes in package size, mainly because . A. they hate to see any changes in things they are familiar with B. the unit price for a product often rises as a result C. they have to pay for the cost of changing package sizes D. this entails an increase in the cost of packaging 4. According to this passage, various types of packaging come into existence to . A. meet the needs of consumers C. enhance the market position of products B. suit all kinds of products D. introduce new products 5. The author is critical mainly of . A. dishonest packaging B. inferior packaging C. the changes in package size D. exaggerated illustrations on packages 参考答案：CDBCASince the dawn of human ingenuity, people have devised ever more cunning tools to cope with work that is dangerous, boring, burdensome, or just plain nasty. That compulsion has resulted in roboticsthe science of conferring various human capabilities on machines. And if scientists have yet to create the mechanical version of science fiction, they have begun to come close. As a result, the modern world is increasingly populated by intelligent gizmos whose presence we barely notice but whose universal existence has removed much human labor. Our factories hum to the rhythm of robot assembly arms. Our banking is done at automated teller terminals that thank us with mechanical politeness for the transaction. Our subway trains are controlled by tireless robo-drivers. And thanks to the continual miniaturization of electronics and micro-mechanics, there are already robot systems that can perform some kinds of brain and bone surgery with submillimeter accuracyfar greater precision than highly skilled physicians can achieve with their hands alone. But if robots are to reach the next stage of laborsaving utility, they will have to operate with less human supervision and be able to make at least a few decisions for themselvesgoals that pose a real challenge. “While we know how to tell a robot to handle a specific error,” says Dave Lavery, manager of a robotics program at NASA, “we cant yet give a robot enough common sense to reliably interact with a dynamic world.” Indeed the quest for true artificial intelligence has produced very mixed results. Despite a spell of initial optimism in the 1960s and 1970s when it appeared that transistor circuits and microprocessors might be able to copy the action of the human brain by the year 2010, researchers lately have begun to extend that forecast by decades if not centuries. What they found, in attempting to model thought, is that the human brains roughly one hundred billion nerve cells are much more talentedand human perception far more complicatedthan previously imagined. They have built robots that can recognize the error of a machine panel by a fraction of a millimeter in a controlled factory environment. But the human mind can glimpse a rapidly changing scene and immediately disregard the 98 percent that is irrelevant, instantaneously focusing on the monkey at the side of a winding forest road or the single suspicious face in a big crowd. The most advanced computer systems on Earth cant approach that kind of ability, and neuroscientists still dont know quite how we do it. 1. Human ingenuity was initially demonstrated in . A. the use of machines to produce science fiction B. the wide use of machines in manufacturing industry C. the invention of tools for difficult and dangerous work D. the elites cunning tackling of dangerous and boring work 2. The word “gizmos” (line 1, paragraph 2) most probably means . A. programs B. experts C. devices D. creatures 3. According to the text, what is beyond mans ability now is to design a robot that can . A. fulfill delicate tasks like performing brain surgery B. interact with human beings verbally C. have a little common sense D. respond independently to a changing world 4. Besides reducing human labor, robots can also . A. make a few decisions for themselves B. deal with some errors with human intervention C. improve factory environments D. cultivate human creativity 5. The author uses the example of a monkey to argue that robots are . A. expected to copy human brain in internal structure B. able to perceive abnormalities immediately C. far less able than human brain in focusing on relevant information D. best used in a controlled environment 参考答案：CCDBCGerman Chancellor ( 首相 ) Otto Von Bismarck may be most famous for his military and diplomatic talent, but his legacy ( 遗产 ) includes many of todays social insurance programs. During the middle of the 19th century, Germany, along with other European nations, experienced an unprecedented rash of workplace deaths and accidents as a result of growing industrialization. Motivated in part by Christian compassion ( 怜悯 ) for the helpless as well as a practical political impulse to undercut the support of the socialist labor movement, Chancellor Bismarck created the worlds first worker s compensation law in 1884. By 1908, the United States was the only industrial nation in the world that lacked workers compensation insurance. Americas injured workers could sue for damages in a court of law, but they still faced a number of tough legal barriers. For example, employees had to prove that their injuries directly resulted from employer negligence and that they themselves were ignorant about potential hazards in the workplace. The first state workers compensation law in this country passed in 1911, and the program soon spread throughout the nation. After World War II, benefit payments to American workers did not keep up with the cost of living. In fact, real benefit levels were lower in the 1970s than they were in the 1940s, and in most states the maximum benefit was below the poverty level for a family of four. In 1970, President Richard Nixon set up a national commission to study the problems of workers compensation. Two years later, the commission issued 19 key recommendations, including one that called for increasing compensation benefit levels to 100 percent of the states average weekly wages. In fact, the average compensation benefit in America has climbed from 55 percent of the states average weekly wages in 1972 to 97 percent today. But, as most studies show, every 10 percent increase in compensation benefits results in a 5 percent increase in the numbers of workers who file for claims. And with so much more money floating in the workers compensation system, its not surprising that doctors, and lawyers have helped themselves to a large slice of the growing pie. 1. The worlds first workers compensation law was introduced by Bismarck . A. for fear of losing the support of the socialist labor movement B. out of religious and political considerations C. to speed up the pace of industrialization D. to make industrial production safer 2. We learn from the passage that the process of industrialization in Europe . A. met growing resistance from laborers working at machines B. resulted in the development of popular social insurance programs C. was accompanied by an increased number of workshop accidents D. required workers to be aware of the potential dangers at the workplace 3. One of the problems the American injured workers faced in getting compensation in the early 19th century was that . A. they had to produce evidence that their employers were responsible for the accident B. Americas average compensation benefit was much lower than the cost of living C. different states in the U. S. had totally different compensation programs D. they had to have the courage to sue for damages in a court of law 4. After 1972, workers compensation insurance in the U. S. became more favorable to workers so that . A. the poverty level for a family of four went up drastically B. more money was allocated to their compensation system C. there were fewer legal barriers when they filed for claims D. the number of workers suing for damages increased 5. The author ends the passage with the implication that . A. compensation benefits in America are soaring to new heights B. people from all walks of life can benefit from the compensations system C. the workers are not the only ones to benefit from the compensation system D. money floating in the compensation system is a huge drain on the U. S. economy 参考答案：BCADCIn the United States, it is not customary to telephone someone very in the morning. If you telephone him early in the day, while he is shaving or having breakfast, the time of the call shows that the matter is very important and requires immediate attention. The same meaning is attached to telephone calls made after 11:00 p.m. If someone receives a call during sleeping hours, he assumes its a matter of life and death. The time chosen for the call communicates its importance. In social life, time plays a very important part. In the U. S. A, guests tend to feel they are not highly regarded if the invitation to a dinner party is extended only three or four days before the party date. But it is not true in all countries. In other areas of the world it may be considered foolish to make an appointment too far in advance because plans which are made for a date more than a week away tend to be forgotten. The meaning of time differs in different parts of the world. Thus, mis