Unit1

　　Part A

　　Directions:

 
 
 
  
 
 
 
　　Read the following four texts. Answer the questions below each text by choosing A, B, C or D. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET 1.

　　Text 1

　　It’s plain common sense — the more happiness you feel, the less unhappiness you experience. It’s plain common sense, but it’s not true. Recent research reveals that happiness and unhappiness are not really two sides of the same emotion. They are two distinct feelings that, coexisting, rise and fall independently.

　　People might think that the higher a person’s level of unhappiness, the lower their level of happiness and vice versa. But when researchers measure people’s average levels of happiness and unhappiness, they often find little relationship between the two.

　　The recognition that feelings of happiness and unhappiness can co-exist much like love and hate in a close relationship may offer valuable clues on how to lead a happier life. It suggests, for example, that changing or avoiding things that make you miserable may well make you less miserable, but probably won’t make you any happier. That advice is backed up by an extraordinary series of studies which indicate that a genetic predisposition for unhappiness may run in certain families. On the other hand, researchers have found happiness doesn’t appear to be anyone’s heritage. The capacity for joy is a talent you develop largely for yourself.

　　Psychologists have settled on a working definition of the feeling — happiness is a sense of subjective well-being. They have also begun to find out who’s happy, who isn’t and why. To date, the research hasn’t found a simple formula for a happy life, but it has discovered some of the actions and attitudes that seem to bring people closer to that most desired of feelings.

　　Why is unhappiness less influenced by environment? When we are happy, we are more responsive to people and keep up connections better than when we are feeling sad. This doesn’t mean, however, that some people are born to be sad and that’s that. Genes may predispose one to unhappiness, but disposition can be influenced by personal choice. You can increase your happiness through your own actions.

　　1. According to the text, it is true that

　　［A］ unhappiness is more inherited than affected by environment.

　　［B］ happiness and unhappiness are mutually conditional.

　　［C］ unhappiness is subject to external more than internal factors.

　　［D］ happiness is an uncontrollable subjective feeling.

　　2. The author argues that one can achieve happiness by

　　［A］ maintaining it at an average level.

　　［B］ escaping miserable occurrences in life.

　　［C］ pursuing it with one’s painstaking effort.

　　［D］ realizing its coexistence with unhappiness.

　　3. The phrase “To date” (Par.4) can be best replaced by

　　［A］ As a result.［B］ In addition.［C］ At present.［D］ Until now.

　　4. What do you think the author believes about happiness and unhappiness?

　　［A］ One feels unhappy owing to his miserable origin.

　　［B］ They are independent but existing concurrently

　　［C］ One feels happy by participating in more activities.

　　［D］ They are actions and attitudes taken by human beings.

　　5. The sentence “That’s that” (Par. 5) probably means: Some people are born to be sad

　　［A］ and the situation cannot be altered.

　　［B］ and happiness remains inaccessible.

　　［C］ but they don’t think much about it.

　　［D］ but they remain unconscious of it.

　　Text 4

　　It’s possible that while you are at work, you may dream about a month of Sundays, but your boss wishes for a week of Tuesday. That’s because she/he probably knows that productivity is one of the main factors bolstering (supporting) a company’s growth. And a recent poll shows that workers are most productive on Tuesdays! Accountemps, an employment agency, conducted a national survey of office managers, which shows that by the middle of the week, they see a dramatic productivity decrease. While Monday is considered second in “productivity value,” only nine percent of office managers think Wednesday is the peak productivity day. Five percent believe it is Thursday. And Friday, well, you can just imagine! However, fortyeight percent of the managers polled said that Tuesday is, by far, the most productive day of the week.

　　A close analysis of workweek rhythms would turn up some obvious reasons for those survey results. First of all, Monday is overloaded with meetings, designed to “get things moving,” and everybody knows meetings aren’t very productive. Wednesday is “hump day”(驼峰日) — get over it as painlessly as possible, a worker thinks, and the week is more than halfway over. On Thursday, people are running out of steam; and Friday, everybody’s thinking about the weekend. There are reasons why the other days aren’t productive, but what makes Tuesday special? Tuesdays, employees hit peak performance because they are very focused on day-to-day activities. Also, it’s usually the first day of the week when they’re focused on their own task. Theyre not in meetings that take them away from their primary responsibilities. Actually, Tuesdays can be quite hectic (full of excitement and without rest). Workers are arriving at work fairly frantic (wildly excited). And so, in 10 hours, they’re doing 20-hour work. That’s productive, but it’s also tough.

　　This does not mean that nothing happens on the last three days of the workweek. Things do not get so lax that people are sitting with their feet on desks, sipping coffee and talking on the phone all day, but there’s a definite lack of focus. The pace softens and the rhythm slows down. And this is not healthy: it produces fatigue and lowers productivity. To prevent this midweek slowdown, some management consultants suggest that employers avoid jamming so many meetings into Mondays. Work deadlines can be rescheduled to stretch out the workflow. Variations in productivity are only natural, but both workers and bosses win when the peaks and valleys are less dramatic than they are now.

　　16. According to the poll, which of the following days is most productive?

　　［A］ Thursday.［B］ Friday.［C］ Monday.［D］ Wednesday.

　　17. The peak productivity day of the week is marked by

　　［A］ violent excitement and activity.

　　［B］ due enthusiasm and creativity.

　　［C］ hurried and disordered movement.

　　［D］ full concentration and efficiency.

　　18. The word “lax” in the last paragraph means

　　［A］ usually negligible.［B］ lacking in control.

　　［C］ totally distractive.［D］ worthy of relaxing.

　　19. With respect to the changes in productivity, the text suggests that

　　［A］ work deadlines can be readjusted.

　　［B］ they are reasonable and expectable.

　　［C］ Monday meetings may be called off.

　　［D］ their differences are to be minimized. 20. The author has explained all of the following EXCEPT

　　［A］ the steps taken to alter workweek rhythms.

　　［B］ the productivity on the 6th day of the week.

　　［C］ the reason why midweek slowdown takes place.

　　［D］ the concern bosses have about low productivity.

　　Part C

　　Directions:

　　Read the following text carefully and then translate the underlined segments into Chinese. Your translation should be written clearly on ANSWER SHEET 2.(10 points)

　　Not long ago, technology in the home was carved up into well-defined territories: The PC — care of Microsoft, Intel, Dell, and the like — presided over the home office. The television and stereo were king and queen of the living room. These days, though, the digital revolution is shaking up that comfortable ease. (26)With the advent of MP3 music files, personal video recorders, game machines, digital cameras, and a host of other media and services, it’s no longer clear who controls which bit of home floor. And that has set off a battle for dominance in home entertainment.

　　The shake-up covers the technology spectrum. Microsoft Corp. is spending billions on entertainment initiatives such as its X-box video game comfort. Compaq Computer Corp. and HewlettPackard Co. sell MP3 music players that plug into home-stereo systems. Philips Electronics sells a stereo that hooks into a high-speed Internet connection to play music from the Web.

　　Consumers are getting the message. (27) Sales of many of these devices should take off this year and next: U.S. shipments of MP3 digital music players for listening to songs downloaded from the Net are expected to jump by more than 50% this year, to 7 million units, according to researchers International Data Corp. Sales of personal video recorders, such as TiVo, which let you record TV shows for later viewing, should nearly triple this year in the U.S., to 2.2 million units.

　　Even high-definition television(HDTV) — the durable Next Big Thing — may soon take off. (28) By the end of 2003, nearly 6 million U.S. homes should have HDTV sets, and by yearend, some 7.7 million American homes are expected to have networks to tie their digital gear together, with strong growth spurred by a new standard for wireless links called WiFi.

　　Call it the next big wave of technology. (29) After the PC era and the Internet Age, many consumers have grown comfortable with tech: Two-thirds of U.S. homes own PCs today, while 60% have Internet access, according to researchers Gartner Dataquest. To reach the rest of the market, technology companies need to build simpler devices that offer more entertainment. (30) And these new machines need to work together as readily as stereo components do today, and should be nearly as easy to set up and use as a telephone or a television. That is leading to the consumerization of technology over the next five to ten years. The future is about MP3 players, digital video, and the like.

　　参考答案

　　Part A

　　Text 1: 1. A 2. C 3. D 4. B 5. A

　　Text 4: 16. C 17. D 18. B 19. D 20. A

　　Part C

　　26. 随着MP3音乐文档、个人录像机、游戏机、数码照相机及许多其它媒体和服务器的问世，究竟谁会占据家庭中的哪块地盘，就很难说了。

　　27. 今明两年，这些电器中许多产品的销售量会急剧上升，据国际数据公司的研究人员估计，能收听从网上下载歌曲的MP3数码音乐播放机，美国今年出货预计跃升50%以上，达到700万套。

　　28. 到2003年末，近600万美国家庭拥有高清晰电视机，而到年终，随着称作WiFi 的无线连接新技术标准所激发的迅猛发展，预计约有770万美国家庭用网络系统把他们的数码装置联成一体。

　　29. 许多消费者在经历过个人电脑时代和互联网时代之后，对新技术业已应付自如；据Gartner数据调查公司的研究人员统计，现在2/3的美国家庭拥有个人电脑，而60%的家庭有互联网接口。

　　30. 而且，这些新机器需要像现在的立体音响部件那样容易地组合起来运行，同时它们还应该几乎像电话机或电视机一样容易安装和使用。