Five years ago, David Smith wore an expensive suit to work every day.“I was a clothes addict（有瘾的人）”he jokes.“I used to carry a fresh suit to work with me so I could change if my clothes got wrinkled.” Today David wears casual（不经意的，随意的） clothes—khaki pants （裤子）and a sports shirt—to the office. He hardly ever wears a necktie.“I am working harder than ever.”David says,“and I need to feel comfortable.”
More and more companies are allowing their office workers to wear casual clothes to work. In the United States, the change from formal to casual office wear has been gradual. In the early 1990s, many companies allowed their employees to wear casual clothes on Friday（but only on Friday）.This became known as“dress-down Friday”or“casual Friday”.“What started out as an extra one-day-a-week benefit for employees has really become an everyday thing.”said business Maisly Jones.
Why have so many companies started allowing their employees to wear casual clothes? One reason is that it’s easier for a company to attract new employees if it has a casual dress code.” “A lot of young people don’t want to dress up for work,” says the owner of a software company,“so it’s hard to hire people if you have a conservative（保守的）dress code.”Another reason is that people seem happier and more productive when they are wearing comfortable clothes. In a study conducted by Levi Strauss and Company, 85 percent of employers said that they believe that casual dress improves employee morale（心境，士气）. Only 4 percent of employers said that casual dress has a negative influence on productivity. Supporters of casual office wear also argue that a casual dress code helps them save money. “Suits are expensive, if you have to wear one every day,”one person said. “For the same amount of money, you can buy a lot more casual clothes.”
小题1:David Smith refers to himself as having been“a clothes addict,”because .| A．he often wore khaki pants and a sports shirt | | B．he couldn’t stand a clean appearance | | C．he wanted his clothes to look neat all the time | | D．he didn’t want to spend much money on clothes |
小题2:David Smith wears casual clothes now, because .| A．they make him feel at ease when working | | B．he cannot afford to buy expensive clothes | | C．he looks handsome in casual clothes | | D．he no longer works for any company |
小题3:According to this passage, which of the following statements is TRUE?| A．Company workers started to dress down about twenty years ago. | | B．Dress-down has become an everyday phenomenon since the early 90s. | | C．“Dress-down Friday”was first given as a favor from employers. | | D．Many workers want to wear casual clothes to impress people. |
小题4:In this passage, the following advantages of casual office wear are mentioned EXCEPT_______| A．saving employees’ money | B．making employees more attractive | | C．improving employees’ motivation | D．making employees happier |
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小题1:C
小题2:A
小题3:C
小题4:B |
试题分析：从20 世纪90 年代起,美国许多公司开始允许员工星期五可以不统一着装上班。现在越来越多的公司许可领员工穿便装上班了,这对调节他们的心情,调动其工作热情有一定的作用。
小题1:语义理解题。大卫自嘲以前是服装爱好者,衣服一起皱,他就得换上备穿的服装。选C
小题2:语义理解题。从第 1 段最后一句话 "I"m working harder than ever," David says, "and I need to feel comfortable." 可找到答案。选A
小题3:细节判断题。从第 2 段最后 1句"What started out as an extra one-day-a-week benefit for employees has really become an everyday thing." 可以做出正确判断。选C
小题4:推断题。通读最后一段可知选项A(为雇员省钱)、B(提高雇员的工作热情)、D(使雇主高兴)在原文中均被提到,只有B 未被提到。选B。
点评：这篇文章比较抽象，关键在于理解，理解了文章主旨后，根据具体的题目找到相应的信息句，进行判断，所有的问题迎刃而解。 |
核心考点
试题【Five years ago, David Smith wore an expensive suit to work every day.“I was a cl】；主要考察你对
题材分类等知识点的理解。
[详细]举一反三
OUR KIDS ARE AMAZING — especially compared with everybody else"s (who seem to cry all the time). How do you show your love for your kids this holiday season? With toys that are smooth and colorful, interactive and exciting. And with ones that have educational value — because you are the boss.
1．FLAX ART HOSPITAL PUZZLE AND PLAY SET
Here is a toy that doesn"t need power — and the kids have to put it together themselves. This 50 - piece puzzle set is made of soft - edged hardwood and makes a complete hospital, with an X - ray room. It also includes eight patients, a car and a driver.  135; flaxart. com.
2．TINY LOVE ACTIVITY BALL
Sure, it"s cool, but this colorful baby toy also develops problem solving and motor skills. It has a head and legs, a magnetic (磁性的) hand and a tail. Suitable for little ones from 6 to 36 months.  19. 95; tinylove. com.
3．ROBOSAPIEN
This small, remote - control robot is really powerful. It performs 67 preprogrammed functions, including throwing, kicking, picking up and dancing. You can even program your own function, which, sadly, does not include doing windows. 99; robosapienonline. com.
4．MINI PEDAL CAR
Want a Mini Cooper but can"t fit the family inside? Get one for the kids. They can jump into this Mini car, which comes in hot orange with a single adjustable seat, and ride away. But it could spoil them for that used car they"ll be driving when they turn 16. For ages 3 to 5. 189; mininss. com (click on “gear up, ” then “Mini motoring gear”) .
小题1:Which toy is said to have the special design for children"s safety?| A．ROBOSAPIEN | | B．MINI PEDAL CAR | | C．FLAX ART HOSPITAL PUZZLE AND PLAY SET | | D．TINY LOVE ACTIVITY BALL |
小题2:Which toys are fit for three - year - old kids?| A．1 and 3. | B．2 and 4. | C．1 and 2. | D．3 and 4. |
小题3:Educational value is mentioned in all the toys EXCEPT ________.| A．FLAX ART HOSPITAL PUZZLE AND PLAY SET | | B．TINY LOVE ACTIVITY BALL | | C．ROBOSAPIEN | | D．MINI PEDAL CAR |
小题4:This passage is written for ________.| A．parents | B．children | C．the writer | D．the boss |
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I grew up in a small town and the main entertainment was Friday night high school football. It was just a sleepy little town where parents wanted to raise their children away from 36_ and danger of a big city, and where teenagers like me _37_ leaving to find something bigger and better.
All that 38 _ one summer night. My friend Lisa, Kim and Tyler held a party for my eighteenth birthday at Lisa’s house. As they kept _39_ alcohol to me, I was pretty drunk. I asked Tyler to take me home. With some 40 _ , we made it out to his car and drove home. News came next morning. Kim, my friend 41__ we were five years old, was killed in a car accident. That night after Tyler and I left, Kim, who was _42__ more drunk than me, got into her car and 43_ towards the highway to go home, She was driving on the wrong side of the road and never saw the truck coming. The driver didn’t see her _44_ to avoid the car. They hit head on. Kim died immediately, and the driver was thrown 45_ the truck windshield(挡风玻璃)and died a week later.
Whenever I 46_ back on that day, I can’t help thinking that it was my 47 to drink so much that night, otherwise things would be different. I know Kim 48_ the choice to drink and drive that night , but a part of me will always feel 49 _for what happened.
I may not change the 50_ with my story, but I do hope that I can make people 51 the responsibility that they have to themselves and others by 52 it. Don’t ever think that your choices are yours __53 .Every choice is like a stone dropped into 54 water-each ripple(波纹)represents someone who your choice 55 . That’s quite an influence, isn’t it?
| 小题1: | | A．death | B．fashion | C．crime | D．challenge |
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| 小题2: | | A．succeeded in | B．dreamed of | C．applied for | D．approved of |
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| 小题3: | | A．happened | B．continued | C．changed | D．remained |
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| 小题4: | | A．sending | B．delivering | C．taking | D．handing |
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| 小题5: | | A．pleasure | B．difficulty | C．hope | D．method |
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| 小题6: | | A．before | B．until | C．when | D．since |
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| 小题7: | | A．constantly | B．frequently | C．clearly | D．equally |
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| 小题8: | | A．headed | B．walked | C．pushed | D．fled |
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| 小题9: | | A．in trouble | B．in time | C．in danger | D．in place |
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| 小题10: | | A．above | B．below | C．into | D．through |
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| 小题12: | | A．desire | B．fault | C．right | D．chance |
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| 小题13: | | A．faced | B．avoided | C．regretted | D．made |
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| 小题14: | | A．responsible | B．disappointed | C．embarrassed | D．sensitive |
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| 小题15: | | A．town | B．party | C．world | D．environment |
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| 小题16: | | A．explain | B．escape | C．limit | D．realize |
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| 小题17: | | A．remembering | B．sharing | C．declaring | D．stopping |
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| 小题18: | | A．alone | B．finally | C．apart | D．perhaps |
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小题19:A clean B. deep C. still D. fresh
| 小题20: | | A．affects | B．inspires | C．attracts | D．benefits |
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English teenagers are to receive compulsory (必修的) cooking lessons in schools. The idea is to encourage healthy eating to fight the country’s increasing obesity (肥胖 )rate. It’s feared that basic cooking and food preparation skills are being lost as parents turn to pre-prepared convenience foods.
Cooking was once regarded as an important part of education in England---even if it was mainly aimed at girls. In recent decades cooking has progressively become a minor activity in schools. In many cases the schools themselves have given up cooking meals in kitchens in the schools. But the rising level of obesity has led to a rethink about the food that children are given and the skills they should be taught.
“What I want is to teach young people how to do basic, simple recipes like a tomato sauce, a bolognaise, a simple curry, a stir-fry---which they can use now at home and then in their later life”, said Ed Balls, the minister responsible for schools.
The new lessons are due to start in September, but some schools without kitchens will be given longer to adapt. There is also likely to be a shortage of teachers with the right skills, since the trend has been to teach food technology rather than practical cooking. Also the compulsory lessons for hands on cooking will only be one hour a week for one term. But the well-known cookery writer, Pru Leith, believes it will be worth it.
“If we’d done this thirty years ago we might not have the crisis we’ve got now about obesity and lack of knowledge about food and so on. Every child should know how to cook, not just so that they’ll be healthy, but because it’s a life skill which is a real pleasure”.
The renewed interest in cooking is primarily a response to the level of obesity in Britain which is among the highest in Europe, and according to government figures half of all Britons will be obese in 25 years if current trends are not stopped.
小题1:The passage mainly talks about .| A．the reason for obesity | B．the lost cooking skills | | C．the healthy eating | D．the compulsory cooking classes |
小题2:Which of the following is NOT the purpose for English teenagers to receive cooking lessons?| A．To encourage teenagers to eat healthy food. | | B．To reduce the country’s increasing obesity rate. | | C．To stop parents from turning to pre-prepared convenience foods. | | D．To prevent basic cooking and food preparation skills from being lost. |
小题3:In what way will cooking lessons benefit the students?| A．They will be healthy and enjoy the pleasure of such a life skill as well. | | B．They will be able to do some basic, simple recipes like a tomato sauce. | | C．They will be able to make food experiments with the knowledge and skills. | | D．They will be able to control the level of obesity in the whole country. |
小题4:The well-known cookery writer, Pru Leith, thinks it to offer compulsory cooking lessons in schools.| A．difficult | B．necessary | C．funny | D．timely |
小题5:It can be inferred from the passage that .| A．cooking has always been an important part of school education in England | | B．the obesity rate in Britain has been rapidly growing in recent decades | | C．English teenagers will have their cooking lessons twice a week for one year | | D．the students will pay a lot of money to the school for the |
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小题1:Who is writing the postcard?| A．Fiona. | B．Janet. | C．Terry. | D．Jacqui. |
小题2:Where are they staying now?| A．North of the Great Wall. | B．In the south of England. | | C．In a big city. | D．In a village. |
小题3:Which one is NOT right?| A．John is reading a newspaper. | | B．The children are swimming in the river. | | C．Terry is lying in the sun. | | D．Janet is in the house. |
小题4:How do they like the holiday？| A．enjoyable | B．terrible | C．boring | D．bad |
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When next year’s crop of high-school graduates arrive at Oxford University in the fall, they will be joined by a new face: Andrew Hamilton, the 55-year-old provost (教务长) of Yale, who will become Oxford’s vice-chancellor –– a position equal to university president in America.
Hamilton isn’t the only educator crossing the Atlantic. Schools in France, Egypt, Singapore, etc. have also recently made top-level hires from abroad. Yet the talent flow isn’t universal. High-level personnel (人员) tend to head in only one direction: Outward from America.
The chief reason is that American schools don’t tend to seriously consider looking abroad. For example, when the board of the University of Colorado searched for a new president, it wanted a leader familiar with the state government, a major source of the university’s budget. “We didn’t do any global consideration,” says Patricia Hayes, the board’s chair. The board finally picked Bruce Benson, a 69-year-old Colorado businessman and political activist who is likely to do well in the main task of modern university presidents: fund-raising. Fund-raising is a particularly American thing, since U.S. schools rely heavily on donations. The fund-raising ability is largely a product of experience and necessity.
Many European universities, meanwhile, are still mostly dependent on government funding. But government support has failed to keep pace with rising student numbers. The decline in government support has made fund-raising an increasingly necessary ability among administrators (管理人员), and has made hiring committees hungry for Americans.
In the past few years, well-known schools around the world have joined the trend. In 2011, when Cambridge University appointed Alison Richard, another former Yale provost, as its vice-chancellor, the university publicly stressed that in her previous job she had overseen (监督) “ a major strengthening of Yale’s financial position”.
Of course, fund-raising isn’t the only skill outsiders offer. The globalization of education means more universities will be seeking heads with international experience of some kind to promote international programs and attract a global student body. Foreigners can offer a fresh perspective (视角) on established practices.
小题1: What is the current trend in higher education discussed in the text?| A．Institutions worldwide are hiring administrators from the U.S. | | B．More international students are being admitted to American universities. | | C．University presidents are paying more attention to fund-raising. | | D．A lot of activists are being hired as administrators. |
小题2: What do we learn about European universities from the text?| A．The tuition they charge has been rising considerably. | | B．They are strengthening their position by globalization. | | C．Their operation is under strict government control. | | D．Most of their money comes from the government. |
小题3: In what way do top-level administrators from abroad contribute to university development?| A．They can improve the university’s image. | | B．They will bring with them more international personnel. | | C．They will view a lot of things from a new angle. | | D．They can set up new academic subjects. |
小题4: Which of the following would make the best title of the text?| A．High Education Globalization | | B．Global Headhunting in Higher Education | | C．Global Higher Education Cooperation | | D．Universal Higher Education Development |
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