Passage 3As the pace of life continues to increase, we are fast losing the art of relaxation. But relaxation is __1__ for a healthy mind and body.Stress is a natural part of everyday life and there is no way to __2__ it. In fact, it is not the bad thing as it is often supposed to be. A certain amount of stress is vital to provide motivation and give purpose to life. It is only when the stress gets out of __3__ that it can lead to poor performance and ill health.The amount of stress a person can withstand depends very much on the individual. Some people are not afraid of stress, and such __4__ are obviously prime material for managerial responsibilities. Others lose heart at the first sight of __5__ difficulties. When exposed to stress, in whatever form, we react both physically and __6__. In fact we make choice between “flight or fight” and in more __7__ days the choices made the difference between life or death. The crises we meet today are unlikely to be so extreme, but however little the stress, it involves the same __8__. It is when such a reaction lasts long, through continued __9__ to stress, that health becomes endangered. Since we cannot __10__ stress from our lives it would be unwise to do so even if we could, we need to find ways to deal with it.Passage 4As is known to all, the organization and management of wages and salaries are very complex. Generally speaking, the Accounts Department is __1__ for calculations of pay, while the Personnel Department is interested in discussions with the employees about pay.If a firm wants to __2__ a new wage and salary structure, it is essential that the firm should decide on a __3__ of job evaluation and ways of measuring the performance of its employees. In order to be __4__, that new pay structure will need agreement between Trade Unions and employers. In job evaluation, all of the requirements of each job are defined in a detailed job description. Each of thoserequirements is given a value, usually in “points”, which are __5__ together to give a total value for the job. For middle and higher management, a special method is used to evaluate managers on their knowledge of the job, their responsibility, and their __6__ to solve problems. Because of the difficulty in measuring management work, however, job grades for managers are often decided without __7__ to an evaluation system based on points.In attempting to design a pay system, the Personnel Department should __8__ the value of each job with these in the job market. __9__, payment for a job should vary with any differences in the way that the job is performed. Where it is simple to measure the work done, as in the works done with hands, monetary encouragement schemes are often chosen, for __10__ workers, where measurement is difficult, methods of additional payments are employed.Passage 5Americans are proud of their variety and individuality, yet they love and respect few things more than a uniform. Why are uniforms so __1__ in the United States?Among the arguments for uniforms, one of the first is that in the eyes of most people they look more __2__ than civilian（百姓的）clothes. People have become conditioned to __3__ superior quality from a man who wears a uniform.The television repairman who wears a uniform tends to __4__ more trust than one who appears in civilian clothes. Faith in the __5__ of a garage mechanic is increased by a uniform. What an easier way is there for a nurse, a policeman, a barber, or a waiter to __6__ professional identity（身份）than to step out of uniform? Uniforms also have many __7__ benefits. They save on other clothes. They save on laundry bills. They are often more comfortable and more durable than civilian clothes.Primary among the arguments against uniforms is their lack of variety and the consequent loss of __8__ experienced by people who must wear them. Though there are many types of uniforms, the wearer of any particular type is generally stuck with it,without __9__, until retirement. When people look alike, they tend to think, speak, and act __10__, o n the job at le a st.Passage 6Britain is not just one country and one people; even if some of its inhabitants think so. Britain is, in fact, a nation which can be divided into several __1__ parts, each part being an individual country with its own language, character and cultural __2__. Thus Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales do not claim to __3__ to “England” because their inhabitants are not __4__ “English”. They are Scottish, Irish or Welsh and many of them prefer to speak their own native tongue, which in turn is __5__ to the others.These cultural minorities(少数民族) have been Britain’s original inhabitants. In varying degrees they have managed to __6__ their national characteristics, and their particular customs and way of life. This is probably even truer of the __7__ areas where traditional life has not been so affected by the __8__ of industrialism as the border areas have been. The Celtic races are said to be more emotional by nature than the English. An Irish temper is legendary. The Scots could rather __9__ about their reputation for excessive thrift and prefer to be remembered for their folk songs and dances, while the Welsh are famous for their singing. The Celtic __10__ as a whole produces humorous writers and artists, such as the Irish Bernard Shaw, the ScottishPassage 8Psychologists take opposing views of how external rewards, from warm praise to cold cash, affect motivation and creativity. Behaviorists, who study the relation between actions and their consequences, argue that rewards can __1__ performance at work and school. Cognitive( 认识派的) researchers, who study various aspects of mental life, maintain that rewards often destroy creativity by encouraging dependence on __2__ and gifts from others.A coeducational(男女合校的) school offers children nothing less than a tree version of society in miniature(缩影). Boys and girls are given the 1 to get to know each other, to learn to live together from their earliest years. They are put in a position where they can compare themselves with each other in terms of 2 ability, athletic achievement and many of the extracurricular activities which are part of school life. What a practical 3 it is (to give just a small example) to be able to put on a school play in which the male parts will be taken by boys and the female parts by girls! What nonsense coeducation makes of the argument that boys are cleverer than girls or vice versa. When 4 , boys and girls are made to feel that they are a race apart. In a coeducational school, everything falls into its 5 place.The greatest contribution of coeducation is 6 the healthy attitude to life it encourages. Boys don’t grow up believing that women are 7 creatures. Girls don’t grow up imagining that men are romantic heroes. Years of living together at school remove illusions of this kind. The awkward stage of adolescence brings into sharp focus some of the physical and 8 problems involved in growing up. These can better be 9 in a coeducational environment. When the time comes for the pupils to leave school, they are fully prepared to 10 society as well-adjusted adults. They have already had years of experience in coping with many of the problems that face men and women.Passage 13The anthropologist (人类学家) Clifford Geertz defines culture as a “historically transmitted pattern of meanings embodied in symbols by 1 of which men can communicate, perpetuate and develop their own knowledge about and attitudes towards life.”Why is it important that you 2 about other cultures? There are a number of reasons. Some may do it 3 because they find fascinating the different ways that people think, speak, act, evaluate, and communicate. But let me assume that you are a more pragmatic sort of person, and are 4 in the “cash value” of a course like this — apart, that is, from the grade you will receive at the end of it. What is a class like this good for? Let me make a couple of suggestions on how what you learn in this class may prove 5 to you in the future:Business: Geert Hofstede’s excellent book on culture is 6 not primarily out of academic theory, but out of his study of the practical problems faced by one particular modern corporation (IBM), which exists across national and cultural 7 . In the world we live in, understanding 8 in general and also specific individual cultures in particular can make the difference between success and failure in the global market and economy.Politics and Diplomacy: If your career goal involves anything that relates to international politics and diplomacy, then understanding other cultures is 9 .Neighbors: If none of these previous factors 10 you, then you can just look at this class as a lesson in good neighborliness in the global village.Passage 14A pioneering study into the effects of a mother’s fat intake during pregnancy on her child’s health when he or she grows up is being launched at the University of Southampton.The research will investigate whether the type and amount of fat a mother eats during pregnancy 1 the risk of heart disease, 2 high blood pressure, in her child when he or she reaches adulthood.Although the link between high fat diets and high blood pressure is well known, there has been 3 research into the connection between a woman’s diet and her child’s risk of hypertension (高血压).The study, which is 4 by the British Heart Foundation, is led by Dr Graham Burdge, British Heart Foundation Professor of Cardiovascular Science.The award of this 5 grant is part of a ￡3.5 million boost for heart research in the UK by the British Heart Foundation. The charity’s special grants are made to fund research into the causes, prevention, 6 and treatment of heart disease, the UK’s biggest killer.Dr Burdge says, “The type and amount of fat in our diet has 7 during the past 50 years. Pregnant women 8 the same diet as the rest of us, but we know very little about the 9 of these changes in dietary (饮食的) fat on the development and future health of their children. We hope that the 10 of this study will help to develop recommendations for pregnant women about how much fat they should eat and what types of fat they should avoid.”Passage 15Major retailers and car manufacturers have slashed (削减) their marketing budgets in the six months to October, 2008, as the financial crisis has taken its toll, while supermarkets have __1__advertising spending in a battle to prove that they offer the most ___2__ prices.According to new research undertaken for The Daily Telegraph by Nielsen Media Research, in the six months to September 30, 2008, Marks & Spencer’s advertising spend fell 20.3 pc to ￡25.3 m, __3___ with the same period in 2007.While the retailer has spent heavily on a campaign __4__ celebrities in the past two years, it is understood to be cutting back on celebrity spending in 2009. The retailer is, however, still the UK’s 25th largest spender on advertising, __5__ being at 17th place in the six months to September 30, 2007.Car manufacturers have also significantly ___6__ back on marketing spending, believed to be a result of the financial crisis. According to Nielsen, Ford spent ￡26.6m in the six months to September 30, 2008, down 21pc from the same period last year. Vauxhall also ___7__ spending by 15.6pc in the period to ￡26.5m.For supermarkets, however, a significant increase in advertising spending, it appears, is a ___8___ as they seek to woo (追求) increasingly price __9__ customers. The leading supermarkets have __10__ an aggressive price war in the past six months as consumers have been faced with news of higher food prices.Passage 16Teddy bears have been around since 1902. The teddy bear came to being when President Theodore Roosevelt refused to 1 a black bear held captive by his hunting party. Also worth noting is that President Roosevelt’s refusal to shoot this captive bear became a very popular political cartoon by Cliff Barryman.A Brooklyn shopkeeper was 2 by the cartoon. The shopkeeper then asked President Rosevelt for 3 to name a toy bear “Teddy”. Thus became the creation of the teddy bear.It is also worth 4 that the teddy bear was born in Germany between 1902 and 1903.The first teddy bears did not have cuddly faces or smiles, in fact, the first teddy bears had expressions which could best be described as 5 . Teddy bears were also quite stiff, the 6 arms and legs and soft, plush bodies came much later.Now teddy bears are still the number one item to give babies as their first toy, the prize to win your girl on your first date, and most 7 , the toy of choice for law enforcement to give to children in sad, unsafe situations to help them calm down and feel safe.The market for collectible teddy bears has seen significant 8 in the last several years. A collectible teddy bear is very different than the typical store bought teddy that you might give a child. The industry 9 collectible teddy bears as hard, not floppy, and fully jointed (meaning arms, legs, and head are moveable). The artists however, also determine collectibles. Steiff teddy bears and others have a very high collectible 10 .Passage 17Hungry prehistoric hunters, not climate change, drove elephants to extinction during the Pleistocene era, new research suggests.At least 12 kinds of elephants 1 to roam the African, Eurasian, and American continents. Today, only two 2 of elephants are left in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. One theory for this dramatic demise holds that rapid climate shifts at the end of the most recent major ice age, some 10,000 years ago, 3 vegetation and broke up habitats, causing the death of those unable to adapt to the new conditions. Another 4 blames prehistoric humans, whose improved weapons and hunting techniques allowed them to wipe out whole herds of elephants.To help 5 the debate, archaeologist Todd Surovell of the University of Wyoming, Laramie, and colleagues tested two assumptions. If humans caused the elephant and mammoth extinctions, Surovell reasoned, the timing of the die-offs in 6 regions should match human expansion into those regions. On the contrary, if the extinction was 7 to climate change, elephants should remain in regions 8 colonized by humans and would only begin to die off once climate change occurred.The team tested both theories by analyzing where and when elephants were killed. In all, the study included 41 archaeological sites on five continents. The researchers found that, as humans 9 out of Africa, they left a trail of dead elephants behind them. The creatures disappear from the fossil record of a region once it became colonized by humans. Modern elephants survived in refuges 10 to humans, such as tropical forests, says Surovell.Passage 18There have been claims that warming on Mars and Pluto are proof that the recent warming on Earth is caused by an increase in solar activity, and not by greenhouses gases. But we can say with 1 that, even if Mars, Pluto or any other planets have warmed in recent years, it is not due to 2 in solar activity.The Sun's energy output has not increased since direct 3 began in 1978. If increased solar output really was 4 , we should be seeing warming on all the planets and their moons, not just Mars and Pluto.Our solar system has eight planets, three dwarf planets and quite a few moons with at least a 5 atmosphere, and thus a climate of sorts. Their climates will be 6 by local factors such as orbital variations, changes in reflectance (反射率) and even 7 eruptions, so it would not be surprising if several planets and moons turn out to be warming at any one time.However, given that a year on Mars is 8 two Earth years long, and that a year on Pluto lasts for 248 Earth years, it is rather early to start 9 conclusions about long-term climate trends on the outer bodies of the Solar System.What do we know? Images of Mars suggest that between 1999 and 2005, some of the frozen carbon dioxide that 10 the south polar region turned into gas. This may be the result of the whole planet warming.。
