From bankers to factory staff, employees in the West face a cold prospect of losing their jobs as a global recession(衰退)starts to bite．For colleagues in the East, the pain is more likely to come through a pay cut．
Human resource experts say cultural differences explain why Asian companies try harder to preserve jobs in difficult times, which will prevent unemployment and may help Asian economies survive at a time of slowing exports．The East Asian attitude may also make it easier for companies to recover quickly from the economic downturn since they will not need to rehire or train new staff, but build up a more loyal and devoted group．
“In the Confucian mindset(儒家思想), the right thing to do is to share the burden, which is the sense of collective responsibility．While in the West, it's more about individual survival,” said Michael Benoliel, associate professor of organizational behavior at Singapore Management University(SMU)．
In contrast, local Western companies from General Motors to Goldman Sachs plan to lay off workers by the thousands, but at the Asian units of Western multinationals or western units of Asian groups, job cuts will probably be less severe．
Japan's jobless rate was 4 percent in September, up from 3.8 percent in January, while Hong Kong's was flat at 3.4 percent．But US unemployment is expected to have jumped to 6.3 percent last month from below 5 percent in January．
Experts say that while there are noticeable differences in labor practices in East and West, the gap will narrow as more firms become more multinational and competition forces firms to adopt the best practices of rivals(对手)from abroad．
(1)
The underlined word “prospect” in the first paragraph most probably means ________．
[ ]
A．
weather
B．
scene
C．
future
D．
place
(2)
Compared with job cuts, pay cuts can bring the following benefits EXCEPT that ________．
[ ]
A．
it's helpful to the economy recovery
B．
it costs the company less money to survive
C．
it will keep the experienced and skilled workers
D．
it can form a team working harder and more loyally
(3)
According to Michael Benoliel, the Confucian mindset focuses on ________．
[ ]
A．
human rights
B．
sharing responsibility
C．
personal profits
D．
individual survival
(4)
In which company can we infer the job cuts will be probably the most severe?
[ ]
A．
A local American group．
B．
A small Japanese company．
C．
A German branch of a Korean multinational．
D．
A Hong Kong's unit of a French company．
(5)
The passage mainly tells us ________．
[ ]
A．
the difficulties all the companies around the world will meet with today
B．
the cultural differences between Eastern and Western world at present
C．
the ways to cut down the cost of the companies in economic downturn
D．
the different labor solutions of Asian and Western in global recession
Brenda was a young woman who was invited to go rock climbing．Although she was scared to death, she went with her group to a tremendous granite cliff(花岗岩悬崖)．In spite of her fear, she put on the clothes, took a hold on the rope, and started up the face of that rock．Well, she got to a ledge where she could take a breath．As she was hanging on there, the safety rope suddenly touched Brenda’s eye and knocked out her contact lens(隐形眼镜)．
Well, here she is on a rock ledge, with hundreds of feet below her and hundreds of feet above her．Of course, she looked and looked and looked, hoping it had landed on the ledge, but it just wasn’t there．Here she was, far from home, her sight now blurry．She was desperate and began to get upset, so she prayed to the Lord to help her to find it．
When she got to the top, her friend Helen examined her eye and her clothing for the lens, but there was no contact lens that could be found．She sat down, discouraged, with the rest of the party, waiting for the rest of them to make it up the face of the cliff．She looked out across range after range of mountains, thinking of that Bible verse that says, “The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth．”
At the bottom there was a new party of climbers just starting up the face of the cliff．One of them shouted out, “Hey, you guys! Anybody lose a contact lens?” Well, that would be startling enough, but you know why the climber saw it? An ant was moving slowly across the face of the rock, carrying it．
(1)
What is Brenda’s feeling when beginning to climb the cliff?
[ ]
A．
Happy．
B．
Desperate．
C．
Fearful．
D．
Brave．
(2)
What happened as she got to a ledge to take a breath?
[ ]
A．
She fell from the cliff．
B．
She decided to give up climbing．
C．
A rock hit her eyes and knocked her down．
D．
The safety rope knocked out her contact lens．
(3)
Who found Brenda’s contact lens?
[ ]
A．
Brenda herself．
B．
Helen．
C．
A member from her climbing party．
D．
A member from another climbing party．
(4)
Which can be the best title?
[ ]
A．
Brenda and the Cliff
B．
The Ant and the Contact Lens
C．
A Hard Cliff Climbing
D．
A Beautiful Ant
阅读理解
It’s easy to laugh now．Ten years ago, companies like Netscape had to explain what“browser”means; the two founders of Google were just ordinary Stanford students．Over the past ten years, the Internet has totally changed everyday life for millions people around the world．Looking back over the last 10 years, the obvious question is：Where will the Internet take us in the future?
One of the best places to start trying to answer the question is with a man widely known as one of the“fathers of the Internet”, Between 1968 and 1982, Vinton Cerf played an important role in developing the network technology for wider use．In a recent article, Cerf wrote that the believed the Internet would continue to enhance people’s life through sound, video, etc．Interestingly, he also noted with confidence that 90percent of all applications on the Internet had yet to be invented．In the more distant future, Cerf predicted that an interplanetary(星际间)Internet would connect the shuttle, ground stations and other spacecraft．
Meantime, back on the earth, a survey from the nonprofit Pew Internet and American Life Project from early last year looked at how the internet would affect our lives in 10 years’ time．The study looked at a wide range of topics, and it found some concerns along with the celebration．On the top of list of worries is a cyber(网络)attack．Many Internet experts agree that computer criminals are simply waiting for the right opportunity to strike．According to the Pew study, about 66% Internet users believe at least one devastating(毁灭性的)attack will occur in the next 10 years．Howard Schmidt, Who has worked on security issues at Microsoft company, said,“We will have self-repairing and self-configuring computer systems that can effectively protect one’s computer, so one perform the faction they want,”said Sehmidt．
(1)
What would be the best title for the passage?
[ ]
A．
The Internet：What Causes Cyber attack?
B．
The Internet：What Lies Ahead?
C．
The Internet：A New Revolution．
D．
The Internet：A Bright Future．
(2)
Cerf feels confident of ________．
[ ]
A．
online entertainment equipment application
B．
the connecting between the Internet and space
C．
the much wider application fro the Internet
D．
the rapid development of network technology
(3)
The underlined word“enhance”Probably means ________．
[ ]
A．
improve
B．
provide
C．
distrub
D．
ruin
(4)
The survey suggests that ________．
[ ]
A．
many experts are worried about the wide use of the Internet
B．
most people welcome the changes brought by the Internet
C．
concerns are a necessary part of celebration in everyday life
D．
there are both celebration and worries about the Internet
阅读理解
Scott Langteau has this message fro kids：Spend less time playing video games．
It's a message that many a mom and dad have tried to impress upon many a youngster (and some not-so-youngsters) who spend perhaps a bit too much time with game controllers in hand．
But the 40-year-old Langteau isn't a parent．He's a experienced at video game－one who played producer on three “Medal of Honor” games and co－founded his own game development company．
Langteau has just published a children's book called “Sofa Boy,” which tells the story of a kid who spends too much time sitting on the couch with controller held in hand and the rather terrible consequences that follow．
It's a fairy tale plucked straight from Langteau's own experiences as a lad with a fondness for video games and his own bouts with a bit of game addiction．But first, Langteau would like make one thing clear：“I'm not saying that you shouldn't play video games．I think video games are great, I think they do great things for kids．Instead, Langteau says his book is all about a little something called “moderation．(克制)”
“It'saboutbeingwellrounded,” he says．“Just like with anything else, we all need to make sure that there's a variety in what we do．”
Video gamers can be a rather bad－tempered when it comes to accepting criticism about their favorite entertainment．And understandably so．After all, most people who go around talking about the dangers of playing video games tend to be outsiders － people who don't play video games and certainly don't understand that they can be a valuable and healthy form of entertainment．
But Langteau and “Sofa Boy” seem to be in a unique position to deliver a message of gaming moderation that the young game－savvy masses might actually listen to．After all, this is a man who understands what it means to be a kid with a passion for games．His early experience has taught him a lesson．
(1)
Scott Langteau published “Sofa Boy” to ________．
[ ]
A．
share his great skills on games
B．
warn kids against game addiction
C．
tell about his fairy tale as a kid
D．
deliver a message for games
(2)
Which of the following is TRUE of the book “Sofa Boy”?
[ ]
A．
The book tells of the writer's own story．
B．
The book describes an experienced garner．
C．
The boy in the book wins a medal for games．
D．
The boy in the book is not an addict on games．
(3)
We can learn from the passage that ________．
[ ]
A．
Langteau advises the young to play games within limits
B．
Langteau advises the young not to play games
C．
playing video games ruins the future of kids
D．
playing video games is of no benefit to kids
(4)
By saying “It's about being well rounded” Langteau thinks ________．
[ ]
A．
games do great things for kids
B．
gamers are usually fat and round
C．
games should be viewed from all sides
D．
gamers are to blame for their behaviors
(5)
What topic will be discussed in the following paragraph?
[ ]
A．
His idea to create “Sofa Boy”．
B．
His great achievement in games as a kid．
C．
His hard times to set up his game company．
D．
His enthusiasm for games when he was a small boy．
阅读理解：
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(1)
The Browns are looking for a new house．Mr．Brown wants to live in the north of the town near his workplace．Mrs．Brown wants a house with four bedrooms．The Browns’ children don’t care what the house is like as long as the garden is big enough．Why doesn’t the Browns buy the house in the advertisement?
[ ]
A．
it is on the wrong side of the town．
B．
there aren’t enough bedrooms．
C．
there is no dinning room．
D．
the garden is too big．
(2)
Man：why don’t we rent one of the Sea View Holiday Flats for our holiday, Mary? They sound just as good as the Sea View Hotel, and it would be much cheaper．
Mary：there’s one big difference between the flats and the hotel．There would be much less work in the hotel．
Why would Mary rather stay in hotel?
[ ]
A．
They wouldn’t have to cook．
B．
it’s not so expensive
C．
She would enjoy the beautiful gardens．
D．
it’s near the sea．
(3)
Tom：there’s a new football team standing in the village, mum．I’m old enough to play in it．We stop school at half past three, so I’d have plenty of time．
Mum：well, I suppose you could do your homework later．But look, Tom, you haven’t read the advertisement carefully．You can’t possibly play for this team．
Why can’t Tom play for the new football team?
[ ]
A．
He’s not old enough．
B．
Tom hasn’t read the advertisement carefully．
C．
School stops too late．
D．
He has to do his homework．
(4)
Man：I’m looking for a room to rent．It doesn’t matter how big it is．I don’t care what color the walls are or how old the furniture is．I’ve got to study for my exams, so the house must be quiet and near the school．
Girl：there are some advertisements fro houses in the paper．What about this one?
Man：yes…yes…that’s all right．Oh, dear, no, I don’t think it would do．
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