The government of Norway is planning to build an unusual storage center on an island in the Arctic Ocean. The place would be large enough to hold about two million seeds. The goal is to present all crops known to scientists. The British magazine New Scientist published details of the plan last month. The structure will be designed to protect the world’s food supply against nuclear war, climate change and other possible threats. It will be built in a mountain on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen. The mountain is less than one thousand kilometers from the North Pole, the northernmost position on earth.

An international group called the Global Crop Diversity Trust is working on the project. The director of the group, Cary Fowler, spoke to New Scientist. He said the project would let the world rebuild agriculture if, in his word, “the worst came to the worst”. Norway is expected to start work next year. The project is expected to cost three million dollars. Workers will drill deep in the side of a sandstone mountain. Temperatures in the area never rise above 0??C. The seeds will be protected behind concrete walls a meter thick and high-security door.

The magazine report says the collection will represent the products of ten thousand years of farming. Most of the seeds at first will come from collections at seed banks in Africa, Asia and Latin America. To last a long time, seeds need to be kept in very low temperatures. Workers will not be present al the time. But they plan to replace the air inside the storage space each winter. Winter temperatures on the island are about eighteen degrees below 0??C. The cold weather would protect the seeds even if the air could not be replaced.

Mr. Fowler says the proposed structure will be the world’s most secure gene bank. He says the plant seeds would only be used when all other seeds are gone for some reason. Norway first proposed the idea in the 1980s. But security concerns delayed the plan. At that time, the Soviet Union was meeting in Rome of the Food and Agriculture Organization.

The project is meant to ______.

A.increase the world’s food output in the future      

B.carry out some scientific experiments on plant genes   

C.protect crop seeds from dying out in case of possible disasters

D.build an exhibition centre of the world’s plant seeds

Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the above passage?

A.The government of Norway will perform the project alone.

B.Seeds to be collected there were produced ten thousands years ago.    

C.Spitsbergen is chosen because it is free of the threat unclear war forever.   

D.Temperature is a major consideration when choosing the storage place.

We can infer from the text that _______.

A.People will get newly-developed seeds from the center every year.

B.The storage center will greatly promote world agriculture   

C.Norway had meant to build the storage centre about 20 years before. 

D.There haven’t been any seed storage centres in the world before.

What is probably the best title of the passage?

A.The Best Place to Store Seeds B.Noah’s Ark(诺亚方舟)of Plant Seeds in Plan

C.Concerns of World Food Supply    D.A New Way to Feed the World


D
“Pay has little to do with motivation in the workplace”.That’s the argument put forward by best-selling author Daniel Pink in his new book, Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us.“Pay for performance is supposed to be a folk tale,” he says.
Daniel argues that, if employees receive a basic level of payment, three other factors matter more than money: a sense of independence, of mastery over one’s labor, and of serving a purpose larger than oneself.For example, in 2008 at the offices of Best Buy’s Richfield, salaried workers there were allowed to organize their own work day, putting in only as many hours as they felt necessary to get their jobs done.Productivity increased by 35% according to The Harvard Business Review.
But the managers at Goldman Sachs aren’t exactly making some efforts to adjust.Like others on Wall Street, the banking giant argues that fat bonuses (extra rewards) are essential to make its numbers.“That’s exactly the attitude that leads to the recent financial crisis in the United States,” responds Daniel, “as managers always focus on short-term rewards that encourage cheating, shortcuts, and dishonest behavior.”
Moreover, the 45-year-old author and former Al Gore speechwriter refers to social-science experiments and experiences at such workplaces as Google and 3M.In one 2005 experiment he describes, economists working for the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston tested the power of incentives (激励) by offering cash rewards to those who did well in games that included reciting a series of numbers and throwing tennis balls at a target.The researchers’ finding: Over and over, higher incentives led to worse performance --- and those given the highest incentives did the poorest job.
From this and other cases, Daniel draws a conclusion that monetary incentives remove the element of play and creativity, transforming “an interesting task into a dull one.” It’s even possible, he adds, for oversized rewards to have dangerous side effects, like those of a drug dependency in which an addicted requires ever larger amounts.He refers to scientific testing that shows the promise of cash rewards increase a chemical in the brain similar to that brought on by cocaine or nicotine.
Daniel, however, is also aware that his company examples --- no GE, no IBM, no Microsoft --- hardly represent the commanding heights of the economy.But he thinks his approach will catch on, even in the biggest companies.“Managers tend to be realistic, and in time they will respond,” he says.
53.In his book, Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, Daniel Pink is promoting the idea that _____.
A.it is a money-driven society    B.all workers are not driven by money
C.money plays a key role in management  D.pay has nothing to do with workplaces
54.In Daniel’s point of view, many Wall Street managers are _______.
A.dishonest      B.considerate   C.short-sighted       D.ridiculous
55.In paragraph 5, the example of drug-taking is given to show _______.
A.money is as addictive as cocaine or nicotine
B.big rewards bring about dangerous side effect
C.nicotine and money bring the same chemical
D.workers do not need the incentives of money at all
56.We can learn from the last paragraph that _______.
A.Daniel’s approach will be popular in a wider field
B.realistic managers will first consider Daniel’s approach
C.Daniel’s approach meets the demand of economic crisis
D.GE, IBM and Microsoft will join in Daniel’s approach next

阅读理解。
     "Pay has little to do with motivation in the workplace". That's the argument put forward by best-selling
author Daniel Pink in his new book, Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us. "Pay for
performance is supposed to be a folk tale," he says.
     Daniel argues that, if employees receive a basic level of payment, three other factors matter more than
money: a sense of independence, of mastery over one's labor, and of serving a purpose larger than oneself.
For example, in 2008 at the offices of Best Buy's Richfield, salaried workers there were allowed to organize
their own work day, putting in only as many hours as they felt necessary to get their jobs done. Productivity
increased by 35% according to The Harvard Business Review.
     But the managers at Goldman Sachs aren't exactly making some efforts to adjust. Like others on Wall
Street, the banking giant argues that fat bonuses (extra rewards) are essential to make its numbers. "That's
exactly the attitude that leads to the recent financial crisis in the United States," responds Daniel, "as managers
always focus on short-term rewards that encourage cheating, shortcuts, and dishonest behavior."
     Moreover, the 45-year-old author and former Al Gore speechwriter refers to social-science experiments
and experiences at such workplaces as Google and 3M. In one 2005 experiment he describes, economists
working for the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston tested the power of incentives (激励) by offering cash
rewards to those who did wellin games that included reciting a series of numbers and throwing tennis balls
at a target. The researchers' finding: Over and over, higher incentives led to worse performance-and those
given the highest incentives did the poorest job.
     From this and other cases, Daniel draws a conclusion that monetary incentives remove the element of
play and creativity, transforming "an interesting task into a dull one." It's even possible, he adds, for oversized
rewards to have dangerous side effects, like those of a drug dependency in which an addicted requires ever
larger amounts. He refers to scientific testing that shows the promise of cash rewards increase a chemical in
the brain similar to that brought on by cocaine or nicotine.
     Daniel, however, is also aware that his company examples-no GE, no IBM, no Microsoft-hardly represent
the commanding heights of the economy. But he thinks his approach will catch on, even in the biggest
companies. "Managers tend to be realistic, and in time they will respond," he says.
1. In his book, Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, Daniel Pink is promoting the idea that
[     ]
A. it is a money-driven society
B. all workers are not driven by money
C. money plays a key role in management
D. pay has nothing to do with workplaces
2. In Daniel's point of view, many Wall Street managers are _____.
[     ]
A. dishonest
B. considerate
C. short-sighted
D. ridiculous
3. In paragraph 5, the example of drug-taking is given to show _____.
[     ]
A. money is as addictive as cocaine or nicotine
B. big rewards bring about dangerous side effect
C. nicotine and money bring the same chemical
D workers do not need the incentives of money at all
4. We can learn from the last paragraph that _____.
[     ]
A. Daniel's approach will be popular in a wider field
B. realistic managers will first consider Daniel's approach
C. Daniel's approach meets the demand of economic crisis
D. GE, IBM and Microsoft will join in Daniel's approach next

D

       “Pay has little to do with motivation in the workplace”.That’s the argument put forward by best-selling author Daniel Pink in his new book, Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us.“Pay for performance is supposed to be a folk tale,” he says.

       Daniel argues that, if employees receive a basic level of payment, three other factors matter more than money: a sense of independence, of mastery over one’s labor, and of serving a purpose larger than oneself.For example, in 2008 at the offices of Best Buy’s Richfield, salaried workers there were allowed to organize their own work day, putting in only as many hours as they felt necessary to get their jobs done.Productivity increased by 35% according to The Harvard Business Review.

       But the managers at Goldman Sachs aren’t exactly making some efforts to adjust.Like others on Wall Street, the banking giant argues that fat bonuses (extra rewards) are essential to make its numbers.“That’s exactly the attitude that leads to the recent financial crisis in the United States,” responds Daniel, “as managers always focus on short-term rewards that encourage cheating, shortcuts, and dishonest behavior.”

       Moreover, the 45-year-old author and former Al Gore speechwriter refers to social-science experiments and experiences at such workplaces as Google and 3M.In one 2005 experiment he describes, economists working for the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston tested the power of incentives (激励) by offering cash rewards to those who did well in games that included reciting a series of numbers and throwing tennis balls at a target.The researchers’ finding: Over and over, higher incentives led to worse performance --- and those given the highest incentives did the poorest job.

       From this and other cases, Daniel draws a conclusion that monetary incentives remove the element of play and creativity, transforming “an interesting task into a dull one.” It’s even possible, he adds, for oversized rewards to have dangerous side effects, like those of a drug dependency in which an addicted requires ever larger amounts.He refers to scientific testing that shows the promise of cash rewards increase a chemical in the brain similar to that brought on by cocaine or nicotine.

       Daniel, however, is also aware that his company examples --- no GE, no IBM, no Microsoft --- hardly represent the commanding heights of the economy.But he thinks his approach will catch on, even in the biggest companies.“Managers tend to be realistic, and in time they will respond,” he says.

53.In his book, Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, Daniel Pink is promoting the idea that _____.

       A.it is a money-driven society    B.all workers are not driven by money

       C.money plays a key role in management  D.pay has nothing to do with workplaces

54.In Daniel’s point of view, many Wall Street managers are _______.

      A.dishonest       B.considerate   C.short-sighted        D.ridiculous

55.In paragraph 5, the example of drug-taking is given to show _______.

       A.money is as addictive as cocaine or nicotine

      B.big rewards bring about dangerous side effect

      C.nicotine and money bring the same chemical

      D.workers do not need the incentives of money at all

56.We can learn from the last paragraph that _______.

      A.Daniel’s approach will be popular in a wider field

      B.realistic managers will first consider Daniel’s approach

      C.Daniel’s approach meets the demand of economic crisis

      D.GE, IBM and Microsoft will join in Daniel’s approach next

The government of Norway is planning to build an unusual storage center on an island in the Arctic Ocean. The place would be large enough to hold about two million seeds. The goal is to present all crops known to scientists. The British magazine New Scientist published details of the plan last month. The structure will be designed to protect the world’s food supply against nuclear war, climate change and other possible threats. It will be built in a mountain on the Norwegian island of Spits Bergen. The mountain is less than one thousand kilometers from the North Pole, the northernmost position on earth.

    An international group called the Global Crop Diversity Trust is working on the project. The director of the group, Cary Fowler, spoke to New Scientist. He said the project would let the world rebuild agriculture if, in his word, “the worst came to the worst”. Norway is expected to start work next year. The project is expected to cost three million dollars. Workers will drill deep in the side of a sandstone mountain. Temperatures in the area never rise above 0ºC. The seeds will be protected behind concrete walls a meter thick and high-security door.

    The magazine report says the collection will represent the products of ten thousand years of farming. Most of the seeds at first will come from collections at seed banks in Africa, Asia and Latin America. To last a long time, seeds need to be kept in very low temperatures. Workers will not be present al the time. But they plan to replace the air inside the storage space each winter. Winter temperatures on the island are about eighteen degrees below 0ºC. The cold weather would protect the seeds even if the air could not be replaced.

Mr. Fowler says the proposed structure will be the world’s most secure gene bank. He says the plant seeds would only be used when all other seeds are gone for some reason. Norway first proposed the idea in the 1980s. But security concerns delayed the plan.

1.The project is meant to ______.

       A.increase the world’s food output in the future

       B.carry out some scientific experiments on plant genes

       C.protect crop seeds from dying out in case of possible disasters

       D.build an exhibition centre of the world’s plant seeds

2.Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the above passage?

       A.The government of Norway will perform the project alone.

       B.Seeds to be collected there were produced ten thousands years ago.

       C.Spits Bergen is chosen because it is free of the threat unclear war forever.

       D.Temperature is a major consideration when choosing the storage place.

3.We can infer from the text that _______.

       A.People will get newly-developed seeds from the center every year.

       B.The storage center will greatly promote world agriculture

       C.Norway had meant to build the storage centre about 20 years before.

       D.There haven’t been any seed storage centres in the world before.

4.What is probably the best title of the passage?

       A.The Best Place to Store Seeds    

       B.Noah’s Ark(诺亚方舟)of Plant Seeds in Plan

       C.Concerns of World Food Supply  

       D.A New Way to Feed the World

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