Exhausted and unhappy, you still have to squeeze a smile to your friends, or teachers. That’s just life, you may think. But new research suggests that putting on a fake smile can worsen people’s mood and even lower work efficiency.

Lead researcher Brent Scott with other researchers studied a group of bus drivers for two weeks. They tried to find out what happened when the drivers were involved in “surface acting” or fake smiling, and the opposite, “deep acting” which means people put on real smiles by recalling pleasant memories or thinking about their current situation more positively.

The results showed that on days when drivers were forced to smile, they felt depressed and didn’t want to work. On days when they smiled due to positive thoughts, their mood improved a lot as well as their work efficiency.

The research goes against the popular belief among companies that employees should be cheerful to customers at all times. They include employees of shops, banks, call center workers and others who have face-to-face contact with members of the public. “Smiling for the sake of(为了) smiling can lead to emotional exhaustion and coldness, and that’s bad for the organization,” Scott told the Daily Mail.

The study also showed that women were harmed more by fake smiling than men. Their mood and work performance both worsened more. But they were helped more by deep acting — their mood became better and they worked more efficiently.

However, while deep acting seemed to improve mood in the short term, Scott says it’s not a long-term solution for unhappiness.

“There have been some suggestions that if you do this over a long period that you start to feel inauthentic(不真实的),” Scott said. “You may be trying to cultivate positive emotions, but at the end of the day you may not feel like yourself anymore.”

1.Brent Scott and others’ experiments on bus drivers suggest that ______.

A. depression among bus drivers is common

B. thinking in a positive way helps with work efficiency

C. bus drivers with pleasant memories tend to be less efficient

D. the bus drivers’ work efficiency is determined by their mood

2.According to the article, which of the following statements about “fake smiling” is TRUE?

A. It is good for the business but bad for the employees.

B. It doesn’t work on people who are emotionally expressive.

C. It is a widely accepted cultural practice in the US.

D. It causes more harm to women than men.

3.We can conclude from the article that the researchers think that ______.

A. people should be true to their feelings

B. smiling helps to put people in a good mood and become more efficient

C. it is unnecessary to cultivate positive emotions

D. deep acting can improve mood in the long run

4.The article is mainly about ______.

A. the importance of smiling during face-to-face contact

B. a new study on fake smiling and its influence on people

C. suggestions on improving work efficiency

D. how to cheer up when you are exhausted

 

When you need a job very much, you may end up taking one for which you are over qualified. Although you were initially grateful just to have the work, you now feel bored and depressed. Is there any way to change that?

Start by changing your opinion, says Caitlin Kelly, the author of Malled, a book based on her experience as a sales clerk after losing her job in journalism. “Don’t focus on what you’re not getting but what you are getting,” she says. “Be patient and work attentively with a wide range of people. It doesn’t matter what the job is –there are always things you can learn and skills you can develop.”

Hilary Pearl, the founder of a coaching firm, says, “Tell yourself the current situation isn’t the end of your career. Don’t overdramatize(过分夸大)the negative aspects but try to view the situation more philosophically: life has a series of stages, and this is one of them. Don’t forget to study even in the worst stage.”

Consider that because you’re overqualified, you may be able to learn or do things on the job that might not have been possible in a more demanding position, says Sarah Hathorn, the chief executive of Illustra Consulting. “You could spend your extra time in learning different aspects of the business and teaching others in the organization,” she says.

Is it possible to make your work more challenging, even if your job responsibilities aren’t likely to change?

Of course, you may seek tasks and responsibilities that force you to learn something new or to work harder. “You may be operating on autopilot(习惯性地)right now, but chances are that people above you are stressed,” Sarah Hathorn says. “Take things off your boss’s plate and let him know which projects or tasks you want to learn more about.”

Always express your request positively, saying that you love new challenges, rather than complaining that you’re bored and underused, says Ethun, the president of the Park Avenue Group. In your down time, educate yourself about the company and its industry. “Read corporate information, analyst reports and related news articles,” she says. “If your boss accepts your suggestions, it will make you a more valuable employee.”

1.According to Caitlin Kelly, ______.

A.one should be willing to do some small things

B.being a salesman is not as important as being a journalist

C.performing your regular duties well is important

D.doing a simple job well will bring you a sense of success

2.What Hilary Pearl intends to express is that ______.

A.work is just a stage of our whole life

B.the present job doesn’t matter to us in a long run

C.one should be satisfied with his present situation

D.one should look forward instead of complaining about the present situation

3.The underlined words “take things off your boss’s plate” mean______.

A.draw your boss’s attention               B.share your boss’s burdens

C.give your boss useful advice               D.ask your boss for a better position

4. What is the common view about careers of the people mentioned in this passage?

A.One should start his career from doing a simple job.

B.One should improve himself and help others as well.

C.One should keep learning new things to improve himself.

D.One should pay much attention to the relationship with the boss.

 

Ron Meyer is the president and COO(首席运营官) of Universal Studios.As one of the most successful business leaders in Hollywood, he heads up Universal Pictures and Universal Parks & Resorts.He's the guy who oversees the production of Multimillion-dollar extravaganzas(作品) like King Kong and Cinderella Man

Meyer’s story sounds like the plot of one of his motion pictures.He grew up in a modest home where there was little income.It was a big deal to go to a restaurant.At 15, he quit high school and spent his time hanging out with the neighborhood toughs(流氓).He was then a kid quick with his fists who seemed to get into fights somewhat regularly.At one point, he was separated from others with an infectious disease, having no TV and nothing to do.His mother sent him two books.One was The Amboy Dukes, a novel about kids in street gangs.The other was The Flesh Peddlers, about a guy in the talent agency(星探公司)who lived a successful life.“I realized,” he says, “that I was no longer that silly kid I had been, and I wanted to change my life.”

Meyer took any job he could get.He worked as a busboy and short-order cook.He cleaned offices and sold shoes.That attitude made an impression on people.One day he received a call from Paul Kohner, a successful agent who represented stars like John Huston, Charles Bronson and Lana Turner.Their messenger and driver had quit, and they knew Ron was willing to take whatever job they offered. He started the job the next day.

Meyer was lucky to work with a good boss―and he had the brains to make the most of that experience.In nearly six years of driving for Kohner, Meyer became his right-hand man and learned a lot.By the 1970s, Meyer had built many relationships in the business.In 1975, the fate presented an opportunity and he started his own operation Creative Artists Agency, which became a huge success, representing Hollywood legends like Barbra Streisand, Tom Hanks and Tom Cruise.

Twenty years later, Meyer was appointed to run Universal Studios, a position far beyond his youthful dream.But once he saw success was possible, he was driven to achieve it.Today, colleagues regularly owe his success―and theirs―to his humility and perseverance.It’s a level of success that takes determination, personality and intelligence, whether it comes from a college education or from the street.

1.What is the main idea of the passage? 

A.How a bitter childhood contributes to one’s success.

B.It’s important to choose a right career to achieve one’s life goal.

C.A talent agency helps a person to become famous.

D.It’s people’s determination, intelligence and personality that decide their success.

2.What does the author mean by saying “he had the brains to make the most of that experience”?

A.He benefited a good deal from the experience.

B.He smartly took the opportunity to learn from the experience.

C.That experience made him ever smarter than ever before.

D.He used his brains to impress his boss.

3.Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A.A talent agency is to oversee the production of movies.

B.Ron Meyer did far more successfully than Raul Kohner.

C.Relationship is the most important thing in the film industry.

D.Meyer had never thought of being as successful as today.

 

When I first got an email account ten years ago, I received communications only from family, friends, and colleagues. Now it seems that every time I check my e-mail, I have an endless series of advertisement and other correspondence that do not interest the at all. If we want e-mail to continue to be useful, we need special laws that make spamming(发送垃圾邮件) a crime.

If lawmakers do not do something soon to prohibit spam, the problem will certainly get much worse. Computer programs allow spammers to spend hundreds of millions of e-mails almost instantly. As more and more advertisers turn to spam to sell their products, individual e-mail boxes are often flooded with spam e-mails. Would people continue to use e-mail if they had to deal with an annoying amount of spam each time?

This problem is troubling for individuals and companies as well. Many spam emails contain computer viruses that can shut down the entire network of a company. Companies rely on e-mail on for their employees to communicate with each other. Spam frequently causes failures in their local communications networks, and their employees are thus unable to communicate effectively. Such a situation results in a loss of productivity and requires companies to repeatedly repair their networks. These computer problems raise production costs of companies, which are, in the end, passed on to the consumer.

For these reasons, I believe that lawmakers need to legislate (立法) against spam. Spammers should be fined, and perhaps sent to prison if they continue to disturb people. E-mail is a tool which helps people all over the world to communicate conveniently, but spam is destroying this convenience.

1.What does the underlined word “correspondence” in the Paragraph 1 probably mean?                                                          

A.messages

B.ideas

C.connections

D.programs

2.According to the text, what is the major cause of the flooding spam?       

A.Companies rely on e-mail for communications.

B.More people in the world communicate by e-mail.

C.Many computer viruses contain spam e-mail.

D.More advertisers begin to promote sales through spam.

3.According to Paragraph 3,who is the final victim of spam?         

A.The business

B.The advertiser

C.The employee

D.The consumer

4.What is the purpose of the text?        

A.To inform

B.To educate

C.To persuade

D.To instruct

 

For over one hundred and fifty years, Americans of all social classes have worn blue jeans.  61  Whether they are worn for work or for fashion today.Strauss' invention continues to be popular not only among Americans but also among people around the world.

Levi Strauss was born in Germany in 1829.  62  He grew up in Kentucky before moving to New York in 1847.Before becoming an American citizen and moving to the West in 1853, Strauss worked in his brother's dry goods business.This gave him a chance to produce his famous invention.After the gold rush of 1949, Strauss decided to move to the West to seek his fortunes.

Strauss did not want to be a person who searched an area for minerals.Instead, he knew he could make a good living by selling supplies to the miners.At first, he planned to sell sewing supplies and cloth. 63  When he heard miners complaining that their clothes were easily broken or they usually tore their pockets during mining, he decided to use a special fabric to make pants for the miners.These pants proved so popular that he quickly ran out of materials to make more.

In 1873, Strauss received a letter from a Jewish tailor named Jacob Davis who had invented a process of connecting pockets with copper rivets(铆钉).This made the pants last a long time.Because Davis did not have the money to patent his idea, he offered to share it with Strauss if Strauss would agree to pay for the patent.  64  

By the time Strauss died in 1902, he had made a great contribution to American fashion.

65   The business has been growing ever since and Levi Strauss' company is now one of the largest clothing companies in the world.

A.As a young boy, he moved with his family to the United States.

B.Nobody knew what kind of material was suitable.

C.He did and Levi jeans have been made with metal rivets ever since.

D.However, he did not get much business for those products.

E.He also made a great contribution to America's clothing industry.

F.Since they were invented by Levi Strauss, they have become a symbol of American consumer culture.

G.As the business grew, Strauss got much money from it.

 

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