After graduation I returned home to my small town in Indiana. I didn’t have a job yet. Mr. Hobbs, a friend of my father’s, owned a small shirt factory in town. Within the past five years it had grown from twenty to eighty workers. Mr. Hobbs was worried that his plant was getting too big and inefficient, so he asked me to come in on a short-term basis as a consultant.
I went to the plant and spent about a week looking around and making notes. I was really a mazed at what I saw.
Most curious of all, there was no quality control at all. No one inspected the final product of the factory. As a result some of the shirts that were put in boxes for shipment were missing one or two buttons, the collar, and even a sleeve sometimes!
The working conditions were poor. The tables where the workers sat were very high and uncomfortable. Except for a half hour at lunchtime, there were no breaks in the day to relieve the boring work. There was no music. The walls of the workrooms were a dull gray color. I was amazed that the workers hadn’t gone on strike.
Furthermore, the work flow was irregular. There was one especially absent-minded young man in the assembly（组装）line who sewed on buttons. After a while I recognized him as "Big Jim", who used to sit behind me in math class in high school. He was very slow and all the shifts were held up at his position. Workers beyond him in line on his shift had to wait with nothing to do; therefore, a great deal of time and efficiency were lost as Big Jim daydreamed while he worked. All week I wondered why he wasn’t fired.
After I made observations for a week, Mr. Hobbs asked me for an oral report of my findings.
【小题1】The shirts from Mr. Hobbs’ factory can be described as ____.

After graduation I returned home to my small town in Indiana. I didn’t have a job yet. Mr. Hobbs, a friend of my father’s, owned a small shirt factory in town. Within the past five years it had grown from twenty to eighty workers. Mr. Hobbs was worried that his plant was getting too big and inefficient, so he asked me to come in on a short-term basis as a consultant.

I went to the plant and spent about a week looking around and making notes. I was really a mazed at what I saw.

Most curious of all, there was no quality control at all. No one inspected the final product of the factory. As a result some of the shirts that were put in boxes for shipment were missing one or two buttons, the collar, and even a sleeve sometimes!

The working conditions were poor. The tables where the workers sat were very high and uncomfortable. Except for a half hour at lunchtime, there were no breaks in the day to relieve the boring work. There was no music. The walls of the workrooms were a dull gray color. I was amazed that the workers hadn’t gone on strike.

Furthermore, the work flow was irregular. There was one especially absent-minded young man in the assembly（组装）line who sewed on buttons. After a while I recognized him as "Big Jim", who used to sit behind me in math class in high school. He was very slow and all the shifts were held up at his position. Workers beyond him in line on his shift had to wait with nothing to do; therefore, a great deal of time and efficiency were lost as Big Jim daydreamed while he worked. All week I wondered why he wasn’t fired.

After I made observations for a week, Mr. Hobbs asked me for an oral report of my findings.

1.The shirts from Mr. Hobbs’ factory can be described as ____.

2.Why did Mr. Hobbs ask the writer to the factory?

3.Which is not likely to happen in the factory?

4.Big Jim may get fired mainly because ____.

After graduation I returned home to my small town in Indiana. I didn’t have a job yet. Mr. Hobbs, a friend of my father’s, owned a small shirt factory in town. Within the past five years it had grown from twenty to eighty workers. Mr. Hobbs was worried that his plant was getting too big and inefficient, so he asked me to come in on a short-term basis as a consultant.
I went to the plant and spent about a week looking around and making notes. I was really a mazed at what I saw.
Most curious of all, there was no quality control at all. No one inspected the final product of the factory. As a result some of the shirts that were put in boxes for shipment were missing one or two buttons, the collar, and even a sleeve sometimes!
The working conditions were poor. The tables where the workers sat were very high and uncomfortable. Except for a half hour at lunchtime, there were no breaks in the day to relieve the boring work. There was no music. The walls of the workrooms were a dull gray color. I was amazed that the workers hadn’t gone on strike.
Furthermore, the work flow was irregular. There was one especially absent-minded young man in the assembly（组装）line who sewed on buttons. After a while I recognized him as "Big Jim", who used to sit behind me in math class in high school. He was very slow and all the shifts were held up at his position. Workers beyond him in line on his shift had to wait with nothing to do; therefore, a great deal of time and efficiency were lost as Big Jim daydreamed while he worked. All week I wondered why he wasn’t fired.
After I made observations for a week, Mr. Hobbs asked me for an oral report of my findings.

1. 1.

   The shirts from Mr. Hobbs’ factory can be described as ____.

   1. A.
      of low quality
   2. B.
      of high quality
   3. C.
      fashionable
   4. D.
      unfashionable
2. 2.

   Why did Mr. Hobbs ask the writer to the factory?

   1. A.
      The factory was too big.
   2. B.
      The factory was not producing fast enough.
   3. C.
      The factory was not big enough.
   4. D.
      The writer was a college graduate.
3. 3.

   Which is not likely to happen in the factory?

   1. A.
      The workers will have more rest in the day.
   2. B.
      Someone will examine the final product.
   3. C.
      New machines will be bought.
   4. D.
      The factory will be repainted.
4. 4.

   Big Jim may get fired mainly because ____.

   1. A.
      he was slow
   2. B.
      he wasted much time
   3. C.
      he was absent-minded
   4. D.
      the work flow was irregular

    After graduation I returned home to my small town in Indiana. I didn’t have a job yet. Mr. Hobbs, a friend of my father’s, owned a small shirt factory in town. Within the past five years it had grown from twenty to eighty workers. Mr. Hobbs was worried that his plant was getting too big and inefficient, so he asked me to come in on a short-term basis as a consultant.

    I went to the plant and spent about a week looking around and making notes. I was really a mazed at what I saw.

    Most curious of all, there was no quality control at all. No one inspected the final product of the factory. As a result some of the shirts that were put in boxes for shipment were missing one or two buttons, the collar, and even a sleeve sometimes!

    The working conditions were poor. The tables where the workers sat were very high and uncomfortable. Except for a half hour at lunchtime, there were no breaks in the day to relieve the boring work. There was no music. The walls of the workrooms were a dull gray color. I was amazed that the workers hadn’t gone on strike.

    Furthermore, the work flow was irregular. There was one especially absent-minded young man in the assembly（组装）line who sewed on buttons. After a while I recognized him as "Big Jim", who used to sit behind me in math class in high school. He was very slow and all the shifts were held up at his position. Workers beyond him in line on his shift had to wait with nothing to do; therefore, a great deal of time and efficiency were lost as Big Jim daydreamed while he worked. All week I wondered why he wasn’t fired.

    After I made observations for a week, Mr. Hobbs asked me for an oral report of my findings.

39. The shirts from Mr. Hobbs’ factory can be described as ____.

A．of low quality              B．of high quality              C．fashionable                   D．unfashionable

40. Why did Mr. Hobbs ask the writer to the factory?

A．The factory was too big.

B．The factory was not producing fast enough.

C．The factory was not big enough.

D．The writer was a college graduate.

41. Which is not likely to happen in the factory?

A．The workers will have more rest in the day.    B．Someone will examine the final product.

C．New machines will be bought.              D．The factory will be repainted.

42. Big Jim may get fired mainly because ____.

A．he was slow                                                     B．he wasted much time

C．he was absent-minded                                       D．the work flow was irregular

  Spending beyond one’s means is becoming a national problem for Americans．Borrowing has become so easy that it takes great willpower for people to refuse it．“I received a number of gold MasterCard and gold Visa card offers in the mail during the past two months，”said one computer engineer at AT ＆T Bell Laboratories in Chicago．“I got three of them in one day last week．”

 Lenders are providing easy credit（信贷）for borrowers．Many banks now offer every borrower a great variety of credit，a service once offered almost only to big companies．Norwest Bank Minneapolis offers lending programs for cars and boats that can cut monthly payments nearly m half .Carmakers，too，are lengthening easier terms．Ford Motor Credit states that 45 % of its recent lendings has been for sixty months，rather than the sixty-six-month period that was usual before．

 The total consumer debt（债务）in the United States rose 73 percent between 1974 and 1984，as the debt for each man，woman，and child increased from $10，264 to $26，566．Huge debt now is present in our economy（经济）at all levels．As a nation，we are more than $7 trillion in debt，and the total keeps increasing astonishingly.

 As we have over borrowed，so have we overspent．In late 986，the share of after-tax income that Americans saved sank below 2 percent for a short time，less than half the figure at which we saved only 10 years ago．Americans now are buying from foreigners between about $50 and $100 billion more Mercedes and Toyotas, Paris fashions，and tours to Europe than the Boeing 747s， agriculture machinery , or Kansas wheat that the foreigners bought from America. The country could not produce and pay for all the things it wanted.

 To make a long story short, we Americans have serious problems in keeping down spending and keeping up personal savings．It is high time for us American people to learn the basics of long-term money management.

48．According to the author,  what is a main reason for Americans to overspend？

A.        Americans buy a lot of  foreign products．

B.        It is easy for Americans to manage their debts．

C.        Borrowing money has become a simple matter．

D.       Americans have more extra money than before．

49．Ford Motor Credit lengthens 45％of its lending to 60 months in order to_______．

A.        help more Americans to settle their debts

B.        encourage people to buy foreign cars

C.        make better use of its money

D.       attract more customers

   50．What does the author suggest as a way to deal with over borrowing?

A.        Teaching people how to manage money．

B.        Advising people on what to buy．

C.        Limiting the use of credit cards．

D.       Reducing average incomes．

   51．Which of the following points does the author wish to make?

A.        America should sell more of its products abroad．

B.        A healthy society has to learn to 1ive within its means．

C.        People’s income determines their money management．

D.       Government should prevent people from over borrowing．