45．The company in Beijing gave each of the 400 fired workers a copy of “Who Moved My Cheese” in order to________.

A. be more competitive with foreign firms

B. find an excuse for their job cuts

C. let the workers make a living on their own

D. encourage the fired workers

44．The whole passage is about________.

A. a bestseller in the US

B. what people think about China’s entry into the WTO

C. people’s attitude toward changes and challenges

D. how a book influences the Chinese workers

43．Which statement is true according to the passage?

A. The jokes by computer are less funny than those by humans.

B. The Germans cannot find the submitted jokes amusing.

C. Males are better at word play compared with women.

D. Females like to use humour to show that they are superior.

C

Several days ago, a Beijing - based IT company fired about 400 people overnight. No one had expected the job cuts, which broke with traditional ways of letting go of workers in China. Moreover, what was special about this case was that the day before the 400 were fired, they all received from their boss a gift - the book “Who Moved My Cheese?”.

The book - a bestseller in the US - is being used by men and women to deal with changes in their lives and work. Some large organizations, including Coca- Cola, Kodak and General Motors, ask their employees to read it in order to encourage them to be active towards changes.

Cheese is something related to everyone’s livelihood - our jobs, the industries we work in, relationships and love as well.

With China’s official entry into WTO, the whole nation will face up to more changes and challenges. So what should we do once this “cheese” on which we are so dependent is moved?

“Whatever challenges and changes we meet, we should face up to them bravely” Jiang Hengwei, a civil servant said after reading the book.

Professor Yang in Renmin University of China agrees. “We should change our way of thinking. The coming competitive foreign companies and products provide us with great chances to learn from them and improve our own products to meet international standards and be more competitive.”

“With hard work and wisdom, we will create a much larger and better piece of cheese.”Zhang smiled confidently.

42．The writer gave the examples of the British, the French and the Germans________.

A. to show that French people have a better sense of humour

B. to prove the British people have a sense of “toilet humour”

C. to show people from different nations have different senses of humour

D. to prove that the Germans have no sense of humour

41．What is the main idea of the 4th and 5th paragraph?

A. Man and woman have different senses of humour.

B. male and female have similar senses of humour.

C. About 10, 000 jokes have been submitted from September 2001 to December 2001.

D. Scientists have collected enough evidence to make conclusions.

40．We can infer from the passage that________.

A. most of the people all over he world are completely honest

B. psychologists and philosophers take interest in the “laugh lab” project

C. ordinary people are not interested in “the laugh lab” project at all

D. people tell the truth about themselves only when they laugh

39．Scientist started“the laugh lab” project________

A. to find the funniest joke in European countries

B. to know what funny people are from different nations and cultures

C. to find out the differences between the male and female sense of humour

D. to get more personal details about participants

38. Which part of Victoria Villata’s letter is LEAST important to the Social　　　　　　　　 Security Administration?

A. The fact that she has changed her name.

B. The fact that her card should be mailed to a new address.

C. The fact that she needs a replacement Social Security Card.

D. The fact that she lost her wallet while pulling a tissue out of her pocket.

B

Dr Wiseman started “the laugh lab” project in September 2001. It is the largest study of humour. Participants(参加者)are invited to log on to the laugh lab website, give a few personal details, tell their favourite jokes and judge the jokes told by other people.

The project will last for a year, and the organizers hope to finally discover the world’s funniest joke. But there is also a serious purpose. The researches want to know what people from different nations and cultures find funny. And they want to find out the differences between the male and female sense of humour. The idea is that if we want to understand each other, we have to find out what makes us laugh.

This is a subject that has long interested psychologists(心理学家)and philosophers(哲学家). Most of the time, people are not completely honest. We do things that society expects us to and say things that help us get what we want. But laughing cannot be controlled. When we laugh, we tell the truth about ourselves.

By December 2001 over 10, 000 jokes had been submitted. This gave the scientists enough evidence (证据)to make early conclusions. It seems that men and women do have different senses of humour, for instance.

“Our findings show the major differences in the ways in which males and females use humour, ” said Dr.　Wiseman. “Males use humour to appear superior(优越)to others, while women are more skilled in languages and prefer word play. ”

Researchers also found that there really is such a thing as a national sense of humour. the British enjoy what is usually called “toilet humour”. But the French like their jokes short and sharp: “You’re a high priced lawyer. Will you answer two questions for　 500?” “Yes. What’s the second question?”

The Germans are famous for not having a sense of humour. But the survey found that German participants were more likely to find submitted jokes funny than any other nationality. Perhaps that proves the point. Is this joke funny? I don’t know, but let’s say yes, just to be safe.

Dr Wiseman and his workmates also submitted jokes created by computer. But none of those who took part in the survey found any of them amusing. Perhaps this is relief. Computers already seem like they can do everything. At least they should leave the funny stuff to us.

37. Why does Mrs. Villata give the Social Security Administration her date of birth?

A. She wants them to know how old she is.

B. She is afraid they may have lost her Social Security Card.

C. She thinks it will help them track down her Social Security Number.

D. She thinks that the older she is, the more Social Security she will get.

36. Why does Mrs. Villata need a new Social Security Card?

A. She is moving.

B. She lost the old one.

C. She has just gotten married.

D. She doesn’t remember her Social Security Number.