A walk around the workplace is also a trip back in time. The office is where colleagues meet, work and bond. But it is also a time capsule, where the traces of historic patterns of working ere visible everywhere. The pandemic has enhanced this sense of office as a dig site for corporate archaeologists(考古学家).
The most obvious object is the landline phone, a reminder of the days when mobility meant being able to stand up and keep talking. Long after people have junked them in their personal lives—less than 15% of Americans aged between 25 and 34 had one at home in the second half of 2021—landline phones survive in offices.
There might be good reasons for its persistence: they offer a more secure and stable connection than mobile phones, and no one worries that they are about to run out of battery. In practice, the habit of using them was definitely lost during the pandemic. Now they sit on desk after desk, rows of buttons unpressed, ring tones unheard.
Landline phones were already well on their way out before covid-19 struck. Whiteboard charts have suffered a swifter desertion. These objects signal a particular type of pain—people physically crowded together into a room while a manager sketches a graph with a marker pen and points meaningfully to the top-right-hand corner, giving requirements never to be satisfied. This manager is still making graphs but is now much more likely to use a PowerPoint. The crowd is still being tortured but is now much more likely to be watching on the screen. The office still has whiteboards, but they are left in corners and the charts on them are slowly yellowing.
Real archaeologists need tools and time to do their painstaking work: brushes, shovels and picks. Corporate archaeology is easier: you just need eyes and a memory of how things used to be. But you also need to be quick as more and more work places are rearranged for the post-pandemic era. Now its time to take a careful look around the office: you may see something that will soon seem outdated.
1. Why does the author refer to the office as a time capsule?| A．It is a place for time travel. | B．Old-fashioned practices can be seen. |
| C．Some cultural relics are buried here. | D．Archaeologists visit it to explore history. |
| A．The use of whiteboard charts. | B．The necessity of landline phones. |
| C．The convenience of new technology. | D．The dislike for some office routines. |
| A．Clerks should get well prepared before daily work. |
| B．Office work is much easier than work in archaeology. |
| C．The pandemic plays a part in the change of office settings. |
| D．Plenty of workplaces will disappear in our vision very soon. |
| A．The Archaeology of the Office | B．The History of Old-fashioned Objects |
| C．Why Landline Phones Went Outdated | D．The Impact of Pandemic on Workplace |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】If you’ve found yourself thinking of a new job or new career, don’t be upset.
Job opportunities in health care are on the increase and expected to rise 34 percent through 2020.
Fortunately, you don’t need to become a doctor to settle into an exciting, secure, and well-paying job. There are many opportunities available, and one of the best ways to get into the field is as a medical assistant.
Many medical assistants choose to take additional classes to become nurses and health care practitioners(执业医生). Some take on additional administrative training and become office managers for larger practices.
| A．Job is less for the old. |
| B．The second reason is related to professional aspects. |
| C．This is due to two factors: Firstly, the American population is aging rapidly. |
| D．The field of medical assistants offers many options for flexibility and job growth. |
| E．Your first job as a medical assistant is a more rewarding career in the health care industry. |
| F．Intelligent technology brings many employment opportunities to human beings nowadays. |
| G．There is one field that’s predicted to grow steadily in the future: Health Care Professionals. |
【推荐2】Bruce is a manager who had a team of around 40 people. Most of them were bright, enthusiastic, and hardworking young fellows. This helps to promote their independence.
For the next round, Bruce told them if any team member found a balloon with a name on it, he or she had to give it to the owner of the name. All started searching, and within a couple of minutes everyone had their own balloon with their name on it. Bruce went to the dais and said, “You see, in the second round, no one was able to find their balloons as they were working on individual targets. But in the final round. within a couple of minutes, everyone had the balloon with them.
Most of the time, people hide information, avoid collaboration, and distance themselves from their team members.
| A．Consequently, no one got their balloons. |
| B．However, he found he was not successful. |
| C．That’s the power of teamwork and sharing. |
| D．So he considered taking his group on a trip. |
| E．Individually, everyone on the team is outstanding. |
| F．This sort of mindset forms obstacles for team growth. |
| G．He decided to address the issue by launching a team activity. |
【推荐3】Promising (有前途的) Careers in Australia
If you’re trying to take your first steps on the career ladder, this country is certainly rich with opportunities. In this article, we’ll look at four of the best careers in Australia and why they’re considered rewarding.
Wildlife Biologist (生物学家)
If you love working with animals and enjoy watching wild animals in their natural habitat, the life of a wildlife biologist may be suitable for you. Some of your daily duties may involve doing animal population studies, marking animals, and developing habitat management plans.
Average Salary: 64,000 AUD per year
Teacher
You’ll be able to teach subjects that you’re knowledgeable and enthusiastic about and inspire that same enthusiasm in your students. You’ll be able to make a positive contribution and help to shape the future of Australia. Although teachers may have a set timetable every day, no two days will ever be the same.
Average Salary: 74,800 AUD per year
Aged Care Worker
Working with the elderly is a great job that affords you an enormous variety and job satisfaction. As Australia’s population is aging, more and more skilled care workers are needed. What’s more, the care of the elderly is so different that no matter what your skills are, it’s easy to find a promising job.
Average Salary: 55,400 AUD per year
App Developer
You’ll work with all kinds of businesses to create custom-made applications that either help make the businesses more efficient or bring value to their customers. It’s a rewarding and increasingly in-demand profession.
Average Salary: 98,634 AUD per year
1. If you like working outdoors, which career will you choose?| A．The wildlife biologist. | B．The teacher. |
| C．The aged care worker. | D．The app developer. |
| A．A teacher needs to be good at all subjects. |
| B．An aged care worker may find the job is easy. |
| C．A wildlife biologist earns 74,800 AUD per year. |
| D．An app developer will create apps at the request of customers. |
| A．A researcher. | B．An educator. |
| C．A job hunter. | D．A student volunteer. |
【推荐1】Scotland's Gaelic language has been disappearing at a shocking rate for years. With only 60,000 speakers left, the language has been marked as "endangered".
But Gaelic is fighting back. As we drove through the Scottish Highlands, one of the first things I noticed was that all of the road signs were in Gaelic as well as in English. We didn't hear Gaelic being spoken on the streets or in the shops, bars or restaurants around the Isle of Skye, but at the college of Sabhal Mor Ostaig it was all we heard. In the classrooms. in the playground, in the cafes-everyone was speaking Gaelic.
Across Scotland, increasing numbers of parents are choosing to put their children in Gaelic education. Some of those parents don't even speak the language themselves. Flora Guidi is the headteacher of Portree Primary School. She said when she started teaching 28 years ago there were only nine children in the Gaelic unit. But now around half of the children at the school are being taught only in the Gaelic language. Next year a new school is opening in Portree which will only teach in Gaelic to meet the demand.
Over the past years there has been support from the government for the Gaelic language. And there is also a big increase in spending on Gaelic education.
It has caused a great deal of discussion. For some in Scotland, Gaelic is just an unimportant language from Scottish history. But for the people I spoke to on the Isle of Skye, there is a real hope that the young Gaelic speakers will revitalize（复兴）the language that is tied up with their country's identity.
1. Gaelic is regarded as “endangered” because__________.| A．it hasn't been used for many years | B．the number of people speaking it is small |
| C．it is only spoken in Scotland | D．it is difficult for children to learn |
| A．All of the road signs are written in Gaelic. |
| B．Students only speak Gaelic in class. |
| C．Many parents go there to learn Gaelic. |
| D．It is the most likely place to hear Gaelic, |
| A．She teaches Gaelic in this school. |
| B．All subjects are taught in Gaelic. |
| C．There were only nine students in the school 28 years ago. |
| D．About half of the students are taught in Gaelic now. |
| A．is just an unimportant language |
| B．should be supported by the government |
| C．is connected with their country's identity |
| D．is the hope of the young generation |
【推荐2】Online services that use computers to interview job seekers were increasingly used by companies during the coronavirus health crisis. But the technology raises questions about whether a machine can correctly or fairly judge a person’s personality and reactions in front of a camera.
Dana Anthony is one job seeker who has experienced such interviews. One was for a part-time job at Target last year. The day after the interview, she got an email informing her that she was not chosen.
Anthony said she did not know why she was removed from consideration so quickly. She had no sense of how the interview had gone. She said this is because she received no human feedback during the process.
Her rejection email from Target stated: “We’re unable to provide specific feedback regarding your application.” Anthony was rejected for another job in December after completing another online interview.
One interview system is run by a business called HireVue, one of the leading companies in the field. In the past, the Utah-based HireVue used artificial intelligence(AI) methods to judge a job-seeker’s personality and job skills. It did this by observing the expressions on a person’s face during the interview.
But after facing intense criticism about the scientific effectiveness of its claims and the possibility of unfairness, HireVue announced earlier this year that it would stop using that method. However, the company’s AI-based system still considers speech and word choices when rating a candidate’s personality and skills.
HireVue helped create a market for “on-demand” video interviews. Companies using the services include stores Target and Ikea, technology companies like Amazon, and banks like JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs. Companies in the oil and travel industries, and even school systems, have used them.
HireVue chief Kevin Parker said its systems, which turn speech into text to make verdicts on job skills, can perform better than human interviewers.
1. What did Anthony’s two job applications have in common?| A．She was treated rudely. | B．She was angry with them. |
| C．She got along well with them | D．She was refused by the machine. |
| A．Tone of the voice. | B．Looks on the face. |
| C．Personal experiences. | D．Ways to answer questions. |
| A．It is widely used. | B．It is controversial. |
| C．It is under experiment. | D．It is very popular with applicants. |
| A．Notes. | B．Efforts. | C．Decisions. | D．Impressions. |
【推荐3】Students in American schools learn from an early age to give presentations (演讲) as part of their regular classroom activities. Children as young as five years old often give brief talks about objects they bring in to school called ''show and tell'', and this training is a basis for later public speaking. Even so, many native Englishspeaking adults are afraid to speak or give presentations in front of a large group.
Speaking English in public meetings is necessary for many students and employees. The best way to improve is to practice public speaking in a friendly environment. Learners need to receive feedback about what they are doing well and about their mistakes. One group that gives members the chance to practice is Toastmasters. Toastmasters is an international organization that holds weekly meetings. At the meetings, members each give a speech and give others advice about their speeches and speaking style.
Charles LeBeau is a public speaking professor and consultant. He began his career in Japan in 1982. Currently, he teaches at two universities and at the Toshiba International Training Center. He has also written books on the subject.
English language learners around the world use his book Speaking of Speech. Speaking of Speech tells about a method of teaching public speaking for nonnative speakers. Mr. LeBeau says a simple approach helps English learners.
''The approach that I've taken is to simplify and break it down. First if we look at a presentation, what's going on, there are basically three messages that the presenter is giving the audience, all simultaneously (同时). There's what I call the physical message. Physical message is basically body language. It's the way that my body, as a speaker, is talking to the audience. And then there's also the visual message. The visual messages are the slides that we now make and show the audience. The third message is the story message. The story message is the content of our presentation. So another way we can think of the story messages is that it's the verbal message, and it's what we say to the audience. The story message also includes how we organize our ideas to present to the audience. '' LeBeau said.
1. Which of the following statements is TRUE?| A．The best way to improve is to practice public speaking in an unfriendly environment. |
| B．Toastmasters is an international organization that holds meetings every two weeks. |
| C．Only nonnative English speaking adults are afraid to give presentations in front of a large group. |
| D．At the meetings of Toastmasters, members give not only a speech but also advice. |
| A．children as young as five years old |
| B．nonnative English speakers |
| C．native English speakers only |
| D．students in American schools |
a．the physical message
b．the visual message
c．the story message
d．the verbal message
e．the basic body language
| A．abc | B．bcd |
| C．abe | D．cde |
| A．Necessity of Speaking English in Public Meetings |
| B．Toastmasters, an International Organization |
| C．Tips for Public Speaking |
| D．Charles LeBeau, a Public Speaking Professor and Consultant |
