1 . The true purpose of a business, Peter Drucker said, is to create and keep customers. "Customer value" has several definitions. I use the
Companies can
Given the importance of customer value, leaders should track it as much as they track other key assets, such as buildings, machinery, and marketable securities. They also should reveal it in their quarterly and annual earnings reports so that investors can make
As investors wake up to the importance of customer value, however, many growth-stage companies now direct investors' attention to
This is a start, but because there are no customer-value reporting standards or requirements, investors still have a(n)
| A．item | B．version | C．term | D．definition |
| A．persuading | B．consulting | C．acquiring | D．inspecting |
| A．remarking | B．concentrating | C．commenting | D．operating |
| A．resist | B．increase | C．intensify | D．maintain |
| A．raise | B．adopt | C．calculate | D．destroy |
| A．income | B．experience | C．productivity | D．demand |
| A．separate | B．substitute | C．forbid | D．combine |
| A．appeal to | B．rely on | C．put down | D．scare off |
| A．informed | B．subjective | C．definitive | D．independent |
| A．fully | B．hardly | C．readily | D．wrongly |
| A．ambition | B．devotion | C．possibility | D．visibility |
| A．sacrifice | B．success | C．prejudice | D．expense |
| A．as a result | B．for example | C．on the contrary | D．in general |
| A．incomplete | B．depressing | C．convincing | D．vivid |
| A．Instead | B．Besides | C．Otherwise | D．Therefore |
2 . Culture can affect not just language and customs, but also how people experience the world on surprisingly basic levels.
Researchers, with the help of brain scans, have uncovered shocking differences in perception(感知) between Westerners and Asians, what they see when they look at a city street, for example, or even how they perceive a simple line in a square, according to findings published in a leading science journal
In western countries, culture makes people think of themselves as highly independent entities(实体) .When looking at scenes, Westerners tend to focus more on central objects than on their surroundings. East Asian cultures, however emphasize inter-dependence. When Easterners look at a scene, they tend to focus on surroundings as well as the object.
Using an experiment involving two tasks, Dr Hedden asked subjects to look at a line simply to estimate its length, a task that is played to American strengths. In another, they estimated the line's length relative to the size of a square, an easier task for the Asians.
The level of brain activity, by tracking blood flow, was then measured by Brain Scanners. The experiment found that although there was no difference in performance, and the tasks were very easy, the levels of activity in the subjects’ brains were different. For the Americans, areas linked to attention lit up more, when they worked on the task they tended to find more difficult--estimating the line's size relative to the square. For the Asians, the attention areas lit up more during the harder task also--estimating the line's length without comparing it to the square. The findings are a reflection of more than ten years of previous experimental research into east-west differences
In one study, for instance, researchers offered people a choice among five pens, four red and one green. Easterners were more likely to choose a red pen while Westerners were more likely to choose the green one.
Culture is not affecting how you see the world, but how you choose to understand and internalize(使内化) it. But such habits can be changed. Some psychological studies suggest that when an Easterner goes to the West or vice versa, habits of thought and perception also begin to change. Such research gives us clues on how our brain works and is hopeful for us to develop programs to improve our memory, memory techniques and enhance and accelerate our learning skills.
1. According to the passage, Chinese people are most likely to_________.| A．emphasize independent thinking more |
| B．always focus more on their surroundings |
| C．focus on the context as well as object |
| D．think of Westerners as highly independent entities |
_________.| A．the task is much easier |
| B．the blood flow is tracked |
| C．people begin to choose colors |
| D．the task is more difficult |
| A．They indicate that culture has a great impact on the way people talk and behave. |
| B．They show that Easterners and Westerners have great differences in perceiving the world |
| C．They suggest that people's habits of thought and perception can be changed in different cultures. |
| D．They make it clear that Easterners and Westerners lay emphasis on different things |
| A．Easterners prefer collectivism to individualism |
| B．East Asian cultures lay more emphasis on independence |
| C．It took over ten years to find out how to improve our brainpower |
| D．Americans will change their habits of perception when they're in Britain |
The UN's Millennium Development Goals included the ambition that by 2015 all the world's children would complete primary school. This has largely been achieved: nine out of ten children are now enrolled. Alas, the figure is not as impressive as it sounds. Even though most of the world's children go to school, an awful lot of them learn pretty much nothing there. According to a recent World Bank study of seven sub-Saharan African countries, half of nine-year-olds cannot read a simple word and three-quarters cannot read a simple sentence. The reason is terrible teaching: only 7% of teachers studied had the minimum knowledge needed to teach reading and writing effectively.
Paying teachers more, in the hope of recruiting better ones, is not the answer. In poor countries, teachers are well paid by local standards—annual salaries are four times GDP per person in India. Nor does raising or reducing pay seem to make much difference: neither a sharp cut in Pakistan in the late 1990s nor a sharp increase in Indonesia after 2005 had any impact on learning outcomes.
Several recent studies suggest ed-tech can help. It seems to bring about big improvements in poor countries. In a study of a range of interventions in poor countries—including smaller class sizes, incentives for teachers and pupils—tech had the biggest effect.
Some of the scarce resources being spent on teachers could therefore be better spent on ed-tech. That does not mean dumping computers on schools in the hope that children will understand how to use them, a misconception on which plenty of money has been wasted. Instead, it means providing schools with software that children can use with minimal help from adults, that gets things right more often than the teachers do, that adjusts itself to the children’s ability, that sends teachers hints about what they are supposed to be teaching.
Technology is no cure all. Good traditional teacher are not out of date, and are never likely to be. And authorities need to hold teachers to account. But ed-tech can help greatly—by assisting the best teachers and, most importantly, making up for the failings of the worst.
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4 . The next generation of artificial intelligence (AI) promises to have an impact as big as the mobile revolution or the internet revolution. The positive opportunity before us is virtually
AI is already revolutionizing our lives. But though computers can assist us, they are not like us. Our health of experience gives us creativity—but it also makes us vulnerable to accumulating. Conscious and unconscious biases (偏见).
Based on previous work involved in AI research, we believe that makers of AI should
Second, AI research and development should be open, responsible and socially
Third, those who design AI should establish best practices to avoid undesirable outcomes. Is a system doing what we need. Are we training is using the right data? Have we thought through the way any system might yield
We are building tools that humans control. AI will reflect the values of those who build it. Ultimately our
| A．limitless | B．timeless | C．tireless | D．hopeless |
| A．change | B．conflict | C．approach | D．access |
| A．For example | B．In contrast | C．As a result | D．In addition |
| A．diverse | B．restricted | C．advanced | D．unreliable |
| A．aspect | B．boom | C．advantage | D．downside |
| A．way | B．justify | C．challenge | D．avoid |
| A．object to | B．stick to | C．refer to | D．take to |
| A．potential | B．benefit | C．principles | D．research |
| A．attached | B．engaged | C．touched | D．launched |
| A．practically | B．enthusiastically | C．consciously | D．cooperatively |
| A．change | B．depress | C．relieve | D．enrich |
| A．unintended | B．reasonable | C．informative | D．feasible |
| A．release | B．infer | C．evaluate | D．qualify |
| A．likelihood | B．dream | C．challenge | D．enthusiasm |
| A．applied | B．created | C．demonstrated | D．adapted |
Kazuo Ishiguro has a number of strings to his bow, or rather bis guitar
His friend and former publisher Robert McCrum recalls him
As his name indicates, Ishiguro comes from a Japanese background, although he came to Britain from Japan at the age of 5 and is a Britain citizen who writes in English. He
Ishiguro's writing is highly restrained. His characters are often reluctant to express themselves, except in a kind of code. This certainly gives his writing a quality in common with that of Jane Austen, an author to whom he is often compared. The best example of this is his novel The Remains of the Day,
The central character of the book is a butler called Stevens. He is an extremely loyal servant to an English lord, and is a character
The story is told by Stevens and his style is as polite and unrevealing as his behavior. Of course we
In his author’s sense of the world, there is a gap between our feelings and our ability to communicate
Although many companies offer tuition reimbursement (偿付), most companies reimburse employees only for classes that are relevant to their positions.
One good reason for giving employees unconditional tuition reimbursement is that it shows the company's dedication to its employees. In today's economy, where job security is a thing of the past and employees feel more and more expendable, it is important for a company to demonstrate to its employees that it cares. The best way to do this is to make investments in them.
Although companies do indeed run the risk of losing money on employees who go on to another job in a different company as soon as they get their degree, more often than not, the employees will stay with the company.
Though unconditional tuition reimbursement requires a significant investment on the employer's part, it is perhaps one of the wisest investments a company can make.
| A．In thin way, companies will have more productive employees. |
| B．In today's economy, job security is a thing of the past and employees feel more and more expendable. |
| C．In return, this dedication to the betterment of employees will create greater loyalty. |
| D．This is indeed a very limiting policy. |
| E．Even if employees do leave, it generally takes several years to complete any degree program. |
| F．Open positions can be assigned to who already knew he company well |
In schools and at home, most of us have been scolded or even got punished for daydreaming. The majority of people say that by daydreaming we waste our time and energy on something unproductive. But many medical studies have shown something different. They’ve stressed the fact that daydreaming works wonders on our imagination, creativity and situation-handling techniques. In fact, many problems can be easily solved if we daydream.
The topmost benefit of daydreaming is that your mood gets the right improvement. By separating yourself from the world around you, you tend to enjoy the loneliness in your mind and get peace from daydreaming as you think about something that calms your senses. When you start imagining things, you will forget all the stress and tension. Instead, you will get happiness from it and this happiness will turn into a source of energy that helps you work in a good mood.
Many psychologists have said that people who daydream tend to have a sharper memory. It's true. When you're daydreaming, you'll tend to get carried away to imagine various situations, either real or unreal. You tend to act differently in different situations trying to satisfy your mind by doing what you want in your dreams. When your mind gets satisfied, you're in a better position to concentrate more on your work. Since daydreaming activates the nerves of your brain, you tend to have higher attentiveness and your ability to remember things will develop.
When you daydream, you automatically imagine yourself as your heart says and therefore, you get to know yourself better. You also start realizing the mistakes you've made in life and trying your best to avoid repeating them. Such imagination techniques help you to connect yourself with your soul.
Are you on a diet? Then maybe you should consider
A new book claims that
A new research found that people sitting farthest from the front door ate the fewest salads and were 73 percent
Those seated at a dark table ate heavier food and ordered more of it
According to the researchers, the darker it is, the more invisible you
In contrast,
The researchers also noted that slim diners chewed around 15 times per mouthful, three chews more than heavier diners. By eating more slowly, the diner consumes less in the time
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10 . As every mobile-phone owner knows, after a year or so the battery starts to fade and the beast needs recharging more frequently. That is a nuisance, but a phone’s batteries can be replaced fairly cheaply or the whole handset traded in for the latest model. An electric car, however, is a much bigger investment. Batteries are its priciest component, representing around 30% of an average of mid-size vehicle. Apart from increasing the risk of running out of juice and leaving a driver stranded, a deteriorating battery quickly destroys a car’s second-hand value.
To provide buyers with some peace of mind, car makers guarantee their batteries, typically for eight years or around 200,000 km. Producers are now, though, planning to go much further than that, with the launch of “million-mile” (1.6km-kilometre) batteries. Elon Musk has hinted that Tesla has a million-mile battery in the works. And over in Detroit, General Motors (GM) is in the final stages of developing an advanced battery which it says has similar longevity.
“It’s a great catchphrase; the million-mile battery,” says George Crabtree, director of the Joint Centre for Energy Storage Research at Argonne National Laboratory, near Chicago. “But the fact that you can drive a million miles may not be the most relevant parameter to look at.” Regular fast-charging reduces battery life, as do overcharging and deep discharging. Driving in extremely hot or cold weather doesn’t help either. And battery life will diminish even if you just leave the car in the garage. The real point of a million-mile battery is that the technological advances required to make it possible will deal with these things as well.
The lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries which power electric cars age in two ways: with time and with use. Battery-makers-call time-dependent ageing “calendar ageing”. It is consequence of the gradual degradation of some of the materials employed in battery construction, which reduces a battery’s ability to hold a charge. Leaving a car with a fully rather than partly charged battery, for example, can increase the rate of calendar ageing. Use-dependent ageing is a consequence of the number of discharge-recharge cycles a battery goes through. It is caused by the complex chemical reactions that take place when a battery is operating. Some of these are essential to a battery’s job of storing and releasing energy.
Battery technology is improving all the time. As a consequence, so are calendar and use-dependent lifetimes. Getting direct experience of how electric cars are used is helping researchers come up with ways to mitigate (缓和) some of the side reactions, says Tim Grewe, the head of GM’s electrification strategy. The company employs remote “telematics” monitoring to keep track of how batteries are performing in its cars, and also takes back some batteries from high-mileage drivers and those living in extreme environments, such as deserts and mountainous regions, for analysis.
Dealing with impurities that get into batteries helps to extend their lives. Water, for example, reacts with salts in the electrolyte to form an acid, which attacks the electrodes. To prevent this, GM has developed an addictive made from a type of material called a zeolite. Zeolites are molecular sponges. GM’s version serves to mop up any moisture which enters a battery cell.
Adding a little aluminium to a nickelcobalt-manganese cathode, a type that is widely used in Li-ion batteries, save on cobalt, the most expensive ingredient in a battery. But the aluminium delivers other benefits as well. It boosts the battery's energy density, meaning a car can travel farther on a single charge. It also make the battery last longer.
As a marketing device, the million-mile battery will give electric-car buyers more confidence that their batteries are robust. And by no means are million-mile batteries the limit of engineers’ aspirations. The next objective is to replace Li-ions’ liquid electrolytes with solid ones. That would keep the ions under stricter control and allow even longer driving ranges. This could make a two million-mile battery a feasible objective. If that day comes, the tables would have been turned. From being the first part of a car to fail, its battery will have come the last.
1. What does the underlined sentence in the first paragraph mean?| A．It is more profitable to invest in an electric car than in a mobile phone. |
| B．Spending more money on an electric car can increase its second hand value. |
| C．It’s much more costly to replace the failed batteries of an electric car with new ones. |
| D．Compared with electric cars, batteries are of less importance to mobile phones. |
| A．Unplugging an electric car once it’s fully charged. |
| B．Often charging the car in “fast” mode to save time. |
| C．Driving an electric car on sweltering summer days. |
| D．Leaving the car in the parking lot for a long time. |
| A．Monitoring and studying batteries’ performance in long-distance traveling. |
| B．Adding zeolite to encourage the acidifying chemical reaction in the battery. |
| C．Using aluminium to improve the battery’s performance enabling the car to travel farther. |
| D．Keeping the battery partly charged to reduce its rate of “calendar ageing”. |
| A．The current technology enables an electric car to drive a million miles on a single charge |
| B．Electric car engineers are always on the go to develop batteries with greater longevity |
| C．Policies on the choice of battery materials will be tightened to control the traveling range |
| D．Drivers of future electric cars will no longer be worried about battery failure |
