1 . As anyone who has tried to lose weight knows, realistic goal-setting generally produces the best results. That is partially ________ it seems that people who have realistic goals actually work more efficiently, and make more effort, to achieve those goals.

What is far less understood by scientists, ________, are the potentially harmful effects of goal-setting.

Newspapers relay (转发) accounts of goal-setting in industries and businesses up and down both Wall Street and Main Street, yet there has been ________ little research on how setting goals may have lead to the current economic crisis, and unethical (不道德) behavior in general.

“Goals are widely used because they really have beneficial effects. And yet, the same ________ that can push people to make more effort in a better way could also motivate people to be more likely to have unethical (不道德) behaviors,” says Maurice Schweitzer, an associate professor at Penn’s Wharton School.

“It turns out there’s no economic benefit to just having a goal — you just get a psychological benefit.” Schweitzer says. “But in many cases, goals have economic ________ that make them more powerful.”   

A good example Schweitzer and his colleagues mention is the 2004 collapse (崩塌) of energy-trading company called Enron, where managers used financial (财经) encouragements to encourage salesmen to ________ specific profit goals.

Other studies have shown that giving employees unrealistic goals can force them to lie, cheat or steal. Such was the case in the early 1990s when the company called Sears ________ a sales quota (配额) on its auto repair staff (汽车修理工). It forced employees to do much more work and to ________ unnecessary repairs . As a result, the company failed to motivate its workers to work harder.

Schweitzer says that his research is different from other researches which ________ the benefits of goal-setting. Some researchers are against him, because they think his team doesn’t have enough ________ to support his conclusion.

1.

A．though

B．unless

C．when

D．because

2.

A．moreover

B．furthermore

C．however

D．otherwise

3.

A．surprisingly

B．generally

C．particularly

D．potentially

4.

A．definition

B．appreciation

C．motivation

D．expression

5.

A．risks

B．problems

C．expenses

D．rewards

6.

A．need

B．meet

C．kneel

D．feel

7.

A．overtake

B．overlook

C．overcharge

D．overflow

8.

A．blame

B．discover

C．finish

D．direct

9.

A．praises

B．denies

C．ignores

D．attacks

10.

A．problem

B．factor

C．purpose

D．evidence

2 . There is a traditional view that a degree from top universities can in itself place you on the highest career path. If your career playing field is assessed purely by salary, then the data support this view: Oxford and Cambridge graduates have the highest median incomes of all employed graduates, five years after leaving university.

In any event, it is not just university choice that affects your career outcome. Sometimes, biases exist. For example, on Wall Street, male applicants form upper-middle-class backgrounds with an interest in team sports are particularly preferred.

Some employers are leveling the playing field, actively seeking graduates from other well-known universities, to increase diversity and perhaps because the courses at these universities offer their students advantages, including vocational elements. Other employers are trying out “background blind” admissions, removing from applications references to schools or universities.

While there may be peer or family pressure to study at certain universities, your long-term career success depends on more than the brand name, including what you can demonstrate in terms of technical and employability skills.

Research all leading universities to decide which course would suit you best, including the content, style and intensity of teaching, and examination methods. You may also consider which institution would provide the best extra-curricular (课程以外的) opportunities.

Even if Oxbridge doors close for you, other doors will open: employers will be impressed by what you do with the opportunities you actually had, not what might have been.

1. The word “biases” in Paragraph 2 most probably means

A．unexpected career outcomes	B．emphasis on culture awareness
C．common employing practices	D．tendencies to like someone better

2. Paragraphs 2, 3 and 4 are intended to illustrate that ________.

A．one’s career outcome is affected by more factors than his university choice

B．it is better to apply to the companies that care less about educational backgrounds

C．well-known institutions prefer university graduates with proper vocational training

D．job applicants must provide potential employers with references to universities

3. When deciding the most suitable course to take, you should take ________ into consideration.

A．your learning style	B．the brand name of the course
C．the way of examinations	D．the style of the teaching content

4. Who are supposed to be the targeted readers?

A．Coaches in playing field.	B．Teachers in certain universities.
C．Students in senior high schools.	D．Employers from famous companies.

3 . At the start of every vacation, many parents spend their time wondering: What will the children do? When I was a child in the 1950s, the answer was easy. The children would play. We played feely with other children, in our own chosen ways, away from adults. When we got bored, we found ways to overcome it. We took up _________, took risks, sometimes hurt ourselves, got into trouble, and _________ how to get out of it.

During such play, we acquired knowledge and skills that couldn’t be taught to us in school. We learned how to take _________, make our own decisions, solve our own problems, get along with peers as equals, experience fear and then find ways to manage it, experience anger and then find ways to overcome it. We also discovered our interests, _________ them, and became skilled at them—interests that for many of us later became _________.

Over the past 60 years, however, we’ve seen a huge _________ in children’s freedom and opportunity to play on their own. Over this same period, we’ve also seen a dramatic increase in the rates of _________ and anxiety disorders among young people- five to eight times what they were in the 1950s.

Our children love to play in moderately _________ ways. Through such play, they acquire the physical, social and emotional capacities required for healthy development. They learn to get along with one another by playing socially, and they learn to deal with emergencies by playing in ways that involve risk.

Why is such play so _________? It can cause injury, so why hasn’t natural selection __________ the inner desire for it? We have some clues from laboratory experiments.

Researchers have found that when young rats or monkeys are deprived (剥夺) of play during critical periods in their development, the animals grow up as emotional cripples (跛者). They are __________ disabled when placed in new, slightly frightening environments to which normally raised animals would __________. They repeated between incapacitating fear and inappropriate aggression when placed with __________ peers. So it is no surprise to me that play-deprived human children grow up insufficient in the social and emotional skills required to deal well with life’s inevitable stressors (应激源). They may also grow up __________ the abilities to think creatively, take initiative, and assume responsibility.

We have deprived children of free, risky play, probably for their own good. In the process we have denied them the opportunity to learn how to be __________ by playing in risky ways.

Our children need more freedom, not more adult control.

1.

A．expeditions

B．adventures

C．violence

D．disasters

2.

A．figured out

B．looked over

C．made for

D．turned out

3.

A．measures

B．action

C．initiative

D．risks

4.

A．created

B．pursued

C．captured

D．demonstrated

5.

A．addictions

B．predictions

C．expectations

D．careers

6.

A．increase

B．amount

C．decline

D．demand

7.

A．depression

B．obesity

C．digestion

D．cancer

8.

A．friendly

B．funny

C．risky

D．learned

9.

A．dangerous

B．frustrating

C．striking

D．appealing

10.

A．strengthened

B．eliminated

C．multiplied

D．identified

11.

A．psychologically

B．physically

C．medically

D．biologically

12.

A．devote

B．stick

C．adapt

D．seek

13.

A．identical

B．modest

C．miserable

D．unfamiliar

14.

A．missing

B．involving

C．lacking

D．showing

15.

A．obedient

B．adaptable

C．optimistic

D．practical