| A．Tradition. | B．A disease. | C．A service. |
| A．A few days. | B．A few weeks. | C．A few months. |
3 . “If they hated me they didn’t talk to me about it,” says a young German manager at a media firm in Frankfurt. Still, he says it was noticeable that when an employee 20 years older than him thanked him for buying lunch he had to swallow twice before adding the word “boss”.
Older workers sometimes envy being managed by a younger colleague. Precocious (老成的) youngsters, too, can feel awkward about bossing their elders around. But in Germany a shortage of skilled workers means that such situations are becoming even more common.
The country’s population is projected to shrink. As more Germans retire，fewer youngsters are entering the work-place to replace them. As a share of the working population the number of
15-to-24-year-olds has fallen by ten percent since the 1980s, says the German Federal Employment Agency. Firms competing to hire young talent have to promote them earlier as a result. A paper by professors at the university of Cambridge and WHU, a German business school, to be published in the Journal of Organizational Behavior, suggests this could be a problem.
As in many countries, German work-places are legally obliged to overlook age when deciding whom to promote. Yet according to Jochen Menges, one of the authors, when an ordinary worker leap-frogs a more experienced one it can leave the latter with feelings of “anger, fear and disgust.” People tend to judge their own standing by the success of their peers, and to see failure in being bossed about by someone younger. The relationship between feelings of anxiety and the age of the boss is clear, according to Mr Menges. A manager who is younger by one year is somewhat unsettling; a gap of 20 years is far more discouraging.
German firms certainly shouldn’t return to a system in which age equals to rank. But young people tend to be sensitive about managing upwards. And older workers should be encouraged to see the bright side of learning new skills. Daimler, a big German car firm, says it promotes age- mixed teams, so that knowledge can be transferred between generations. It also supports young managers by asking retired employees to provide temporary support.
1. For what does the author mention a young German manager and his experience in Paragraph 1?| A．To introduce the topic. | B．To present an argument. |
| C．To attract readers’ interest. | D．To describe his own idea. |
| A．Precocious youngsters are all skilled workers. |
| B．Such situations are becoming more common. |
| C．Fewer youngsters would like to do hard work. |
| D．Companies compete fiercely to hire young talent. |
| A．When he has to decide whom to promote. |
| B．When he leap-frogs a more experienced worker. |
| C．When he is being bossed about by someone younger. |
| D．When he experiences feelings of anger, fear and disgust. |
| A．A younger boss is more likely to be nervous and anxious. |
| B．An employee with a younger boss tends to suffer from anxiety. |
| C．There is a connection between anxiety and the age of promotion. |
| D．The age of the boss and anxiety are closely related. |
| A．Qualified workers should be promoted to boss. |
| B．Older workers should support younger managers. |
| C．Older workers are no better than younger colleagues. |
| D．You are never too old to learn, or too young to mange. |
4 . Many a young person tells me he wants to be a writer. I always encourage such people, but I also explain that there’s a big difference between “being a writer” and writing. In most cases individuals are dreaming of wealth and fame, not the long hours alone at a typewriter. “You’ve got to want to write,” I say to them, not want to be a writer.”
The reality is that writing is a lonely, private and poor-paying affair. For every writer kissed by fortune there are thousands more whose longing is never rewarded. When I left a 20-year career in the US Coast Guard to become a freelance writer(自由撰稿者), I had no prospects at all. What I did have was a friend who found me a room in a New York apartment building. It didn’t even matter that it was cold and had no bathroom. I immediately bought used manual typewriter and felt like a genuine writer.
After a year or so, however, I still hadn’t got a break and began to doubt myself. It was so hard to sell a story that barely made enough to eat. But I knew I wanted to write. I had dreamed about it for years, I wasn’t going to be one of those people who die wondering. What if? I would keep putting my dream to the test-even though it meant living with uncertainly and fear of failure. This is the shadowland of hope, and any one with a dream must learn to live there.
1. The passage is meant to .| A．warn young people of the hardships that a successful writer has to experience |
| B．advise young people to give up their idea of becoming a professional writer |
| C．show young people it’s unrealistic for a writer to pursue wealth and fame |
| D．encourage young people to pursue a writing career |
| A．Genuine writers often find their work interesting and rewarding. |
| B．A writer’s success depends on luck rather than on effort. |
| C．Famous writers usually live in poverty and isolation. |
| D．The chances for a writer to become successful are small |
| A．He wasn’t able to produce a single look. |
| B．He hadn’t seen a change for the better |
| C．He wasn’t able to have a rest for a whole year. |
| D．He found his dream would never come true. |
| A．who think too much of the dark side of life |
| B．who regret giving up their career halfway |
| C．who think a lot without making a decision |
| D．who are full of imagination even upon death |
| A．the wonderland one often dream about |
| B．the bright future that one is looking forward to |
| C．the state of uncertainty before one’s final goal is reached |
| D．a world that exists only in one’s imagination |
If you like thinking about the world around you, why not become a scientist? It doesn’t mean you have to wear a white coat and plastic glasses and spend all your time in a lab as most people often imagine! Scientists do all kinds of amazing things that are actually interesting!
Military scientists develop not only new weapons but new military technologies that could help make wars out of date. Forensic(法医的) scientists work with the police to find quite small clues to catch criminals. Scientists work in schools and colleges as the teachers and professors who will train tomorrow’s scientists. Don’t think a scientist is far away! Maybe you like cooking? You could be a food technologist helping to keep fruit and vegetables fresher for longer. Perhaps sport is your thing? Do you know that most top athletes work with sports scientists in order to improve their performance? You could even be the science writer who gets to spend the life studying the latest advances and sharing them with the world.
Looking for something to do for the rest of your life? My advice? Take a long and hard look at science. It is interesting and ever.
1. Many problems are mentioned in the first paragraph to ________.
| A．suggest they are impossible to be solved |
| B．introduce the causes of these problems |
| C．show the writer’s worry about the future world |
| D．show scientists play an important part in solving them |
| A．Advanced weapons. | B．Enough energy. |
| C．New technologies. | D．A growing population. |
| A．amazing | B．boring | C．colorful | D．unreal |
| A．Military technologies could help prevent wars in the future. |
| B．For those interested in cooking, food technologies may be a choice. |
| C．Forensic scientists play an important part in dealing with crimes. |
| D．Politicians and world leaders can solve all the social problems. |
| A．haven’t decided on their career |
| B．have no interest in science |
| C．hope for the world peace |
| D．have little knowledge of science |
1. What does the man do?
| A．A sportsman. | B．A tour guide. | C．A sports writer. |
| A．Tiring. | B．Great. | C．Boring. |
1. Why does the speaker write to the company?
| A．To say thanks. |
| B．To apologize. |
| C．To have his money back. |
| A．He had been to the city before. |
| B．He was familiar with the company. |
| C．He went on the trip alone. |
| A．To find the best sea view. | B．To arrange the lunch. | C．To do some shopping. |
| A．A small car. | B．A big bus. | C．A small van. |
| A．Novelist. | B．Reporter. | C．Secretary. |
1. How is the woman getting on with her family?
| A．Just so-so | B．Very well | C．Badly |
| A．She has been working too hard. |
| B．She misses her family. |
| C．She has a high fever. |
| A．Take some medicine. | B．Take a holiday. | C．Change a job. |
1. What has been improved according to the speaker?
| A．The train station. | B．The bus service. | C．The parking lot |
| A．By bus and on foot. | B．By train and by bus. | C．By train and on foot |
| A．A reporter. | B．A policeman. | C．A photographer |
