1 . During the COVID-19 pandemic, technologies are playing a crucial role in keeping our society functional in a time of lockdowns and quarantines（封锁和隔离）. And remote work may have a long-lasting impact beyond COVID-19.

Many companies have asked employees to work from home. Remote work is enabled by technologies including virtual private networks（VPNs）, voice over internet protocols'（VoIPs）, virtual meetings, cloud technology, work collaboration tools and even facial recognition technologies that enable a person to appear before a virtual background to preserve the privacy of the home. In addition to preventing the spread of viruses, remote work also saves commute time and provides more flexibility.

Yet remote work also imposes challenges to employers and employees. Information security, privacy and timely tech support can be big issues. Remote work can also complicate labor law issues, such as those associated with providing a safe work environment and income tax issues. Employees may experience loneliness and lack of work-life balance. If remote work becomes more common after the COVID-19 pandemic, employers may decide to reduce rents and hire people from regions with cheaper labor costs.

Laws and regulations must be updated to accommodate remote work, and further psychological studies need to be conducted to understand the effect of remote work on people.

Further, not all jobs can be done from home, which creates disparity. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, about 25% of wage and salary workers worked from home at least occasionally from 2017 to 2018. Workers with college educations are at least five times more likely to have jobs that allow them to work from home compared with people with high school diplomas. Some professions, such as medical services and manufacturing, may not have the option at all. Policies with respect to data flows and taxation would need to be adjusted should the volume of cross-border digital services rise significantly.

1. Why is remote work especially important during COVID-19?

A．It saves time.	B．It blocks viruses.
C．It saves money.	D．It preserves privacy.

2. What is the purpose of the third and fourth paragraphs?

A．To emphasize importance.

B．To sadden employers and employees.

C．To demonstrate challenges.

D．To compare benefits and drawbacks.

3. The underlined word in the last paragraph can be replaced by ________.

A．gaps	B．challenges
C．options	D．prejudices

4. What is the author's tone when talking about remote work?

A．Critical.	B．Objective.
C．Subjective.	D．Suspicious.

2 . It was a quarter past nine as Marie hurried into the office building where she would be working. Her bus had inched along through heavy morning traffic, making her a few minutes late for her very first job. She decided she would start out half an hour earlier the next day. Once inside the building, she had to stand at the lifts and wait several minutes before one arrived. When she finally reached the office marked "King Enterprises," she knocked at the door nervously and waited. There was no answer. She tapped on the door again, but still there was no reply. From inside the next office, she could hear the sound of voices, so she opened the door and went in. Although she was sure it was the same office she had been in two weeks before when she had had the interview with Mr. King, it looked quite different now. In fact, it hardly looked like an office at all. The employees were just standing around chatting and smoking. At the far end of the room, somebody must have just told a good joke, she thought, because there was a loud burst of laughter as she came in. For a moment she had thought they were laughing at her. Then one of the men looked at his watch, clapped his hands and said something to the others. Quickly they all went to their desks and, in a matter of seconds, everyone was hard at work. No one paid any mind to Marie. Finally she went up to the man who was sitting at the desk nearest to the door and explained that this was her first day in the office. Hardly looking up from his work, he told her to have a seat and wait for Mr. King, who would arrive at any moment. Then Marie realized that the day's work in the office began just before Mr. King arrived. Later she found out that he lived in Connecticut and came into Manhattan on the same train every morning, arriving in the office at 9:35, so that his staff knew exactly when to start working.
1. Marie felt nervous when she knocked at the door because _______.

A．she had never met the boss once before

B．she was a little bit late for work

C．she was afraid that she had gone to the wrong place

D．there was no answer from inside the office

2. Marie could hardly recognize the office she went into as _______.

A．she had been there only once

B．Mr. King was not in the office

C．nobody was doing any work

D．the office had a new appearance

3. The people in the office suddenly started working because _______.

A．they saw a stranger in the office

B．they had finished their morning break

C．no one wanted to talk to Marie

D．the boss was about to arrive

4. We can infer from the passage that the employees of the enterprise _______.

A．would start their work day by listening to a joke

B．were considerate to newcomers

C．were always punctual for work

D．lacked devotion to the company

5. What is probably the best title for the passage?

A．Punctual Like a Clock

B．A Cold Welcome

C．An Unpunctual Manager

D．Better Late Than Never

3 . It was a quarter past nine as Marie hurried into the office building where she would be working. Her bus had inched along through heavy morning traffic, making her a few minutes late for her very first job. She decided she would start out half an hour earlier the next day.

Once inside the building, she had to stand at the lifts and wait several minutes before one arrived. When she finally reached the office marked "King Enterprises," she knocked at the door nervously and waited. There was no answer. She tapped on the door again, but still there was no reply. From inside the next office, she could hear the sound of voices, so she opened the door and went in.

Although she was sure it was the same office she had been in two weeks before when she had had the interview with Mr. King, it looked quite different now. In fact, it hardly looked like an office at all. The employees were just standing around chatting and smoking. At the far end of the room, somebody must have just told a good joke, she thought, because there was a loud burst of laughter as she came in. For a moment she had thought they were laughing at her.

Then one of the men looked at his watch, clapped his hands and said something to the others. Quickly they all went to their desks and, in a matter of seconds, everyone was hard at work. No one paid any mind to Marie. Finally she went up to the man who was sitting at the desk nearest to the door and explained that this was her first day in the office. Hardly looking up from his work, he told her to have a seat and wait for Mr. King, who would arrive at any moment. Then Marie realized that the day's work in the office began just before Mr. King arrived. Later she found out that he lived in Connecticut and came into Manhattan on the same train every morning, arriving in the office at 9:35, so that his staff knew exactly when to start working.

1. Marie felt nervous when she knocked at the door because _______.

A．she had never met the boss once before

B．she was a little bit late for work

C．she was afraid that she had gone to the wrong place

D．there was no answer from inside the office

2. Marie could hardly recognize the office she went into as _______.

A．she had been there only once

B．Mr. King was not in the office

C．nobody was doing any work

D．the office had a new appearance

3. The people in the office suddenly started working because _______.

A．they saw a stranger in the office

B．they had finished their morning break

C．no one wanted to talk to Marie

D．the boss was about to arrive

4. We can infer from the passage that the employees of the enterprise _______.

A．would start their work day by listening to a joke

B．were considerate to newcomers

C．were always punctual for work

D．lacked devotion to the company

5. What is probably the best title for the passage?

A．Punctual Like a Clock

B．A Cold Welcome

C．An Unpunctual Manager

D．Better Late Than Never