1 . At first the question was how quickly people would get back to the office. Then it was whether they would ever return. The last three years has introduced in a major change in white-collar working patterns. The office is not dead but many professionals have settled into a hybrid (混合的) arrangement of some office days and some remote days.

Hybrid working has much to recommend: flexibility for employees, periods of concentration at home, bursts of cooperation in the office. A new paper from Harvard Business School describes an experiment in which workers at BRAC, a non-profit organisation in Britain, were randomly assigned to three groups, each spending different amounts of time working from home. The intermediate (中等的) group, who spent between 23% and 40% of their time in the office, performed best on various performance measures.

But a shift on this large scale is bound to raise tricky issues. In workplaces that have moved to hybrid work, there are still plenty of open questions. One is how to handle the impact of less time in the office for new joiners and younger workers. Research by Emma Harrington of the University of Iowa shows that software engineers receive more feedback on their code when the team sits next to each other in the office, especially new engineers. According to Nicholas Bloom of Stanford University, making new employees spend more time in the office can be a good way of integrating them into company culture and improving their competence. And these younger employees were most likely to quit when everyone was forced to go remote.

A second question concerns how strictly to enforce attendance on days when teams are meant to be in the office. An agreement holds that there should be agreed “anchor days” on which all the people come to work in the office; since the idea is to spend time together, as many people as possible should be there. But one person on the team might have moved somewhere else; someone else might have asked to stay home to let the repairer in. In practice, therefore, hybrid working still often means a mixture of people on screen and people in the office.

Other questions exist. How to define performance measures so managers do not spend time worrying about lazy workers at home? Do you require company-wide anchor days or team-level ones? The era of hybrid working is only just beginning, so it will take time for answers to emerge. But if there is a message from this first full year of hybrid working, it is that flexibility does not mean a free-for-all.

1. How can in-office work help new employees?

A．Giving them more feedback from senior employees.

B．Getting them to catch up with the work schedule.

C．Saving them the cost of staying at home.

D．Helping them feel part of the company.

2. What makes it difficult to enforce attendance on anchor days?

A．Young workers prefer working on screen.

B．Engineers object to the idea of anchor days.

C．Office workers can’t take a day off as expected.

D．Employees have various private matters to address.

3. Which of the following statements is the author most likely to agree with?

A．It is necessary to grant employees full autonomous rights.

B．Employers should go with the flow because new questions will emerge.

C．Allowing flexibility in work arrangements does not mean having no rules.

D．It is no easy job to arrange either company-wide or team-level anchor days.

4. What does the passage mainly talk about?

A．Hybrid working is outdated after workers’ return.

B．There are some open questions of hybrid working.

C．A shift of working patterns calls for hybrid working.

D．Fixed restrictions should be applied to hybrid working.

2 . Life is like a roller coaster; every point has ups and downs. The truly victorious people stay committed to their broad goals even in unplanned circumstances. One true example of such people comes from a woman passionate about spreading happiness and helping others. Nicole Thornes is a mother, a former police officer, and now serving society as a death doula.

Believing small efforts could comfort individuals and unite society, Nicole thought a police officer had the opportunity to prevent crime, bring justice and create a better society for everyone. She was determined to become a police officer to protect life and bring prosperity. All her passion and motivation drove her to pursue a Criminal Justice degree to become a police officer.

Although she became a mother during her studies, she didn’t give up on her passion. Nicole could have called off her studies, but her passion for serving society didn’t let her step down. She took a break from her studies when her kids needed more attention but later came back to continue her study and completed her degree. Nicole finally became a police officer and everything went according to her plans.

But uncertainty put her in a challenging situation. Nicole suffered from an injury. The sudden medical retirement called off her journey as a police officer, but her dreams and passion did not let her stop. So, she became a death doula, allowing her to be there for people whenever needed and provide comfort to the dying and their families during difficult times. She chose this field after her grandfather’s death. She couldn’t bear the pain of losing him; therefore, she decided to become a death doula and contribute her services to help those suffering from the pain of losing their loved ones.

Nicole Thornes has written her book, Daddy’s Home, covering true events of losing someone and inspiring readers to cope with the feelings of emptiness and recover from mental illness after losing someone close. Daddy’s Home inspires readers and tells them the importance of a new beginning, helping people lighten the burden from their chest after the grief of losing someone.

1. What can be learned about Nicole Thornes?

A．Nicole Thornes dreamed of becoming a police officer since she was born.

B．Nicole Thornes pursued a Criminal Justice degree, but she gave up halfway.

C．Nicole Thornes took up a writing career immediately after getting physically hurt.

D．Nicole Thornes wrote a book, impressing on readers the significance of a new start.

2. What’s the direct cause of Nicole Thornes’ decision to become a death doula?

A．The unbearable pain brought by her grandfather’s death.

B．Her break from academic studies to take care of her kids.

C．Her sudden medical retirement due to her incurable injury.

D．Her determination to finish writing her book, Daddy’s Home.

3. According to the story of Nicole Thornes, a death doula can be described as ______.

A．a death fighter	B．a special trainer
C．a support giver	D．a creative police officer

4. What might be the best title for this article?

A．Nicole Thornes and her dream

B．The ups and downs of Nicole Thornes

C．Nicole Thornes: The writer of Daddy’s Home

D．Nicole Thornes: The journey from a police officer to a death doula