1 . Power often boosts an employee’s creativity because being powerful liberates the individual from restrictions. However, new research shows that employees who are not in positions of power can become more creative when given time to “warm up” to a task by engaging in the creative task more than once.
“This is important because when people with more power are able to express their creative ideas more than those with less power, which leads to a rich-get-richer dynamic that strengthens these power imbalances.” said Brian Lucas, assistant professor in the Cornell University. “Understanding ways to boost the creativity of lower power workers can help them find the right way to deal with this low-power disadvantage,” Lucas said.
Lucas and his colleagues conducted two studies to reach their conclusion. In the first study, they divided the creative idea generation session into two rounds consisting of a one-minute “warm up” followed by a second round in which the participants could take as long as they wanted. Participants were randomly assigned to a high-power condition or a low-power condition, and feelings of power were generated with a role manipulation (操纵) where participants were given a leadership role and control over resources (high power) or an employee role with no control over resources (low power). The study found that high-power individuals were more creative than low-power individuals in the warm-up round. There was no difference, though, in creativity in the second round.
In the second study, the researchers gave them a different creative task and increased the number of rounds from two sessions to five, taking as long as they like to complete the task. Similar to the first study, the study found that high-power individuals were more creative than low-power individuals in the first round. But the creativity of low-power individuals caught up to the creativity of the high-power individuals after the first round.
“The low-power warm-up effect suggests a simple intervention that empowers all employees to tap their creative potential and overcomes power imbalances in the workplace: when pursuing creative work. let employees warm up first,” Lucas said.
1. Why is it important to boost lower-power workers’ creativity according to Lucas?| A．It stimulates power balances. |
| B．It motivates their ambition to catch up. |
| C．It encourages a harmonious workplace. |
| D．It creates a competitive work environment. |
| A．By competing with leaders. |
| B．By receiving different positions. |
| C．By working in different working conditions. |
| D．By finishing a creative task with time limits. |
| A．It had more rounds. |
| B．More participants were involved. |
| C．Participants had a more complicated task. |
| D．Participants’ creativity gap became wider. |
| A．Power tends to encourage creative ideas. |
| B．Changing tasks boosts all the employees’ creativity. |
| C．Warm-up time corrects creativity power imbalances. |
| D．Low-power individuals outperform the high-power ones. |
2 . Good evening everyone!
I hope to pick your brain on potential advertising strategies and gaining new customers for my boyfriend’s car repair shop.
He has been in business for 3 years and is fairly successful, but we are trying to increase the number of chargeable hours. While he was doing repair work, I took over all the administrative duties. The first thing on my to-do list was to get him on social media. I was floored that he had no social media presence, which is not surprising considering he is old school.
Now, he has a business Facebook page and an Instagram account, although it may not be worth much yet. We are working on a weekly “feature” for both platforms in order to create some interest.
He doesn’t want to do coupons (优惠券) or discounts or anything like that, and I understand why. His labor rate is already significantly lower than anyone else in the area, and his overall costs are lower as well. This is where I am a bit lost——how can we effectively attract more customers without a hook? My guess would be focusing on the value, but I’m not sure how well that will work out.
We are considering sending postcards as well since he already cooperates with a few local shops who send their large jobs to him and such. However, I am unsure about Facebook marketing, but definitely open.
1. What was scheduled first to promote business?| A．Working out a weekly feature. | B．Increasing chargeable hours. |
| C．Establishing his presence online. | D．Visiting his old school. |
| A．By raising labor rates. | B．By offering discounts and coupons. |
| C．By cutting overall costs. | D．By highlighting the value of services. |
| A．To offer information. | B．To seek advice. |
| C．To show advantages. | D．To find cooperation. |
3 . There was no way to escape when they spotted a polar bear. Verena Mohaupt and a handful of colleagues were trapped on a floating sea ice while the bear gazed at them, smelling the air, a dangerous sign.
“That’s when everything kicks in,” Mohaupt says, “and you focus on what’s important.” As a colleague fired into the sky as a warning shot, Mohaupt radioed their research ship a few kilometres away, whose helicopter luckily arrived quickly and Mohaupt didn’t have to use the gun that was hanging over her shoulder.
Keeping a lookout for bears was a regular duty for Mohaupt, the logistics coordinator(后勤协调员) for a year-long mission known as the MOSAiC——the largest Arctic research exploration in history. The project, consisting of roughly 300 scientists, led by scientist MarkusRex, has collected massive measurements that will help better forecast how warming will transform the globe in the coming decades. For months, the exploration operated in constant darkness while polar bears wandered nearby, storms rocked the ship and the ice shifted and cracked. Then, when the Sun returned, the ice began to melt, creating a life-threatening risk and a nightmare for researchers who needed to keep their instruments from sinking.
Tasked with the security of the mission, Mohaupt designed an extensive training course for the participants in which they learnt how to avoid the danger, like storm-rocking and ice-cracking. They jumped into a Norwegian channel in their survival suits and climbed out of the freezing waters using only their ice picks. They learnt how to escape from a crashed helicopter. And they discussed the psychological effects of being far from home. Mohaupt brought knitting equipment, yoga mats and a violin for their men tal health——although having been prepared for the isolation.
Mohaupt didn’t expect a career in polar regions, but says she has always been drawn to the north. “She was there to make sure that we were protected,” says Markus Rex, “Mohaupt is certainly the champion in the field.”
1. Why does the author mention a polar bear in the beginning?| A．To show the threat of bears. | B．To tell an interesting story. |
| C．To introduce Mohaupt’s job. | D．To describe the polar scenery. |
| A．The working conditions were tough. | B．Mohaupt helped to collect massive data. |
| C．The exploration went on in total darkness. | D．Mohaupt’s duty was to protect polar bears. |
| A．Ambitious and brave. | B．Passionate and dependent. |
| C．Considerate and modest. | D．Professional and responsible. |
| A．A Potential Danger in the Exploration. | B．A Guardian Angel of Polar Researchers. |
| C．A Great Scientific Exploration in History. | D．A Great Female Scientist in Polar Research. |
4 . If your boss yells, blames you, and then takes the credit for your work—even it is a rare incident—it can have a bad effect on your well-being and performance at the workplace.
“Thankfully, abusive leadership isn’t too common, but when it happens it leaves employees far less likely to take the initiative and work to improve business practices,” said Howie Xu, an author of a new study carried out by an international group of researchers. “We wanted to understand the cogmitive factors behind that effect—and find out how companies can protect their employees from the negative impact of bad bosses.”
Xu’s team surveyed employees and supervisors from 42 different South Korean companies, along with hundreds of US students, to explore the ways in which abusive supervision impacts“taking charge”behavior by employees. Subjects were then ranked according to whether they actively seek positive opportunities for promotion and advancement or take a more preventative approach that prioritizes safety and job security.
“We theorized that both the drive to obtain rewards (promotion, bonuses) and the drive to avoid punishments (maintain job security) would shape the way employees respond to abusive bosses,” Xu explained. But that’ s not what Xu and his team found. Rather, they found that employees who prioritized career advancement were strongly affected by abusive leadership while employees who prioritized job security remained just as likely to take charge after experiencing abusive leadership.
One possible explanation, Xu said, is that ambitious employees may think an abusive boss has direct control over whether they will receive bonuses or opportunities for promotion. By contrast, bad bosses may be seen as having less direct control over fring decisions, which often require ratification (批准) by HR teams or more senior managers.
That’s an important finding, because it suggests that organizations seeking to lessen the impact of bad leadership should focus on giving power to employees and making them feel valued and appreciated, rather than simply apologizing and making them feel sure that their jobs are safe.
1. What do Howio Xu’s words in paragraph 2 suggest?| A．It’s urgent for companies to replace their bad bosses. |
| B．Companies should perfect their staff evaluation system. |
| C．Becoming a victim of abusive leadership is very normal. |
| D．Abusive leadership lowers employees’ work enthusiasm. |
| A．The finding had a solid theory foundation. |
| B．The finding was beyond the study team’s expectations. |
| C．Employees tend to put potential rewards before everything else. |
| D．Employees generally hold an unfriendly attitude toward abusive bosses. |
| A．Give them suitable recognition. | B．Guarantee them job security. |
| C．Seek help from professionals. | D．Make a sincere apology to them. |
| A．It’s Possible to Keep a Bad Boss at Bay |
| B．It’ s Important to Avoid Becoming a Bad Boss |
| C．Having a Bad Boss May Make You a Worse Employee |
| D．Having Bad HR Teams Keeps You Away from Job Satisfaction |
5 . Many often find themselves considering jobs below their skill level in worsening employment markets. But it turns out that working in a job below your skill level harms your later chances of getting hired for a better-paying job more appropriate to your qualifications.
Sociologist David Pedulla at the University of Texas conducted a study to examine how jobs below a person’s skill level affect future employability. He tailored 2,420 applications and submitted them to 1,210 job listings posted in five major cities across the U.S. He varied the applications by gender, and also by employment status for the previous year. Then he used computer models to analyze and compare the results. The results show that applicants who were positioned as working below their skill level, regardless of gender had the lowest chances of getting called for a job interview.
These results should serve as a warning to anyone considering taking a job below their skill level. While it might pay the bills in the short term, it can significantly hammer one’s ability to return to the relevant skill level and pay grade at a later date.
Why might this be the case? Pedulla conducted a follow-up study with 903 employers. He asked them about their ideas of applicants with each kind of employment history, and how likely they would be to recommend each kind of candidate to an interview. The results show that employers believe that men who are employed in positions below their skill level are less committed and less competent than men in other employment situations. Those surveyed also believed that women working below their skill level were less competent than others, but did not believe them to be less committed.
The results of studies suggest that work below skill level signals to employers men’s incompetence and a lack of commitment. This is a disturbing reminder that the sword of gender bias (偏见) does in fact cut both ways.
1. Why do many people choose jobs below their skill level?| A．They fear bearing duties. | B．They lack-self-confidence. |
| C．They face a tough economy. | D．They pursue better-paying jobs. |
| A．By conducting interviews. | B．By researching examples. |
| C．By making comparisons. | D．By doing surveys. |
| A．Ensure. | B．Weaken. | C．Test. | D．Exercise. |
| A．Men are more likely to get promoted. |
| B．Women are more devoted and capable. |
| C．Women behave better in jobs below skill level. |
| D．Men show talents in work of the relevant level. |
6 . 13-year-old Ava Dorsey is the founder of Ava’s Pet Palace, a business that sells organic dog and cat treats.“I actually had the idea when I was six with a picture I drew of a palace,”she says.It was a detailed design for dogs and cats and she had serious plans to build it one day.
Unlike most dog treats that you find in stores, dog treats sold by Ava’s Pet Palace are 100% organic, and are non-GMO(非转基因). Ava has set a goal for herself with these dog treats, and she wants every treat to be healthy, tasty, and top-quality. Seriously, some of her treats sound delicious enough for people to eat! “All of my bags now have the USDA organic stamp, and we're very excited to have gotten it because it's something I've wanted for a long time,”she says.“A lot of stores like to see organic products because customers like it, so that was really exciting.”
Ava says the biggest challenge of being a kid in business is when people don't take her seriously, but undoubtedly Ava has proved that her doubters are wrong! When asked how she defines(定义) success, Ava says,“When you hit a bump in the road, you shouldn't give up and you keep trying.”She learned that from her mom, who sounds like a smart lady! Some more things Ava has learned from her years in business: Hard work eventually pays off and there is nothing wrong with asking for help.
As far as the future of the pet treats industry goes, Ava is optimistic——but she’d also like to be an inspiration for change.“There’s not much diversity(多样性) right now, so that’s something I would love to see in the future,”says Ava.“I would also love to see more kids in this industry.There aren't many other teenagers around, and I hope that I can be an inspiration to others who hope to lead the pet industry.”
1. What can we learn about Ava’s Pet Palace from the first two paragraphs?| A．It is a palace for pets. | B．It is very popular among kids. |
| C．It sells organic pet food. | D．It designs stamps for customers. |
| A．Drive on a stone road. | B．Escape a setback in business. |
| C．Face a challenging situation. | D．Encounter an unexpected opportunity. |
| A．She plans to enlarge her business in other industries. |
| B．She wants to employ more teenagers in her company. |
| C．She intends to be a leading figure in the pet industry. |
| D．She hopes to break new ground in the pet treats industry. |
| A．Patient and hard-working. | B．Determined and creative. |
| C．Confident and humorous. | D．Friendly and outgoing. |
7 . Books are the most valuable cultural heritage. However, there are many ancient Chinese classics suffering from different degrees of damage due to various reasons.
Bai Yuzhi,a post-90s restorer (修复师) at the Wuhan Library,graduated from Wuhan University in 2016 with a major in restoring ancient books. She is now the fourth generation of restorers at the Wuhan Library, Bai started practicing this technique during her after-class activities at college in 2014.
Bai has restored about 10,000 pages of ancient books in her over 10 years of work. The most difficult part of the restoration, according to her, is keeping everything under exact control over every stage.
With the advancement of science and digital technology, the methods for protecting ancient books have become more various.
| A．The task of restoration is demanding. |
| B．Sometimes the book is badly damaged. |
| C．Bai works in reader service for ancient books. |
| D．This led to a new field—restoring ancient books. |
| E．She officially became a restorer in February 2019. |
| F．Recording the content of a book demands a restorer’s patience. |
| G．She gave an example of the challenges in preparing a suitable paste. |
8 . Three years into my postdoc (博士后), I started to wonder whether I needed a new career plan. After applying for more than two dozen teaching jobs, I hadn’t landed a single interview.
I had once considered going to art school but had put that idea to the side when I decided to pursue chemistry as an undergraduate. In the years that followed, I kept up my interest in art by taking painting classes at night. My family was bursting with mathematicians, computer programmers, and engineers, so it felt natural to have my daily life center around science.
But in the spring after my failed job search, that started to change after a friend excitedly showed me proofs of a review article. She was astonished by what the journal’s scientific illustrator had done with her fundamental sketches (速写). “That would be such a fun job.” I thought.
I decided to test out a new career direction by volunteering to create similar illustrations for my institute’s newsletters. I spent my nights and weekends reading scientific papers and thinking about how to illustrate the results. It was a fun task. I felt I was perhaps on the right path. But could I make a full-time career work?
Searching online, I tracked down people who had that kind of job. I found many had training through scientific illustration master’s degree programs. After living on graduate student and postdoctoral salaries for years, I didn’t have enough money saved up for the programs, so I decided to get a certificate in digital design.
I now work as a visual designer at a biomedical research institute where I spend my days working with research to communicate their work visually. I love the fact that I get to combine my scientific and artistic sides.
1. Why did the author attend classes at night?| A．To please her family. | B．To pursue her hobby. |
| C．To pass her undergraduate tests. | D．To complete optional courses in art. |
| A．They shook her belief in science. |
| B．They tested out what she learned in class. |
| C．They motivated her to find a new career direction. |
| D．They gave her inspiration for her scientific paper. |
| A．Her financial difficulties. | B．Her busy schedule. |
| C．Her new interest in digital design. | D．Her lack of confidence. |
| A．Pressured. | B．Curious. | C．Desperate. | D．Satisfied. |
9 . A few days before New Year 1944, Patricia Krueger received a telegram from the U. S. Army. She hoped it would contain a belated birthday greeting from her husband, an army flight engineer, Charles Krueger, whom she had not heard from for 2 weeks. Instead, the message said he wasn’t coming home: His B-29 had been lost and he was later declared MIA (missing in action). Their son, John Krueger from Middleton, Wisconsin, is still in tears when he recounts this story.
Decades later, the military continues to work to bring back the remains of soldiers like Charles Krueger. The job of finding them falls to DPAA (Defense POW/ MIA Accounting Agency), created in 2015 after critics charged that the previous MIA search process was slow, and behind on innovations in science and technology. Between 1973 and 2014, the remains of only 1,849 missing service member s were returned to their families; in 2021, the agency accounted for the remains of 141 MIAs; according to DPAA figures.
To accelerate the work, Congress gave DPAA the authority to develop public-private partnerships with scientists and groups outside the government. “Teaming up with academic scientists introduces new ways of thinking,” says military historian Michael Dolski. “Working with partners allows us to tap into their technologies and capabilities in ways that we just can’t maintain.”
For scientists, the work is more than technically satisfying. “It’s the most rewarding aspect of my career,” says Mires, a scientist working with the agency. “In other archaeology sites I’ve worked on, the history is remote,” he says. “Here, you’re doing something not for a thing, but for a person, and all the people they touched.”
1. What was the telegram about in paragraph 1?| A．A New Year dinner. | B．Krueger’s disappearance. |
| C．A birthday greeting. | D．John Krueger’s memory. |
| A．Because DPAA wants to continue the search. |
| B．Because it took long and lacked creativeness. |
| C．Because the work was stopped by the military. |
| D．Because 141 MIAs’ remains were found in 2021. |
| A．Patient. | B．Critical. | C．Doubtful. | D．Approving. |
| A．A long search for MIAs. | B．Achievements of DPAA. |
| C．Assistance from science. | D．Consequences of wars. |
10 . What if your next job is just a weak tie away? A recent study, conducted by a team from Stanford University and LinkedIn, revealed that weaker social connections have a greater beneficial effect on job mobility (流动性) than stronger ties. Stanford Professor Erik Bryson suggests a practical outcome of this study is to encourage job seekers to expand their reach beyond immediate friends and colleagues. Weak ties, he explains, often provide more unique, beneficial information and connections.
The advantage of weak ties theory is based on the idea that weak ties allow distant group of people to access novel information that can lead to new opportunities and innovation. Weak ties are more likely to introduce new job information to a wider social network.
The research team conducted a five-year experimental study with LinkedIn, involving 20 million global participants and 600,000 new jobs created. Using LinkedIn’s “People You May Know” (PYMK) algorithm (算法), the researchers tested the weak tie theory’s impact on the job market. The team randomly assigned LinkedIn users to receive either more weak or strong tie recommendations from the PYMK algorithm, then tracked the labor mobility of these groups over five years.
Their findings confirm that weaker ties enhance job mobility. Besides, the researchers looked at differences across industries and found that adding weak ties creates significantly more job opportunities in digital and high-tech industries. “This may reflect the fact that there is more rapid change and need for novel information and connections in those industries,” Bryson said.
He points out that the traditional methods used by policymakers to analyze labor markets are quickly becoming outdated. “They need to recognize that the labor market, like all aspects of the economy, is being digitized,” Bryson said. “It is important that we understand how the algorithms used by digital platforms like LinkedIn impact the labor market.”
1. According to paragraph 1, what should job seekers do?| A．Expand network to include weak ties. | B．Limit the search to their current industry. |
| C．Strengthen connections with close friends. | D．Rely on strong connections for opportunities. |
| A．By carrying out on line surveys. | B．By interviewing LinkedIn employers. |
| C．By tracking user data and job mobility. | D．By conducting a large-scale job fair. |
| A．They are fast-paced and value novelty. | B．They cause weak ties among employees. |
| C．Strong ties are the main source of mobility. | D．Weak ties do not contribute to job mobility. |
| A．Prioritize traditional methods only. | B．Ignore the impact of digital platforms. |
| C．Recognize the influence of digitization. | D．Understand the rules on digital platforms. |
