Part Ⅲ Reading Comprehension 

Directions: There are 4 passages in this part. Each passage is followed by some questions or incomplete statements. For each of them there are 4 choices marked A, B, C and D. You should decide on the best choice, and mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet.

Passage 1 

Being a salesman, the most important thing is to understand people. You"ve got to know what they"re thinking. If you can figure that out, you can get them to do a lot. They come in with an idea about what they want. You get them talking about themselves, about what they like. 

If it"s a man, you talk about football, or something like that. If it"s a woman, you ask her about fashions. That way they get comfortable with you. You ask them a lot of questions and get them saying yes. Then they just get into the habit of saying yes. 

In the end, you can put them into anything you want, if you"re really good. For example, if they need a little ear for the city, you send them home a truck. Of course, I wouldn"t really do that. It wouldn"t be right. You"ve got to sell on this job, but you also have to be fair. It"s not fair to take advantage of people too much. There are some people in this business who"d do anything. But I don"t believe in that.

1. To be a good salesman, the most important thing is to ______.

 A learn from different kinds of people

 B understand what people are thinking

 C see what people usually do in daily life

 D watch what changes people have made

答案:B

[解析] 事实细节题。根据第一段第一、二句：“Being a salesman, the most important thing is to understand people. You"ve got to know what they"re thinking.”可知B项正确。

2. According to the passage, you can make a woman feel comfortable by ______.

 A talking about fashions

 B playing football together

 C sending a small gift to her

 D saying yes to her questions

答案:A

[解析] 事实细节题。根据第二段第二、三句：“If it"s a woman, you ask her about fashions. That way they get comfortable with you．”可知A项正确。

3. One way to make people get into the habit of saying yes is to ______.

 A ask them to say what they like

 B tell them to do anything you want

 C help them feel confident in themselves

 D get them to say yes to a lot of your questions

答案:D

[解析] 事实细节题。根据第二段最后两句：“You ask them a lot of questions and get them saying yes. Then they just get into the habit of saying yes．”可知D项正确。

4. According to the last paragraph, the author believes that ______.

 A it is right to do anything in business

 B it is useless to believe in what customers say

 C it is unfair to take too much advantage of people

 D it is dangerous to listen to the advice of a salesman

答案:C

[解析] 事实细节题。根据最后一段倒数第三句：“It"s not fair to take advantage of people too much”，可知C项正确。unfair是not fair的同义替换。

5. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?

 A Most women like to talk about sports events.

 B Some business people would do anything to sell.

 C It"s difficult to understand other people very well.

 D You can make people do anything by talking with them.

答案:B

[解析] 事实细节题。根据最后一段倒数第二句：“There are some people in this business who"d do anyrthing．”可知有些销售人员为了销售会不择手段，什么事都做。故B项说法正确。

Passage 2 

When it comes to human resources, hiring highly-skilled staff is not usually enough for a company to function successfully. Besides the knowledge in their particular fields, employees must always have additional skills—those of co-operation. In the case that work tasks can only be carried out by communicating with people, accepting common decisions, solving problems, sharing information and helping one another, teamwork skills are vital. 

While some jobs may require talent, the ability to work as a team is learned. There are no complicated formulas; you don"t need to have any special qualities or exceptional mental abilities. Individuals can be effective as a team if they have developed certain behaviors or habits of communication. Many companies, clubs and organizations use team building activities. Team building activities may include a number of teamwork elements. They are aimed at encouraging active participation in task accomplishment while all members have their roles as individuals and are able to co-operate towards a common goal as a team. 

Many team building activities focus on problem solving and discussing team issues; thus argument as a way to common consensus (共识) is encouraged. Team building activities often involve recognition and identification of team member skills, talents, knowledge, and experiences which allow the team members to learn more about each other and fully utilize those skills where appropriate. Many team activities are focused on developing keys to trust during challenging times.

1. In the author"s opinion, which of the following is vital for a company to be successful?

 A Specialized knowledge.

 B Highly-skilled staff.

 C Exceptional talent.

 D Teamwork skills.

答案:D

[解析] 推理判断题。本题询问“依作者的观点，一家公司想要获得成功，最重要的因素是什么?”文章第一段最后一句指出teamwork skills are vital(团队合作的技能尤为重要)，接下来的第二段和第三段内容围绕的仍然是“团队合作”，由此可推断，作者认为“团队合作”是公司获得成功的关键，因此，本题应选D。

2. According to the second paragraph, co-operation skills ______.

 A require special qualities and abilities

 B are learned while working in a team

 C need exceptional mental abilities

 D are quite complicated to learn

答案:B

[解析] 事实细节题。本题要求找到与第二段对“团队合作技巧”的描述相符的选项。题干中的co-operation skill与第二段第一句提到的the ability to work as a team同义，而原文表明“团队合作技巧是后天学习的(...is learned.)”，因此，本题应选B。其余选项与文章不符。

3. Team building activities are good for ______.

 A hiring employees with special talent

 B encouraging employees to co-operate

 C helping employees work independently

 D training employees in their special fields

答案:B

[解析] 推理判断题。本题询问“团队建设活动对什么有利。”文章第二段最后一句提到团队建设活动的目的，从该句可推断团队建设活动是鼓励员工互相合作、完成任务，选项B与此内容最为相近，故为本题答案。

4. Why are team members encouraged to argue in team building activities?

 A To come to an agreement.

 B To identify their own skills.

 C To learn more about the company.

 D To build up their own confidence.

答案:A

[解析] 事实细节题。本题询问在团队建设活动中鼓励员工相互争论的目的。最后一段第一句里第二个分句中的argument as a way to common consensus表明争论的目的是为了使员工之间达成一致的看法，选项A与此意思相同，故为本题答案。

5. What is the best title of the passage?

 A Team Building

 B Problem Solving

 C Communication Skills

 D Company Management

答案:A

[解析] 主旨大意题。本题询问“最适合全文的标题是什么?”文章第一段最后一句指出teamwork skills are vital(团队合作的技能尤为重要)，接下来的第二段和第三段内容围绕的是“培养团队合作”的途径——“团队建设活动”及其主要内容。由此可见，全文的中心内容应为“团队建设”，因此，本题应选A。

Passage 3 

Five years ago, David Smith wore an expensive suit to work every day. "I was a clothes addict (迷)," he jokes." I used to carry a fresh suit to work with me so I could change if my clothes got wrinkled (皱的)." Today David wears casual clothes—khaki pants and a sports shirt—to the office. He hardly ever wears a necktie. "I"m working harder than ever," David says, "and I need to feel comfortable. " 

More and more companies are allowing their office workers to wear casual clothes to work. In the United States, the changes from formal to casual office wear have been slow. In the early 1990s, many companies allowed their workers to wear casual clothes on Friday (but only on Friday). This became known as "dress-down Friday" or "casual Friday". "What started out as an extra one-day- a-week benefit for workers has really become an everyday thing," said business adviser Maisly Jones. 

Why have so many companies started allowing their workers to wear casual clothes? One reason is that it"s easier for a company to attract new workers if it has a casual dress code. "A lot of young people don"t want to dress up for work," says the owner of a software company, "so it"s hard to hire people if you have a conservative dress code." Another reason is that people seem happier and more productive when they are wearing comfortable clothes. In a study made by Levi Strauss and Company, 85 percent of employers said that casual dress improves employee morale. Only 4 percent of employers said that casual dress has a side effect on work. Supporters of casual office wear also say that a casual dress code helps them save money. "Suits are expensive, if you have to wear one every day," one person said. "For the same amount of money, you can buy a lot more casual clothes."

1. David Smith refers to himself as having been "a clothes addict" because ______.

 A he often wore khaki pants and a sports shirt

 B he couldn"t stand a clean appearance

 C he wanted his clothes to look tidy and clean all the time

 D he didn"t want to spend much money on clothes

答案:C

[解析] 推理判断题。由文章第一段第二、三句“I was a clothes addict... so I cold change if my clothes got wrinkled．”可知David想要一直保持他的衣服干净整洁，因此他称自己是个“衣服迷”。所以选C项。

2. David Smith wears casual clothes now, because ______.

 A they make him feel at ease when working

 B he cannot afford to buy expensive clothes

 C he looks handsome in casual clothes

 D he no longer works for any company

答案:A

[解析] 事实细节题。从文中第一自然段后半部分可知David “working harder than ever... need to feel comfortable”，因此选A，comfortable与at ease同义。

3. According to this passage, which of the following is FALSE?

 A Many workers don"t like a conservative dress code.

 B Comfortable clothes make workers more productive.

 C A casual clothes code is welcomed by young workers.

 D All the employers in the U.S. are for casual office wear.

答案:D

[解析] 事实细节题。由文章最后一段第六句“Only 4 percent of employers said that casual dress has a side effect on work．”可知并非All the employers赞成穿便服上班，故D项表述错误。

4. According to this passage, which of the following is TRUE?

 A Company workers started to dress down about twenty years ago.

 B Dress-down has become an everyday phenomenon since the early 1990s.

 C "Dress-down Friday" was first given as a favor from employers.

 D Many workers want to wear casual clothes to impress people.

答案:C

[解析] 推理判断题。由第二段最后一句“what started out... an everyday thing”可知“一周一天的额外奖励已经变成了日常的事情”。extra one-day-a-week即dress-down Friday，而dress-down Friday又是雇主给雇员的benefit，即favor，因此C项正确。

5. In this passage, the following advantages of casual office wear are mentioned EXCEPT ______.

 A saving worker"s money

 B making workers more attractive

 C improving worker"s feeling

 D making workers happier

答案:B

[解析] 事实细节题。通读最后一段可知选项A(为雇员省钱)、C(提高雇员工作热情)、D(使雇员高兴)在文中均被提及。而B(使雇员更具吸引力)则是对原文的误解，原文是It"s easier for a company to attract new workers(公司更容易吸引雇员)。因此选B。

Passage 4 

Many things about language are a mystery, and many will always remain so. But some things we do know. 

First, we know that all men in the world have a language of some sort. There is no race of men anywhere on earth so backward that it has no language. And, in historical times, there has never been a race of men without a language. 

Second, there is no such thing as a primitive language. There are many peoples whose cultures are undeveloped, who are, as we say, uncivilized, but the languages they speak are not primitive. In all known languages we can see complexities that must have been tens of thousands of years in developing. This has not always been well understood; indeed, the direct contrary has often been stated. Popular ideas of the language of the American Indians will illustrate. Many people have supposed that the Indians communicated in a very primitive way. Study has proved this to be nonsense. There are, or were, hundreds of American Indian languages, and all of them turn out to be very complicated and very old. They are certainly different from the languages that most of us are familiar with, but they are no more primitive than English and Greek. 

A third thing we know about language is that all languages are perfectly adequate . That is, each one is a perfect means of expressing the culture of the people who speak the language. 

Finally, we know that language changes. It is natural and normal for language to change; the only languages which do not change are the dead ones. This is easy to understand if we look backward in time. Change goes on in all aspects of language. Grammatical features change as do speech sounds, and changes in vocabulary are sometimes very extensive and may occur very rapidly. Vocabulary is the least stable part of any language.

1. What can be inferred from the second paragraph?

 A Some backward race of men doesn"t have a language of their own.

 B Some race of men in history didn"t possess a language of their own.

 C Any human race, whether backward or not, has a language.

 D Some race of men on earth can communicate without language.

答案:C

[解析] 推理判断题。根据第二段第一句可知，世界上所有的人都有某种形式的语言。故C为正确答案。

2. What kind of language can peoples of undeveloped cultures have?

 A Complicated.

 B Uncivilized.

 C Primitive.

 D Well-known.

答案:A

[解析] 推理判断题。根据文章第三段第二、三句可知，有许多文化不发达的民族，也就是我们所说的不文明民族，他们的语言却并不简单。在所有的已知语言中，我们可以看到发展了成千上万年的复杂性。故A为正确答案。

3. People used to think Indians communicated ______.

 A with complicated language

 B in a primitive way

 C with hand gestures

 D through body movements

答案:B

[解析] 事实细节题。根据文章第三段第六句可知，过去很多人认为印第安人交流的方式很原始。故B为正确答案。

4. What does the word "adequate" (Line 1, Para. 4) most probably mean?

 A Primitive.

 B Unique.

 C Sufficient.

 D Proper.

答案:D

[解析] 词语理解题。根据文章第四段第二句中的That is(也就是说)可知，第二句具体解释了第一句内容。故由第二句内容：每种语言都是讲本语言的人表达其文化的完美工具，可推知adequate在本句意为D“合适的，恰当的”。

5. According to the author, language changes are most likely to occur in ______.

 A grammar

 B pronunciation

 C vocabulary

 D intonation

答案:C

[解析] 推理判断题。根据文中最后一句可知，词汇是任何语言中最容易发生变化的部分。故C为正确答案。