There are two main types of office layouts used by most companies around the world: Landscape Office and Enclosed Office. A landscape office lacks privacy, however, this office layout is more beneficial than an enclosed office for employees to improve work efficiency and productivity.
Some people might desire an undisturbed workplace. According to the survey collected from a company with the two kinds of office layouts, most of managers prefer a workplace where they can concentrate on their work and make a clear thinking. However, managers that possess their own enclosed offices might have the feeling of being distant from their clerks, which leads to high pressure. Meanwhile, employees tend to be nervous when they have conversations with their managers in an obviously hierarchical(等级制的) environment. In contrast, a landscape office makes it easier and more pleasant for employees to communicate with their managers or their colleagues; this would result in speeding up work efficiency and productivity.
Besides, greater interaction is beneficial for employees to build up friendship in a landscape office. This can be proved by the experiment of Brookes and Kaplan. They recorded the attitudes and opinions of 120 employees toward their enclosed office before they moved to the landscape office, and then after nine months they were tested again. The researchers discovered that those employees performed positive changes in group sociability. When people have better group sociability, they experience a better team work and efficient cooperation, which surely promotes work productivity.
Some opponents claim that a landscape office would lead to the decline of the value of work satisfaction and motivation from employees. However, the result from other researchers remained controversial; in their opinion there are several factors which affect job satisfaction and motivation. 600 Canadian federal government department workers who were housed at a modern landscape office and were surveyed gave both negative and positive feedback. They admitted that they felt the sense of belonging to a team or a working community, which mainly contributes to job satisfaction. Motivation is also increased by a sense of responsibility for and loyalty to a team.
Admittedly, there are some advantages that only enclosed offices possess. However, a landscape office can combine the features of the traditional enclosed office, for example, designing the independent meeting room to decrease noise from discussion. Although the benefits of a landscape office outweigh those of an enclosed office, which layout is better should be decided by the characteristics of the people and the type of work they do.
1.What is mainly talked about in the passage?
A.Colleague cooperation and its motivation.
B.Group sociability and its productivity.
C.Working environment and its effect.
D.Office privacy and its atmosphere.
2.What has the significant effect on productivity according to Paragraph 2?
A.Job satisfaction. B.Relaxed atmosphere.
C.Group sociability. D.Undisturbed workplace.
3.What can be inferred from the passage?
A.Enclosed office leads to individual creativity.
B.Different working styles in enclosed office is encouraged.
C.Landscape office contributes to effective conversations.
D.Frequent communication in landscape office results in high pressure.
4.What is the author’s attitude towards office layouts?
A.Objective. B.Casual. C.Optimistic. D.Sceptical.
A new study has shown how computers and robots powered by artificial intelligence can read human eye movements to “read” human personalities.
The eyes, they say, are the windows to the soul. And if that is true, computers and robots powered by sophisticated(复杂的) artificial intelligence algorithms(算法) may soon have the ability to peer into your soul. That is the result of a new study on the connection between eye movements and personality, conducted by neuroscience researchers based at the University of South Australia and Published in the scientific Journal Frontiers in Neuroscience.
“Eye movements during an everyday task predict aspects of our personality,” wrote the researchers, led by University of South Australia neuroscientist Tobias Loetscher, whose team follows 42 study subjects around the university campus recording their eye movements, then determines their personality traits(特点) with “well-established questionnaires” for determining personality type, according to a summary of the study published by the site Science Daily.
The researchers fed the data into their AI algorithms and found that computers running the algorithms were able to record human eye movements and immediately determine a person’s major personality traits, such as “neuroticism, extraversion(外向), agreeableness, conscientiousness, as well as perceptual(感知的) curiosity”, the scientists wrote.
“The new findings could improve the way human beings interact with their computers and other high-tech devices, even robots, allowing for more natural and realistic social interactions with machines,” Loetscher said.
“People are always looking for improved, personalized services. Today’s robots and computers are not socially aware so they cannot adapt to non-verbal information,” Loetscher said in a statement quoted by Indian Express. “This research provides opportunities to develop robots and computers so that they can become more natural, and better at interpreting human social signals.”
The study revealed previously undiscovered relations between specific personality characteristics and specific eye movement tendencies, according to a summary in Britain’s Daily Mail newspaper.
1.What do the underlined words “peer into” in Paragraph 2 probably mean?
A.understand B.stare at
C.search for D.concern about
2.How did the researchers conduct the research?
A.It was carried out in a lab.
B.42 subjects’ eye movements were recorded.
C.The students’ daily movements were tracked.
D.Its subjects’ personalities were determined by computer.
3.According to Tobias Loetscher, what can we know?
A.Robots and computers are socially conscious.
B.People care less about improved, personalized services.
C.Today’s robots and computers can accustom to non-verbal information.
D.The discovery will improve the interaction between human beings and machines.
4.What can be a suitable title for the text?
A.Human Personality Traits
B.What Human Eye Movements Are
C.Tell Personalities by Eye Movements
D.How Humans and Machines Interact
If you see a problem, you should find a solution. That is what Alex Knoll, a 13-year-old boy from Post Falls, Idaho, believes. When he noticed a man struggling to open a heavy door from his wheelchair, Alex started thinking. "I wondered if there was a resource available to him to show which business had automatic doors, so he could actually access them, "Alex told Time for Kids."I couldn't find anything, so I created it."
That was four years ago. The idea is Ability App. Alex's website says the app will help people with disabilities and their caregivers find the exact position of public spaces and find safe, reliable services and employment opportunities. Talk-show host Ellen DeGeneres liked Alex's idea so much that she had him on her show and surprised him with a $25,000 check. "I think it's really going to help me get going, " Alex says.
Worldwide, there are more than a billion people with some kind of disability, according to The World Health Organization. A disability can make it hard to do everyday activities and find a Job. Tara Miller is a friend of Alex's family. She uses a wheelchair. She helps Alex with his app by sharing her experience of what it is like to live with a disability. "We all want to be able to be in the same establishments(机构) as any able-bodied person, " Miller says. "It' s about little things like low tables in restaurants and automatic doors, which can make a huge difference, she says. Alex has yet to set a launch (发布) date for Ability App. But he is determined to meet his goal. "I'm going to work as hard as I can and as fast as I can, "he says.
1.What made Alex create Ability App?
A.The desire to make money. B.The idea of a friend of his family.
C.The inconvenience to a disabled man. D.The encouragement of a well-known host.
2.How does Tara Miller help Alex?
A.By sharing her experience as a disabled girl.
B.By collecting employment information.
C.By lending him some money.
D.By looking after his family.
3.How do the disabled benefit from the App?
A.They can get donations.
B.They are offered discounts in restaurants.
C.They are invited to a talk show to raise public attention.
D.They enjoy easy access to public services and job opportunities.
4.What is Alex like?
A.Generous and honest. B.Brave and easy-going.
C.Creative and determined. D.Confident and energetic.
High School Course Requirements for College Admissions
While admissions standards vary greatly from one school to another, nearly all colleges and universities will be looking to see that applicants have completed a standard core (核心) curriculum. As you choose classes in high school, these core courses should always be the most important. Students without these classes may be automatically disqualified for admission. In general, a typical high school core curriculum looks something like this.
English: 4 years
Foreign Language: 2 to 3 years
Math: 3 years
Science: 2 to 3 years including lab science
Social Studies and History: 2 to 3 years
Art: 1 year
Keep in mind that the required courses for admission differ from the recommended courses. At selective colleges and universities, additional years of math, science and language will be necessary for you to be a competitive applicant.
When colleges calculate your Grade Point Average (GPA) for admissions purposes, they will often ignore the GPA on your transcript (成绩单) and focus only on your grades in these core subject areas. Grades for physical education, music performance and other non-core courses are not as useful for predicting your level of college readiness as these core courses. This doesn't mean that electives aren't important. Colleges do want to see that you have a large variety of interests and experiences, but they simply don't provide a good window into an applicant's ability to handle strict college courses.
Core course requirements vary from state to state, and many of the more selective colleges will want to see a strong high school academic record that goes well beyond the core. Advanced Placement, IB and Honors courses are a must to be competitive at the most selective colleges. In most cases, the strongest applicants to highly selective colleges will have four years of math (including calculus), four years of science and four years of a foreign language.
1.How many courses are included in a typical high school core curriculum?
A.Three. B.Six. C.Eight. D.Ten.
2.What does your non-core courses mean when you apply to college?
A.Your intelligence level. B.Your academic standard.
C.Your talents and creativity. D.Your interests and experiences.
3.Who will most probably be interested in the text?
A.High school students B.High school teachers
C.College students D.College teachers
听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。
1.What does Alexandra Grace work for?
A.New Zealand Embassy Beijing.
B.QS World University Ranking System.
C.The Multi-cultural Environment Organization.
2.What stops some students choosing New Zealand for study?
A.Its environment. B.Its size. C.Its population.
3.What’s the total yearly cost for a Chinese student to study in a New Zealand university?
A.20,000 dollars. B.25,000 dollars. C.45,000 dollars.
4.What message about New Zealand does the speaker mainly convey?
A.Its multi-cultural environment is good for tourists.
B.Its higher education is suitable for Chinese students.
C.Its breath-taking scenery is absolutely worth seeing.
听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。
1.Why did the man miss the woman’s phone call yesterday?
A.His phone was turned off.
B.He was taking a shower.
C.He didn’t take his phone with him.
2.What did the woman do yesterday?
A.She went shopping.
B.She went to a concert.
C.She played computer games.
3.Why did the woman call the man?
A.To invite him to her wedding.
B.To ask something about Megan.
C.To invite him to her sister’s wedding.
4.When will the woman pick up the man next Saturday?
A.At 13:00. B.At 13:20. C.At 14:00.
