Cooperation at work is generally seen as a good thing. The latest survey by the Financial Times of what employers want from MBA graduates found that the ability to work with a wide variety of people was what managers wanted most. But managers always have to balance the benefits of teamwork, which help ensure that everyone is working towards the same goal, with the dangers of “groupthink” when critics are reluctant to point out a plan’s drawbacks for fear of being kept out of the group. The disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba in 1961 was a classic case of groupthink. Skeptics were reluctant to challenge John F. Kennedy, the newly elected American president.
Modern communication methods mean that cooperation is more frequent. Workers are constantly in touch with each other via e-mail messaging groups or mobile calls. But does that improve, or lower performance? A new study by three American academics, tried to answer this question. They set a logical problem (designing the shortest route for a travelling salesman visiting various cities). Three groups were involved: one where subjects acted independently; another where they saw the solutions posted by team members at every stage; and a third where they were kept informed of each other’s views only intermittently.
The survey found that members of the individualist group reached the premier solution more often than the constant cooperators but had a poorer average result. The intermittent cooperators found the right result as often as the individualists, and got a better average solution. When it comes to ideal generation, giving people a bit of space to a solution seems to be a good idea. Occasional cooperation can be a big help: most people have benefited from a colleague’s brainwave or (just as often) wise advice to avoid a particular course of action.
Further clues come from a book, Superminds, by Thomas Malone of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He says that three factors determine the collective intelligence of cooperating groups: social intelligence (how good people were at rating the emotional states of others); the extent to which members took part equally in conversation (the more equal, the better); and the cooperation of women in the group (the higher, the better). Groups ranked highly in these areas cooperated far better than others.
In short, cooperation may be a useful tool but it doesn’t work in every situation.
1.The author cites the example of The Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba in paragraph 1 to _______.
A.prove that team players are skilled at communication
B.show that teamwork cannot always be beneficial
C.prove that critics are unwilling to challenge anybody
D.show the danger of groupthink is not very serious
2.The underlined phrase “the intermittent cooperators” in paragraph 3 refers to _______.
A.those who do not cooperate but reach the best solution
B.those who are seldom informed of other’s views
C.those who cooperate with others occasionally
D.the constant cooperators with a poor average result
3.Which of the following factors makes a team cooperate better?
A.Group members cooperating all the time.
B.Group members in a good emotional state.
C.Equal distribution of men and women.
D.Equal participation in the communication.
4.Which can be the best title of the passage?
A.When Teamwork Works B.What Teamwork Is About
C.How Teamwork Operates D.A Useful Tool: Cooperation
On a recent sunny, dry fall morning, I found the last outdoor table at my favorite café. Reading ______ I nibbled my breakfast, I was enjoying the feeling of the cool breeze and the warm sun when a table next to me ______. A woman who had been standing nearby, ______ waiting for a seat, stepped toward the table. But from the other ______, straight from the parking lot, came a man who got to the table first.
The woman, with a ______ on her face, explained that she’d been ______ that table for several minutes and had been on her way over. The man, also smiling but ______, told her she was out of ______; he had happened upon the table first. “You snooze(不注意), you lose!” he said cheerfully.
She stood off to the side, clearly disappointed, and ______ her friend with the frustrating news. I sat at my table, ______ the scene, when suddenly it occurred to me—I had a(n) ______ here to be kind.
I stood up and ______ her over to my table. Quietly, I told her I had seen what had happened, and I was happy to give her my table. I was only going to be there a few more minutes ______, so I was happy for her and her friend to have the ______.
“But where will you sit?” she asked. I was almost done eating, I said, and I would find a seat at the counter ______. She thanked me and beamed(堆满笑容) as she ______ for her friend to sit down.
Thinking about it as I finished up, I realized that whether or not the woman had fair ______ to the table was unimportant. The emotion of the situation—the look of hurt on her face—had ______ me, and I had the ability to do something about it.
That isn’t always the case with every feeling, situation, or injustice we ______ unexpectedly in our days. But as the early 20th century writer Orison Swett Marden once said, “Don’t wait for extraordinary opportunities. ______ common occasions and make them great.”
I just hope that woman’s morning at the café was great. I know mine was.
1.A.till B.after C.as D.before
2.A.closed up B.opened up C.looked up D.showed up
3.A.hesitantly B.clearly C.seemingly D.steadily
4.A.entrance B.angle C.gate D.direction
5.A.smile B.shock C.glare D.gaze
6.A.monitoring B.watching C.minding D.wandering
7.A.firm B.impatient C.elegant D.reluctant
8.A.order B.luck C.shape D.place
9.A.served B.compared C.loaded D.greeted
10.A.taking down B.taking up C.taking in D.taking over
11.A.scene B.opportunity C.access D.passion
12.A.followed B.guided C.signaled D.rushed
13.A.anyway B.someway C.somewhere D.anywhere
14.A.floor B.spot C.moment D.kindness
15.A.downstairs B.upstairs C.outside D.inside
16.A.gestured B.headed C.waited D.sent
17.A.passage B.claim C.approach D.admission
18.A.shamed B.surprised C.struck D.scared
19.A.repeat B.hate C.tolerate D.meet
20.A.Mark B.Hold C.Celebrate D.Seize
I can’t get my car _____ on cold mornings, so I have to try ______ the radiator with some hot water.
A.run; to fill B.running; filling
C.running; to fill D.ran; filling
Alipay, which currently has over 520 million users, is a powerful ____ of payment tools, financial services and marketing platforms.
A.indication B.representation C.observation D.combination
— ____ the doctor was murdered?
— It was in the art gallery _____ famous paintings were on display.
A.Where it was that; that B.Where it was that; where
C.Where was it that; where D.Where was it that; that
The number of road accidents and the deaths _____ those accidents _____ over the past years.
A.resulting in; has increased B.resulting in; have increased
C.resulting from; has increased D.resulting from; have increased
