In Japan many workers who work in large corporations have a guarantee of lifetime employment. During their employment, they will not be laid off during recessions(经济萧条) or when the tasks they perform are taken over by robots. To some observers, this is what they call capitalism at its best, because workers are treated as people not things. Others see it as necessarily inefficient and they also believe it cannot continue if Japan is to remain competitive with foreign corporations by being more concerned about profits and less concerned about people.
Defenders of the system argue that those who call it inefficient do not understand how it really works. In the first place not every Japanese worker has the guarantee of a lifetime job. The lifetime employment system includes only “regular employees”. Many employees are not included in this category, including all women. All businesses have many part-time and temporary employees. These workers are hired and laid off during the course of the business cycle just as employees in the United States are. These “irregular workers” make up about 10 percent of the non-agricultural work force. Additionally, Japanese firms keep some flexibility through the large-scale use of subcontractors（转承包者）. This practice is much more common in Japan than in the United States.
The use of both subcontractors and temporary workers has increased remarkably in Japan since the 1974-1975 recessions. All this leads some people to argue that the Japanese system is not all that different from the American system. During recessions Japanese corporations lay off temporary workers and give less business to subcontractors. In the United States, corporations lay off those workers with the least seniority(资历). The difference then is probably less than the term “lifetime employment” suggests, but there still is a difference. And this difference cannot be understood without looking at the values of Japanese society. The relationship between employer and employee cannot be explained in purely contractual(合同的) terms. Firms hold on to the employees and employees stay with one firm. There are also practical reasons for not jumping from job to job. Most retirement benefits come from the employer. Changing jobs means losing these benefits. Also, teamwork is an essential part of Japanese production. Moving to a new firm means adapting to a different team and at least temporarily, possessing lower productivity and lower pay.
61.It is stated in the second paragraph that ____.
A. defenders themselves do not appreciate the system
B. about 90% of “irregular workers” are employed in agriculture
C. the business cycle occurs more often in Japan and in the U.S.
D. not all employees can benefit from the policy
62. During recessions those who are to be fired first in the U.S. corporations are ____.
A. regular employees B. part-time workers
C. junior employees D. temporary workers
63. According to the passage, Japanese firms are remarkably different from American firms in that the former ____.
A. use subcontractors in larger amount
B. are less flexible in terms of lifetime employment
C. hold on to the values of society
D. are more efficient in competition than the latter
64. Which of the following does NOT account for the fact that a Japanese worker is unwilling to change his job?
A. He will probably be low-paid.
B. He will not be able to possess some job benefits.
C. He has got used to the teamwork.
D. He will be looked down upon by his prospective employer.
65. Which of the following can be the best title for this passage?
A. The guarantee of employment in Japan
B. The consequence of the Japanese system
C. The advantages of lifetime employment in Japan
D. The expectations of capitalism
NEW YORK---One in five U.S. workers regularly attends after-work drinks with coworkers, where the most common mishaps range from badmouthing another worker to drinking too much, according to a study released on Tuesday.
Most workers attend so-called happy hours to bond with colleagues, although 15 percent go to hear the latest office gossip and 13 percent go because they feel necessary, said the survey conducted for CareerBuilder. com, an online job site. As to what happens when the after-work drinks flow, 16 percent reported bad-mouthing a colleague, 10 percent shared a secret about a colleague and 8 percent said they drank too much and acted unprofessionally. Five percent said they had shared a secret about the company, and 4 percent confessed to singing karaoke. While 21 percent of those who attended said happy hours were good for networking, 85 percent said attending had not helped them get closer to someone higher up or get a better position. An equal number of men and women said they attended happy hours with co-workers, with younger workers aged 25 to 34 most likely and workers over 55 least likely to attend. Overall, 21 percent of workers attend happy hours with co-workers and; of those nearly a quarter go at least once a month.
The survey was conducted online by Harris Interactive on behalf of CareerBuilder. com among 6,987 full-time employees between February 11 and March 13. Harris Interactive said the results had a sampling error of plus or minus 1.2 percentage points.
56. Harris Interactive made the survey to find out .
A. how U.S. workers spend their after-work time
B. what U.S. workers do at after-work drinks
C. the relationships between U.S. workers
D. who are most likely to attend after-work drinks
57. of workers who attend after-work drinks speak ill of a colleague.
A. 4 percent B. 8 percent C. 16 percent D. 10 percent
58. According to the passage, most of those surveyed believed attending after-work drinks .
A.benefited them a lot B. could provide information
C.only made them relaxed D. was of no help to them
59. We can learn from the text that .
A. workers over 55 don’t like to attend happy hours at all
B. about 75% of workers go more than once a month
C. 10.5% of male workers attend happy hours with co-workers
D. about 700 workers surveyed shared a secret about a co-worker
60. After the survey, it can be inferred that .
A. all the workers oppose after-work drinks
B. the workers may change their attitudes towards after-work drinks
C. all the workers support after-work drinks
D. all the workers are suggested going to attend after-work drinks
SECTION C
Directions: Complete the following passage by filling in each blank with ONE word that best fits the context.
The Internet has become part of young people’s life. A 48._________ shows that 38% of the students often use the Internet. Most of them get 49.________ information on the Internet and use the Internet to help in their studies. 50.___________ many students don’t use it 51._________ a good way. Some play computer games too much; some visit websites they shouldn’t look at. Bad things may happen 52.________ students spend too much time on the Internet.
53._____ is important for students to use the Internet properly. Now we have a textbook, 54._________ uses many examples to teach students some good ways to use the Internet. It gives useful advice.
Some students also make friends on the Internet. But if you want to have a face-to-face meeting with your online friends, let your parents know and 55.________ at a proper place.
SECTION B
Directions: For each blank in the following passage there are four words or phrases marked A, B, C and D. Fill in each blank with word or phrases that best fits the context.
Soon it would be the holidays. But before that, there were the end of year exams. All the students had been working 36 for some time. If they didn’t pass, they would have to 37 the exams in September. There were usually a few who failed, but Kate decided not to be one of them. She had worked hard all day, but just before the exams she was working so hard that her sister was 38 about her. She was staying up too late. The night before the first exam, Barbala 39 that she should have an early night and take a sleeping pill. She 40 to wake her up in the morning.
As she was falling asleep, Kate was worried that she might oversleep. Her mind kept jumping from subject to subject. At last, with the help of the 41 , she fell asleep. In no time at all, she was sitting in the examination hall, looking at the paper. She couldn’t answer any of the questions. Everyone round her was writing pages and pages. However hard she thought, she couldn’t find 42 to write about. She kept looking at her watch. 43 was running out. There was only one hour left. She started one question, wrote two sentences, 44 and tried another one. With only half an hour left, she wrote another two sentences. By this time she was so 45 that she started 46 . Her whole body shook. It shook so much that it woke her up. She was still 47 and it had all been a(n) terrible dream. A minute later, Barbala called her name.
36. A. lazily B. hard C. legally D. smoothly
37. A. give up B. pass C. quit D. retake
38. A. worried B. satisfied C. enjoyed D. afraid
39. A. argued B. insisted C. claimed D. thought
40. A. refused B. opposed C. promised D. hoped
41. A. herself B. her sister C. tiredness D. pill
42. A. anything B. nothing C. something D. everything
43. A. Money B. Food C. Time D. Water
44. A. looked up B. gave up C. put up D. made up
45. A. happy B. excited C. surprised D. upset
46. A. moving B. laughing C. crying D. singing
47. A. in bed B. in the hall C. in school D. in the classroom
________ good use you have made of your time to work, there is still some room for improvement.
A. Whatever B. However C. Though D. Whether
It was the quality of life in the future I took this training course，not just to make more money.
A. to improve; that B. improving; when C. to improve; when D. improving; that
