Question

Are you reading this while sitting in an office cubicle（办公室格子间）? If so, please take a moment and glance around you. Are there photos of your last vacation hung on the wall? One of your kid’s drawings? A yellowed print of a favorite cartoon?

If so, you are doing something good for both yourself and your organization. Newly published research suggests working in an environment that offers little privacy can lead to emotional exhaustion and burnout（过度疲劳）. But personalizing one’s workplace is an effective protection against such unwanted outcomes.

“Individuals may take comfort from the items with which they surround themselves at work, and these items may help employees to keep emotional energy high in the face of stresses that come from their work,” writes a research team led by Gregory Laurence of the University of Michigan-Flint, Michigan, in north central U.S.

In the Journal of Environmental Psychology, Laurence and his colleagues describe a study featuring 87 white-collar employees at a large, urban university in the Midwestern United States.

Research assistants noted whether they worked in a private office (with a door that can be closed) or a cubicle. They also counted the number of items each worker had brought from home to decorate his or her workspace – a list that included photographs, posters, artworks.

Not surprisingly, Laurence and his colleagues found a connection between the amount of privacy an employee enjoys and his or her rate of burnout. “High privacy conditions tend to serve as strong protectors against unwelcome interferences and distractions（干扰和分心的事）,” they noted, “contributing to a work environment supporting reduced emotional exhaustion.”

But this link disappeared when those employees had personalized their cubicles. Employees who had turned their workspaces into areas that reflect their interests and personalities reported the same (relatively low) level of emotional exhaustion, no matter whether they worked in an office or a cubicle.

The research confirms “the calming effect” of having your own stuff around you. So if you’re feeling exhausted at work, relief could be as simple as hanging a few of your kindergartener’s colorful creations on your cubicle wall.

1.Who might be most interested in the passage?

A. Job hunters.

B. Office workers.

C. Kid’s parents

D. Employment researchers.

2.For employees, decorating cubicles with their own items __________.

A. offers them little privacy

B. may help improve their work efficiency

C. will sometimes cause burnout

D. serve as interferences and distractions

3.The participant of the research __________.

A. come from the university of Michigan-Flint

B. all suffer high levels of emotional exhaustion

C. may work in a private office or in a cubicle

D. like personalizing their homes with little items

4.Where does this passage probably come from?

A. A book reviewB. A research plan

C. An official documentD. A news report

Answer

1.B

2.B

3.C

4.D

【解析】

试题分析: 本文在讲述研究成果，对于做办公室的人来说，在一个不能提供隐私的环境中工作的员工会导致情绪疲倦，提供多重视他们的私人空间，会让他们的效率更高，面对压力的抵抗力会更强。

1.B 细节理解题。根据第一段提到Are you reading this while sitting in an office cubicle（办公室格子间）? If so, please take a moment and glance around you.你是做在办公室讲到这个内容的吗，如果是，请看看人的周围，再根据第二段提到Newly published research suggests working in an environment that offers little privacy can lead to emotional exhaustion and burnout最后研究表明，在一个不能提供隐私的环境中工作的人会导致情绪疲倦，故针对的对象是办公室的上班族，故选B项。

2.B 细节理解题。根据第三段提到Individuals may take comfort from the items with which they surround themselves at work, and these items may help employees to keep emotional energy high in the face of stresses that come from their work,可知如果提供舒适的工作环境，会帮助员工保持精力，来面对工作上的压力，故选B项。

3.C 细节理解题。根据第五段提到Research assistants noted whether they worked in a private office (with a door that can be closed) or a cubicle研究人员注意无论他们工作在私人办公室还是格子间，故选C项。

4.D 推断题。本文在讲述研究成果，对于做办公室的人来说，在一个不能提供隐私的环境中工作的员工会导致情绪疲倦，提供多重视他们的私人空间，会让他们的效率更高，面对压力的抵抗力会更强，故文章应来自报告，所以选D项。

考点：日常生活类阅读。