Question

When it's five o'clock, people leave their office. The length of the workday, for many workers, is defined by time. They leave when the clocks tell them they’re done.

These days, the time is everywhere: not just on clocks or watches, but on cellphones and computers. That may be a bad thing, particularly at work. New research shows that clock based work schedules hinder creativity.

Clock-timers organize their day by blocks of minutes and hours. For example: a meeting from 9 a. m. to 10 a. m, research from 10 a. m to noon, etc. On the other hand, task-timers have a list of things they want to accomplish. They work down the list, each task starts when the previous task is completed. It is said that all of us employ a mix of both these types of planning.

What, then, are the effects of thinking about time in these different ways? Does one make us more productive? Better at the tasks at hand? Happier? In experiments conducted by Tamar Avnet and Anne-Laure Sellier, they had participants organize different activities from project planning, holiday shopping, to yoga by time or to-do list to measure how they performed under “ clock time” vs. “ task time”. They found clock timers to be more efficient(有效率的) but less happy because they felt little control over their lives. Task timers are happier and more creative, but less productive. They tend to enjoy the moment when something good is happening, and seize opportunities that come up.

The researchers argue that task-based organizing tends to be undervalued and under-supported in the business culture. This might be a small change to the way we view work and the office, but the researchers argue that it challenges a widespread characteristic of the economy: work organized by clock time. While most people will still probably need, and be, to some extent, clock-timers, task-based timing should be used when performing a job that requires more creativity. It’ll make those tasks easier, and the task-doers will be happier.

1.What does the author say a clock-based work?

A. It makes workers very tired.

B. It reminds workers to leave on time.

C. It makes workers aware of the precious time.

D. It may have a bad effect on the creativity.

2.What does the underlined word “hinder” in paragraph 2 mean?

A. Block.    B. Consider.

C. Increase.    D. Value.

3.What did Tamar Avnet and Anne-Laure Sellier find in their experiments about clock-timers?

A. They seize opportunities as they come up.

B. They always get their work done in time.

C. They tend to be more productive.

D. They can control their lives.

4.What do the researchers suggest?

A. Task-based timing is preferred for doing creative work.

B. It is important to keep a balance between work and life.

C. Performing creative jobs tends to make workers happier.

D. A scientific standard should be adopted in job evaluation.

Answer

1. D

2. A

3. C

4. A

【解析】

本文为议论文。本文讲述了时间提醒和任务提醒对人们工作的影响，并通过研究描述它们的优缺点。建议工作人员的规划更多地基于任务而不是时间．

解答

1.D

细节理解题。由第二段That may be a bad thing，particularly at work。可知这对会工作产生负面影响，故选D

2.猜测词义题。根据上一句“That may be a bad thing, particularly at work. New research shows that clock based work schedules hinder creativity.”可知，这有负面的影响，尤其是对工作没有好处。由此可知这种工作方式对于创造性不好。分析四个选项A. Block阻碍；B. Consider.考虑；C. Increase.增加；DValue.重视。可知， A项是不好的影响，可知A项符合题意。

3.C

细节理解题．由第四段They found clock timers to be more efficient but less happy because they felt little control over their lives. Task timers are happier and more creative, but less productive.可知，以钟表计时的人们会变得更高效，但不快乐。其中的C项中的be more productive就是对be more efficient的替换。故选C

4.A

细节理解题。最后一段 While most people will still probably need, and be, to some extent, clock-timers, task-based timing should be used when performing a job that requires more creativity. It'll make those tasks easier, and the task-doers will be happier. 可知作者建议在做需要更多创造性的工作时，应该使用基于任务的时间安排表，故选A。