Question

    There will be days when you do not have much to do. Perhaps because you are waiting for someone else in a different department or a different company to respond to a request. As the clock ticks past 5 pm, there may be no purpose in staying at your desk. But you can see you hard at work and, more important. they can see you. So you make an effort to look busy.

Some of this may he a self-perpetuating(白生自存）cycle. If bosses do not like to go home before their workers, and workers fear leaving before their bosses, everyone is trapped. Staff may feel that they will not get a pay rise, or a promotion, if they are not seen to be putting in maximum effort. This is easily confused with long hours. Managers, who are often no good at judging employees 'performance, use time in the office as an alternative.

The consequence is often wasted effort. Rather than work hard, you work hard to make bosses think that you are. Leaving a jacket on your office chair, walking around purposefully with a notebook or clipboard and sending out emails at odd hours are three of the best-known tricks. After a while this can result in collective self-cheat that this pretence is actual work.

But presenteeism(出勤）has more serious consequences. As well as reducing productivity, this can increase medical expenses for the employer. According to a study, these costs can be six times higher for employers than the costs of absenteeism among workers. To take one example, research published in the British Medical Journal found that Japanese employees with lower-back pain were three times more likely to turn up for work than in Britain. As a result, those workers were more likely to experience greater pain and to suffer from depression. What could be more upset than being in pain while feeling trapped at work?

None of this is to say that employers haven't the right to expect workers to be in the office for an acceptable proportion of time. Unavoidably there will be a need for some(preferably short)meetings. Dealing with colleagues face-to-face creates a feeling of trust and friendship, allows for a useful exchange of ideas and enables workers to have a better sense of their needs.

But modern machinery like smartphones and laptops is portable. It can be used as easily at home as in the office. Turing an office into a prison, with prisoners allowed home for the evenings, does nothing for the creativity that is increasingly demanded of office workers as routine tasks are automated. To be productive you need presence of mind, not being present in the flesh.

1.Why do employees still stay at their desk after work?

A.To keep their bosses company.

B.To get more overtime allowance.

C.To put extra efforts into their work.

D.To give their bosses a good impression.

2.One of the consequences of presenteeism is that___________?

A.employers will pay workers higher wages

B.workers will suffer physically and mentally

C.workers will perform their job more efficiently

D.the effort put in by workers will finally pay off

3.Working in the office for some time can help_________?

A.build better social bonds

B.bring bosses more profits

C.organize a meeting efficiently

D.satisfy workers 'material needs

4.What would the author probably agree with?

A.Presenteeism can't help develop creativity.

B.Absence from work reduces productivity.

C.Presence at work will be more joyful.

D.Technology makes life puzzling.

Answer

1.D

2.B

3.A

4.A

【解析】

这是一篇议论文。文章阐述了公司员工下班后被迫加班的原因，以及被迫加班的不良结果。

1.推理判断题。根据第1段As the clock ticks past 5 pm, there may be no purpose in staying at your desk. But you can see you hard at work and, more important, they can see you. So you make an effort to look busy可知，下班后你不回去，努力让自己忙起来。不止是忙给自己看的，更重要的是忙给他们看。根据下文，“他们”指的就是“老板”。同时根据第2段Staff may feel that they will not get a pay rise, or a promotion, if they are not seen to be putting in maximum effort可知，员工得不到提薪和升职，如果他们没有被老板看到尽最大的努力的话。综合分析可推知，下班后员工继续加班是为给老板留下好印象的。故选D项。

2.细节理解题。文章第3段和第4段提到的结果包括了：wasted effort（浪费精力）；collective self-cheat（集体自我欺骗）；reducing productivity,（减少效率）；increase medical expenses（增加员工医疗成本）；同时根据第4段As a result, those workers were more likely to experience greater pain and to suffer from depression. What could be more upset than being in pain while feeling trapped at work可知，员工更有可能经历更大的痛苦，并患上抑郁症。综合分析，故选B项。

3.细节理解题。根据第5段Dealing with colleagues face-to-face creates a feeling of trust and friendship, allows for a useful exchange of ideas and enables workers to have a better sense of their needs可知，在办公司面对面办公有诸多好处，包括会产生一种信任和友谊的感觉，有利于有益的思想交流，也能让员工更好地了解自己的需求，建立更好的社会联系。故选A项。

4.推理判断题。根据最后一段Turing an office into a prison, with prisoners allowed home for the evenings, does nothing for the creativity that is increasingly demanded of office workers as routine tasks are automated. To be productive you need presence of mind, not being present in the flesh可知，作者认为：把办公室当作监狱，把员工当作犯人。对创造性毫无帮助。故选A项。