Question

    In today's world, most workers are highly specialized, but this specialization can come at a cost——especially for those on the wrong team. New research by Harvard's Growth Lab uncovers the importance of teams and coworkers when it comes to one's productivity, earning potential, and stays of employment. The research analyzed administrative data on the 9 million inhabitants of Sweden. It found that to earn high wages and returns on education, workers must find coworkers who complement, but not substitute them.

The research offers a tool to assess the right and wrong coworkers in fields of expertise. The right coworkers are those with sills you lack, yet needed to complete a team. The wrong coworkers are those who have the same skill set as you and eventually lower your value to the employer. For example, those with a degree in architecture are best assisted by workers with engineering, construction, or surveying degrees, and negatively impacted by those with landscape or interior design degrees.

“We tend to think of sills as something personal that individuals can market to a company, ” said Frank Neffke, Growth Lab Research Director “However, this vision of sills is too simplistic. One person's sills connect to another person's sills, etc. ,and the better these connections are, the more productive workers will be, and the more they will earn” Neffke adds that the benefits of working with complementary coworkers are not the same for all workers. Those with higher levels of education seem to benefit much more from working in complementary teams than workers with lower levels. Over the past 20 years, workers with college degrees or higher have been increasingly able to find better matching coworkers.

Complementary also drives careers. The research shows that people tend to stay longer in organizations with many complementary workers and tend to leave those with many workers who substitute them. These results hold true for up to 20 years of one's career.

The research also supports several well-known facts, such as cities and large firms pay higher wages. Workers are more likely to find better fitting teams in cities, and large firms often allow workers to specialize.

1.Which group of workers can make up the best team?

A.Those who can substitute each other. B.Those who come from the same place.

C.Those who are expert in the same field. D.Those who have the complementary sill

2.Who may be the best complementary coworker for an architect?

A.A landscaper. B.A house agent.

C.A constructor. D.Another architect.

3.Employers think more of their staff’s________.

A.dependence relationship B.struggling spirit

C.physical quality D.educational level

4.What can be the best title of the text?

A.What workers your employer need most

B.How coworkers impact the value of your skills

C.How coworkers get higher wages and a long-term job

D.How complementarity improves your mental potential

Answer

1.D

2.C

3.A

4.B

【解析】

本文是一篇说明文。哈佛大学成长实验室的一项新研究揭示了团队和同事对一个人的生产力、收入潜力和就业机会的重要性。研究表明你团队的伙伴擅长的领域也会影响到你的技术价值，如果你的伙伴也擅长你的技术，你的价值就无法体现，你就有可能被替代，这在团队合作中是不利的。文章说明了工人间技术上的互补性在一个成功的团队的作用及其益处。

1.细节理解题。根据第一段中It found that to earn high wages and returns on education, workers must find coworkers who complement (互补),but not substitute them.可知研究发现，要想获得高工资和教育回报，员工必须找到能够互补而不是替代他们的同事。由此可知，那些有互补基础的人可以组成最好的团队。故选D。

2.细节理解题。根据第二段最后一句For example, those with a degree in architecture are best assisted by workers with engineering, construction, or surveying degrees, and negatively impacted by those with landscape or interior design degrees.可知例如，拥有建筑学学位的人最好能得到拥有工程、建筑或测量学位的工人的帮助，而拥有景观或室内设计学位的人则会对他们产生负面影响。由此可知，对于建筑师来说，最好的辅助者是建造者。故选C。

3.细节理解题。根据第三段中One person's sills connect to another person's sills, etc. ,and the better these connections are, the more productive workers will be, and the more they will earn” Neffke adds that the benefits of working with complementary coworkers are not the same for all workers.可知一个人的基础与另一个人的基础相联系，等等，这些联系越好，员工的工作效率就越高，他们赚的钱也就越多。”Neffke补充说，与互补的同事一起工作的好处对所有员工来说都是不一样的。由此可知，雇主更看重员工的依赖关系。故选A。

4.主旨大意题。根据第一段中New research by Harvard's Growth Lab uncovers the importance of teams and coworkers when it comes to one's productivity, earning potential, and stays of employment. The research analyzed administrative data on the 9 million inhabitants of Sweden. It found that to earn high wages and returns on education, workers must find coworkers who complement, but not substitute them.可知哈佛大学成长实验室的一项新研究揭示了团队和同事对一个人的生产力、收入潜力和就业机会的重要性。研究分析了900万瑞典居民的管理数据。研究发现，要想获得高工资和教育回报，员工必须找到能够互补而不是替代他们的同事。结合文章主要讲述现代社会工人之间的技术互补性对团队的成功很重要。研究表明你团队的伙伴擅长的领域也会影响到你的技术价值，如果你的伙伴也擅长你的技术，你的价值就无法体现，你就有可能被替代，这在团队合作中是不利的。故B选项“同事如何影响你技能的价值”最符合文章标题。故选B。