Men and women are still treated unequally in the workplace. Women continue to earn less, on average, for the same performance. Research has shown that both conscious(有意识的) and subconscious biases (偏见) contribute to this problem. But we’ve discovered another source of inequality: Women often don’t get what they want and deserve because they don’t ask for it. In three separate studies, we found that men are more likely than women to negotiate for what they want.
The first study found that the starting salaries of male MBAs who had recently graduated from Carnegie Mellon were 7.6%, or almost $4,000, higher on average than those of female MBAs from the same program. That’s because most of the women had simply accepted the employer’s salary offer; in fact, only 7% had attempted to negotiate. But 57% of their male counterparts--or eight times as many men as women—had asked for more.
Another study tested this gender difference in the lab. Subjects were told that they would be observed playing a word game and that they would be paid between $3 and $10 for playing. After each subject completed the task, an experimenter thanked the participant and said, “Here’s $3. Is $3 OK?” For the men, it was not OK, and they said so. Their requests for more money are nine times as many as the women’s.
The largest of the three studies surveyed several hundred people over the Internet, asking them about the most recent negotiations they’d attempted or started and when they expected to negotiate next. The study showed that men place themselves in negotiation situations much more often than women do.
There are several reasons accounting for the phenomenon. First, women often are taught from an early age not to promote their own interests and to focus instead on the needs of others. The messages girls receive—from parents, teachers, other children, the media, and society in general—can be so powerful that when they grow up they may not realize that they’ve made this behavior part of them, or they may realize it but not understand how it affects their willingness to negotiate. Women tend to think that they will be recognized and rewarded for working hard and doing a good job. Unlike men, they haven’t been taught that they can ask for more.
【小题1】According to this passage, what causes the inequality in the workplace?

A．social bias

B．women’s poorer working ability

C．women’s worse academic background

D．women’s less negotiating

【小题2】Which can be the result of the following survey, according to Para 4?
 
When do you expect to negotiate next?
【小题3】Which of the following statements is NOT true?

A．Women are more likely to accept the employer’s salary offer.

B．Men tend to ask for more money than woman.

C．Women care more about other’s interest instead of themselves’.

D．Men believe that the better they work, the better they’re paid.

【小题4】What will be discussed in the following paragraph?

A．The suggestions given to women.

B．The warnings to men.

C．Another reason for women’s not asking.

D．Another reason for men’s asking.

In some urban centers, workaholism is so common that people do not consider it unusual．They accept the lifestyle as normal．Government workers in Washington D．C．, for example, frequently work sixty to seventy hours a week．They do this because they have to; they do it because they want to．
Workaholism can be a serious problem．Because true workaholics would rather work than do anything else, they probably don't know
how to relax; that is, they might not enjoy movies, sports, or other
types of entertainment．Most of all, they hate to sit and do nothing．The lives of workaholics are usually stressful, and this tension and worry can cause health problems such as heart attacks or stomach ulcers．In addition, typical workaholics don't pay much attention to their
families．They spend little time with their children, and their marriages may end in divorce．
Is workaholism always dangerous? Perhaps not．There are, certainly, people who work well under stress．Some studies show that many workaholics have great energy and interest in life．Their work is so pleasurable that they are actually very happy．For most workaholics, work and entertainment are the same thing．Their jobs provide them with a challenge; this keeps them busy and creative．
Why do workaholics enjoy their jobs so much? There are several advantages to work．It provides people with paychecks, and this is important．But it offers more than financial security It provides people with self-confidence; they have a feeling of satisfaction when they have produced a challenging piece of work and are able to say," I made that．" Psychologists claim that work gives people an identity; by working, they get a sense of self and individualism．In addition, most jobs provide people with a socially acceptable way to meet others．
【小题1】A workaholic is a person who____．

A．tends to work long hours

B．behaves in a strange way

C．has to do many social jobs

D．holds high social positions

【小题2】What can be the problem of workaholism?

A．Being late．

B．Being lazy．

C．Being hopeless．

D．Being unhealthy．

【小题3】According to some studies, most workaholics           .

A．live a hard life

B．regard work as something enjoyable

C．like to be under stress

D．are good at both work and entertainment

【小题4】What are the advantages one can get by working according to the text?
a． popularity      b． satisfaction      c． good payment
d． self-confidence  e． higher positions  f． social acceptation 

A．a; b; d; e

B．b; c; e; f

C．a; c; d; f

D．b; c; d; f

“Hey, little boy, will you support me when I’m getting old?” Wang Wenshan, 35, asked his newborn baby as he picked him up at home.
The Chinese tradition of raising sons to support parents in their old age has been weakened by the rapidly growing economy and improving standard of living. As is the case with more and more developed countries, China faces an aging society. People are living longer and having fewer children. Therefore, many Chinese families are falling into a 4－2－1 family pattern: a couple raises one child and supports four elderly parents. But few realize that a problem is likely to happen ahead.
The aging of the population is a trend that now affects a growing number of countries. Not long ago, the Information Office of the State Council, China’s cabinet, issued a white paper on measures China is taking to help its elderly population. The paper said China’s population entered the aging period at the end of the 20^th century and the proportion of people aged 60 and above accounted for over 10 percent of the entire population. By the end of 2005, China had nearly 144 million people over 60, accounting for 11 percent of population, according to the white paper.
An expanding aged population inevitably means that many issues must be settled, as the problem concerns every aspect of society. It puts more pressure on each family, causing disturbing economic consequences and serious social problems. It also challenges the labor force supply and the pension system.
“I used to think that it’s not an issue for me to provide for the aged,” said Wang, whose parents and parents-in-law all enjoy pensions and medical insurance. But last year Wang’s father suffered a serious illness and afterward Wang began to feel the pressure on his shoulders.
After his father recovered, Wang opened bank accounts for each parent and deposited some money into the account every month to prepare for future uncertainties. In addition, he has to save money every month to provide for his son’s future education. “I’m now breaking my back working to support my family: saving pensions for the parents, my son’s education funds, and living costs.”
Wang also bought some commercial old-age insurance for himself. “We have to take precautions before it is too late, and many of my colleagues share the same view,” he said.
【小题1】 Which of the following is not caused by an aging society?

A．Social problem

B．The problem of the pension system

C．More pressure on the family

D．Unemployment

【小题2】From the passage, we can infer _______

A．the aging people problem is one of the concerns for the Chinese government

B．China will encourage young couples to have more than one child

C．many people have realized the problem of aging society

D．children will not support their parents in an aging society

【小题3】Which of the following can be used to replace the underlined word inevitably?

A．Surprisingly

B．Certainly

C．Hopefully

D．Unluckily

【小题4】Form the text we can see that _______

A．China is the only country to face an aging society

B．Most of the developing countries face an aging society

C．countries with a large population face an aging society

D．more and more developed countries face an aging society

Endless playing of songs like All I Want For Christmas in shops during the festive season doesn’t just drive us mad—the songs also make us more careless with our money, research has warned.
While repeated performance of Jingle Bells may seem like an innocent attempt to raise customers’ spirits during the nightmare of Christmas shopping, the songs also have a more delicate impact.[来源:学科网ZXXK]
“Background music, or ‘muzak’, can be used by marketers to impose cultures—such as the commercialization of Christmas—onto consumers and influence their behaviour, ”experts said.
Dr. Alan Bradshaw of Royal Holloway, University of London, said, “Festive jingles are force-fed to Christmas shoppers in a bid to change their mood, influence their sense of time and what sort of products they buy. In other words, this is an attempt to control your shopping habits in a way that you might hardly be aware of.”
“Often we are told that we have the freedom to choose where we want to shop, but during Christmas the use of music in this way is so common that our freedom to choose disappears.”
Dr. Bradshaw and Prof Morris Holbrook of Columbia University examined the phenomenon and found that retailers often “dumb down” the music played in shops to relax customers, meaning it is easier to control their behaviour.
It is thought that slowing down the rhythm of music in shops can trick customers into thinking less time has passed, and therefore spend more time examining the shelves, for example.
Some providers of background music have been known to promote their services by claiming they can boost profits by controlling the behaviour of customers.
“A common trick is to take a popular current song and record an instrumental version which can be slowed down or sped up at different time of the day to influence behaviour in different ways,” Dr Bradshaw said.
Background music is often classed as “Muzak” in honor of the Seattle-based company which began producing its soft-sounding melodies in the 1930s.
【小题1】According to Dr. Bradshaw, in what ways does Christmas music influence customers?
①their mood ②their income ③their sense of time ④the sort of products they buy

A．①②③

B．①③④

C．②③④

D．①②④

【小题2】Shopkers slow down the rhythm of music in shops to__________.

A．let customers spend more time shopping

B．make customers and sales assistants relaxed

C．let customers enjoy the beautiful music

D．help customers find what they really want

【小题3】What kind of music is now often adapted to influence customers in shops?

A．Classical music.	B．Popular modern songs.
C．Folk songs.	D．Jazz music.

The issue of privacy versus openness is a paradox, particularly when it comes to the American home. “Lots” or “yards” (gardens) can be large and many are not enclosed by the walls, fences or hedges so popular in other cultures. Similarly, “window treatments” frame the window. but the use of European-style net curtains to screen out nosy neighbors is rare. In the same style, first-time visitors to an American home may be proudly given the full tour; even walk-in closets and en suite bathrooms are not considered off-limits. They may also be encouraged to help themselves to a soda from the fridge. All this gives an impression of openness.
Yet Americans do value their personal space and privacy. A Brazilian expatriate (侨民) who dropped in on her usually friendly Connecticut neighbors unannounced got the clear impression she should have called first. Similarly while a typical suburban home features large, shared areas, such as an open-plan kitchen and family room or “den”, ample private space is also allowed in the floor plan. A visit to a family home in the evening would likely find the family members dispersed, each independently watching TV, on the phone, surfing the Internet, or otherwise recharging batteries in the privacy of their own bedroom.
American individualism, expansiveness, and abundance are expressed in lifestyle. Despite the fact that the average household size has declined over the past thirty years from3.1 people to 2.6 people per household, the average size of a new family home increased during the same period from 1,500 to 2,200 square feet.
A common observation is just how outsized everything is. The beds are king-sized, the TVs have giant screens, the burgers are “whoppers (庞然大物),” appliances are “industrial” size. The largest popcorn or soda at the movies can be “supersized.” Closets are “walk in,” and some cars are the size of a military vehicle.
【小题1】The passage suggests that Americans__________.

A．are rich enough to afford large size houses and luxurious electricity appliances

B．are very shy when talking about keeping their privacy and their personal space

C．would like to express their lifestyles in public to show them off

D．enjoy openness as well as individualism although they seem to contradict each other

【小题2】Why can we say that American individualism, expansiveness, and abundance are expressed in their lifestyle?

A．Because the average size of a new house has increased during the past thirty years.

B．Because Americans often use European-style net curtains to screen out nosy neighbors.

C．Because many houses are equipped with walk-in closets.

D．Because the house size, outsized household furniture and independent living habits have proved it.

【小题3】The underlined phrase in the passage means________.

A．filling a battery with electrical power

B．recovering your strength and energy by resting for a while

C．changing your batteries again

D．obtaining new batteries because old ones are running out

【小题4】According to the passage, if you drop in on an American family which is usually friendly to you in the evening, you________.

A．will be deeply impressed by their family get-together scene

B．will be invited to a party which is well-prepared

C．will find family members scattered, and enjoying themselves individually

D．will be warmly welcomed even if they don’t get informed of your visit earlier

Advertisers tend to think big and perhaps this is why they’re always getting criticism. Their critics（批评家）seem to resent（对...不满） them because they have a gift for self-promotion and because they have so much money to throw around. ‘It’s unjust,’ they say, ‘that this entirely unproductive industry (if we can call it that) should absorb millions of pounds each year. It only goes to show how much profit the big companies are making. Why don’t they stop advertising and reduce the price of their goods? After all, it’s the consumer who pays…’
The poor old consumer! He’d have to pay a great deal more if advertising didn’t create mass markets for products. It is precisely because of the heavy advertising that consumer goods are so cheap. But we get the wrong idea if we think the only purpose of advertising is to sell goods. Another equally important function is to inform. A great deal of the knowledge we have about household goods comes largely from the advertisements we read. Advertisements introduce us to new products or remind us of the existence of ones we already know about. Supposing you wanted to buy a washing machine, it is more than likely you would obtain details regarding performance, price, etc., from an advertisement.
Lots of people pretend that they never read advertisements, but this claim may be seriously doubted. It is hardly possible not to read advertisements these days. And what fun they often are, too! Just think what a railway station or a newspaper would be like without advertisements. Would you enjoy gazing at a blank wall or reading railway byelaws(内部规则) while waiting for a train? Would you like to read only closely printed columns of news in your daily paper? A cheerful, witty advertisement makes such a difference to a dull wall or a newspaper full of the daily ration(定量) of disasters.
We must not forget, either, that advertising makes a positive contribution to our pockets. Newspapers, commercial radio and television companies could not survive without this source of revenue（收益）. The fact that we pay so little for our daily paper or can enjoy so many broadcast programs is due entirely to the money spent by advertisers. Just think what a newspaper would cost if we had to pay its full price!
Another thing we mustn’t forget is the ‘small ads.’ which are in virtually every newspaper and magazine.  What a tremendously useful service they perform for the community! Just about anything can be accomplished through these columns. For instance, you can find a job, buy or sell a house, announce a birth, marriage or death in what used to be called the ‘hatch（giving birth）, match and dispatch’ column but by far the most fascinating section is the personal or ‘agony’ column（读者来信专栏）. No other item in a newspaper provides such entertaining reading or offers such a deep insight into human nature. It’s the best advertisement for advertising there is!
【小题1】What is main idea of this passage?

A．Advertisements.

B．Advertisements bring fun to readers.

C．Advertisers perform a useful service to communities.

D．The costs of advertisements.

【小题2】The attitude of the author toward advertisers is             

A．appreciative.

B．trustworthy.

C．critical

D．dissatisfactory.

【小题3】Why do the critics criticize advertisers?

A．Because advertisers often brag(自夸).

B．Because critics think advertisement is a “waste of money”.

C．Because customers are encouraged to buy more than necessary.

D．Because customers pay more.

【小题4】Which of the following is Not True?

A．Advertisement makes contribution to our pockets and we may know everything.

B．We can buy what we want.

C．Good quality products don’t need to be advertised.

D．Advertisement makes our life colorful.

It is not unusual for people to speak two or three languages; they’re known as bilinguals or trilinguals. Speakers of more than three languages are known as polyglots. And when we refer to people who speak many languages, perhaps a dozen or more, we use the term hyper-polyglot.
The most famous hyper-polyglot was Giuseppe Mezzofanti, a 19th century Italian cardinal, who was said to speak 72 languages. This claim sounds absurd. If you assume each language had 20,000 words, Mezzofanti would have to learn a word a minute, six hours a day, for eleven years—an impossible task. But Mezzofanti was tested by critics, and they were all impressed.
Did Mezzofanti have an extraordinary brain? Or are hyper-polyglots just ordinary people with ordinary brains who manage to do something extraordinary through hard work?
U.S. linguist Stephen Drashen believes that outstanding language learners just work harder at it and then they acquire unusually strong language ability. As an example, he mentions a Hungarian woman who worked as an interpreter during the 20th century. When she was 86, she could speak 16 languages and was still working on learning new languages. She said she learned them mostly on her own, reading fiction or working through dictionaries or textbooks.
Some researchers argue to the contrary. They believe that there is such a thing as a talent for learning languages. In the 1930s, a German scientist examined parts of the preserved brain of a hyper-polyglot named Emil Krebs, who could speak 60 languages fluently. The scientist found that the area of Krebs’s brain called Broca’s area, which is associated with language, looked different from the Broca’s area in the brains of men who speak only one language. However, we still don’t know if Krebs was born with a brain ready to learn dozens of languages or if his brain adapted to the demands he put on it.
Although it is still not clear whether the ability to learn many languages is in born, there’s no doubt that just about all of us can acquire skills in a second, third, or even fourth language by putting our mind to it.
【小题1】What does the underlined sentence imply?

A．Mezzofanti could remember 360 words a day.

B．Mezzofanti had a special way to learn languages.

C．Mezzofanti’s achievement was ridiculous.

D．Mezzofanti language ability was astonishing.

【小题2】The Hungarian woman became a hyper-polyglot mainly because of her __.

A．good memory

B．unique brain

C．hard work

D．learning methods

【小题3】The German scientist’s findings showed that Krebs ___.

A．had an unusual brain

B．was born with great talent

C．had worked hard at languages

D．expected too much of himself

【小题4】The author seems to agree that ___.

A．it is not hard to learn foreign languages

B．hard work plays a part in language learning

C．there is no such thing as a talent for languages

D．hyper-polyglots have an inborn talent for language

Kiss crisis, hug horrors and the UK's handshake headaches
Greeting someone, saying goodbye – these situations fill me with unease. You have a second to make a dangerous decision. One peck (轻吻)? Two pecks? Three? No kisses at all? Why, I think, as I crash into the other person’s face, why can’t it be as simple as a handshake?
A survey by the soap company Radox in May showed one in five Brits now feels a handshake is “too formal”, according to the Daily Mail. Some 42 percent said they never shook hands when greeting friends. For one third of people the alternative was a hug, for 16 percent a kiss on the cheek.
British people are known to be reserved (保守的) – unfriendly, some would say. Handshakes used to work for us because we didn’t have to get too close. But the super-British handshake is no longer fashionable. We want to be more like our easygoing Mediterranean neighbors who greet each other with kisses and hugs.
The trouble is, we still find it a bit awkward. What does a married man do when greeting a married female friend, for example? How should someone younger greet someone older?
Guys don’t tend to kiss one another; my male friends in Britain go for the “manly hug”, taking each other stiffly (不自然地) in one arm and giving a few thumps on the back with words like “Take it easy, yeah?”.
The biggest questions, if you do decide to kiss, are how many times and which cheek first. Unlike the French, who comfortably deliver three, our cheek-pecks usually end in embarrassed giggling (咯咯笑): “Oh, gosh, sorry, I didn’t mean to kiss you on the lips, I never know where to aim for first!”
But then it’s never been easy for us poor, uncomfortable Brits. Even the handshake had its problems: don’t shake too hard, but don’t hold the other person’s hand too limply (无力地) either, and definitely don’t go in with sweaty hands.
Maybe it’s better to leave it at a smile and a nod.  
【小题1】What is the article mainly about?

A．Origin of the traditional British way of greeting someone.

B．New trends and problems that Brits have with the way they greet people.

C．Why the author feels uneasy when greeting someone or saying goodbye.

D．Differences in greetings between Britain and other Western countries.

【小题2】What did the survey by the soap company Radox show?

A．It is now considered unfriendly to greet friends with a handshake in Britain.

B．A kiss on the cheek is becoming the most popular form of greeting in Britain.

C．Most Brits no longer offer to shake hands with those they meet.

D．More and more Brits prefer to be greeted with a hug or kiss.

【小题3】The underlined word “awkward” in paragraph 4 is closest in meaning to ______.

A．not helpful

B．too informal

C．quite embarrassed

D．very interesting

【小题4】Which does the author think might be the safest form of greeting for a British person?

A．A hug.

B．A smile and a nod.

C．A handshake.

D．A kiss on the cheek.

【小题5】Who wrote the article?

A．A British writer.

B．An American writer.

C．A French writer.

D．A Chinese writer.

WHEN there are some strangers in front of us, which of them will we trust?
According to a new study in the online PloS One (《公共科学图书馆·综合》), people make their decisions to trust others largely based on their faces. Your appearance can do a lot for you, especially if you are in the financial industry. The more trustworthy you look, the more likely people will buy what you’re selling.
Researchers from Britain’s University of Warwick Business School, University College London, and Dartmouth College, US, did a number of experiments.
The research team used computer software to make 40 faces, from the least to the most trustworthy-looking.
The study said that the difference between a trustworthy face and one that isn’t as trustworthy comes from features that look slightly angry or slightly happy, even when the face is at rest. However, a slightly happy face is more likely to be trusted.
Researchers gave participants some money and asked them which face they trusted to invest the money for them. Then researchers gave some good and bad information about the people with these faces, and asked the participants again whom they trusted.
The results showed that even if they got different information, the participants didn’t change their choices. They were still more likely to invest their money with the more trustworthy-looking faces.
Chris Olivola, one of the study’s authors, said in the University of Warwick’s press release: “It seems we are still willing to go with our own instincts (本能) about whether we think someone looks like we can trust them. The temptation (诱惑) to judge strangers by their faces is hard to resist.”
【小题1】Which of the following can be a proper title for this passage?

A．What kind of face do you trust?

B．Who did the experiments?

C．Why do you trust him or her?

D．Why did they do the experiments?

【小题2】According to the study, which of the following faces is most likely to be trusted?

A．A sad face.

B．A smiling face.

C．A crying face.

D．An angry face.

【小题3】Which of the following about the experiment is TRUE?

A．The trustworthy faces were given good information.

B．Researchers took photos of the 40 people’s faces in college.

C．Most participants gave their money to the trustworthy-looking faces.

D．Participants liked to choose the faces with good information.

【小题4】What did the researchers learn from their experiment?

A．People can’t refuse temptations.

B．People always do things with their instincts.

C．People often judge strangers by their faces.

D．People don’t trust strangers with sad faces.