In recent years many countries of the world have been faced with the problem of how to make their workers more productive. Some experts claim the answer is to make jobs more varied. But do more various jobs lead to greater productivity? There is evidence to suggest that while variety certainly makes the worker’s life more enjoyable, it does not actually make him work harder. As far as increasing productivity is concerned, then variety is not an important factor.

Other experts feel that giving the worker freedom to do his job in his own way is important, and there is no doubt that this is true. The problem is that this kind of freedom cannot easily be given in the modern factory with its complicated machinery which must be used in a fixed way. Thus while freedom of choice may be important, there is usually very little that can be done to create it.

Another very important consideration is how each worker contributes to the product he is making. In most factories the worker sees only one part of the product. Some car factories are now experimenting with having many small production lines rather than one large one, so that each worker contributes more to the production of the cars on his line. It would seem that not only is degree of the worker contribution an important factor, therefore, but it is also one we can do something about.

To what extent does more money lead to greater productivity? The workers themselves certainly think this is important. But perhaps they want more money only because the work they do is boring. Money just lets them enjoy their spare time more. A similar argument may explain demands for shorter working hours. Perhaps if we succeed in making their jobs more interesting, they will neither want more money, nor will shorter working hours be so important to them.

Which of the following is the best way to make workers work harder according to the author?

A. Increasing their pay.

B. Giving them more spare time.

C. Making the work itself meaningful.

D. Replacing large production lines with small ones.

The reason why a worker cannot have freedom in doing the job in his own way is that _______.

A. the machinery is so complex that it should be fixed

B. the production lines are too large in modern factories

C. the bosses can create very little freedom of choices for workers

D. the machines must be operated strictly according to instructions and rules

For a worker on an assembly line in a car factory, the job is not enjoyable because _______.

A. he can only make a part of a car

B. he does not know what he is doing

C. his life in spare time is more interesting

D. the importance of his job is not clear to him

In the article, the word “productivity” means _______.

A. the activity of producing something

B. the production volume in a time unit

C. the plan and the method of production

D. both the quantity and quality of a product

The best title for this passage may be _______.

A. Problems of Modern Workers

B. Making Jobs More Interesting

C. Pushing Workers to Produce More

D. How to Improve Labor Conditions

　　The managers discussed the plan that they would like to see _______ the next year.

　　A. carry out　　B. carrying out　　C. carried out　　D. to carry out

Laws that would have ensured pupils from five to 16 received a full financial education got lost in the ‘wash up’. An application is calling on the next government to bring it back.

　At school the children are taught to add up and subtract(减法) but, extraordinarily, are not routinely shown how to open a bank account — let alone how to manage their finances in an increasingly complex and demanding world.

　Today the parenting website Mumsnet and the consumer campaigner Martin Lewis have joined forces to launch an online application to make financial education a compulsory element of the school curriculum in England. Children from five to 16 should be taught about everything from pocket money to pensions, they say. And that was exactly the plan preserved in the Children, Schools and Families bill that was shelved by the government in the so-called “wash-up” earlier this month — the rush to legislation before parliament was dismissed. Consumer and parent groups believe financial education has always been one of the most frustrating omissions of the curriculum.

　As the Personal Finance Education Group (Pfeg) points out, the good habits of young children do not last long. Over 75% of seven- to 11-year-olds are savers but by the time they get to 17, over half of them are in debt to family and friends. By this age, 26% see a credit card or overdraft(透支) as a way of extending their spending power. Pfeg predicts that these young people will “find it much harder to avoid the serious unexpected dangers that have befallen many of their parents' generation unless they receive good quality financial education while at school.”

　The UK has been in the worst financial recession(衰退)for generations. It does seem odd that — unless parents step in — young people are left in the dark until they are cruelly introduced to the world of debt when they turn up at university. In a recent poll of over 8,000 people, 97% supported financial education in schools, while 3% said it was a job for parents.

1.The passage is mainly about _____________.

A．how to manage school lessons             B． teaching young people about money　

C．how to deal with the financial crisis          D．teaching students how to study effectively

2.It can be inferred from the first two paragraphs that __________.

A．laws on financial education have been effectively carried out

B．pupils should not be taught to add up and subtract

C．students have been taught to manage their finances

D．the author complains about the school education

3.The website and the consumer campaigner joined to _________.

A．instruct the pupils to donate their pocket money

B．promote the connection of schools and families

C．ask the government to dismiss the parliament

D．appeal for the curriculum of financial education

4.A poll is mentioned to ___________.

A．show the seriousness of the financial recession

B．stress the necessity of the curriculum reform

C．make the readers aware of burden of the parents

D．illustrate some people are strongly against the proposal

 

--- It’s a good idea. But who’s going to _____ the plan?

--- I think Tom and Grey will.

A．set aside          B．carry out          C．take in            D．get through

 

单词拼写（共10 小题，每小题1分，满分10分）

1.All the information was then ready to be _______(加工,处理) into film negatives.

2.He can hardly find a job in the canteen, because he has no ____(先前的) experience of this kind of job.

3.He made a good _______(印象)on us by his rich knowledge.

4.The people in Iraq lived a hard life, because it was ______(不断地)hit by war.

5.The painters don’t _______(企图,尝试)to paint objects as we see them with our eyes.

6.The manager finally _______(批准) the plan.

7.The chemical companies are _______(毒害)our rivers with industrial waste.

8.As the bell rang, the naughty boy _______(挤)his book into his bag and went out of the classroom.

9.I am _____(渴望的,热切的) to slide into the classroom quietly.

10.They finally ______(采用)our advice on how to finish the work last week.