PASSAGE TWO
(1) The Nobels are the originals, of course. Alfred Nobel, the man who invented deadly explosives,decided to try and do something good with all the money he earned, and gave prizes to people who made progress in literature, science, economics and —perhaps most importantly —peace.
(2) Not all rewards are as noble as the Nobels. Even though most countries have a system ofrecognizing, honoring and rewarding people who have done something good in their countries, there are now hundreds of awards and award ceremonies for all kinds of things.
(3)The Oscars are probably the most famous, a time for the (mostly)American film industry to tell itself how good it is and an annual opportunity for lots of big stars to give each other awards and make tearful speeches. As well as that there are also the Golden Globes, evidently for the same thing.
(4) But it’ s not only f ilms---there are also Grammies, Brits, the Mercury Prize and the MTV for music. In Britain, a writer who wins the Booker Prize can expect to see their difficult, literary novel hit the bestseller lists and compete with the Da Vinci Code for popularity. The Turner Prize is an award for British contemporary artists —each year it causes controversy by apparently giving lots of money to artists who do things like displaying their beds, putting animals in glass cases or— this year— building a garden shed.
(5) Award s don ’ t only exist for arts. There are now awards for Sports Personality ofthe Year, for European Footballer of the Year and World Footballer of the Year. This seems very strange— sometimes awards can be good to give recognition to people who deserve it, or to helppeople who don’ t make a lot of money carry on their work without worrying about finances, but professional soccer players these days certainly aren’ t short of cash!
(6) Many small towns and communities all over the world also have their own award ceremonies, for local writers or artists, or just for people who have graduated from high school or, got a university degree. Even the British Council has its own awards for “ Innovation in English Language Teaching”.
(7) Why have all these awards and ceremonies appeared recently? Shakespeare never won a prize, nor did Leonardo Da Vinci or Adam Smith or Charles Dickens.
(8) It would be possible to say, however, that in the past, scientists and artists couldwin “patronage form rich people”—a king or a lord would give the artists or scientists money to have them paint their palaces or help them develop new ways of making money. With the change in social systems across the world, this no longer happens. A lot of scientific research is now either funded by the state or by private companies.
(9)Perhaps award ceremonies are just the most recent phase of this process.
(10) However, there is more to it than that. When a film wins an Oscar, many more people will go and see it, or buy the DVD. When a writer wins the Nobel Prize, many more people buy their books. When a group wins the MTV awards, the ceremony is seen by hundreds of thousands of people across the world. The result?The group sells lots more records. (11) Most award ceremonies are now sponsored by big organizations or companies. This means that it is not only the person who wins the award who benefits---but also the sponsors. The MTV awards, for example, are great for publicizing not only music, but also MTV itself!
(12) On the surface, it seems to be a “ Win -win ”situation, with everyone being happy, but let me ask you a question—how far do you think that publicity and marketing are winning here, and how much genuine recognition of achievement is taking place?
1. What is the author ’s tone when he mentions awards such as the Oscars, the Golden Globes and
Grammies (Paras. 3 & 4)
A. Amused.
B. Appreciative.
C. Sarcastic.
D. Serious.
2. According to Para. 4, what would happen to award winning writers?
A. They would enjoy a much larger readership.
B. They would turn to popular novel writing.
C. They would continue non-fiction writing.
D. They would try controversial forms of art.
3. Which of the following statements best sums up Para. 6?
A. Awards ceremonies are held for local people.
B. Awards ceremonies are held on important occasions.
C. Awards ceremonies are held in certain professions.
D. Awards ceremonies are held for all sorts of reasons.
4. According to Para. 8, one difference between scientists and artists in the past and those at present
lies in_____________.
A. nature of work
B. personal contact
C. source of funding
D. social status
5. It can be concluded from Para. 12 that the author thinks awards ________.
A. promote market rather than achievements
B. do good to both market and popularity
C. help those who are really talented
D. are effective in making people popular
1.C 2.A 3.D 4.C 5.A
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On no account ____ ever leave the baby at home alone.
He left orders that nothing _____ touched until the police arrived there.
Under this____pressure some of the rocks even became liquid.
As the pressure____, the liquid rock is forced up through channels in the resistant rock to the earth’s surface.
The majority of successful senior managers do not closely follow the classical rational model of first clarifying goals, assessing the problem, formulating options, estimating likelihoods of success, making a decision, and only then taking action to implement the decision. Rather, in their day-by-day tactical maneuvers, these senior executives rely on what is vaguely termed intuition to manage a network of interrelated problems that require them to deal with ambiguity, inconsistency, novelty, and surprise ; and to integrate action into the process of thinking. Generations of writers on management have recognized that some practicing managers rely heavily on intuition. In general, however, such writers display a poor grasp of what intuition is. Some see it as the opposite of rationality; others view it as an excuse for capriciousness. Isenberg's recent research on the cognitive processes of senior managers reveals that managers' intuition is neither of these. Rather, senior managers use intuition in at least five distinct ways. First, they intuitively sense when a problem exists. Second, managers rely on intuition to perform well-learned behavior patterns rapidly. This intuition is not arbitrary or irrational, but is based on years of painstaking practice and hands-on experience that build skills. A third function of intuition is to synthesize isolated bitsm of data and practice into an integrated picture, often in an Aha! experience. Fourth, some managers use intuition as a check on the results of more rational analysis. Most senior executives are familiar with the formal decision analysis models and tools, and those who use such systematic methods for reaching decisions are occasionally leery of solutions suggested by these methods which run counter to their sense of the correct course of action. Finally, managers can use intuition to bypass in-depth analysis and move rapidly to engender a plausible solution. Used in this way, intuition is an almost instantaneous cognitive process in which a manager recognizes familiar patterns.One of the implications of the intuitive style of executive management is that thinking is inseparable from acting. Since managers often know what is right before they can analyze and explain it, they frequently act first and explain later.Analysis is inextricably tiedto actionin thinking/actingcycles,in which managers develop thoughtsabout theircompanies and organizations not by analyzing aproblematic situation and then acting, butby acting and analyzing in close concert.Given the great uncertainty of many of the management issues that they face, seniormanagers often instigatea course of action simply to learn more about an issue. They thenuse the results of the action to develop a more complete understanding of the issue. Oneimplicationof thinking/actingcycles is that action is often part of definingthe problem,not just of implementing the solution.
1. According to the text, senior managers use intuition in all of the following ways EXCEPT to
[A] Speed up of the creation of a solution to a problem.
[B] Identify a problem.
[C] Bring together disparate facts.
[D] Stipulate clear goals.
2. The text suggests which of the following about the writers on management mentionedin line 1, paragraph 2
[A] They have criticized managers for not following the classical rational model ofdecision analysis.
[B] They have not based their analyses on a sufficientlylarge sample of actual managers.
[C] They have relied in drawing their conclusions on what managers say rather than onwhat managers do.
[D] They have misunderstood how managers use intuition in making business decisions.
3. It can be inferred from the text that which of the following would most probablybe one major differencein behavior between Manager X, who uses intuitionto reach decisions,and Manager Y, who uses only formal decision analysis
[A] Manager X analyzes first and then acts; Manager Y does not.
[B] Manager X checks possiblesolutions toa problem by systematicanalysis ; ManagerY does not.
[C] Manager X takes action in order to arrive at the solution to a problem; ManagerY does not.
[D] Manager Y draws on years of hands-on experience in creatinga solutionto a problem ;Manager X does not.
4. The text provides support for which of the following statements
[A] Managers who rely on intuition are more successful than those who rely on formaldecision analysis.
[B] Managers cannot justify their intuitive decisions.
[C] Managers'' intuition works contrary to their rational and analytical skills.
[D] Intuitionenables managers to employ theirpracticalexperience more efficiently.
5. Which of the following best describes the organization of the first paragraph of the text
[A] An assertion is made and a specific supporting example is given.
[B] A conventional model is dismissed and an alternative introduced.
[C] The results of recent research are introduced and summarized.
[D] Two opposing points of view are presented and evaluated.
