2016年英语四级考试模考强化实战训练题八_第2页

Part II Reading Comprehension (Skimming and Scanning) (15 minutes)

　　Work-life balance: Ways to restore harmony and reduce stress

　　Finding work-life balance in today’s frenetically (疯狂) paced world is no simple task.

　　Spend more time at work than at home, and you miss out on a rewarding personal life. Then again, when you face challenges

　　life, such as caring for an aging parent or coping with marital problems, concentrating on your job can be difficult.

　　Whether the problem is too much focus on work or too little, when your work life and your personal life feel out of balance, stress — along with its harmful effects — is the result.

　　The good news is that you can take control of your work-life balance — and give yourself the time to do the things that are most important to you. The first step is to recognize how the world of work has changed. Then you can evaluate your relationship to work and apply some specific strategies for striking a healthier balance.

　　How work invades your personal life

　　There was a time when employees showed up for work Monday through Friday and worked eight- to nine-hour days. The boundaries between work and home were fairly clear then. But the world has changed and, unfortunately, the boundaries have blurred for many workers. Here’s why:

　　●Global economy. As more skilled workers enter the global labor market and companies outsource or move more jobs to reduce labor costs, people feel pressured to work longer and produce more just to protect their jobs.

　　●International business. Work continues around the world 24 hours a day for some people. If you work in an international organization, you might be on call around the clock for troubleshooting or consulting.

　　●Advanced communication technology. Many people now have the ability to work anywhere — from their home, from their car and even on vacation. And some managers expect this.

　　●Longer hours. Employers commonly ask employees to work longer hours than they’re scheduled. Often, overtime is mandatory (强制性的). If you hope to move up the career ladder, you may find yourself regularly working more than 40 hours a week to achieve and exceed expectations.

　　●Changes in family roles. Today’s married worker is typically part of a dual-career couple, which makes it difficult to find time to meet commitments to family, friends and community.

　　Married to your work

　　It can be tempting to rack up the hours at work — especially if you’re trying to earn a promotion or some extra money for a child’s education or a dream vacation. For others, working more hours feels necessary in order to manage the workload.

　　But if you’re spending most of your time at work, your home life will likely pay the price. Consider the pros and cons of working extra hours on your work-life balance:

　　●Fatigue. Your ability to think and your eye-hand coordination decrease when you’re tired. This means you’re less productive and may make more mistakes. These mistakes can lead to injury or rework and negatively impact your professional reputation.

　　●Family. You may miss out on important events, such as your child’s first bike ride, your father’s 60th birthday or your high-school reunion. Missing out on important milestones may harm relationships with your loved ones.

　　●Friends. Trusted friends are a key part of your support system. But if you’re spending time at the office instead of with them, you’ll find it difficult to nurture those friendships.

　　●Expectations. If you regularly work extra hours, you may be given more responsibility. This could create a never-ending and increasing cycle, causing more concerns and challenges.

　　Sometimes working overtime is important. If you work for a company that requires mandatory overtime, you won’t be able to avoid it, but you can learn to manage it. Most importantly, say no when you’re too tired, when it’s affecting your health or when you have crucial family obligations.

　　Striking the best work-life balance

　　For most people, juggling (巧妙处理) the demands of career and personal life is an ongoing challenge. With so many demands on your time — from overtime to family obligations — it can feel difficult to strike this balance. The goal is to make time for the activities that are the most important to you.

　　Here are some ideas to help you find the balance that’s best for you:

　　●Learn to say no. Whether it’s a co-worker asking you to spearhead (充当先锋) an extra project or your child’s teacher asking you to manage the class play, remember that it’s OK to respectfully say no. When you quit doing the things you only do out of guilt or a false sense of obligation, you’ll make more room in your life for the activities that are meaningful to you and bring you joy.

　　●Leave work at work. Make a conscious decision to separate work time from personal time. When with your family, for instance, turn off your cell phone and put away your laptop computer.

　　●Manage your time. Organize household tasks efficiently. Do one or two loads of laundry every day, rather than saving it all for your day off. A weekly family calendar of important dates and a daily list of to-dos will help you avoid deadline panic. If your employer offers a course in time management, sign up for it.

　　●Get enough sleep. There’s nothing as stressful and potentially dangerous as working when you’re sleep-deprived. Not only is your productivity affected, but also you can make costly mistakes. You may then have to work even more hours to make up for these mistakes.

　　●Communicate clearly. Limit time-consuming misunderstandings by communicating clearly and listening carefully. Take notes if necessary.

　　●Nurture yourself. Set aside time each day for an activity that you enjoy, such as walking, working out or listening to music.

　　●Set aside one night each week for recreation. Take the phone off the hook, power down the computer and turn off the TV. Discover activities you can do with your partner, family or friends, such as playing golf, fishing or canoeing. Making time for activities you enjoy will rejuvenate (使年轻) you.

　　Remember, striking a work-life balance isn’t a one-shot deal. Creating balance in your life is a continuous process. Balance doesn’t mean doing everything. Examine your priorities and set boundaries. Be firm in what you can and cannot do. Only you can restore harmony to your lifestyle.

　　1. What will happen if your work life and personal life feel out of balance?

　　A) You will have little time to finish your work.

　　B) You may feel stress, which will affect you negatively.

　　C) You will have a lot of time to share with your family.

　　D) You will never balance the combination of life and work.

　　2. The boundaries between work and home have blurred for the following reasons, EXCEPT _______.

　　A) global economy B) changes in family roles

　　C) advanced communication technology D) high divorce rate

　　3. What will happen if you’re spending most of your time at work?

　　A) You will lose both health and wealth. B) You will be hated by your loved ones.

　　C) You will lose all your friends. D) You may be given more responsibility.

　　4. According to the passage, you’d better say no to mandatory overtime when _______________.

　　A) you get bored with the work B) you are not interested in the work

　　C) you can’t get additional allowance D) you have crucial family obligations

　　5. What does the underlined sentence mean?

　　A) You should do the things people ask you to do without feeling guilty.

　　B) You shouldn’t do the things people ask you to do if you don’t want to.

　　C) To do things people ask you to do can bring you a lot of joy.

　　D) To do things for yourself is more meaningful than to do things for others.

　　6. What will NOT happen if you don’t get enough sleep?

　　A) You will

　　while working. B) You will have no sense of exhaustion.

　　C) You can make costly mistakes. D) You will have low productivity.

　　7. What does the real balance mean according to the author?

　　A) Examining priorities and deciding what is the most important to you.

　　B) Doing everything you want to do whether you can do it or not.

　　C) Saying yes to everybody in order to maintain good relationships.

　　D) Being firm that working overtime will strike a work-life balance.

　　8. Spend more time at work than at home, and you won’t have enough time to enjoy your _______________.

　　9. You have slow responses and your eye-hand coordination decreases when you’re ________.

　　10. You can save a lot of

　　misunderstandings if you communicate clearly and ____________.

　　答案解析:

　　Part II Reading Comprehension(Skimming and Scanning)

　　1. B)。参见第三段“Whether the problem is too much focus on work or too little, when your work life and your personal life feel out of balance, stress — along with its harmful effects — is the result.”可知，当你生活

　　被打乱的时候，你就会感到压力，这种压力会给你带来不好的影响。

　　2. D)。参见How work invades your personal life小标题下列举的打乱生活和工作平衡的内容可知，A)、B)、C)三个选项的内容与文章相符，唯有D)在文章中没有提及。

　　3. D)。参见Married to your work小标题下列举的过度工作可能给自己和家人或朋友带来的影响可知，文章提到了过度工作会使你疲劳并导致效率低下;过度工作还会占用你与家人和朋友团聚的时间而使亲情、友情受到影响;过度工作还会使你深陷工作泥潭以至于你肩上的担子越压越重。A)、B)、C)三个选

　　改变了文章的含义，只有D)与原文内容相符。

　　4. D)。参见Married to your work小标题下“Most importantly, say no when you’re too tired, when it’s affecting your health or when you have crucial family obligations.”一句可知，当你遇到如下三种情况的时候要对加班说“不”：太累了;影响到你的健康;有至关重要的家事。

　　5. B)。参见Striking the best work-life balance小标题下画线一句可知，作者是在建议大家学会说“不”，当别人让你帮助做某事的时候，你如果不想做，可以礼貌地拒绝，而不要强迫自己去做。

　　6. B)。参见Striking the best work-life balance小标题下Get enough sleep.一段所讲述的内容可知，如果你睡眠不足，你可能会在工作的时候感觉有压力;你可能会犯错误而因此付出高昂的代价;你的工作效率低下。但是文章中并没有说当你睡眠不足的时候，你就没有疲劳的感觉。

　　7. A)。纵观全文可知，本文作者认为，做出正确的判断和决定，判断哪些事情比较紧急，决定哪些事情对你来说是最重要的。

　　8. personal life。参见文章“Spend more time at work than at home, and you miss out on a rewarding personal life.”一句

　　工作占用了你大部分时间，那么你就没有足够的时间来享受生活。

　　9. tired。参见Married to your work小标题下“Your ability to think and your eye-hand coordination decrease when you’re tired.”一句可知，当你疲惫的时候你的反应速度在降低，你手眼协调能力在下降。

　　10. listen carefully。参见Striking the best work-life balance小标题下“Limit time-consuming misunderstandings by communicating clearly and listening carefully.”一句可知，如果你在与人交流的时候表达清楚、仔细倾听，那么你可以节省大量因为沟通中的误解所浪费的时间。 Part III Reading Comprehension (Reading in Depth) (25 minutes)

　　Section A

　　Directions: In this section, there is a passage with ten blanks. You are required to select one word for each blank

　　choices given in a word bank following the passage. Read the passage through carefully before making your choices. Each choice in the bank is identified by a letter. You may not use any of the words in the bank more than once.

　　Questions 11 to 20 are based on the following passage.

　　Major retailers and car manufacturers have slashed (削减) their marketing budgets in the six months to October, 2008, as the

　　has taken its toll, while supermarkets have 11 advertising spending in a battle to prove that they offer the most 12 prices. According to new research undertaken for The Daily Telegraph by Nielsen Media Research, in the six months

　　30, 2008, Marks & Spencer’s advertising spend fell 20.3pc to ￡25.3m, 13 with the same period in 2007.

　　While the retailer has spent heavily on a campaign 14 celebrities in the past two years, it is understood to be cutting back on celebrity spending in 2009. The retailer is, however, still the UK’s 25th largest spender on advertising,

　　15 being at 17th place in the six months

　　30, 2007. Car manufacturers have also significantly 16 back on marketing spending, believed to be a result of the

　　. According to Nielsen, Ford spent ￡26.6m in the six months

　　30, 2008, down 21pc from the same period last year. Vauxhall also 17 spending by 15.6pc in the period to ￡26.5m.

　　For supermarkets, however, a significant increase in advertising spending, it appears, is a 18 as they seek to woo (追求) increasingly price- 19 customers. The leading supermarkets have 20 an aggressive price war in the past six months as consumers have been faced with news of higher food prices.

　　A) conscientious I) necessity

　　B) conscious J) contribution

　　C) against K) reduced

　　D) despite L) moreover

　　E) comparing M) scaled

　　F) compared N) competitive

　　G) launched O) featuring

　　H) boosted

　　答案解析:

　　Part III Reading Comprehension

　　(Reading in Depth) Section A

　　11. H)。该空应该填入动词的过去分词。查看相关选项F)compared(比较)、G) launched(发起)、H) boosted(增加)、K) reduced(减少)和M)scaled(按比例增加或减少)。本句中，while(而)提示逗号前后的两个部分在语意上是对立的，逗号前部分提到了 have slashed(已经大量削减)，那么逗号后的待填空就应选择一词，其词义与slashed相反，由于scale在该词义下为不及物动词，故选H)。

　　12. N)。该空应该填入形容词。查看相关选项A)conscientious(尽责的)、B)conscious(有意识的)和N)competitive(竞争的)，根据句意，

　　投入以证明其价格是最有竞争力的，所以N)符合句意要求，为答案。

　　13. F)。该空应该填入非谓语动词形式，并且能与with搭配。查看选项，只有compare能与with搭配，意思是“与……相比”，结构是compare sth. with sth.，所以用在非谓语结构中的形式是compared而不是comparing。

　　14. O)。该空应该填入非谓语动词。本题考查的是单词的词义和用法，查看相关选项，锁定featuring，词义是“由……主演，以……为特色”，为及物动词，该处的意思是“广告活动由名人代言”。

　　15. D)。该空应该填入一个介词。

　　售商减少了在广告方面的投入，2007年的统计数据显示他们在广告方面的投入排名第17位，在2008年他们在广告方面的排名是第25位。

　　16. M)。该空应该填入动词的过去分词。查看相关选项G) launched、K) reduced和M)scaled。also提示该句提到的情况应该和上文提到的retailer的情况相同，即削减广告投入，所以可能选reduced 和scaled，但reduce为及物动词，后面不能用介词back。scale back的意思是“按比例逐步减少”。

　　17. K)。该空应该填入动词的过去式。查看相关选项G) launched和K) reduced。该句提到的Vauxhall是例子，用来证明前文提到的汽车生产商削减市场投入，故应填入reduced以在语意上和前文保持一致性。

　　18. I)。该空应该填入名词。查看相关选项I) necessity(需要，必要性)和J) contribution(贡献)。根据句意，“大量

　　”是“吸引更多的顾客”的条件。

　　19. B)。该空应该填入形容词。查看相关选项A)conscientious(尽责的)和B)conscious(有意识的，特别注意的)，顾客当然是对价格“特别注意”，而不是“尽责”。

　　20. G)。该空应该填入动词的过去分词。查看相关选项G) launched。短语launch a war的意思是“发动战争”，符合句意，为答案。