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Listening
Professor
Offeringemployeestheoptionofafour-dayworkweekwon'
taffectthecompanyprofits,economicconditionsorthelivesofemployeesinthewaysthereadingsuggests.
First,offeringafour-dayworkweekwillprobablyforcecompaniestospendmore,possiblyalotmore.Addingnewworkersmeansputtingmuchmoremoneyintoprovidingtrainingandmedicalbenefits.Rememberthecostsofthingslikehealthbenefitscanbethesamewhetheranemployeeworksfourdaysorfive.Andhavingmoreemployeesalsorequiresmoreofficespaceandmorecomputers.Theseadditionalcostswouldquicklycutintocompanyprofits.
Second,withrespecttooverallemployment,itdoesn'
tfollowthatoncesomeemployeeschooseafour-dayworkweek,manymorejobswillbecomeavailable.Hiringnewworkersiscostly,asIarguedamomentago.Andcompanieshaveotheroptions.Theymightjustchoosetoasktheiremployeestoworkovertimetomakeupthedifference.Worse,companiesmightraiseexpectations.Theymightstarttoexpectthattheirfour-dayemployeescandothesameamountofworktheyusedtodoinfivedays.Ifthishappens,thennoadditionaljobswillbecreatedandcurrentjobswillbecomemoreunpleasant.
Finally,whileafour-dayworkweekoffersemployeesmorefreetimetoinvestintheirpersonallives,italsopresentssomerisksthatcouldendupreducingtheirqualityoflife.Workingashorterweekcandecreaseemployees'
jobstabilityandharmtheirchancesforadvancingtheircareers.Four-dayemployeesarelikelytobethefirsttolosetheirjobsduringaneconomicdownturn.Theymayalsobepassedoverforpromotionsbecausecompaniesmightprefertohavefive-dayemployeesinmanagementpositionstoensurecontinuouscoverageandconsistentsupervisionfortheentireworkweek.
TPO2
Inmanyorganizations,perhapsthebestwaytoapproachcertainnewprojectsistoassembleagroupofpeopleintoateam.Havingateamofpeopleattackaprojectoffersseveraladvantages.Firstofall,agroupofpeoplehasawiderrangeofknowledge,expertise,andskillsthananysingleindividualislikelytopossess.Also,becauseofthenumbersofpeopleinvolvedandthegreaterresourcestheypossess,agroupcanworkmorequicklyinresponsetothetaskassignedtoitandcancomeupwithhighlycreativesolutionstoproblemsandissues.Sometimesthesecreativesolutionscomeaboutbecauseagroupismorelikelytomakeriskydecisionsthatanindividualmightnotundertake.Thisisbecausethegroupspreadsresponsibilityforadecisiontoallthemembersandthusnosingleindividualcanbeheldaccountableifthedecisionturnsouttobewrong.
Takingpartinagroupprocesscanbeveryrewardingformembersoftheteam.Teammemberswhohaveavoiceinmakingadecisionwillnodoubtfeelbetteraboutcarryingouttheworkthatisentailedbythedecisionthantheymightdoingworkthatisimposedonthembyothers.Also,theindividualteammemberhasamuchbetterchanceto“shine”,togethisorhercontributionsandideasnotonlyrecognizedbutrecognizedashighlysignificant,becauseateam’soverallresultscanbemorefar-reachingandhavegreaterimpactthanwhatmighthaveotherwisebeenpossibleforthepersontoaccomplishorcontributeworkingalone.
NowIwanttotellyouaboutwhatonecompanyfoundwhenitdecidedthatitwouldturnoversomeofitsnewprojectstoteamsofpeople,andmaketheteamresponsibleforplanningtheprojectsandgettingtheworkdone.Afteraboutsixmonths,thecompanytookalookathowwelltheteamsperformed.
Onvirtuallyeveryteam,somemembersgotalmosta"
freeride"
...theydidn'
tcontributemuchatall,butiftheirteamdidagoodjob,theyneverthelessbenefitedfromtherecognitiontheteamgot.Andwhataboutgroupmemberswhoworkedespeciallywellandwhoprovidedalotofinsightonproblemsandissues?
Well...therecognitionforajobwelldonewenttothegroupasawhole,nonameswerenamed.Soitwon'
tsurpriseyoutolearnthatwhentherealcontributorswereaskedhowtheyfeltaboutthegroupprocess,theirattitudewasjusttheoppositeofwhatthereadingpredicts.
Anotherfindingwasthatsomeprojectsjustdidn'
tmoveveryquickly.Why?
Becauseittooksolongtoreachconsensus;
ittookmany,manymeetingstobuildtheagreementamonggroupmembersabouthowtheywouldmovetheprojectalong.Ontheotherhand,therewereotherinstanceswhereoneortwopeoplemanagedtobecomeveryinfluentialoverwhattheirgroupdid.Sometimeswhenthoseinfluencerssaid"
Thatwillneverwork"
aboutanideathegroupwasdeveloping,theideawasquicklydroppedinsteadofbeingfurtherdiscussed.Andthentherewasanotheroccasionwhenacoupleinfluencersconvincedthegroupthataplanoftheirswas"
highlycreative."
Andeventhoughsomememberstriedtowarntherestofthegroupthattheprojectwasmovingindirectionsthatmightnotwork,theywerebasicallyignoredbyothergroupmembers.Canyouguesstheendingtothisstory?
Whentheprojectfailed,theblamewasplacedonallthemembersofthegroup.
TPO3
Rembrandtisthemostfamousoftheseventeenth-centuryDutchpainters.However,therearedoubtswhethersomepaintingsattributedtoRembrandtwereactuallypaintedbyhim.OnesuchpaintingisknownasattributedtoRembrandtbecauseofitsstyle,andindeedtherepresentationofthewoman’sfaceisverymuchlikethatofportraitsknowntobebyRembrandt.ButthereareproblemswiththepaintingthatsuggestitcouldnotbeaworkbyRembrandt.
First,thereissomethinginconsistentaboutthewaythewomanintheportraitisdressed.Sheiswearingawhitelinencapofakindthatonlyservantswouldwear-yetthecoatsheiswearinghasaluxuriousfurcollarthatnoservantcouldafford.Rembrandt,whowasknownforhisattentiontothedetailsofhissubjects’clothing,wouldnothavebeenguiltyofsuchaninconsistency.
Second,Rembrandtwasamasterofpaintinglightandshadow,butinthispaintingtheseelementsdonotfittogether.Thefaceappearstobeilluminatedbylightreflectedontoitfrombelow.Butbelowthefaceisthedarkfurcollar,whichwouldabsorblightratherthanreflectit.Sothefaceshouldappearpartiallyinshadow-whichisnothowitappears.Rembrandtwouldneverhavemadesuchanerror.
Finally,examinationofthebackofthepaintingrevealsthatitwaspaintedonapanelmadeofseveralpiecesofwoodgluedtogether.AlthoughRembrandtoftenpaintedonwoodpanels,nopaintingknowntobebyRembrandtusesapanelgluedtogetherinthiswayfromseveralpiecesofwood.
ForthesereasonsthepaintingwasremovedfromtheofficialcatalogofRembrandt’spaintingsinthe1930s.
Professor:
Everythingyoujustreadabout"
PortraitofanElderlyWomaninaWhiteBonnet"
istrue,andyetafterathoroughre-examinationofthepainting,apanelofexpertshasrecentlyconcludedthatit'
sindeedaworkbyRembrandt.Hereiswhy.
First,thefurcollar.X-raysandanalysisofthepigmentsinthepainthaveshownthatthefurcollarwasn'
tpartoftheoriginalpainting.Thefurcollarwaspaintedoverthetopoftheoriginalpaintingaboutahundredyearsafterthepaintingwasmade.Why?
Someoneprobablywantedtoincreasethevalueofthepaintingbymakingitlooklikeaformalportraitofanaristocraticlady.
Second,thesupposederrorwithlightandshadow.Oncethepaintoftheaddedfurcolorwasremoved,theoriginalcouldbeseen,intheoriginalpainting,thewomaniswearingasimplecollaroflight-coloredcloth.Thelight-coloredclothofthiscollarreflectslightthatilluminatespartofthewoman'
sface.That'
swhythefaceisnotinpartialshadow.Sointheoriginalpainting,lightandshadowareveryrealisticandjustwhatwewouldexpectfromRembrandt.
Finally,thewoodpanel.Itturnsoutthatwhenthefurcollarwasadded,thewoodpanelwasalsoenlargedwithextrawoodpiecesgluedtothesidesandthetoptomakethepaintingmoregrandandmorevaluable.Sotheoriginalpaintingisactuallypaintedonasing