英语新题型5Word文件下载.doc

1、Practice test 5#Section B#Directions:# In this section, you are going to read a passage with ten statements attached to it. Each statement contains information given in one of the paragraphs. Identify the paragraph from which the information is derived. You may choose a paragraph more than once. Eac

2、h paragraph is marked with a letter. Answer the questions by marking the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2.#The Virtual Office#A） Twenty years from now, as many as 25 million Americans nearly 20 percent of the workforce will stretch the boundaries between home and work far beyond the lines draw

3、n now. Technology has already so accelerated the pace of change in the workplace that few futurists are willing to predict hard numbers. But nearly all trend-trackers agree that much of the next centurys work will be decentralized, done at home or in satellite offices on a schedule tailored to fit w

4、orkers lives and the needs of their families. Even international boundaries may blur as the economy goes truly global.#B） Between 1990 and 1998, telecommuting doubled from about 3 percent to 6 percent of the working population or about 8. 2 million people. The numbers are expected to double again in

5、 far less time, with as much as 12 percent of the population telecommuting by the year 2005, says Charlie Grantham, director of the Institute for the Study of Distributed Work in Windsor, California.#C） Wireless computers and seamless communications systems are already in the works and fueling the t

6、rend. The video phone is not far off;# an advance that many futurists believe will make even more companies comfortable with employees working from home. “Now, we communicate at the level of radio,” says Gerald Celente, author of Trends 2000 and director of The Trends Research Institute of Rhinebeck

7、, New York. E-mail and the telephone are primitive, he argues, and make people feel cut off from co-workers. But once everyone can see each other on the screen, long-distance relationships will feel more intimate.#D） What about the office?# “Todays offices are a direct descendant of the factory,” sa

8、ys Gil Gordon, a consultant based in Monmouth Junction, New Jersey, who has spent nearly two decades advising companies on how to institute telecommuting and more flexible work patterns. “They may be better lighted, but theyre much the same. ” Still, Gordon does not think the office building will va

9、nish altogether. Rather, the office of 2020 will be just one place for focused work that requires true collaboration. It will also be a key site for socializing and cementing the relationships that keep a business going.#E） Physically, however, it may look quite different. The typical office today a

10、llocates about 80 percent of the space to offices and cubicles, with the rest given over to formal meeting rooms, Gordon says. That will soon change to 20 percent for individual work stations and 40 percent for “touch-down spaces” to land in but not to move into. We may sit still only long enough to

11、 check E-mail and access data. Gordon predicts the remaining 40 percent of space will be devoted to sites used by teams and groups, including conference rooms. But they will not look like todays dull conference rooms. Instead, many will be designed to promote connection and creativity.#F） Its also l

12、ikely that companies will share space. Instead of more high-rise office towers, there will be more multi-use centers shared by several firms. “You will call ahead and reserve a space and check-in time, and a kind of concierge （前台接待 ） will assign you a spot and make sure that, as of seven a. m. that

13、day, your phone rings there. ” With all this mobility, employees may long for a sense of belonging. Transitional workspaces may become more individualized, according to Gordon. “A lighted panel may display pictures of your family, your dog or your sailboat.” Futurist Lisa Aldisert, a senior consulta

14、nt with a New York-based trends analysis firm, suggests that, through sophisticated microchip applications, a roving employee will be able with the flick of a switch to alter wall colors and room temperature to fit her mood.#-7-#New Work Relationships#G） The benefits of these changes, for both worke

15、rs and companies, are already evident to many. Compelling studies have convinced many companies that telecommuting is a plus for the bottom line. Aetna, for example, finds that the people who process its claims produce about 20 percent more when they work outside of the office. What will some other

16、side effects be?# No one can guess yet just how the legal relationships between workers and employers will change. Many workers may move from a salary system to an independent contractor system. Or they may sign on with different clients on a project-by-project basis. Companies might continue to provide benefits to many workers to assure their loyalty. In any case, companies will still try to find ways to foster a sense of identity with their products and services. T