One evening in February 2007, a student named Paula Ceely brought her car to a s
题型：不详难度：来源：
One evening in February 2007, a student named Paula Ceely brought her car to a stop on a remote road in Wales. She got out to open a metal gate that blocked her path. That"s when she heard the whistle sounded by the driver of a train. Her Renault Clio was parked across a railway line. Seconds later, she watched the train drag her car almost a kilometre down the railway tracks.
Ceely"s near miss made the news because she blamed it on her GPS (导航仪). She had never driven the route before. It was dark and raining heavily. Ceely was relying on her GPS, but it made no mention of the crossing. "I put my complete trust in the device and it led me right into the path of a speeding train." she told the BBC.
Who is to blame here? Rick Stevenson, who tells Ceely"s story in his book When Machines Fail Us, points the finger at the limitations of technology. We put our faith in digital devices, he says, but our digital helpers are too often not up to the job. They are filled with small problems. And it"s not just GPS devices: Stevenson takes us on a tour of digital disasters involving everything from mobile phones to wireless keyboards.
The problem with his argument in the book is that it"s not clear why he only focuses on digital technology, while there may be a number of other possible causes. A map-maker might have left the crossing off a paper map. Maybe we should blame Ceely for not paying attention. Perhaps the railway authorities are at fault for poor signalling system. Or maybe someone has studied the relative dangers and worked out that there really is something specific wrong with the GPS equipment. But Stevenson doesn"t say.
It"s a problem that runs through the book. In a section on cars, Stevenson gives an account of the advanced techniques that criminals use to defeat computer-based locking systems for cars. He offers two independent sets of figures on car theft; both show a small rise in some parts of the country. He says that once again not all new locks have proved reliable. Perhaps, but maybe it"s also due to the shortage of policemen on the streets. Or changing social circumstances. Or some combination of these factors.
The game between humans and their smart devices is amusing and complex. It is shaped by economics and psychology and the cultures we live in. Somewhere in the mix of those forces there may be a way for a wiser use of technology.
If there is such a way, it should involve more than just an awareness of the shortcomings of our machines. After all, we have lived with them for thousands of years. They have probably been fooling us for just as long.
小题1:What did Paula Ceely think was the cause of her accident?| A．She was not familiar with the road. | | B．It was dark and raining heavily then. | | C．The railway workers failed to give the signal. | | D．Her GPS device didn"t tell her about the crossing. |
小题2: The phrase "near miss" (Paragraph 2) can best be replaced by ________.| A．close hit | B．heavy loss | | C．narrow escape | D．big mistake |
小题3:Which of the following would Rick Stevenson most probably agree with?| A．Modern technology is what we can"t live without. | | B．Digital technology often falls short of our expectation. | | C．Digital devices are more reliable than they used to be. | | D．GPS error is not the only cause for Ceely"s accident. |
小题4:In the writer"s opinion, Stevenson"s argument is ________.| A．one-sided | B．reasonable | C．puzzling | D．well-based |
小题5:What is the real concern of the writer of this article?| A．The major causes of traffic accidents and car thefts. | | B．The relationship between human and technology. | | C．The shortcomings of digital devices we use. | | D．The human unawareness of technical problems. |
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答案
小题1:D
小题2:C
小题3:B
小题4:A
小题5:D |
解析
文章讲述了一个因为导航仪出错误而引起的事故，故事大家现代的仪器也会出问题，不要过于依赖他们。人类对于很多技术并不是完全了解，需要加强学习。
小题1:推理题。根据第二段1行Ceely"s near miss made the news because she blamed it on her GPS (导航仪)可知D正确。
小题2:根据第一段可知他很幸运，九死一生，没有被撞。C正确。
小题3:推理题。根据文章第三段可知现代的很多装置经常不能符合我们的期望值。
小题4:推理题。根据文章第4段可知他的争论只是单方的，他只聚焦于数字技术而忽视了很多其它方面的原因。
小题5:推理题。根据文章最后一段If there is such a way, it should involve more than just an awareness of the shortcomings of our machines。可知作者担心的是D。 |
举一反三
In the more and more competitive service industry, it is no longer enough to promise customer satisfaction. Today, customer "delight" is what companies are trying to achieve in order to keep and increase market share.
It is accepted in the marketing industry, and confirmed by a number of researchers, that customers receiving good service will promote business by telling up to 12 other people; those treated badly tell tales of woe to up to 20 people. Interestingly, 80 percent of people who feel their complaints are handled fairly will stay loyal.
New challenges for customer care have come when people can obtain goods and services through telephone call centers and the Internet. For example, many companies now have to invest (投资) a lot of money in information technology and staff training in order to cope with the "phone rage" -- caused by delays in answering calls, being cut off in mid-conversation or left waiting for long periods.
"Many people do not like talking to machines," says Dr. Storey, Senior Lecturer in Marketing at City University Business School. "Banks, for example, encourage staff at call centers to use customer data to establish instant and good relationship with them. The aim is to make the customer feel they know you and that you can trust them -- the sort of comfortable feelings people have during face-to-face chats with their local branch manager."
Recommended ways of creating customer delight include: under-promising and over-delivering (saying that a repair will be carried out within five hours, but getting it done within two) replacing a faulty product immediately; throwing in a gift voucher (购物礼券) as an unexpected "thank you" to regular customers; and always returning calls, even when they are complaints.
Aiming for customer delight is all very well, but if services do not reach the high level promised, disappointment or worse will be the result. This can be eased by offering an apology and an explanation of why the service did not meet usual standards with empathy (for example, "I know how you must feel"), and possible solutions (replacement, compensation or whatever fairness suggests best meets the case).
Airlines face some of the toughest challenges over customer care. Fierce competition has convinced them that delighting passengers is an important marketing tool, while there is great potential for customer anger over delays caused by weather, unclaimed luggage and technical problems.
For British Airways staff, a winning telephone style is considered vital in handling the large volume of calls about bookings and flight times. They are trained to answer quickly, with their names, job title and a "we are here to help" attitude. The company has invested heavily in information technology to make sure that information is available instantly on screen.
British Airways also says its customer care policies are applied within the company and staff are taught to regard each other as customers requiring the highest standards of service.
Customer care is obviously here to stay and it would be a foolish company that used slogans such as "we do as we please". On the other hand, the more customers are promised, the greater the risk of disappointment.
小题1:We can learn from Paragraph 2 that _______.| A．complaining customers are hard to satisfy | | B．unsatisfied customers receive better service | | C．satisfied customers catch more attention | | D．well-treated customers promote business |
小题2:The writer mentions "phone rage" (Paragraph 3) to show that ________.| A．customers often use phones to express their anger | | B．people still prefer to buy goods online | | C．customer care becomes more demanding | | D．customers rely on their phones to obtain services |
小题3:What does the writer recommend to create customer delight?| A．Calling customers regular. | | B．Giving a "thank you" note. | | C．Delivering a quicker service. | | D．Promising more gifts. |
小题4:If a manager should show his empathy (Paragraph 6), what would be probably say?| A．"I know how upset you must be." | | B．"I appreciate your understanding." | | C．"I"m sorry for the delay." | | D．"I know it"s our fault." |
小题5:Customer delight is important for airlines because ________.| A．their telephone style remains unchanged | | B．they are more likely to meet with complaints | | C．the services cost them a lot of money | | D．the policies can be applied to their staff |
小题6:Which of the following is conveyed in this article?| A．Face-to-face service creates comfortable feelings among customers. | | B．Companies that promise more will naturally attract more customers. | | C．A company should promise less but do more in a competitive market. | | D．Customer delight is more important for air lines then for banks. |
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My father was Chief engineer of merchant ship, which was sunk in Word War II. The book Night of the U-boats told the story.
Memories
In September, 1940, my mother, sister and I went to Swansea, where my father"s ship was getting ready to sail. We brought him a family photograph to be kept with him at all times and keep him safe.
Then I remember my mother lying face down, sobbing. She had heard from a friend that the ship had been sunk by a torpedo (鱼雷).
I can remember the arrival of the telegram (电报), which in those days always brought had news. My grandmother opened it. It read, "Safe, Love Ted."
My most vivid memory is being woken and brought down to sit on my father"s knee, his arm in a bandage.
He was judged unfit to return to sea and took a shore job in Glasgow for the rest of the war. For as long as I can remember, he had a weak heart. Mother said it was caused by the torpedoes. He said it was because of the cigarettes. Whichever, he died suddenly in his early 50s.
Ten years later I read Night of the U-boats and was able to complete the story.
Torpedo
One torpedo struck the ship. Father was in the engine room, where the third engineer was killed. He shut down the engines to slow the ship making it easier for it to be abandoned.
By the time he got on deck (甲板) he was alone. Every lifeboat was gone except one which had stuck fast. When he tried to cut it free, it swung against the ship, injuring his hand and arm. He had no choice but to jump — still with the photograph in his pocket.
Three days later, he and other survivors were safe in Glasgow. All 23 with him signed the back of the photograph.
A Toast
In my room is the book and the photograph. Often, glass in hand, I have wondered how I would have dealt with an explosion, a sinking ship, a jump into a vast ocean and a wait for rescue? Lest（以免）we forget, I have some more whisky and toast the heroes of the war.
小题1:We can infer that the mother and children went to Swansea ________. | A．to meet a friend | | B．to see the father off | | C．to take a family photo | | D．to enjoy the sailing of the ship |
小题2:What did the author learn about the father from the telegram?| A．he was still alive. | | B．His knee was broken. | | C．His ship had been sunk. | | D．He had arrived in Glasgow. |
小题3:The underlined word "it" in Paragraph 6 refers to the father"s ________. | A．weak heart | | B．taking a shore job | | C．failure to return to sea | | D．injury caused by a torpedo |
小题4:What can we know about the author"s father after his ship was attacked?| A．He lost his arm | | B．He repaired the engines. | | C．He managed to take a lifeboat. | | D．He was the last to leave the ship. |
小题5:What is the massage mainly about?| A．A group of forgotten heroes | | B．A book describing a terrifying battle. | | C．A ship engineer"s wartime experience. | | D．A merchant"s memories of a sea rescue. |
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The common cold is the world’s most widespread illness, which is plagues(疫病) that flesh receives. The most widespread fallacy(谬误) of all is that colds are caused by cold. They are not. They are caused by viruses passing on from person to person. You catch a cold by coming into contact, directly or indirectly, with someone who already has one. If cold causes colds, it would be reasonable to expect the Eskimos to suffer from them forever. But they do not. And in isolated arctic regions explorers have reported being free from colds until coming into contact again with infected people from the outside world by way of packages and mail dropped from airplanes.
During the First World War soldiers who spent long periods in the trenches(战壕), cold and wet, showed no increased tendency to catch colds.
In the Second World War prisoners at the notorious Auschwitz concentration camp(奥斯维辛集中营), naked and starving, were astonished to find that they seldom had colds. At the Common Cold Research Unit in England, volunteers took part in Experiments in which they gave themselves to the discomforts of being cold and wet for long stretches of time. After taking hot baths, they put on bathing suits, allowed themselves to be with cold water, and then stood about dripping wet in drafty room. Some wore wet socks all day while others exercised in the rain until close to exhaustion. Not one of the volunteers came down with a cold unless a cold virus was actually dropped in his nose.
If, then, cold and wet have nothing to do with catching colds, why are they more frequent in the winter？Despite the most pains-taking research, no one has yet found the answer. One explanation offered by scientists is that people tend to stay together indoors more in cold weather than at other times, and this makes it easier for cold viruses to be passed on.
No one has yet found a cure for the cold. There are drugs and pain suppressors(止痛片) such as aspirin, but all they do is relieve the symptoms.
小题1:The writer offered _______ examples to support his argument.小题2:Which of the following does not agree with the chosen passage?| A．The Eskimos do not suffer from colds all the time. | | B．Colds are not caused by cold. | | C．People suffer from colds just because they like to stay indoors. | | D．A person may catch a cold by touching someone who already has one. |
小题3:Arctic explorers may catch colds when _______.| A．they are working in the isolated arctic regions | | B．they are writing reports in terribly cold weather | | C．they are free from work in the isolated arctic regions | | D．they are coming into touch again with the outside world |
小题4:Volunteers taking part in the experiments in the Common Cold Research Unit _______.| A．suffered a lot | B．never caught colds | | C．often caught colds | D．became very strong |
小题5:The passage mainly discusses _______.| A．the experiments on the common cold | | B．the fallacy about the common cold | | C．the reason and the way people catch colds | | D．the continued spread of common colds |
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Here is a story told about an American general who was a very important figure in the American army during the First World War. Everybody in the United States knew him and many people wished to have a picture or something of his in their homes.
Soon after the war the general returned to Washington. One day he went to a dentist and had six teeth pulled out. A week later the general heard that his teeth were being sold in curiosity shops as $ 5 each. On each of the teeth there was a label with the name of the general and words: “Buy these teeth and show them to your friends at home.” The general got angry. He rushed to his office and ordered six officers to go around the city and buy all his teeth.
The officers went out and visited every curiosity shop in the capital. They were away from the office all day. In the evening they returned and put on the table in front of the general the teeth they had bought. They had collected 175 teeth.
小题1:The general returned to Washington ______.| A．during the war | B．after civil war | | C．after 1945 | D．after 1918 |
小题2:The general’s teeth were sold in ______.| A．the museum | | B．the special shops selling some rare and interesting things | | C．the department store | | D．the hospital |
小题3:The general ordered his men to ______.| A．look for his teeth and buy all of them | | B．arrest the dentist at once | | C．make all the shops stop selling teeth | | D．buy all the teeth in all the shops |
小题4:In the evening, the officers went back with all the teeth which cost ______.| A．$ 785 | B．$ 1,050 | C．$ 157 | D．$ 875 |
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Zhao Wenxuan，a film star from Taiwan，has been fond of seeing films since his childhood. He would sometimes go to the cinema for the same film four or five times. He also enjoys literature and art. Before he took the film acting as his career，he had worked in an airline in Taipei, the capital of Taiwan Province. His change of job to acting was quite by chance.
One day，he came across in the paper an advertisement for a leading actor to appear in the film named “Wedding Feast.” Full of excitement，he answered the job ad by telephoning the director of the film — Mr. Li An. It was this telephone call that had changed all his life. At last the director decided him to be the very person for the role. That he could be chosen owed much to his good command of English，natural manners and low pay for his work in the film.
The film “Wedding Feast” proved to be a hit. It won the German Golden Bear Award and entered the competition for one of the Oscar Academy Awards. Also, it was the first Taiwan film that was permitted to be shown in the U. S. Thanks to the film，Zhao Wenxuan became popular in Taiwan, Hong Kong and southeast Asia.
In 1994，Mr. Zhao acted as a leading role in the Hong Kong film，“Red Rose and White Rose”，in which many film stars like Ms Chen Chong from U. S. and Ms Ye Yuqing from the local area participated. This film was named for 10 prizes of the Taiwan Golden Horse Prize and at last it was awarded five prizes for the best play，actress and music. Zhao has regarded the film as one of his favorite films since he stepped into the acting circle.
Since 1993，Mr. Zhao has taken part in the shootings of 13 films， most of which are thought highly of.
Mr. Zhao said the that Taiwan should think to cooperate much with the mainland in the film producing industry and it would benefit each other. In recent years he often came to the mainland for film shooting. He has just completed his performance in the film “Love Affairs” directed by Mr. LiXin，a director from Shanghai Film Studio.
小题1:Why could Zhao Wenxuan play the leading role in the movie “Wedding Feast”？| A．Because he liked to see films very much. | | B．Because he was a famous actor at that time. | | C．Because he could speak English very well，acted naturally and gave no thought to the pay for his work in the movie. | | D．Because the director of the movie knew him very well. |
小题2:The text suggests that _____.| A．“Wedding Feast” is just an ordinary film | | B．the film “Wedding Feast” disappointed people greatly | | C．Zhao Wenxuan became a famous movie star because of the film “Wedding Feast” | | D．A lot of the Taiwan films are shown in the U. S. every year |
小题3:Which of the following is the right order for Mr. Zhao Wenxuan‘s experience？
a. He joined in the film “Red Rose and White Rose” in Hong Kong.
b. He worked in an airline in Taipei.
c. He suggested Taiwan and the mainland should film more together.
d. When he was a boy，he often went to the cinema.
e. He has just finished the film “Love Affairs” in Shanghai.
f. He acted an important role in the film “Wedding Feast”.| A．d，b，f，a，e，c | B．a，b，d，f，e，c | | C．b，e，f，a，d，c | D．c，b，e，a，f，d |
小题4:From the text it can be inferred that _____.| A．one’s success is frequently (often) closely connected with a favorable chance | | B．it is never too late to learn | C．know the enemy and know yourself, and you can fight a hundred battles with no danger of
defeat | | D．there is no limit to knowledge |
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