Question

 At 21，Ricardo Semler became boss of his father's business in Brazil，Semco，which sold parts for ships. Semler Junior worked like a mad man，from 7：30 am，until midnight every day. One afternoon，while touring a factory in New York，he broke down. The doctor who treated him said，"There's nothing wrong with you. But if you continue like this, you'll find a new home in our hospital. "Semler got the message. He changed the way he worked. In fact，he changed the ways his employees worked too.

    He let his workers take more responsibility so that they would be the ones worrying when things went wrong. He allowed them to set their own salaries，and he cut all the jobs he thought were unnecessary，like receptionists and secretaries. This saved money and brought more equality(平等）to the company. "Everyone at Semco，even top managers，meets guests in reception，does the photocopying，sends faxes，types letters and dials the phone."

    He completely reorganized the office：instead of walls，they have plants at Semco，so bosses can't shut themselves away from everyone else. And the workers are free to decorate their workspace as they want. As for uniforms，some people wear suits and others wear T-shirts.

    Semco has flexible （靈活的）working hours：the employees decide when they need to arrive at work. Also，Semco lets its workers use the company's machines for their own projects，and makes them take holidays for at least thirty days a year.

    It sounds perfect，but does it work? The answer is in the numbers：in the last six years，Semco's revenues （收入）have gone from $35 million to $212 million. The company has grown from eight hundred employees to 3，000. Why?

    Semler says it's because of "peer pressure". Peer pressure makes employees work hard for everyone else. If someone isn't doing his job well，the other workers will not allow the situation to continue. In other words，Ricardo Semler treats his workers like adults rather than children, and expects them to act like responsible adults. And they do.

1.Why did Semler change the way he and his employees worked?

A. Because he went crazy because of overwork.

B. Because he had to receive treatment in hospital.

C. Because his father asked him to.

D. Because the doctor warned him of the danger of overwork.

2.Semler made a variety of changes in his company Except that__________.

A. the number of the employees is reduced to save money

B. the employees can take only 30 days off for holiday every year.

C. flexible working hours were introduced       

D. the employees enjoyed a lot of freedom

3.What’s the main idea of Paragraph five?

A. Ricardo Semler’s new management method succeeded.

B. Ricardo Semler’s idea sounded perfect but not practical.

C. The company earned a lot of money.        

D. The reason for his success.

4.In his company, what does Ricardo Semler value most?

A. freedom          B. rules           C. responsibility        D. hard work

 

Answer 1

【答案】

 

1.D

2.B

3.A

4.C

【解析】

試題分析：本篇文章講述了Ricardo Semler的故事。他在接手父親的公司后，拼命工作，結(jié)果身體一度垮掉。于是他改變了自己的管理方式，給了員工更多的自由，也使他們有了更多的責(zé)任意識，培養(yǎng)了他們負(fù)責(zé)的態(tài)度，由此公司無論從規(guī)模上，還是效益上都有了顯著的增長。

1.D細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)文章首段內(nèi)容可知Semler 因工作過度而身體一度垮掉，于是他接受了醫(yī)生的警告“got the message. He changed the way he worked. In fact，he changed the ways his employees worked too.”，從而改變了自己以及員工的工作方式。所以答案選D。

2.B細(xì)節(jié)理解題。從文章第二段可知Semler裁掉了秘書、接待員等縮減了人員開支，還允許雇員自主安排辦公環(huán)境、自己制定工資標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，給了他們更多的自由，根據(jù)第四段Semco has flexible （靈活的）working hours可知他們的工作時(shí)間更為靈活，由此可知A、C、D選項(xiàng)內(nèi)容正確，而B選項(xiàng)內(nèi)容文中沒有涉及，故答案選B。

3.A主旨大意題。本段開頭提出中心問題but does it work? ，然后用公司收入和員工人數(shù)增長的數(shù)字進(jìn)行說明，由此可知本段內(nèi)容是講述他管理模式的成功，答案選A。

4.C推理判斷題。根據(jù)文章末段and expects them to act like responsible adults. And they do.可知Semler的管理措施為的是培養(yǎng)員工的責(zé)任感，故答案選C。

考點(diǎn)：考查故事類短文閱讀。