2009年6月英语四级考试真题详解（快速阅读）

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Part II              Reading Comprehension         (15 minutes)

                   (Skimming and Scanning)
Directions:In this part, you will have 15 minutes to go over the passage quickly and answer the questions on Answer Sheet 1. For questions 1-7, choose the best answer from the four choices marked A), B), C) and D). For question 8-10, complete the sentences with the information given in the passage.

　　                      How Do You See Diversity?

  As a manager, Tiffany is responsible for interviewing applicants for some of the positions with her company. During one interview, she noticed that the candidate never made direct eye contact. She was puzzled and somewhat disappointed because she liked the individual otherwise.

He had a perfect resume and gave good responses to her questions, but the fact that he never looked her in the eye said “untrustworthy,” so she decided to offer the job to her second choice.

“It wasn’t until I attended a diversity workshop that I realized the person we passed over was the perfect person,” Tiffany confesses. What she hadn’t known at the time of the interview was that the candidate’s “different” behavior was simply a cultural misunderstanding. He was an Asian-American raised in a household where respect for those in authority was shown by averting （避开）your eyes.

“I was just thrown off by the lack of eye contact; not realizing it was cultural,” Tiffany says. “I miss out, but will not miss that opportunity again.”

Many of us have had similar encounters with behaviors we perceive as different. As the world becomes smaller and our workplaces more diverse, it is becoming essential to expand our understanding of others and to reexamine some of our false assumptions.

Hire Advantage

At a time when hiring qualified people is becoming more difficult, employers who can eliminate invalid biases (偏见) from the process have a distinct advantage. My company, Mindsets LLC, helps organizations and individuals see their own blind spots. A real estate recruiter we worked with illustrates the positive difference such training can make.

“During my Mindsets coaching session, I was taught how to recruit a diversified workforce. I recruited people from different cultures and skill sets. The agents were able to utilize their full potential and experiences to build up the company. When the real estate market began to change, it was because we had a diverse agent pool that we were able to stay in the real estate market much longer than others in the same profession.”

Blinded by Gender

Dale is an account executive who attended one of my workshops on supervising a diverse workforce. “Through one of the sessions, I discovered my personal bias,” he recalls. “I learned I had not been looking at a person as a whole person, and being open to differences.” In this case, the blindness was not about culture but rather gender.

“I had a management position open in my department; and the two finalists were a man and a woman. Had I not attended this workshop, I would have automatically assumed the man was the best candidate because the position required quite a bit of extensive travel. My reasoning would have been that even though both candidates were great and could have been successful in the position, I assumed the woman would have wanted to be home with her children and not travel.” Dale’s assumptions are another example of the well-intentioned but incorrect thinking that limits an organization’s ability to tap into the full potential of a diverse workforce.

“I learned from the class that instead of imposing my gender biases into the situation, I needed to present the full range of duties, responsibilities and expectations to all candidates and allow them to make an informed decision.” Dale credits the workshop, “because it helped me make decisions based on fairness.”

Year of the Know-It-All

Doug is another supervisor who attended one of my workshops. He recalls a major lesson learned from his own employee.

“One of my most embarrassing moments was when I had a Chinese-American employee put in a request to take time off to celebrate Chinese New Year. In my ignorance, I assumed he had his dates wrong, as the first of January and just passed. When I advised him of this, I gave him a long talking-to about turning in requests early with the proper dates.

“He patiently waited, then when I was done, he said he would like Chinese New Year off, not the Western New Year. He explained politely that in his culture the New Year did not begin January first, and that Chinese New Year, which is tied to the lunar cycle, is one of the most celebrated holidays on the Chinese calendar. Needless to say, I felt very embarrassed in assuming he had his dates mixed up. But I learned a great deal about assumptions, and that the timing of holidays varies considerably from culture to culture.

“Attending the diversity workshop helped me realize how much I could learn by simply asking questions and creating dialogues with my employees, rather than making assumptions and trying to be a know-it-all,” Doug admits. “The biggest thing I took away from the workshop is learning how to be more ‘inclusive’ to differences.”

A Better Bottom Line

An open mind about diversity not only improves organizations internally, it is profitable as well. These comments from a customer service representative show how an inclusive attitude can improve sales. “Most of my customers speak English as a second language. One of the best things my company has done is to contract with a language service that offers translations over the phone. It wasn’t until my boss received Mindsets’ training that she was able to understand how important inclusiveness was to customer service. As a result, our customer base has increased.”

Once we start to see people as individuals, and discard the stereotypes, we can move positively toward inclusiveness for everyone. Diversity is about coming together and taking advantage of our differences and similarities. It is about building better communities and organizations that enhance us as individuals and reinforce our shared humanity.

When we begin to question our assumptions and challenge what we think we have learned from our past, from the media, peers, family, friends, est., we begin to realize that some of our conclusions are flawed (有缺陷的) or contrary to our fundamental values. We need to train ourselves to think differently, shift our mindsets and realize that diversity opens doors for all of us, creating opportunities in organizations and communities that benefit everyone.

注意：此部分试题请在答题卡1上作答。

1. What bothered Tiffany during an interview with her candidate?

A) He just wouldn’t look her in the eye.
B) He was slow in answering her questions.
C) His resume didn’t provide the necessary information.
D) His answers to some of her questions were irrelevant.

2. Tiffany’s misjudgment about the candidate stemmed from _________?

A) racial stereotypes
B) invalid personal bias
C) cultural ignorance
D) emphasis on physical appearance

3. What is becoming essential in the course of economic globalization according to the author?

A) Hiring qualified technical and management personnel.
B) Increasing understanding of people of other cultures.
C) Constantly updating knowledge and equipment.
D) Expanding domestic and international markets.

4. What kind of organization is Mindsets LLC?

A) A real estate agency.
B) A personnel training company.
C) A cultural exchange organization.
D) A hi-tech company.

5. After one of the workshops, account executive Dale realized that _________?

A) he had hired the wrong person
B) he could have done more for his company
C) he had not managed his workforce well
D) he must get rid of his gender bias

6. What did Dale think of Mindsets LLC’s workshop?

A) It was well-intentioned but poorly conducted.
B) It tapped into the executives’ full potential.
C) It helped him make fair decisions.
D) It met participants’ diverse needs.

7. How did Doug, a supervisor, respond to a Chinese-American employee’s request for leave?

A) He told him to get the dates right.
B) He demanded an explanation.
C) He flatly turned it down.
D) He readily approved it.

8. Doug felt ________ when he realized that his assumption was wrong.

9. After attending Mindsets’ workshops, the participants came to know the importance of _______ to their business.

10. When we view people as individuals and get rid of stereotypes, we can achieve diversity and benefit from the _______ between us.


节选自   《大学英语四级考试真题与预测5+5》赠mp3

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【解析】
　　内容概述
　　经理Tiffany通过为她公司的一些职位的候选人面试的经历了解到，由于每个人的文化背景不同，候选人的不同行为会给人造成误解，因此增强对他人的了解重新审视我们错误的假设是十分必要的。首先，随着雇佣合格的人才变得越来越困难，摒弃偏见的老板就会有很大的优势。其次，在雇佣雇员的时候不要有性别歧视，而是给予所有候选人平等的机会。再次，通过Doug试图纠正他的雇员庆祝中国新年日期的尴尬经历来说明与雇员沟通对话的重要性，而不是自己自作假设或者试图成为无所不知的人。最后对于多样性的包容不但可以内在地改善组织，而且也会受益。总之我们应该训练自己要站在不同的角度思考，变换我们的思维方式，对多样性要包容，在受益于每个人的组织和团体中创造机会。
　　1. A)。属同义转换题。根据题干的意思，在Tiffany在给候选人面试过程中使她烦恼的是什么?本文开篇前四段提到了Tiffany给候选人面试的经历，根据第一段第二句话During one interview, she noticed that the candidate never made direct eye contact，这与A)He just wouldn’t look her in the eye表示“他不敢直视”的意思一致。所以正确答案是A)项，而其它选项在文中没有提及。
　　2. C)。属细节推断题。分析题干，本题考查Tiffany对这个候选人错误评判的原因，根据文章第三段第二句话…the candidate’s “different” behavior was simply a cultural misunderstanding.以及第四段第一句…not realizing it was cultural，都暗示出这个候选人缺乏眼神的接触的真正原因是其文化的不同。这与C)项意思一致，而其它选项在此部分没有提及。
　　3. B)。属细节推断题。分析题干，本题考查在作者看来经济全球化的过程中变得越来越重要的是什么。根据文章第五段最后一句话，…, it is essential to expand our understanding of others and to reexamine some of our false assumptions这与B)Increasing understanding of people of other cultures表示“增强对有其他文化背景的人的理解”的意思一致，而其它选项文中没有提及。
　　4. B)。属同义转换题。根据题干中关键词Mindsets LLC答案可以锁定在文章Hire Advantage这一节中第一段第二句话…, Mindsets LLC, helps organizations and individuals see their own blind spots，也就是说，这个公司主要是帮助一些公司和个人发现他们自己的盲点，Mindsets LLC的公司种类与B) A personnel training company意思一致，所以答案选B)项,而其它选项为干扰项。
　　5. D)。属细节推断题。题干中关键词account executive Dale答案可以锁定在文章Blinded by Gender这一小节，根据这一小节中的最后一段第一句话…instead of imposing my gender biases into the situation, I needed to present the full range of duties, …也就是说Dale意识到了要摒弃性别歧视。这与D) he must get rid of his gender bias意思一致, 所以答案选B)项，而其它选项文中没有提及。
　　6. C)。属同义转换题。根据题干中关键词Dale答案仍然锁定在文章Blinded by Gender这一小节，根据这一小节中的最后一段最后一句话Dale credits the workshop, “because it helped me make decisions based on fairness，这与C) It helped him make fair decisions意思一致，所以答案选C)项，而其它选项文中没有提及。
　　7. A)。属同义转换题。题干中出现关键词Doug, a Chinese-American employee,所以答案定位在Year of the Know-It-All这一小节，根据这一小节中的第二段最后一句话…I gave him a long talking-to about turning in requests early with the proper dates，这与A) He told him to get the dates right意思吻合，所以答案选A)项，而其它选项意思与文章不符。
　　8. embarrassed 属细节推断题。分析题干，此空在感官动词felt后面应该填形容词，另外题干中出现关键词Doug所以答案定位在Year of the Know-It-All这一小节，根据这一小节中的第三段第三句话Needless to say, I felt very embarrassed in assuming he had his dates mixed up，也就是说，当Doug意识到弄错中国新年日期时他感到非常尴尬，所以此处填形容词embarrassed。
　　9. inclusiveness 属细节归纳题。根据文章Year of the Know-It-All这一小节最后一句话The biggest thing I took away from the workshop is learning how to be more ‘inclusive’ to differences，以及文章A Better Bottom Line这一小节第一段倒数第二句话…understand how important inclusiveness was to customer service，可以归纳出参加Mindset培训的人意识到包容对于他们生意的重要性。
　　10. differences and similarities 属同义转换题。题干中view people as individuals and get rid of stereotypes答案可以定位在文章A Better Bottom Line这一小节第二段倒数第二﹑三句话…Diversity is about coming together and taking advantage of our differences and similarities，这里take advantage of也就是benefit from的意思，所以此处填differences and similarities。
节选自   《大学英语四级考试真题与预测5+5》赠mp3

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