1、昆明市2014高考英语（阅读理解）一轮训练题（1）及答案 Bonus（奖金） culture has become the subject of many studies nowadays. Many people have been angered by the way some bankers and high officials seem to have been rewarded for failure. Others find the idea of offering many-million-dollar bonuses morally disgusting. But few ha
2、ve asked whether performance-related bonuses really do improve performance. The answer seems so obvious that even to ask the question can appear ridiculous. Indeed, in spite of all the complaints about them, financial encouragements continue to be introduced in more and more areas, from healthcare a
3、nd public services to teaching and universities.So it may come as a shock to many to learn that paying for results can actually make people perform badly in many circumstances, and that the more you pay, the worse they perform.No one is arguing that bonuses can help companies and institutions attrac
4、t and keep the best staff. Nor does anyone argue against the idea that you can encourage people to do specific tasks by linking payments to those tasks. Rather, the point is about how to get the best out of people. Do employees really perform better if you promise to pay them more for getting result
5、s?There are some obvious reasons why such payments can fail. It has been argued, for instance, that cash bonuses contributed to the financial crash, because traders had little enthusiasm to make sure that their companies enjoyed long-term survival.Most bonus projects are poorly designed, says Profes
6、sor Malcolm Higgs. He thinks the reason is that organisations try to keep bonus arrangements simple. Nevertheless, he thinks bonus projects can work as long as they link the interests of individual employees with the long-term goals of a business.Bonuses can also encourage cheating. “Once you start
7、making peoples rewards dependent on outcomes rather than behaviours, the evidence is people will do whatever they can to get those outcomes,” says Professor Edward Deci. “In many cases the high officials simply lied and cheated to make the stock (股票) price go up so they got huge bonuses.”But the wor
8、k of Deci and others suggests the problem with bonuses runs far deeper than poor design or cheating. In 1971, he asked students to solve puzzles, with some receiving cash prizes for doing well and others getting nothing. Deci found those offered cash were less likely to keep working on puzzles after
9、 they had done enough to get paid.These studies suggest that offering rewards can stop people doing things for the pure joy of it. This was the basis for a series of books by Kohn in which he argues that rewarding children, students and workers with grades, scholarships and other “bribes” (贿赂) leads
10、 to low-quality work in the long run.Those who believe in the power of bonuses fail to distinguish between inner drive and outside pressure wanting to do something because you like it for itself in contrast to doing something because you want the reward, Kohn says. “Its not just that these two are d
11、ifferent, its often that the more you reward people for doing something, the more their inner drive tends to decline.”A “do this and get that” approach might improve performance in the short term, but over longer periods it will always fail, Kohn says. People who receive bonus will naturally play sa
12、fe, become less creative, cooperate less and feel less valued, he adds. Whats more, the studies also suggest that offering rewards can also stop people taking responsibility.10. The effect of performance-related bonuses has not been well studied because people _A. take the function of bonuses for gr
13、antedB. see that bonus offering is done everywhereC. think financial encouragement is disgustingD. are shocked by the practice of rewarding for failures11. According to Malcolm Higgs, designs that _ are the good ones. A. drive people to finish short-term tasks B. help to attract and keep good employ
14、eesC. link financial rewards with the quality of the outcomesD. connect individual interests with long-term business goals 12. If a person plays safe to get a bonus, he is probably being _. A. more enthusiastic B. more risk-taking C. less daring D. less responsible13. Which of the following do you t
15、hink the author would most probably agree with? A. Companies should make their bonus projects simple.B. The benefit of bonus helps to get the best out of people.C. The biggest problem with bonus is it creates cheating.D. Bonus offering can stop people doing things for pure joy.14. Which do you think
16、 is the best title of the passage?A. What Is Bonus?B. Does Bonus Work?C.Why Bonus Offered?D. How Bonus Works?参考答案10. A 11. D 12. C13. D14. B*结束1、（浙江省温州市2011年高三第一次适应性测试） When editors considered the possible demand forAutobiography(自传)of Mark Twain，they kept their expectations within 7，500 copies. How
17、ever，the book reached the No.7 on The New York Times best-seller list published on Nov.28.On Friday afternoon it was No.4 on the BN.com best-seller list. It is a hit across the country.1anding on best-seller lists and going back to press six times，for a total of 275，000 so far. The publisher cannot
18、print copies quickly enough，leaving some bookstores and online retailers(零售商)hopeless without copies just as the holiday shopping season begins. Its frustrating，said Rona，the owner of the BookMark. In this age of instant books，why does it take so long to reprint it? Kris，an owner of a bookstore said
19、：It was sold right out. Theres a lasting love affair with Mark Twain，especially around here. Anybody within a stones throw of the Mississippi River has a Twain attachment. Mr. Ingrain said：Im sure every bookseller in the world is saying.I should have been sharper. I should have thought this one thro
20、ugh more carefully. Earlier this week，the book was sold out at a handful of bookstores. Some booksellers said they had been told，much to their disappointment，that they would not receive reorders until mid-December or even January. Many booksellers said the book has a holiday-gift quality，which has a
21、 unique story behind its publication. Twain ordered that the book be published a century after his death. It is more political than his previous works，being flank，funny，angry and full of memories from his childhood. Its literary，but not too tough to read. The content，itself，is very readable. It can
22、be easily picked up and read without the worry of continuity(连贯性). Ive only had a chance to look at it. but from what I did see，it looked like the kind of book you would never finish，and you would never even think of reading from the beginning to the end. said Mr. Ingram of Prairie Lights. Its the k
23、ind of book you would read a little bit every day of your life. He was a wonderful showman. And he was cool. Lets face it. Thats part of it. Mr. Kettmann said. We feel Americas kind of excited about a literary icon. said Ms. Dahne. Theres something very sweet about the fact that people are intereste
24、d in a 736-page scholarly book about Mark Twain.”(1)We can find this article in a_. A. newspaper B. brochure C. novel D. guidebook【解析】 本文是一则报道，马克吐温自传受到人们的追捧，登上了纽约时报畅销书榜单第七名。 (1)A文章出处题。从全文可知，这是一篇介绍马克吐温自传畅销的新闻报道，所以文章最有可能来自于报纸，答案选A项。(2)B句意理解题。语意表示“我本该眼光更敏锐些”，再结合语境可知该句隐含着书商对形势估计不足，从而产生一种惋惜和自责的情绪，所以句意同B项
25、较一致。(3)D事实细节题。从文章第三段最后一句我们不难发现，马克吐温自传需要读者仔细阅读，点滴阅读，所以答案选D项。(4)B写作目的题。全文主要向读者介绍了马克吐温自传受到人们的追捧，畅销于世，所以选B项。*结束4、（2010江苏省南京市三模）We typically associate the word “science” with a person in a white coat doing experiments in a laboratory. Ideally, experiments should play as big a role in the human sciences a
26、s they do in the natural sciences; but in practice this is not usually the case. The are at least three reasons for this.1Human scientists are often trying to make sense of complex real world situations in which it is simply impossible to run controlled experiment.2The artificiality of some of the e
27、xperiments that can be conducted may make the behavior of the participants abnormal.3There are moral reasons for not conducting experiments that have a negative effect on the people who participate in them.Faced with the above difficulties, what are human scientists to do? One solution is to wait fo
28、r nature to provide the appropriate experimental conditions. We can, for example, learn something about how a normal brain functions by looking at people who have suffered brain damage; and we can gain some understanding into the roles played by genes and the environment by studying twins, who have
29、been separated at birth and brought up in different families. In the case of economics, economic history can provide us with a bank of-admittedly not very well-controlled-experimental data.However, human scientists do not just sit around waiting for natural experiments to arise. They also think of s
30、ome experiments of their own. Suppose you want to know how a baby sees the world. We cannot, of course, ask the baby since it has not yet learnt to speak. So it might seem that all we can do is guess. People usually wont change their mind until it was found out that babies tend to stare at surprisin
31、g things longer than at unsurprising ones. This key understanding was like opening a window on to the developing mind. There was now a way of testing babies expectations and getting some idea of how they are six months old, babies can already do the following things: figuring out that objects consis
32、t of parts that move together being aware of the difference between living and non-living things and even doing simple arithmetic work.60What is true about the natural sciences and the human sciences according to this passage?ABoth human scientists and natural scientists can run controlled experimen
33、ts.BExperiments done by human scientists and natural scientists are artificial.CBoth human and natural science experiments should be of the same importance.DIts not moral to conduct human science experiments.61What do we know about human scientists from this passage?AThey are white coat scientists.B
34、They have more experimental sources than natural scientists.CThey conduct experiments passively. DThey face more difficulties in carrying out their research.62Which of the following experiments belongs to human science experiment?A Vinegar Volcano Vinegar and baking soda make. for a fun and easy sci
35、ence experiment. Try creating a vinegar volcano.B Taste Without Smell Put your senses to the test with this simple experiment that shows the importance of your sense of smell.C Lung Function Observe your breath and confirm your lung volume by completing this experiment.D Make a Rainbow Use sunlight
36、and water to make your own rainbow with this cool experimentthat will teach kids how rainbows work while they enjoy a fun activity63What does the author tell us in this passage?AABCs about the science experiment.BSome knowledge of science.CSome differences between the human sciences and the natural
37、sciences.DThe similarity of the natural sciences and the human sciences.4、参考答案-C DCC *结束BBelow is a page from The World Almanac（年鉴）and Book of Facts 2008.6. Which park has 365 miles of explored underground passages?A. Arches, UT.B. Cuyahoga Valley, OH.C. Acadia, ME.D. Mammoth Cave, KY. 7. In which y
38、ear was Channel Islands first authorized as a protection site for sea lions, sea birds and unique plants?A. 1929.B. 1938.C. 1978.D. 1980.8. The worlds tallest trees are found in _.A. Redwood, CAB. Gates of the Arctic, AKC. Canyonlands, UTD. Kings Canyon, CA9. In 1917, the national park Denali was named as _.A. Black Canyon of the GunnisonB. Mount Desert Isl.C. Mt. McKinley National ParkD. Rocky Mountain参考答案6. D7. B8. A9. C *结束
