TheImportanceofGoodCommunications

Effectivecommunicationisessentialforallorganizations.Itlinkstheactivitiesofthevariouspartsoftheorganizationandensuresthateveryoneisworkingtowardsacommongoal.Itisalsoextremelyimportantformotivatingemployees.Staffneedtoknowhowtheyaregettingon,whattheyaredoingrightandinwhichareastheycouldimprove.Workingalonecanbeextremelydifficultanditismucheasierifsomeonetakesaninterestandprovidessupport.Employeesneedtounderstandwhytheirjobisimportantandhowitcontributestotheoverallsuccessofthefirm.Personalcommunicationshouldalsoincludetargetsetting.Peopleusuallyrespondwelltogoals,providedtheseareagreedbetweenthemanagerandsubordinateandnotimposed.

However,firmsoftenhavecommunicationproblemsthatcanunderminetheirperformance.Inmanycases,theseproblemsoccurbecausemessagesarepassedoninaninappropriateway.Thereare,ofcourse,severalwaysofconveyinginformationtoothersintheorganizationwhichincludespeakingtothemdirectly,e-mailing,telephoningorsendingamemo.Themostappropriatemethoddependsonwhatexactlyitisyouarecommunicating.Forexample,anythingthatisparticularlysensitiveorconfidential,suchasanemployee'sappraisal,shouldbedoneface-to-face.

Oneofthemainproblemsforseniorexecutivesisthattheydonothavethetimeorresourcesneededtocommunicateeffectively.Inlargecompanies,forexample,itisimpossibleforseniormanagerstomeetanddiscussprogresswitheachemployeeindividually.Obviouslythistaskcanbedelegatedbutatthecostofcreatingagapbetweenseniormanagementandstaff.Asaresult,managersareoftenforcedtouseothermethodsofcommunication,likememosornotes,eveniftheyknowthesearenotnecessarilythemostsuitablemeansofpassingonmessages.

Theuseoftechnology,suchase-mail,mobilephonesandnetworksystems,isspeedingupcommunicationimmensely.However,thisdoesnotmeanthatmoreinvestmentintechnologyautomaticallyprovesbeneficial:systemscanbecomeoutdatedoremployeesmaylackappropriatetraining.Therearemanycommunicationstoolsnowavailablebutafirmcannotaffordallofthem.Evenifitcould,itdoesnotactuallyneedthemall.Thepotentialgainsmustbeweighedupagainstthecosts,andfirmsshouldrealizethatmorecommunicationdoesnotnecessarilymeanbettercommunication."

Asthenumberofpeopleinvolvedinanorganizationincrease,theuseofwrittencommunicationrisesevenfaster.Insteadofaquickconversationtosortsomethingoutnumerousmessagescanbepassedbackwardsandforwards.Thiscanleadtoatremendousamountofpaperworkandisoftenlesseffectivethanface-to-facecommunication.Whenyouareactuallytalkingtosomeoneyoucandiscussthingsuntilyouarehappythattheyhaveunderstoodandfeedbackisimmediate.Withwrittenmessages,however,youareneverquitesurehowitwillbereceivedwhatyouthinkyouhavesaidandwhattheotherpersonthinksyouhavesaidcanbeverydifferent.

Theamountofwritteninformationgeneratedinlargeorganizationstodaycanleadtocommunicationoverload.Somuchinformationisgatheredthatitgetsinthewayofmakingdecisions.Takealookattheaveragemanager'sdeskandyouwillseetheproblem--itisoftencoveredwithletters,reportsandmemos.Thisoverloadcanleadtoinefficiencies.Forexample,managersmaynotbeabletofindtheinformationtheywantwhentheyneedit.Communicationisalsobecomingmoredifficultwiththechangesoccurringinemploymentpatterns.Withmorepeopleworkingpart-timeandworkingathome,managingcommunicationisbecomingincreasinglycomplex.

1.InthefirstparagraphthewriterrecommendsthatcommunicationwithstaffshouldincludeA.somefeedbackontheirjobperformance.

B.anexplanationofhowcompanytargetshavebeenset.

C.informationonpromotionprospectswithinthecompany.

D.anindicationofwhichdutiestheycanexpectassistancewith.areastheycouldimprove

2.Accordingtothewriter,thebestwayofachievingeffectivecommunicationistoA.adaptthemessagetosuitaparticularaudience.

B.makethecontentofmessagesbriefanddirect.

C.selectthemostsuitablemeansofconveyingaparticularmessage.

D.ensurethatinformationistargetedattheappropriategroupofpeople.

3.Whatdoesthewritersayaboutthecommunicationoptionsavailabletoseniormanagers?A.Sendingmemostostaffisoneofthemostefficientmethods.

B.Itisimportanttofindthetimetodiscusscertainmatterswithstaff.

C.Theyshouldincreasetherangeofoptionsthattheyuse.

D.Gettingjuniormanagerstotalktostaffcancreatedifferentproblems.

4.Whatadviceisgivenaboutthecommunicationtoolsmadeavailablebytechnology?A.Aimtolimitstaffuseofcertaincommunicationtools.

B.Evaluatethemintermsoftheexpenditureinvolved.

C.Selectthemonthebasisofthefacilitiestheyoffer.

D.Encouragemorestafftoattendtrainingcoursesintheiruse.

5.Accordingtothewriter,aproblemwithwrittencommunicationisthatA.themessagecanbeinterpreteddifferentlytowhatwasintended.

B.itcanbeeasyforpeopletoignorethecontentsofawrittenmessage.

C.mostpeoplearemorecomfortablewithface-to-facecommunication.

D.itispossibleforcorrespondencetogetlostwithinalargeorganization.

6.Accordingtothearticle,whatistheeffectofreceivinglargeamountsofwritteninformation?A.Itiscounter-productive."

B.Itcausesconflictinacompany.

C.Itleadstochangesinworkpatterns.

D.Itmakesthemainpointsmoredifficulttoidentify.

Itisonlyinviewofourlongfriendlybusinessrelationsthatwe____youthisaccommodation.

Thereis______littleinformationabouthimthatwehave______muchdifficultyfindinghim.

Passage3

Questions11to15arebasedonthefollowingpassage:

“...WearenotabouttoentertheInformationAgebutinsteadareratherwellintoit.”Presentpredictionsarethatby1990,aboutthirtymillionjobsintheUnitedStates,oraboutthirtypercentofthejobmarket,willbecomputer-related.In1980,onlytwenty-onepercentofallUnitedStateshighschoolsownedoneormorecomputersforstudentuse.(79)Inthefallof1985,anewsurveyrevealedthathalfofUnitedStatessecondaryschoolshavefifteenormorecomputersforstudentuse.Andnoweducationalexperts,administrators,andeventhegeneralpublicaredemandingthatallstudentsbecome“computerliterate(慢点…的).”“Bytheyear2000knowledgeofcomputerswillbenecessaryinovereightypercentofalloccupations.Soonthosepeoplenoteducatedincomputerusewillbecomparedtothosewhoareprintilliteratetoday.”

Whatis“computerliteracy”?Thetermitselfseemstoimplysoonextentof“knowing”aboutcomputers,butknowingwhat.Thecurrentopinionseemstobethatthisshouldincludeageneralknowledgeofwhatcomputersare,plusalittleoftheirhistoryandsomethingofhowtheyoperate.

Therefore,itisvitalthateducatorseverywheretakeacarefullooknotonlyatwhatisbeingdone,butalsoatwhatshouldbedoneinthefieldofcomputereducation.Todaymostadultsarecapableofutilisingamotorvehiclewithouttheslightestknowledgeofhowtheinternal-combustionengineworks.Weeffectivelyusealltypesofelectricalequipmentwithoutbeingabletotelltheirhistoriesortoexplainhowtheywork.(80)Businesspeopleforyearshavemadegooduseoftypewritersandaddingmachines,yetfewhaveeverknownhowtorepairthem.Why,then,attempttoteachcomputersbyteachinghoworwhytheywork?

Rather,wefirstmustconcentrateonteachingtheeffectiveuseofthecomputerasthetoolis.

“Knowinghowtouseacomputeriswhat’sgoingtobeimportant,wedon’ttalkabout‘automobileliteracy.‘Wejustgetinourcarsanddrivethem.”

11.In1990,thenumberofjobshavingnothingtodowithcomputersintheUnitedStateswillbereducedto________.

A)79millionB)30millionC)70millionD)100million(C)

12.Theexpression“Printilliterate”(Para.1,Line16)refersto________.

A)onewhohasneverlearntprintingB)onewhoisnotcomputerliterate

C)onewhohasneverlearnttoreadD)onewhoisnotabletouseatypewriter(C)

13.Thefirstparagraphismainlyabout________.

A)recentpredictionsofcomputer-relatedjobsB)thewideuseofcomputersinschools

C)theurgencyofcomputereducationD)publicinterestincomputers(C)

14.Accordingtotheauthor,theeffectivewaytospreadtheuseofcomputersistoteach____.

A)whatcomputersareB)howtousecomputers

C)wherecomputerscanbeusedD)howcomputerswork(B)

15.WhichofthefollowingstatementsisFALSE?

A)Whattoteachaboutcomputersshouldbereconsidered.

B)Thosewhoarenoteducatedincomputerusewillfinditdifficulttogetajob.

C)HumansocietyhasalreadyenteredtheInformationAge.

D)Thosewhowanttousecomputersshouldknowhowcomputersoperate.

Thetimehascome_____wemakeextensiveuseofnuclearenergy.