TroublewithTeamwork
MaryOwenexaminestheroleandefficiencyofteams
Recruiterssaythatcandidateswhocangiveexamplesofworktheyhavedoneasmembersofasuccessfulteamareinasstrongapositionasthosewhocanpointtosignificantindividualachievement.Indeed,toomuchofthelattermaysuggestthatthepersonconcernedisnota'teamplayer'-oneofthemoreseriousfailingsinthebookofmanagement.
Theimportanceofbeingateamplayerisasideeffectoftheincreasinginteractionacrossdepartmentsandfunctionaldivides.Insteadofpushingreports,paperworkanddecisionsaroundtheorganisation,'teamsprovideadynamicmeetingplacewhereideascanbesharedandexpertisemorecarefullytargetedatimportantbusinessissues,'saysSteveGardner,inhisbookKeyManagementConcepts.Headds,'Globalisationhasaddedafurtherdimensiontoteamwork.Multinationalteamsnowstudypolicydecisionsinthelightoftheirimpactonthelocalmarket.'
Butisteamworkingbeingoverdone?'Somemanagersareonasmanyassevenoreightdifferentteams',saysDrCathyBandy,apsychologistwhorecentlyranaconferenceonthesubject.'Theytakeupsomuchtimethatmanagerscan'tgetonwithcoretasks.'Formingteamsandhavingmeetingshas,shesays,becomeanendinitself,almostregardlessofpurpose.Thereisalsothedangerofanunhealthydesiretokeeptheteamgoingaftertheworkhasbeendone.'Peoplefeeltheneedtobelong,andteammembershipcanprovideakindofpsychologicalsupport.'
Theideabehindteamworkingisthat,whentherightgroupofpeopleisbroughttogether,a'force'developswhichisgreaterthanthesumoftheirindividualtalents.Thisisoftentrueinsport,wheregoodplayerscanreachunexpectedheightsasmembersofaninternationalteam.However,fewbusinesssituationshaveasclearasetofobjectives,orasclearcriteriaofsuccessorfailure,aswinningamatch.
'Inbusiness,everyoneneedstobeclearaboutwhatthechallengeisandwhetherateamistherightwayofapproachingit',saysSteveGardner.'Unfortunately,peoplefocusinsteadonwhothemembersoftheteamshouldbeandwhatrolestheyaretoplay'DrBandyagrees.'Thereisalwaysadangerthatteamscanturnintocommittees,'shesays.'Inalotofsituations,oneortwoindividualswouldbemuchmoreeffective.'
Sowhatmakesasuccessfulteam?Therearesomegeneralqualitiesthathavebeenidentified.SteveGardnerrecommendsthatineveryteamthereshouldbesomeonewhoisgoodatresearchingideasandanotherwhoisgoodatshootingdownimpracticalones.Thereshouldbethosewhocanresolvethetensionsthatnaturallyoccurinateamandotherswhoarefocusedongettingthejobdone.Also,providingaclearandachievabletargetattheoutsetisthebestwayofensuringthattheteamwillmoveontogreaterthings.
13、Whatpointdoesthewritermakeaboutteamworkingatthebeginningofthearticle?
AItisthemostsuccessfulformofmanagement.
BIthaschangedtherecruitmentprocedureincompanies.
CWell-runteamsstillallowindividualstodemonstratetheirtalents.
DBeingateamplayerisnowconsideredanessentialmanagementskill.
14、Accordingtothearticle,teamworkdevelopedwithincompaniesasaresponseto
Amodernofficedesign.
Bchangingworkpractices.
Careductioninadministrativetasks.
Dtheexpansionofinternationalbusiness.
15、Inthethirdparagraph,DrBandysuggeststhat
Amanyemployeesdonotenjoyworkinginteams.
Bsomemanagersarenotveryeffectiveteamleaders.
Csometeamsarecreatedunnecessarily.
Dfewteamsarewellorganised.
16、Accordingtothewriter,teamworkismoreeffectiveinthefieldofsportbecausetheplayers
Aknowwhattheywanttoachieve.
Baremorecompetitivebynature.
Chavemoreindividualtalent.
Dcanbedrivenbynationalpride.
17、SteveGardnerandDrBandyagreethatwhenabusinessteamiscreatedpeopledonotpayenoughattentionto
Athestructureoftheteam.
Balternativestotheteam.
Cselectingtheteammembers.
Ddirectingtheteam'sactivities.
18、WhatisSteveGardner'sadviceonoperatingasuccessfulteam?
AMaintainaflexibleapproachtomembership.
BAllowpersonalitiestodevelopwithintheteam.
CSelectpeoplewhofitnaturallyintocertainroles.
DMakeeveryefforttoavoidconflictbetweenmembers.
Passage4
Questions 16to 20arebasedonthefollowingpassage:
Morethan30,000driversandfrontseatpassengersarekilledorseriouslyinjuredeachyear.Atthespeedofonly30milesperhouritisthesameasfallingfromathird-floorwindows.Wearingaseatbeltsaveslives;itreducesyourchanceofdeathorseriousinjurybymorethanhalf.
Thereforedriversorfrontseatpassengersover14inmostvehiclesmustwearaseatbelt.Ifyoudonot,youcouldbefinedupto￡50.itwillnotbeuptothedriverstomakesureyouwearyourbelt.Butitwillbethedriver’sresponsibilitytomakesurethatchildrenunder14donotrideinthefrontunlesstheyarewearingaseatbeltofsomekind.
However,youdonothavetowearaseatbeltifyoureversingyourvehicle;oryouaremakingalocaldeliveryorcollectionusingaspecialvehicle;orifyouhaveavalidmedicalcertificatewhichexcusesyoufromwearingit.Makesurethesecircumstancesapplytoyoubeforeyoudecidenottowearyouseatbelt.(76)Rememberyoumaybetakentocourtfornotdoingso,andyoumaybefinedifyoucannotprovetothecourtthatyouhavebeenexcusedfromwearingit.
1.Thistextistakenfrom________.
A)amedicalmagazineB)apolicereport
C)alegaldocumentD)agovernmentinformationbooklet
2.Wearingaseatbeltinavehicle________.
A)reducesroadaccidentsbymorethanhalf
B)savesliveswhiledrivingataspeedupto30milesperhour
C)reducesthedeathrateintrafficaccidentsD)savesmorethan15,000liveseachyear
3.Itisthedriver’sresponsibilityto________.
A)makethefrontseatpassengerwearaseatbelt
B)makethefrontseatchildrenunder14wearaseatbelt
C)stopchildrenridinginthefrontseatD)wearaseatbelteachtimehedrives
4.Accordingtothetext,whichofthefollowingpeopleridinginthefrontdosnothavetowearaseatbelt?
A)Someonewhoisbackingintoaparkingspace.
B)Someonewhoispickingupthechildrenfromthelocalschool.
C)Someonewhoisdeliveringinvitationletters.
D)Someonewhoisunder14.
5.Forsomepeople,itmaybebetter________.
A)towearaseatbeltforhealthreasons
B)nottowearaseatbeltforhealthreasons
C)togetvalidmedicalcertificatebeforewearingaseatbelt
D)topayafineratherthanwearaseatbelt
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.