河北师范大学2004年博士研究生入学考试英语试题

二、本考题满分为100分,全部考试时间为180分钟。
Ⅱ. Reading Comprehension ( 50 minutes, 25 points )
Directions: There are five passages in this part. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A), B), C) and D). You should choose the best answer among them.
Questions 21 -25 are based on the following passage:
Passage 1
If sustainable competitive advantage depends on work-force skills, American firms have a problem. Human resource management is not traditionally seen as central to the competitive survival of the firm in the United States. Skill acquisition is considered an individual responsibility. Labor is simply another factor of production to be hired-rented at the lowest possible cost—much as one buys raw materials or equipment.
The lack of importance attached to human-resource management can be seen in the corporate hierarchy. In an American firm the chief financial officer is almost always second in command. The post of head of human-resource management is usually a specialized job, off at the edge of the corporate hierarchy. The executive who holds it is never consulted on major strategic decisions and has no chance to move up to Chief Executive Officer (CEO). By way of contrast, in Japan the head of human-resource management is central—usually the second most important executive, after the CEO, in the firm’s hierarchy.
While American firms often talk about the vast amounts spent on training their work forces, in fact they invest less in the skills of their employees than do either Japanese or German firms. The money they do invest is also more highly concentrated on professional and managerial employees. And the limited investments that are made in training workers are also much more narrowly focused on the specific skills necessary to do the next job rather than on the basic background skills that make it possible to absorb new technologies.
As a result, problems emerge when new breakthrough technologies arrive. If American workers, for example, take much longer to learn how to operate new flexible manufacturing stations than workers in Germany (as they do), the effective cost of those stations is lower in Germany than it is in the United States. More time is required before equipment is up and running at capacity, and the need for extensive retraining generates costs and creates bottlenecks that limit the speed with which new equipment can be employed. The result is a slower pace of technological change. And in the end the skills of the population affect the wages of the top half. If the bottom half can’t effectively staff the processes that have to be operated, the management and professional jobs that go with these processes will disappear.
21.Which of the following applies to the management of human resources in American companies?
A) They hire people at the lowest cost regardless of their skills.
B) They see the gaining of skills as their employees’ own business.
C) They attach more importance to workers than equipment.
D) They only hire skilled workers because of keen competition.
22. What is the position of the head of human-resource management in an American firm?
A) He is one of the most important executives in the firm.
B) His post is likely to disappear when new technologies are introduced.
C) He is directly under the chief financial executive.
D) He has no say in making important decisions in the firm.
23.The money most American firms put in training mainly goes to .
A) workers who can operate new equipment
B) technological and managerial staff
C) workers who lack basic background skills
D) top executives
24. According to the passage, the decisive factor in maintaining a firm’s competitive advantage is .
A) the introduction of new technologies
B) the improvement of worker’s basic skills
C) the rational composition of professional and managerial employees
D) the attachment of importance to the bottom half of the employees
25. What is the main idea of the passage?
A) American firms are different from Japanese and Germany firms in human-resource management.
B) Extensive retraining is indispensable to effective human-resource management.
C) The head of human-resource management must be in the central position in a firm’s hierarchy.
D) The human-resource management strategies of American firms affect their competitive capacity.
Questions 26—30 are based on the following passage:
Passage 2
For millions of years before the appearance of the electric light, shift work, all-night cable TV and the Internet, earth’s creatures evolved on a planet with predictable and reassuring 24-hout rhythms. Our biological locks are set for this daily cycle. Simply, our bodies want to sleep at night and be awake during the day. Most women and men need between eight and eight and a half hours of sleep a night to function properly throughout their lives. ( Contrary to popular belief, humans don’t need less sleep as they age.)
But on average, Americans sleep only about seven and a half hours per night, a marked drop from the nine hours they averaged in 1910. What’s worse, nearly one third of all Americans get less than six hours of sleep on a typical work night. For most people, that’s not nearly enough.
Finding ways to get more and better sleep can be a challenge. Scientists have identified more than 80 different sleep disorders. Some sleep disorders are genetic. But many problems are caused by staying up late and by traveling frequently between time ones or by working nights. Dr. James F. Jones at National Jewish Medical and Research Center in Denver says that sleep disorders are often diagnosed as other discomforts. About one third of the patients referred to him with possible chronic fatigue syndrome actually have treatable sleep disorders. “ Before we do anything else, we look at their sleep,” Jones says.
Sleep experts says that most people would benefit from a good look at their sleep patterns “ My motto (座右铭) is ‘ Sleep defensively’,” says Mary Carskadon of Brown University. She says people need to carve out sufficient time to sleep, even if it means giving up other things. Sleep routines—like going to bed and getting up at the same time every day—are important. Pre-bedtime activities also make a difference. As with Elsner, who used to suffer from sleeplessness, a few lifestyle changes—avoiding stimulants and late meals, exercising hours before bedtime, relaxing with a hot bath—yield better sleep.
26 What is TRUE of human sleep?
A. On average, people in the U.S. today sleep less per night than they used to.
B. For most people, less than six hours of sleep on a typical work night is enough.
C. Most people need less sleep when they grow older.
D. Most people need seven and a half hours of sleep every night.
27. For our bodies to function properly, we should .
A. adjust our activities to the new inventions
B. be able to predict the rhythms of our biological clocks
C. sleep for at least eight hours per night
D. believe that we need less sleep as we age
28.According to the author, many sleeping disorders are caused by .
A. improper sleep patterns
B. chronic fatigue syndrome
C. other diseases
D. pre-bedtime exercises
29. Which of the following measures can help you sleep better?
A. Having late meals.
B. Traveling between time zones.
C. Staying up late.
D. Taking a hot bath.
30. “ Sleep defensively” means that .
A. people should sacrifice other things to getting enough sleep if necessary
B. people should give up going to bed and getting up at the same time every day
C. people should go to a doctor and have their problems diagnosed
D. people should exercise immediately before going to bed every night
Questions 31—35 are based on the following passage:
Passage 3

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