阅读理解 Their defenders say they are motivated, versatile workers who are just what companies need in these difficult times. To others, however, the members of "Generation Y"—those born in the 1980s and 1990s, otherwise known as the Net Generation—are spoiled, narcissistic idlers who cannot spell and waste too much time on instant messaging and Facebook. Ah, reply the Net Geners, but all that messing around online proves that we are computer-literate multi-taskers who are adept users of online collaborative tools, and natural team players. And, while you are on the subject of me, I need a month's vacation to reconsider my personal goals.
This culture clash has been going on in many organizations and has lately seeped into management books. The Net Geners have grown up with computers; they are brimming with self-confidence; and they have been encouraged to challenge received wisdom, to find their own solutions to problems and to treat work as a route to personal fulfillment rather than merely a way of putting food on the table. Not all of this makes them easy to manage. Bosses complain that after a childhood of being spoiled and praised, Net Geners demand far more frequent feedback and an over-precise set of objectives on the path to promotion. In a new report from PricewaterhouseCoopers, a consultancy, 61% of chief executives say they have trouble recruiting and integrating younger employees.
For those hard-to-please older managers, the current recession is the joyful equivalent of hiding an alarm clock in a sleeping teenager's bedroom. Once again, the touchy-feely management fads that always spring up in years of plenty are being ditched in favor of more brutal command-and-control methods. Having grown up in good times, Net Geners have labored under the illusion that the world owed them a living. But hopping between jobs to find one that meets your inner spiritual needs is not so easy when there are no jobs to hop to. And as for that vacation: here's a permanent one, sunshine.
In fact, compromise will be necessary on both sides. Net Geners will certainly have to lower some of their expectations and take the world as it is, not as they would like it to be. But their older bosses should also be prepared to make concessions. The economy will eventually recover, and demographic trends in most rich countries will make clever young workers even more valuable. Besides, many of the things that keep Net Geners happy are worth doing anyway. But for the moment at least, the Facebook-ers are under heavy criticism.
单选题 16.In the eyes of the critics of the Net Generation, the Net Geners are characterized as
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】判断推理题。考查观点思想。答案在第一段第二、三两句。句中讲到:然而,对其他人而言,“Y一代”——那些80后、90后,或称为“网络一代”——是被宠坏的一代。他们自恋而懒散……,故C项“以自我为中心又放任的”符合文意。
单选题 17.According to Paragraph 2, Net Geners are not easy to manage in that
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】事实细节题。答案在第二段尊文中提到如今的老板们对网络一代颇有微辞,因为他们在职场的晋升之路上需要更频繁的反馈和过度详细的目标,D项符合内容。
单选题 18.The word "touchy-feely"(line 2, Paragraph 3)most probably means
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】语义理解题。答案在第三段。touch本身表示触觉,feel表示感觉;不难推出该词意为“有同情心的”,即A项。此外,考生也可以从句末的more brutal command-and-control这一表述反推其含义。
单选题 19.We can learn from the last paragraph that the author believes
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】判断推理题。对于考查观点思想的题目通常要注意段落首末。第四段首句直言“事实上,双方有必要互相妥协”。D项正是这句话的变形,concede表示“让步”。
单选题 20.What is the author's attitude towards Net Geners?
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】观点态度题。纵观全文,作者既列举了网络一代的优点,也指出了其不足;既引用了defenders的褒奖,又提出others对这一代的批评。因此,作者态度应当是“客观的”,即选B。