单选题
Happy hours are not necessarily happy, nor do they last for an hour, but they have become a part of the ritual of the office worker and businessman.
On weekdays in pubs and bars throughout America, there is the late afternoon happy hour. The time may vary from place to place, but usually it is held from four to seven. After the workday is finished, office workers in large cities and small towns take a relaxing pause and do not go directly home. They head off instead for the nearest bar or pub to be with friends, co-workers and colleagues. Within minutes the pub is filled to capacity with businessmen and secretaries, office clerks and stock executives. They gather around the bar like birds around a fountain or forest animals around a watering hole and chat about the trifles of office life or matters more personal. This is their desert garden, the place to relieve the day"s stress at the office.
At these happy hours, social binding occurs between people who share the same workplace or similar professions. They may chat about each other or talk about a planned project that has yet to meet a deadline. In this sense, these places become extensions of the workplace and constitute a good portion of one"s social life.
单选题
For office workers and businessmen the happy hour is their ______.
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】[解析] 文中已经明确表示，“happy hours”发生在下班后“After the workday is finished”，有两个支持信息“a relaxing pause(放松间隙)”和“to relieve the day"s stress at the office(为了释放当天在办公室的压力)”可以判断出C项(放松休息)为正确答案。
单选题
Happy hours are held because office workers need to ______.
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】[解析] 本题的依据句为第二段最后一个句子“This is their desert garden, the place to relieve the day"s stress at the office”，接近A项的意思“下班了需要放松一下”。其他选项的信息在文章中没有出现，属于无关信息。
单选题
The phrase "filled to capacity" in Para. 2 means the pub is ______.
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】[解析] “filled to capacity”意思为“人满为患/满员/满座”。
单选题
Happy hours contribute to office workers" ______.