单选题
It may be summertime, but the living isn't easy-not
for weary workers whose last vacation is a distant memory. According to one
recent study, 1 in 4 employees in the United States doesn't get any paid
vacation. Almost half don't take even a week off every year. Economists estimate
that the average American works one more month per year today than in 1976.
Small-business owners are taking this daily grind to a whole new level. The
number of employers at companies with fewer than 100 workers who plan to take a
summer vacation has continued to fall in the past four years. Two in three
bosses worry about their businesses when they're out of the office. Fully 75
percent check in by phone or E-mail even when they're on "vacation," many of
them several times a day. But is all this work good for
business? As the last weeks of summer vacation days slip away-yet again,
researchers are insisting these extreme jobs have a dark side. All work and no
play really can make Jack a dull boy: Apart from health risks that come with
overwork, people who don't get out of the office tend to be less creative, less
productive, and, ultimately, less effective. If there is one thing
small-business owners can do to improve their companies' performance, experts
say, it is take some time off. There's a good chance the
benefits of vacation will go straight to the bottom line. According to a study
by American Express, more than a third of small-business people say their best
ideas-the ones that lead to business growth-come not at work but during their
downtime. "Having a life outside of work doesn't detract from work
success" but enhances it, a study by the Families and Work Institute concluded
in 2005. Happier people, no surprise, tend to be more
productive than unhappy people. Two business professors, Sigal Barsade of the
University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School and Donald Gibson of Fairfield
University, found in a recent study that employee moods have a measurable effect
on just about everything anyone does at work-job performance, decision making,
creativity, turnover, teamwork, and leadership. Overwork also
comes with serious health risks. Researchers have found that people who work
long hours can even become addicted to their own stress hormones. They feel
sluggish when they're out of the office, so they head back for their fix, and
the cycle repeats itself. Continuous stress also affects the performance of the
part of the brain responsible for memory.
单选题
Most small-business owners in America today have the characteristic of
单选题
The findings of the study of American Express suggest that
A. most small-business owners produce creative ideas during vacations.
B. the ideas that come out during vacations are sure to promote
business.
C. some people can be more creative and productive during leisure
time.
D. spending time outside office doesn't detract from work success.
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】推理判断题。根据American Express定位在第三段。其中讲到超过三分之一的小企业员工认为他们的好点子来自于似期中，而工作的时候却什么都想不到，故C项“人们在假期中更加有创造力”正确。A项small-business owners张冠李戴，与原文的small-business people不符；B项are sure to过于绝对：D项是Families and Work Institute的结论。
单选题
According to the study of the two business professors,
A. vacations can make people happier and more productive.
B. better work performance can result from a good mood.
C. an employer will be a better leader if he has a good mood.
D. people can't know exactly the effect of employees' mood on
work.
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】事实细节题。考查例证细节。根据two business professors定位到第四段。该段讲述心情对工作效率的影响，两位教授提出员工情绪对工作产生多方面影响，其中就包括工作表现(job/work performance)，result from意为“来自……”，故B项表述正确。A项“假期可使员工更快乐”在文中并未提及；C项“如果一个领导有好心情的话，那他就会成为一个更好的领导”是对原文leadership的曲解；D项与原文haye a measurable effect相悖。
单选题
Which of the following would be the best title for the text?
A. All Work and No Play Makes a Company Unproductive