Like lots of small-business owners, Lola Gonzalez had to decide to cut down her company’s nine-person staff (員工) when the economic recovery began to fail last spring. Unlike other companies, she picked an unlikely employee to lay off (解雇): herself.
Her business began to have problems in 2008 after going through her books (賬簿)
One day, her husband, Marcos, told her she had to reduce her payroll（薪金總額）by one person. Gonzalez said at a meeting, “I want you all to know that I have to lay somebody off and it’s been a very difficult decision. And that person is me.” Employees first froze in amazement and then burst into laughter until they realized she was serious. Gonzalez ’s employees said they were grateful for her kindness.
Her reason was simple. Although she ran the business and her employees did the legwork (跑腿), she thought she could find work more easily than her staff. Sure enough, she soon got a job as a social worker for a non-profit organization called Devereux Kids. She enjoys her social-worker job now, but the salary (薪水) cut has required some lifestyle changes. She and Marcos no longer eat out daily; they no longer pay for their son’s car and mobile phone, and they changed their car to a smaller one to save $300 a month.
Her business has picked up a bit recently and Marcos has begun to work part-time at Gonzalez’s company. Gonzalez says she has no plan to return to work at her company until the economic situation becomes better, perhaps in a year. Her employees, however, will get Christmas bonuses (獎(jiǎng)金) this year.
【小題1】How many workers are there in Gonzalez’s company at present?

A．8. B．9. C．10. D．11.
【小題2】How did her employees feel at first when they heard Gonzalez’s decision?
A．Happy. B．Grateful. C．Surprised. D．Unbelievable.
【小題3】After leaving her company, _____________.
A．Gonzalez sold her car and went to work by bus
B．Gonzalez always had meals in a restaurant
C．Gonzalez’s son helped her a lot
D．Gonzalez changed her lifestyle a lot
【小題4】From the text, we can learn that ___________.
A．Gonzalez will not return to her company in future
B．Gonzalez’s business has improved a little lately
C．Gonzalez got her social-worker job with great difficulty
D．Marcos lost his job and had to work at Gonzalez’s company


【小題1】B
【小題2】C
【小題3】D
【小題4】B

解析試題分析：文章介紹因?yàn)榻?jīng)濟(jì)危機(jī)Gonzalez的公司需要解雇一個(gè)人，Lola Gonzalez的決定是自己離開公司，離開公司后，她的生活方式改變了，她的公司生意也有所好轉(zhuǎn)。
【小題1】細(xì)節(jié)題：從第一段的句子：Like lots of small-business owners, Lola Gonzalez had to decide to cut down her company’s nine-person staff (員工) when the economic recovery began to fail last spring. 可知Lola Gonzalez 現(xiàn)在有9個(gè)工人，選B
【小題2】細(xì)節(jié)題：從第三段的句子：Employees first froze in amazement and then burst into laughter until they realized she was serious. 可知職員聽到這個(gè)決定很驚訝。選C
【小題3】細(xì)節(jié)題：從倒數(shù)第二段的句子：She enjoys her social-worker job now, but the salary (薪水) cut has required some lifestyle changes. She and Marcos no longer eat out daily; they no longer pay for their son’s car and mobile phone, and they changed their car to a smaller one to save $300 a month. 可知離開公司后，她的生活方式改變了，選D
【小題4】細(xì)節(jié)題：從最后一段的句子;Her business has picked up a bit recently and Marcos has begun to work part-time at Gonzalez’s company. 可知最近她的公司生意有所好轉(zhuǎn)。選B
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