A different sort of generation gap is developing in the workplace. Someone --- specifically the father-daughter team of Larry and Meagan Johnson --- has figured out that on some American job sites, five generations are working side by side.

In their new book about generations in the workplace the pair argue that while such an age difference adds a lot of texture and a variety of life experiences, it can also bring tensions and conflicts.

The Johnsons are human-resource trainers and public speakers. Dad Larry is a former health-care executive; daughter Meagan is a onetime high-level sales manager.

Here are the oldest and youngest of the five generations they identify:

They call the oldest group Traditionals, born before 1945. They were heavily influenced by the lessons of the Great Depression and World War Two. They respect authority, set a high standard of workmanship, and communicate easily and confidently. But they’re also stubbornly independent. They want their opinions heard.

At the other extreme are what the Johnsons call Linksters, born after 1995 into today’s more complicated, multi-media world. They live and breathe technology and are often social activists.

You won’t find many 15-year olds in the offices of large companies, except as volunteers, of course, but quite old and quite young workers do come together in sales environments like bike shops and ice-cream stores.

The Johnsons, Larry and Meagan, represent a generation gap themselves in their work with jobsite issues. The Johnsons’ point is that as the average lifespan continues to rise and retirement dates get delayed because of the tight economy, people of different generations are working side by side, more often bringing with them very different ideas about company loyalty and work values.

The five generations are heavily influenced by quite different events, social trends, and the cultural phenomena of their times. Their experiences shape their behavior and make it difficult, sometimes, for managers to achieve a strong and efficient workplace.

Larry and Meagan Johnson discuss all this in greater detail in a new book, “Generations, Inc.: From Boomers to Linksters --- Managing the Friction Between Generations at Work,” published by Amacom Press, which is available in all good bookstore from this Friday.

The type of generation gap in paragraph 1 refers to the difference in beliefs ________.

A. between managers and workers

B. among family members

C. among employees

D. between older and newer companies

Which of the following statements is NOT true about Traditionals?

A. They’ve learned much from war and economic disaster.

B. They’re difficult to work with as they are stubborn.

C. They respect their boss and hope to be respected.

D. They’re independent workers with great confidence.

According to the passage, the Linksters are usually ________.

A. found working in the offices of large companies

B. influenced by media and technology

C. enthusiastic multi-media activists

D. ice-cream sellers

According to the passage, modern workforces are more diverse because ________.

A. people want to increase their average lifespan

B. many young people are entering the workforce

C. employees with different values can benefit their companies

D. retirement dates are being delayed for economic reasons

What’s the main purpose of the passage?

A. To promote a new book by Larry and Meagan Johnson.

B. To describe the five different workplace generations.

C. To introduce the Johnsons’ research about diverse workforces.

D. To identify a major problem in modern workforces.

A high school history teacher once told me, "If you make one close friend in school, you will be the most fortunate. A true friend is someone who stays with you for life."_36__ teaches that he was right. Good friendship is just not easily_37__.
It is possible that we simply do not stay in one place long enough for a _38_ friendship to  39   . However, there can be   40   disagreement on the need for each of us to think carefully about the kind of friendship we want.
To most of us, friendships are considered very important, but we need to be clear in our __41_ the kinds of friendship we want. Are they to be close or _42 at arm's length? Do we want to   43  ourselves or do we want to walk on the surface? For some people , many friendships on the surface are __44_ enough-- and that's all right. But on some points, we need to    45  that our expectations are the same as our friends' expectations. The sharing  46  experience   47  our tears as well as our dark dreams is the surest way to deepen friendships. But it   48  be undertaken slowly and carried on only if there are   49  of interest and action in return.
What are some of the _50__ of friendship? The greatest is the attraction to expect too much time or too soon. Deep relationships  51    time. Another "major difficulty" is the selfishness to  think one "possesses" the other, including his time and attention. Similarly, friendships   52    actions in return . In   53  words, you must give as much as you take. Finally there is a question of taking care of . Unless you spend   54   time together , talking on the phone, writing letters, doing things together, friendships will die  55  .

A car drew up outside the Swan Hotel and a young man got out．Pausing only for an instant to see that he had come to the right place，he went into the hotel and rang the bell on the counter of the bar．
Mrs．Crump，the landlady，who was busy in the kitchen at the time，hurried out，wiping her
hands．The young man raised his hat．“Excuse me，”he said．“I’m looking for my uncle，Mr．White．I believe he is staying here．” “He was staying here．”Mrs．Crump corrected him．“But I’m afraid that he went back to London yesterday．” “Oh，dear，”said the young man，looking disappointed．“I understood that he was going to stay here until the end of the month．At least that is what his servant told me when I rang up his house．” “Quite right，”said Mrs，Cramp．“He intended to stay here the whole of July，as he always does． But yesterday he got a telegram to say that his relative was ill．So he caught the train back to London immediately．”  “I wish he had let me know,”The young man said．“I wrote him a letter saying that I was coming．I’ve had all this trouble for nothing．Well，since he isn’t here，there’s no point in waiting．”
He thanked Mrs．Grump and went out．Mrs．Grump went to the window and watched him
drive off．When his car was out of sight，she called out：“You can come out now,Mr．White.He’s gone．”
Mr．White came out of the kitchen，where he had been waiting．
“Many thanks，Mrs．Grump，”he said，laughing，“you did that very well．These nephews of mine never gave me any peace．That young man is the worst of them all．As you see，when he needs money,he even follows me into the country．Well，perhaps next time he won’t warn me by writing a letter!”
49．The young man said “Oh，dear” to express his           ．
    A．disappointment       B．sadness       C．surprise      D．a(chǎn)nger
50．This story is about a man         ．
A．who was very much loved by his nephews 
B．whose nephew went to visit him at the hotel
C．whose nephew is always asking him for help
D．who was not willing to meet his nephew
51．When his nephew came to the hotel，Mr．White            ．
A．took the train back to London            B．left to visit a sick relative
C．went to pick up a telegram               D．hid himself in the kitchen
52．Mr．White didn’t like his nephews because         ．
A．they always follow him around            B．they frequently disturb their relatives
C．they won’t write to him often             D．they usually visit him in hotels

A long time ago, before human beings lived on the earth, little coral polyps（水螅）settled around tropical （熱帶的）coastlines and constructed corals. Over a long period they created lots of reefs. Yet, pollution, climate change and commercial fisheries are limiting the chance of future generations knowing or seeing many of the reefs and sea creatures that exist. Hence, take action to dive now and you can explore the underwater world.
Commercial underwater diving began in ancient Greece. Diving in general means that the whole body is completely in water. On that account there are lots of exciting and quite adventurous ways to dive, like shark cage diving, scuba diving（戴水肺潛水）and reef diving.
There are great coral reefs all over the world, but usually they are situated in warm, clear water such as the Pacific and the Indian Ocean, where they grow best. This is why there are no coral reefs on the west coast of South Africa. However, South Africa’s east coast offers much brightly coloured sea life.
In South Africa more than 100,000 dives a year are made just in coral reefs, which are one of the natural wonders of the world. To see the whole beauty of the reef the right diving gear（設(shè)備） is an essential requirement. This means a perfect fitting diving mask and fins, as well as a snorkel（呼吸管）and a friend. Diving alone is dangerous because there may be strong currents you are not aware of, and it’s a lot more fun to share the experience with someone. However, before you can explore the deeper sea, a certificated and checked scuba, a wetsuit and of course a license will be needed. Whether you choose the snorkel or the scuba to spot the colourful underwater world, try to touch as little as possible, be careful with the corals and don’t strike the fishes, because the complex ecosystem is very sensitive.
【小題1】The following factors probably affect coral reefs EXCEPT ________.

B
According to the report by Baekeland and Hartmann, two American authoritative psychotogical research centres, the "short sleepers" had been more or less average in their sleep needs until the men were in their teens．But at about age 15 or so, the men voluntarily began cutting down their nightly sleep time because of pressures from school, work and other activities. These men tended to view their nightly periods of unconsciousness as bothersome interruptions, in their daily routines.
In general, these "short sleeps" appeared ambitious, active, energetic, cheerful,, conformist （循規(guī)蹈矩的） in their opinions, and very sure about their career choices．They often held several jobs at once, or workers full - or part - time while going to school．And many of them had a strong urge to appear "normal" or "acceptable" to their friends and associates．When asked to recall their dreams, the "short sleepers" did poorly．More than this, they seemed to prefer not remembering．In similar fashion, their usual way of dealing with psychological problems was to deny that the problem existed, and then to keep busy m the hope that the trouble would go away．The sleep patterns of the “short sleepers" were similar to, but less extreme than, sleep patterns shown by many mental patients categorized as manic （瘋?cè)耍?
The "long sleepers" were quite different indeed．Baekeland and Hartmann report that these young men had been lengthy sleeps since childhood．They seemed to enjoy their sleep, protected it, and were quite concerned when they were occasionally deprived （剝奪） of their desired 9 hours of nightly bed rest．They tended to recall their dreams much better than the "short sleepers．" did．Many of the "long sleepers" were shy, anxious, introverted （內(nèi)向）, inhibited （壓抑） , passive, mildly depressed, and unsure of themselves （particularly in social situations）．Several openly states that sleep was an escape from their daily problems．
50．According to the text, which is probably the writer' s real attitude towards these two living habits ____．
A．both of them are healthy habits  
B．not both of them are unhealthy habits
C．either of them is not unhealthy habits
D．neither of them is healthy habits
51．When sometimes they cannot enjoy adequate sleep, the long sleepers might ____．
A．feel extremely depressed        B．become energetic
C．a(chǎn)ppeared disturbed         D．feel disappointed
52．The writer implies （暗示） that short sleepers _____ in the text．
A．a(chǎn)re ideally vigorous even under the pressures of life
B．often neglect the consequences of inadequate（不足的）sleep
C．do not know how to relax properly
D．a(chǎn)re more unlikely to run into mental problems