When it's five o'clock, people leave their office. The length of the workday, for many workers, is defined by time. They leave when the clock tells them they're done. These days, the time is everywhere: not just on clocks or watches, but on cell-phones and computers. That may be a bad thing, particularly at work. New research shows that clock-based work schedules hinder morale and creativity. Clock-timers organize their day by blocks of minutes and hours. For example: a meeting from 9 am to 10 a.m., research from 10 a.m. to noon, etc. On the other hand, task-timers have a list of things they want to accomplish. They work down the list, each task starts when the previous task is completed. It is said that all of us employ a mix of both these types of planning. What, then, are the effects of thinking about time in these different ways? Does one make us more productive? Better at the tasks at hand? Happier? In experiments conducted by Tamar Avnet and Anne-Laure Sellier, they had participants organize different activities--from project planning, holiday shopping, to yoga--by time or to-do list to measure how they performed under "clock time" vs "task time." They found clock timers to be more efficient but less happy because they felt little control over their lives. Task timers are happier and more creative, but less productive. They tend to enjoy the moment when something good is happening, and seize opportunities that come up. The researchers argue that task-based organizing tends to be undervalued and under-supported in the business culture. Smart companies, they believe, will try to bake more task-based planning into their strategies. This might be a small change to the way we view work and the office, but the researchers argue that it challenges a widespread characteristic of the economy: work organized by clock time. While most people will still probably need,and be, to some extent, clock-timers, task-based timing should be used when performing a job that requires more creativity. It'll make those tasks... What does the author think of time displayed everywhere? A) It makes everybody time-conscious. B) It is a convenience for work and life. C) It may have a negative effect on creative work. D) It clearly indicates the fast pace of modern life.
C
Dear Sir, I am writing to express my concern about the plans to build a motorway near our village. Haldersham is one of the loveliest villages in England. It is peaceful and quiet, and it is situated in a very attractive valley. There are also several beautiful countryside walks in the surroundings, with a view of many rare trees and plants. Most of the people who live in Haldersham have moved here from other places, often from London and other big cities. They have bought houses here to live in a place far away from the noise and the stress of the big city. They paid a lot of money for their houses, but they knew they would get a high quality of life for it. If the planned motorway is built, life in Haldersham will change greatly. There will be a lot of noise around us, and nobody will want to go on the walks. House prices will certainly go down, because nobody will want to buy houses in a place close to a motorway. Haldersham will become an ugly place. I don't think any of the people living in this beautiful village want that, and we all believe exposure to noise pollution can have a direct influence on our health. So, let's all tell the politicians who support the motorway plans what we think about them! Yours faithfully, Hilary Riley Many people move to Haldersham because_. A) it has a good environment B) it is not far away from big cities C) they want to be a help to the village D) they prefer to study rare plants in this area
A
Q: Japanese doctors have used thin sheets of tissue from people's cheeks repair damaged corneas . A team from Osaka University transplanted thin layers of cheek cells onto the eyes of four patients with a rare and painful eye condition,reports BBC online. Patients whose vision had been cloudy could see well afterwards,and the"new corneas"remained clear more than a year after the operation. Doctors can also take cells from a healthy eye and grow them in a dish to produce a new cornea,or they can transplant corneas from donors . But these techniques may not work when both eyes are too badly damaged by accident or disease. The team hope their work may help solve the problem and lead to other types of grow-your-own tissue transplants. The cornea is the clear layer of cells on the surface of the eye. It can be damaged by trauma or by a range of diseases. The team worked with four patients who had a painful condition that causes cloudy corneas and dry eyes. Often the eye can regenerate cornea cells but none of the four patients had this ability. The researchers took a 3 mm-wide square of tissue from inside the mouth(cheeks)and grew it into a thin layer in the lab. They used a special low temperature technique to separate a very thin sheet off each batch. They then laid that onto the patient's eye. The cell layers stuck onto the eye and developed into tissue that looked and acted like a healthy cornea. However,long-term follow-up and experience with a large series of patients is needed to assess the benefits and risks this method. Yet,"it does offer the potential of treating severe eye diseases that are resistant to standard approaches,"said the head of the research,Kohji Nishida. We can infer from the passage _ . A) the new technique can be widely used in the operations B) the new technique needs to be further tested C) the new technique has more benefits than risks D) any new technique has risks
A: B
"Fire! Fire!" What terrible words to hear when one wakes up in a strange house in the middle of the night! It was a large, old, wooden house and my room was on the top floor. I jumped out of bed, opened the door and stepped outside the house. There was full of thick smoke. I began to run, but as I was still only half-awake, instead of going towards the stairs I went in the opposite direction. The smoke grew thicker and I could see fire all around. The floor became hot under my bare feet. I found an open door and ran into a room to get to the window. But before I could reach it, one of my feet caught in something soft and I fell down. The thing I had fallen over felt like a bundle of clothes, and I picked it up to protect my face from the smoke and heat. Just then the floor gave way under me and I crashed to the floor below with pieces of burning wood all around me. I saw a doorway in fire, then I put the bundle over my face and ran. My feet burned me terrible, but I got through. As I reached the cold air outside, my bundle of clothes gave a thin cry, I nearly dropped it in my surprise. Then I was in a crowd gathered in the street. A woman in a night-dress and a borrowed man's coat screamed as she saw me and came running madly. She was the Mayor's wife, and I had saved her baby. The author saved the baby _ . A) because he was very brave. B) because he liked the baby very much. C) but he just happened to save it. D) because it was the Mayor's baby.
C