Q: If sustainable competitive advantage depends on workforce skills, American firms have a problem. Human-resource management is not traditionally seen as central to the competitive survival of the firm in the United States. Skill acquisition is considered an individual responsibility. Labour is simply another factor of production to be hired--rented at the lowest possible cost--much as one buys materials or equipment. The lack of importance attached to human-resource management can be seen in the corporate management. In an American firm the chief financial officer is almost always second in command. The post of head of human-resource management is usually a specialized job, off at the edge of the corporate hierarchy. The executive who holds it is never consulted on major strategic decisions and has no chance to move up to Chief Executive Officer(CEO). By way of contrast, in Japan the head of human-resource management is central--usually the second most important executive, after the CEO, in the firm's hierarchy. While American firms often talk about the vast amounts spent on training their work force, in fact they invest less in the skills of their employees than do either Japanese or German firms. The money they do invest is also more highly concentrated on professional and managerial employees. And the limited investments that are made in training workers are also much more narrowly focused on the specific skills necessary to do the next job rather than on the basic background skills that make it possible to absorb new technologies. As a result, problems arise when new breakthrough technologies arrive. If American workers, for example, take much longer to learn how to operate new flexible manufacturing stations than workers on Germany (as they do), the effective cost of those stations is lower in Germany than it is in the United States. More time is required before equipment is up and running in production, and the need for extensive retraining generates costs and creates bottlenecks that limit the speed... Which of the following applies to the management of human resources in American companies? A) They hire people at the lowest cost with ly best skills. B) They see the gaining of skills as their employees' own business. C) They attach more importance to workers than to equipment. D) They only hire skilled workers because of keen competition.
A: B

Q: Day 1 I first heard of "Show Racism the Red Card" when my friend Jill asked me to support their work. Basically, it's an organization which uses professional footballers to help fight racism in sport and society. A few weeks later, he asked me if I wanted to do a bit more for them. I thought he probably meant for me to give money or do some voluntary work. But then he told me that a group of about 20 people were getting sponsored to play the highest ever game of rugby at 5,140 meters on Mount Everest. Day 4 We're making our way up to the base camp -- that's where most climbers start their final climb to the top -- and then, we'll play our game. Today we started out at 8 am. We had to cross three suspension bridges . One of them was so high that you couldn't see the bottom. Then we walked through some beautiful forest areas before we started a two-hour uphill hike to Namche Bazaar. Day 10 Base camp is basically just a lot of stones and tents. The walk up was really exhausting. Maybe if I was fitter, I wouldn't find this so hard, but then it was not just me -- all of us got very short of breath. Day 11 Today we played our game. It was supposed to be a "friendly" game, and last night, we had agreed we'd just walk and not run. However, it was a really heated game and two players were even sent off. We only played for 14 minutes. I think someone would have got hurt if we'd played any longer! My team won and I scored the last try! Of course, none of this matters. What's really important is that we did it and we've raised a load of money. The author's trip to Mount Everest can be described as _ . A) frightening and fruitless B) relaxing and interesting C) hard but successful D) short but fantastic
A: C

Q: After the Summer Olympics are over, when all the athletes have gone home and the television audience has switched off, another group of athletes and fans will arrive at the host city, and another competition will begin. These are the Paralympics, the games for athletes with a disability. But in Beijing in 2008, for the first time, one of the greatest Paralympics athletes did not take part. She is a British athlete by the name of Tanni Grey-Thormpson. Born with spine hifida which left her paralysed from the waist. Tanni used a wheelchair from the age of 7. at first, she did not like sports, apart from horse-riding, which gave her a sense of freedom. But in her teens, she started taking sports more seriously. She tried swimming, basketball and tennis. Eventually she found she began to love athletics, and never looked back. Indeed, Tanni's athletic career took off . In 1984, when she was 15, she pulled off a surprise victory in the 100metres at the Junior National Wheelchair Games. In 1988, Tanni went to her first Paralympic Games in Seoul. She won bronze in the 400 metres. Even greater success followed at the 1992 Barcelonn. Paralympics. Tanni won gold in the 100, 200, 400 and 800 metres relay, setting two world records in the process. In the same year she achieved the first of her six London Wheelchair Marathon victories. Tanni's success had been part motivation , part preparation, "The training I do that enables me to be a good sprinter enables me to be good at a marathon too. I train 50 weeks of the year and that keeps me prepared for whatever distance I want to see.... I am still competing at a very high level, but as I get older, things get harder and I want to retire before I fall apart." Indeed Tanni retired finally after the Visa Paralympic World Cup in 2007. Her wish is to coach young athletes for Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. In spite of ups and downs, she never takes her fate lying down. In her splendid life, she has won an amazing eleven gold medals, four silvers and one bronze in series of... What can we learn from Tanni's success? A) Union is strength. B) Never too late to learn. C) Well begun is half done. D) No pains, no gains.
A: D

Q: Our school library offers learning services, books and other things that help all members of the school to become good thinkers and clever users of information. It is linked to the larger library in the city and the World Wide Web. All these services are given according to the requirements of the Public Library Manifesto . School library services must be given to all members of the school. Students of any age, class and grade can enjoy them. Different services must be given to those who are unable to use the main library services. Users of the library must follow the rules made by the library workers to keep it clean and tidy. The main rules are as follows: 1. Opening and closing times: Monday --Friday: 9 a.m. --9 p.m. during term time. Saturday: 9 a.m. --1p.m. throughout the year. 2. Admission and borrowing: Only people holding a library card shall be allowed in. Members can borrow 5 books at a time. 3. Behavior in the library: Silence shall be kept as much as possible in the library. No other books can be taken into the library. Library workers can help members use the books and other things in the library. When the library workers and teachers work together, students will get better reading, writing, and problem-solving skills. What is the main aim of the school library services? A) To help readers communicate with each other. B) To help teachers work with the library workers. C) To help students develop good behaviors in the library. D) To help the users get more knowledge and skills.
A: D