(2011年高考四川卷) In business,there’s a speed difference:It’s the difference between how important a firm’s leaders say speed is to their competitive (競爭的) strategy (策略) and how fast the company actually moves.The difference is important regardless of industry and company size. 例 Companies fearful of losing their competitive advantage spend much time and money looking for ways to pick up the speed. In our study of 343 businesses,the companies that chose to go,go,go to try to gain_an_edge ended up with lower sales and operating incomes than those that paused at key moments to make sure they were on the right track.What’s more,the firms that “slowed down to speed up” improved their top and bottom lines,averaging 40% higher sales and 52% higher operating incomes over a three-year period.

　　How did they disobey the laws of business physics,taking more time than competitors yet performing better? They thought differently about what “slower” and “faster” mean. Firms sometimes fail to understand the difference between operational speed (moving quickly) and strategic speed (reducing the time it takes to deliver value)．Simply increasing the speed of production,for example,may be one way to try to reduce the speed difference. But that often leads to reduced value over time,in the form of lower-quality products and services.

　　In our study,higher-performing companies with strategic speed always made changes when necessary.They became more open to ideas and discussion.They encouraged new ways of thinking. And they allowed time to look back and learn. By contrast (相比而言),performance suffered at firms that moved fast all the time,paid too much attention to improving efficiency,stuck to tested methods,didn’t develop team spirit among their employees,and had little time thinking about changes. Strategic speed serves as a kind of leadership.Teams that regularly take time to get things right,rather than plough ahead full bore,are more successful in meeting their business goals.That kind of strategy must come from the top. 60.Which could be the best title for the text? A．Improve quality?Serve better! B．Deliver value?Plough ahead! C．Reduce time?Move faster! D．Need speed?Slow down! 【解析】　本文主要闡述了在商業競爭中并不是速度越快越好,相反那些速度慢的公司會根據情況實時調整戰略往往會取得競爭的優勢.故D項“我們真的需要速度嗎?慢點吧！”符合題意. 【答案】　D 跟蹤訓練 Around the world more and more people are taking part in dangerous sports and activities. Of course, there have always been people who have looked for adventure—those who have climbed the highest mountains, travelled into unknown parts of the world or sailed in small boats across the greatest oceans.

　　Now, however, there are people who look for an immediate excitement from a risky (冒險的)

　　activity which may only last a few minutes or even seconds. I would consider bungee jumping (蹦極跳) to be a good example of such an activity. You jump from a high place with a rubber rope tied to your ankles.

　　You fall at up to 150 kilometers an hour until the rope stops you from hitting the ground. It is said that about 2 million people around the world have now tried bungee jumping. Other activities which most people would say are risky as bungee jumping include jumping from tall buildings and diving into the sea from the top of the high cliffs (懸崖)． Why do people take part in such activities as these? Some psychologists (心理學家) suggest that it is because life in modern societies has become safe and boring. According to many people, life offers little excitement. They live and work in comparatively (相對地) safe conditions; they buy food in shops;

　　and there are doctors and hospitals to look after them if they become ill. The answer for some of these people is to look for danger in activities such as bungee jumping. 【解題導語】　本文以蹦極跳為例說明了當代社會人們喜歡尋求刺激的這種現象并解釋了人們為什么會有這種心態. 1. The best title for the passage is________ . A. Dangerous sports: What and Why B. The Boredom (無聊) of Modern life C. Bungee Jumping: Is It Really Dangerous D. The Need for Excitement 解析:選A.全文列舉了一些常見的有刺激性的活動,而后又解釋了人們為什么會尋求刺激,所以選A最為貼切. 2. In bungee jumping,you ________． A. jump as high as you can B. move down a rope to the ground C. tie yourself to a rope and fall to the ground D. fall towards the ground without a rope 解析:選C.文章第二段詳細地講了蹦極的全過程,先用繩子系住腳踝,然后從高空往下跳. 3. People probably take part in dangerous sports nowadays because________． A. they have a lot of free time B. they can go to hospital if they are injured C. their life is short of excitement D. they can buy food in shops and no longer need to hunt for food 解析:選C.心理學家對產生這種現象的原因的解釋是人類生活相對穩定、乏味,缺少刺激,才促使人們去參加危險的活動.

　　(2011年高考四川卷) In business,there’s a speed difference:It’s the difference between how important a firm’s leaders say speed is to their competitive (競爭的) strategy (策略) and how fast the company actually moves.The difference is important regardless of industry and company size. 例 Companies fearful of losing their competitive advantage spend much time and money looking for ways to pick up the speed. In our study of 343 businesses,the companies that chose to go,go,go to try to gain_an_edge ended up with lower sales and operating incomes than those that paused at key moments to make sure they were on the right track.What’s more,the firms that “slowed down to speed up” improved their top and bottom lines,averaging 40% higher sales and 52% higher operating incomes over a three-year period.

　　How did they disobey the laws of business physics,taking more time than competitors yet performing better? They thought differently about what “slower” and “faster” mean. Firms sometimes fail to understand the difference between operational speed (moving quickly) and strategic speed (reducing the time it takes to deliver value)．Simply increasing the speed of production,for example,may be one way to try to reduce the speed difference. But that often leads to reduced value over time,in the form of lower-quality products and services.

　　In our study,higher-performing companies with strategic speed always made changes when necessary.They became more open to ideas and discussion.They encouraged new ways of thinking. And they allowed time to look back and learn. By contrast (相比而言),performance suffered at firms that moved fast all the time,paid too much attention to improving efficiency,stuck to tested methods,didn’t develop team spirit among their employees,and had little time thinking about changes. Strategic speed serves as a kind of leadership.Teams that regularly take time to get things right,rather than plough ahead full bore,are more successful in meeting their business goals.That kind of strategy must come from the top. 60.Which could be the best title for the text? A．Improve quality?Serve better! B．Deliver value?Plough ahead! C．Reduce time?Move faster! D．Need speed?Slow down! 【解析】　本文主要闡述了在商業競爭中并不是速度越快越好,相反那些速度慢的公司會根據情況實時調整戰略往往會取得競爭的優勢.故D項“我們真的需要速度嗎?慢點吧！”符合題意. 【答案】　D 跟蹤訓練 Around the world more and more people are taking part in dangerous sports and activities. Of course, there have always been people who have looked for adventure—those who have climbed the highest mountains, travelled into unknown parts of the world or sailed in small boats across the greatest oceans.

　　Now, however, there are people who look for an immediate excitement from a risky (冒險的)

　　activity which may only last a few minutes or even seconds. I would consider bungee jumping (蹦極跳) to be a good example of such an activity. You jump from a high place with a rubber rope tied to your ankles.

　　You fall at up to 150 kilometers an hour until the rope stops you from hitting the ground. It is said that about 2 million people around the world have now tried bungee jumping. Other activities which most people would say are risky as bungee jumping include jumping from tall buildings and diving into the sea from the top of the high cliffs (懸崖)． Why do people take part in such activities as these? Some psychologists (心理學家) suggest that it is because life in modern societies has become safe and boring. According to many people, life offers little excitement. They live and work in comparatively (相對地) safe conditions; they buy food in shops;

　　and there are doctors and hospitals to look after them if they become ill. The answer for some of these people is to look for danger in activities such as bungee jumping. 【解題導語】　本文以蹦極跳為例說明了當代社會人們喜歡尋求刺激的這種現象并解釋了人們為什么會有這種心態. 1. The best title for the passage is________ . A. Dangerous sports: What and Why B. The Boredom (無聊) of Modern life C. Bungee Jumping: Is It Really Dangerous D. The Need for Excitement 解析:選A.全文列舉了一些常見的有刺激性的活動,而后又解釋了人們為什么會尋求刺激,所以選A最為貼切. 2. In bungee jumping,you ________． A. jump as high as you can B. move down a rope to the ground C. tie yourself to a rope and fall to the ground D. fall towards the ground without a rope 解析:選C.文章第二段詳細地講了蹦極的全過程,先用繩子系住腳踝,然后從高空往下跳. 3. People probably take part in dangerous sports nowadays because________． A. they have a lot of free time B. they can go to hospital if they are injured C. their life is short of excitement D. they can buy food in shops and no longer need to hunt for food 解析:選C.心理學家對產生這種現象的原因的解釋是人類生活相對穩定、乏味,缺少刺激,才促使人們去參加危險的活動.