Passage three
Both John and Sue joined the staff of a successful public relations firm in New York during the same year. They had just completed their PR degrees at a nearby university and were thrilled to be hired by one of the finest PR firms in the city. John’s first assignment was to create a promotion campaign for a client who was putting a new game on the market. Initially Sue was assigned to work with a sportswear company on a marketing concept for its newest line of clothing. As time passed and work with their respective first clients became more and more difficult, John and Sue realized that they had been assigned two of the toughest clients in town. Although John completed his assignments quickly and successfully, he was furious when he learned that the boss had deliberately assigned him a difficult client. In response he not only complained to his colleagues but also to the boss’s secretary. Sue, on the other hand, had a more difficult time satisfying her first client and she took several additional months to actually complete the assignment. However, she just laughed when she heard that the boss had made the assignment purposely. Over the next two years, John worked reluctantly with each assignment and problem that he encountered. Sue accepted each assignment cheerfully. And when problems arose, she responded with her characteristic “No problem, I can handle it.” Although Sue took longer to complete her projects than John and both were equally successful on the assignments they completed, Sue was given the first promotion when there came a vacancy.
Q32. What’s the relationship between John and Sue now?
Q33. Why was John furious after he finished his first assignment?
Q34. What’s Sue’s attitude to difficult tasks?
Q35. How does the story end?
Compound dictation
In many countries, authority is seldom questioned, either because it is highly respected, or because it is (36) feared. Sometimes, too, because (37) rank has been important in certain societies for a long time, people have been trained never to question those in authority.
In other countries, (38) including America, children are trained to question and search for answers. When a child asks a question, he will be often told to go to the library and find the answer for himself. By the time students reach the age of 14 or 15, they may be (39) developing exciting new ideas in all fields of science and the arts. To encourage such creativity, there are many national (40) prizes offered to students every year for their scientific discoveries and artistic (41) accomplishments. His interest in questioning and searching may be (42) considered by some people as bad for young people’s (43) manners, that young people lack respect for authority. (44) This impression may be created when visitors notice young Americans asking questions and arguing with older people.
However, this is because many Americans have different attitudes toward authority that may exist in other areas of the world. In a work or business situation, ideas are freely and openly discussed and argued. (45) It is vital to remember that it is the person’s ideas that are being questioned, not the individual himself. The two are quite separate. The purpose of the searching, questioning, and arguing is to find the facts in a particular situation, and therefore a solution,
(46) so that the work of the business can progress in the most effective manner possible.
相关链接：2008年6月英语四级考试模拟试卷及参考答案
2008年大学英语四级考试听力模拟试题汇总
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