Jane works as a member of a three-person team in t...

Of all the employed workers in the United States, 12.5 million are part of a temporary workforce. The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics counts 9.2 percent of workers as those who have【C1】______ they term "alternative employment arrangements." The government predicts that temporary staffing agencies will【C2】______ growth of 49 percent by 2010. If numbers increase【C3】______ the rate of predicted, these companies will add 1.9 million new jobs by 2010.

Temporary workers were the first ones to be affected by the recent economic recession, but they are likely to be the first to regain【C4】______ as the economy【C5】______ and companies work to rebuild. Employers use temporary workers as a resource because they offer【C6】______ and come at a low cost. Many temporaries are【C7】______ as "independent contractors" instead of employees, 【C8】______ allows the employer to avoid paying certain taxes. Because they are not required to offer【C9】______ to temporary workers, companies can save a great deal of money by hiring temps. Usually, temporary workers can qualify for benefits if they work for a staffing company for a certain length of time. Most temps,【C10】______ , do not continue with one company long enough to qualify for them because they regard the position as a step to a permanent position.

According to Richard Wahlquist, president of the American Staffing Association, 75【C11】______ of temporary workers hope for transition out of the temporary staffing category after a period of time. Wahlquist finds that temporary workers spend about 11 weeks on various assignments before their【C12】______ out of the temporary workforce. Many use temporary positions to gain experience and skills before they move on to【C13】______ jobs. Wahquist says that the temp workforce as a whole turns【C14】______ 400 percent each year.

Tom Dilworth, research director at the Employment Policies Institute, explains that some workers like having temporary jobs because it【C15】______ them a lot of【C16】______ with time and everything. Some temps only have a limited amount of time to work and temp agencies can help coordinate jobs to【C17】______ their schedules. Other sometimes—employees use temporary jobs to get a (an)【C18】______ to a company from the inside, to get a【C19】______ in the door of a certain business or career. Some others take temporary positions in hopes their employers will change them【C20】______ to permanent positions eventually.

【C1】

A．which

B．what

C．when

D．as

What is the function of an air receiver in the compressed air system on a ship?

A.Condenses moisture

B.Provides overpressure protection

C.Purifies the air

D.Acts as an accumulator

Most colleges and universities look at SAT or ACT tests as a measure of a student's potential for success in college.

A．Y

B．N

C．NG

In 14 years as a (n) ______in the major league Kobel I had never seen two baseball teams fight like this.

A．goblin

B．sheik

C．statuary

D．umpire

Where does Miss Li work?

A．She works in a hospital.

B．She works on a farm.

C．She works as an English editor.

On a hot Friday afternoon in the last week of August, cars, pickup trucks, campers, and school buses slowly pull into a park on the edge of Fargo, North Dakota. Families carve out small pieces of territory around their vehicles, making the park into a series of encampments. As they have done for generations, American Indians of the Great Plains gather once again for an annual powwow. Donning their traditional clothing, Ojibwa, Lakota, and Dakota people assemble for several days of celebration and ceremony.

To an outside observer attending for the first time, this year's powwow may appear chaotic. Even though posted signs promise that dances will begin at four o'clock, there is still no dancing at five-thirty, and the scheduled drummers never arrive. No one is in charge; the announcer acts as a facilitator of ceremonies, but no chief rises to demand anything of anyone. Everyone shows great respect for the elders and for the dancers, who are repeatedly singled out for recognition, but at the same time children receive attention for dancing, as does the audience for watching. Eventually the program grows in an organic fashion as dancers slowly become activated by drums and singing. Each participant responds to the mood of the whole group but not to a single, directing voice, and the event flows in an orderly fashion like hundreds of powwows before it.

This apparent penchant for respectful individualism and equality within an American Indian group seems as strong today to a non-Indian observer in Fargo as it did five centuries ago to early European explorers. Much to the shock of the first European observers and to the dismay of bureaucratic individuals, American Indian societies have traditionally operated without strong positions of leadership or coercive political institutions.

Adventure novels and Hollywood films set in the past often portray strong chiefs commanding their tribes. More often, however, as in the case of the Iroquois people, a council of sachems, or legislators, ruled, and any person called the "head" of file tribe usually occupied a largely honorary position of respect rather than power. Chiefs mostly played ceremonial and religious roles rather than political or economic ones. Unlike the familiar words "caucus" and "powwow," which are Indian-derived and indicative of American Indian political traditions, the word "chief" is an English word of French origin that British officials tried to force onto American Indian tribes in order that they might have someone with whom to trade and sign treaties.

In seventeenth-century Massachusetts the British tried to make one leader, Metacom of the Wampanoag people, into King Philip, thereby, imputing monarchy to the American Indian system when no such institution existed. Thus while certain English settlers learned from groups like the Iroquois people how to speak and act in group councils, others simultaneously tried to push American Indians toward a monarchical and therefore less democratic system.

By the late 1600's the Huron people of Canada had already interacted for decades with European explorers and traders and were thus able to compare their own way of life with that of the Europeans. The Hurons particularly decried the European obsession with money. By contrast, the Hurons lived a life of liberty and equality and believed that the Europeans lost their freedom in their incessant use of "thine" and "mine." One Huron explained to the French adventurer and writer Baron de La Hontan, who lived among the Hurons for eleven years, that his people were born free and united, each as great as the other, while Europeans were all the slaves of one sole person. "I am the master of my body," he said, "... I am the first and the last of my nation... subject only to the great Spirit." These words recorded by La Hontan may have reflected the Frenchman's own philosophical bias, but his book rested on a solid factual base: the Huron pe

A．provide a narrative account to serve as an introduction

B．contrast American Indian social events with individual performances

C．create a sense of the permanence of some American Indian customs

D．inform. the reader about the nature of a powwow

It's interesting that technology often works as a servant for us, yet frequently we become a servant to it. E-mail is a useful tool but many feel controlled by this new vehicle. The average businessperson is getting about 80 e-mails per day and many feel that about 80% of the messages in their "In Box" are of little or no value.

So, I have four suggestions to help you to become better at "Easing E-mail"

1. Get off the lists. The best way to deal with a problem is to never have it. If you are receiving a lot of unwanted e-mails, ask to be removed from the various lists. This would include your inclusion in unwanted "cc" lists (抄送名单).

2. "Unlisted address". Just like getting an "unlisted" telephone number that you share only with those whom you want to give direct access, you might want to get a separate e-mail address only for the important communications you wish to receive.

3. Check it once or twice per day. Many I speak with are becoming chained to their email server, monitoring incoming email on a continuous basis. Maybe this is because e-mail creates its own sense of urgency, but most of the communications are not all that urgent. I respond to them a couple of times per day.

4. Deal with it. As you open each e-mail do one of the following:

a. If it requires a quick response, respond to it and delete it.

b. If it is going to take any serious amount of time to respond, schedule it for action in your Day Planner and then download the message, save it, or print it out for future action.

I personally receive approximately 250 e-mails per day and by practicing the suggestions above, I can handle that volume in about an hour, taking advantage of this fantastic tool but not being con trolled by it to the distraction (分心) of more important tasks in my day.

The passage is about ______.

A．how to check e-mails

B．how to collect e-mails

C．how to deal with your daily e-mails

D．how to deal with 80% valueless e-mails

Application for the post of Office Administrator

August 7th, 2006

Dear Sir,

Three years as a senior clerk in sales department of the P & G Products Company has, I believe, given me the experience to qualify for the job you advertised in NCC newspaper dated 6 August, 2006.

Since 1993 I have been responsible for all office details in the administration of sales, including writing much of the correspondence. In the course of my work, I have become familiar with the various sales territories.

The years before I was employed at P&G, I was a secretary for Chan's Law Firm. There I became familiar with legal terms and procedures.

I am leaving my present position because I can use my capabilities more fully in a position with wider scope. My present employer knows of my ambition and is helping me to find a new place.

May I see you at your office to tell you more about myself and show you just how well I can do the work you require.

Sincerely yours,

John Yeung

How long has the writer served as a senior clerk in the P&G Products Company?