Passage 1

It was fifteen past nine as Marie hurried into the office building where she was going to work. Her bus had inched along through heavy morning traffic，making her a few minutes late for her very first job. She decided to start out half an hour earlier the next day.

Once inside the lobby，she had to stand at the elevators and wait several minutes before she could get on one going to the sixth floor. When she finally reached the office marked “Smith Enterprises”， she knocked at the door nervously and waited. There was no reply. She tapped on the door again，but still there was no answer. From inside the next office，she could hear the sound of voices，so she opened the door and went in.

Although she was sure it was the same office she had been in two weeks before when she had the interview with Mr. Smith， it looked quite different now. In fact，it hardly looked like an office at all. The employees were just standing around chatting and smoking. In the front of the room，somebody must have just told a good joke，she thought，because there was a loud burst of laughter as she came in. For a moment she had thought they were laughing at her.

Then one of the men looked at his watch，clapped his hands and said something to the others. Quickly they all went to their desks and，in a matter of seconds，everyone was hard at work. No one paid any attention to Marie. Finally she went up to the man who was sitting at the desk nearest to the door and explained that this was her first day in the office. Hardly looking up from his work，he told her to have a seat and wait for Mr. Smith， who would arrive at any moment. Then Marie realized that the day‘s work in the office began just before Mr. Smith arrived. Later she found out that he lived in Connecticut and came into Manhattan on the same train every morning，arriving in the office at 9∶35，so that his staff knew exactly when to start working.

1． Marie felt nervous when she knocked at the door because______.

    ［A］it was her first day in a new job

    ［B］she was a little bit late for work

    ［C］she was afraid that she had gone to the wrong place

    ［D］there was no answer from inside the office

答案B

解析：第一天上班迟到，所以紧张。故选B.

    2． Marie could hardly recognize the office she went into as______.

    ［A］she had been there only once

    ［B］Mr. Smith was not in the office

    ［C］nobody was doing any work

    ［D］the office had a new appearance

答案D

解析：由第三段中“In fact， it hardly looked like an office at all. The employees were just standing around chatting and smoking.”可以看出，办公室内雇员的表现使得Marie感到走错了房间。故选D.

3． The people in the office suddenly started working because______.

    ［A］they saw a stranger in the office

    ［B］their morning break was ended

    ［C］no one wanted to talk to Marie

    ［D］the boss was about to arrive

答案D

解析:段中“Then Marie realized that the day‘s work in the office began just before Mr. Smith arrived.”可知选D.

4． We can infer from the text that the employees of the enterprise______.

    ［A］would start their work by listening to a joke

    ［B］were cold to newcomers

    ［C］were always punctual for work

    ［D］lacked devotion to the company

答案D

解析:而易见该公司职员对公司缺乏奉献精神。故选D.

5． The best title for this text would be______.

    ［A］Punctual Like A Clock

    ［B］A Cold Welcome

    ［C］An Unpunctual Manager

    ［D］Better Late Than Never

答案A

解析：标题的选择应言简言骇，同时也可表达出作者的某种感情色彩，如讽刺、批评、赞扬等。B项中A　Cold Welcome 太过于平淡，未能表达讽刺意味；An Uupunctual Manager 则转移了本文叙述的对象，以偏盖全；Better Late Than Never　与文章内容无关。故选A.