出自:国家开放大学英语机考
The meaning of “communication” goes a lot deeper than people often think. Communication is about conceiving, sending, receiving, and interpreting messages as well as confirming reception of these messages. A failure at any point in this chain can result in ineffective communication. Ineffective communication can be disastrous. There is a famous story of a British Army Commander who sent the message “Send reinforcements, we.re going to advance.” back to his Command Center, through a long chain of subordinates. When the message finally reached the Command Center, it had “mutated” to become—“Send three and four-pence, we.re going to a dance.” The reinforcements never arrived. You can demonstrate this same principle, albeit on a less dramatic scale, by trying to play Chinese Whispers with more than 20 people. It is highly unlikely the same message you started with will be the one you end with. In a business, there are three main types of communication failure. Each has its own indicative signs. The first type is known as allocative failure. This occurs when a firm is not gathering enough intelligence about its market or (most often), the information is not reaching the right points. The firm will not be allocating resources in step with the shifts in demand. If demand is rising but the firm is suffering from allocative communication failure, then stocks will fall and there will be understaffing. If the inverse happens, there will be a surplus of stocks and overstaffing. The second type is executive failure, where communication to trigger specific events/actions is either late, lacking, or in error. The symptoms of this are a general loss of direction in the company or departments, a loss of co-ordination and an increase in complaints from customers as things happen late or not at all. The final type is human failure. This occurs when the general culture of a business or the relationships between particular individuals or departments do not foster effective communication. This leads to alienated staff, an increase in staff turnover, an increase in absenteeism, and general frustration among staff. Creativity, especially that which takes place across departmental boundaries, is likely to suffer hugely as team synergy slips.
1-1、What does the phrase “confirming reception of the sent messages” mean in Paragraph 1?
A、To make sure that the messages are sent to the right receivers.
B、To make sure that the messages are fully understood.
C、To make sure that the messages are correctly understood by the right receivers.
When you think of team building, do you immediately picture your group off at a resort playing games or hanging from ropes? Traditionally, many organizations approach team building in this way but, then, they wonder why that wonderful sense of teamwork that had been displayed at the retreat or the seminar fails to impact long term beliefs and actions back at work. I.m not averse to retreats, planning sessions, seminars, and team building activities – in fact I lead them – but they have to form part of a much larger teamwork effort. You will not build teamwork by “retreating” as a group for a couple of days each year, instead you need to think of team building as something you do every single day. ? Form teams to solve real work issues and to improve real work processes. Provide training in systematic methods so the team expends its energy on the project, not on trying to work out how to work together as a team to approach the problem. ? Hold department meetings to review projects and progress, to obtain broad input, and to coordinate shared work processes. If there is friction between team members, examine the work processes they mutually own – the problem is not usually their personalities; instead, it is often the fact that the team members haven.t agreed on how they will deliver a product or service, or the steps required to get something done. ? Build fun and shared occasions into the organization.s agenda – hold pot luck lunches, take the team to a sporting event, sponsor dinners at a local restaurant, go hiking, or go to an amusement park. Hold a monthly company meeting, sponsor sports teams and encourage cheering team fans. ? Use ice breakers and teamwork exercises at meetings – these help team members get to know each other, share details about each other.s lives, and have a laugh together. ? Celebrate team successes publicly. There are many ways you could do this, for instance by buying everyone the same t-shirt or hat, putting team member names in a draw for company merchandise, and gift certificates. The only thing limiting you is your imagination. If you do the types of teamwork building listed above, you.ll be amazed at the progress you will make in creating a teamwork culture, a culture that enables individuals to contribute more than they ever thought possible – together.
1-2、The author claims that playing games together is as important as forming teams to solve real work issues and improve real work processes for team building.
A、√
B、×
A team of about 35 employees had come together for a team-building event. They were a young, bright and enthusiastic team. However, one of their chief problems was the fact that they wouldn.t share information or solutions with each other, and the team leader thought they were too focused on themselves and not on the team. As a result, she brought them all into the cafeteria. All of the tables and chairs had been stored away, and fun decorations and hundreds of different colored balloons had been placed around the room. In the center of the room was a big box of balloons that hadn.t been blown up yet. The team leader instructed everybody to pick a balloon, blow it up, and write their name on it, but they had to be careful not to burst the balloon. Although they were given a second chance if their first balloon popped, they were out of the game the second time round. In the end, about 30 team members wrote their names without their balloons popping. They were then asked to leave the room and, after five minutes, the team leader brought them back in and asked them to find the balloon with their name on it amongst the hundreds of other balloons in the room. After 15 minutes of searching, no one had found their balloon, and the team were told that they were then going to move on to the third round of the activity. In this round, each team member was instructed to find any balloon with a name on it and then give that balloon to the person whose name was on it. Within two minutes, everybody had their own balloon. The team leader summarized the activity thus: “We are much more efficient when we are willing to share with each other and much better at problem solving when we are working together, not individually”. Sometimes, members of teams create obstacles by focusing solely on their own pursuits and goals. Every member of the team should ask themselves on a regular basis what they are doing and what they can do for the team.
1-1、What was the purpose of holding this team-building event?
A、Helping the employees become more concentrated on their work.
B、Making the team members know how to cooperate with each other.
C、Building up team morale.
Communication Failure Communication is about conceiving, sending, receiving, and interpreting messages as well as confirming reception of these messages. A failure at any point in this chain can result in ineffective communication. In a business, there are three main types of communication failure. Each has its own indicative signs. The first type is known as allocative failure. This occurs when a firm is not gathering enough intelligence about its market or (most often), the information is not reaching the right points. The firm will not be allocating resources in step with the shifts in demand. If demand is rising but the firm is suffering from allocative communication failure, then stocks will fall and there will be understaffing. If the inverse happens, there will be a surplus of stocks and overstaffing. The second type is executive failure, where communication to trigger specific events/actions is either late, lacking, or in error. The symptoms of this are a general loss of direction in the company or departments, a loss of co-ordination and an increase in complaints from customers as things happen late or not at all. The final type is human failure. This occurs when the general culture of a business or the relationships between particular individuals or departments do not foster effective communication. This leads to alienated staff, an increase in staff turnover, an increase in absenteeism, and general frustration among staff. Creativity, especially that which takes place across departmental boundaries, is likely to suffer hugely as team synergy slips.
1-1、Communication chain does not involve confirmation of receiving messages.
A、√
B、×
Working for Google is a dream of many, not just because of what this company has achieved in the last 15 years, but because of its enviable work culture. With about 37,000 employees in 40 countries, you might wonder how Google maintains a motivating work experience throughout its entire company. Working for Google comes with perks that most other organizations can.t provide – bowling alleys, free haircuts, gym memberships, and shuttles to and from work. The company.s secret to success is putting the same amount of time and effort into keeping employees happy as it does into innovating products. Back when the company was just a start-up, co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin had the goal of making Google a place the most talented people wanted to work at. Their idea was simple: creating a work culture that keeps employees happy will motivate them to do their best and will keep them loyal to the company. “It.s less about the aspiration to be No. 1 in the world, and more that we want our employees and future ones to love it here, because that.s what.s going to make us successful,” said Karen May, the Vice President of people development at Google. Google also makes its employees want to work because managers provide tasks that are inspiring and challenging. Every employee at Google has the opportunity to spend 20% of his or her working time on a project they choose. This freedom takes employees out of their routine and away from the mundane tasks that often make workers feel uninspired about their jobs. Lastly, Google shows each employee just how important he or she is to the company. Each employee, regardless of her spot on the totem pole, has an influence on how Google performs. “If you value people, and care about them as whole people, one thing you do is giving them a voice, and you really listen,” May said. Google does just that by hosting employee forums every Friday, where they discuss the 20 most-asked questions. Employees have access to all company information, adding a sense of trust, and employees and leaders work together to solve problems.
1-1、How would you describe Google?
A、Medium-sized international company.
B、Large global enterprises.
C、Large Chinese company.