Passage One
Questions 46 to 50 are based on the following passage.
Team-building exercises have become popular for managers trying to increase organsational and team harmony and productivity. Unfortunately many employees resent compulsory bonding and often regard these exercises as a nuisance.
A paper published this week by university of Sydney researchers in Social Networks has reported participants’ feelings about team-building interventions ,revealing ethical implications in forcing employees to take part.
Many people see team-building activities as a waste of time, so we decided to look in more depth at what's behind this, said the paper's lead researcher, Dr Peter Matous.
Teams are formed, combined and restructured. staff are relocated and office spaces redesigned. All this is done with the aim of improving workplace efficiency, collaboration and cohesion. But does any of this work? said Dr Matous.
The study found that team-building exercises which focused on the sharing of and intervening into personal attitudes and relationships between team members were considered too heavy-handed and intrusive, although the researchers say some degree of openness and vulnerability is often necessary to make deep, effective connections with colleagues.
“Some participants were against team-building exercises because they were implicitly compulsory. They didn't welcome management's interest in their lives beyond their direct work performance,” said Matous. Many people don't want to be forced into having fun or making friends, especially not on top of their busy jobs. They feel management is being too nosy or trying to control their lives too much.
In this study the researchers recommended a self-disclosure(表露)approach where participants were guided through a series of questions that allowed them to increasingly disclose personal information and values. The method is well-tested and has been shown to increase interpersonal closeness. However, to be successful it must be voluntary.
The researchers said there are numerous schools of thought that propose differing psychological methods for strengthening relationships. With caution, many relational methods to improve teams and organisations can be borrowed from other fields. The question is how to apply them effectively to strengthen an entire collective which is more than just the sum of individual relationships, said Dr Matous.
46. Why are many employees opposed to team-building exercises?
A) They consider such exercises annoying.
B) They deem these exercises counter-productive.
C) They see such exercises as harmful to harmony.
D) They find these exercises too demanding.
47. What did Dr Matous and his team do to find out whether team building activities would improve productivity?
A) They relocated team leaders and their offices.
B) They rearranged the staff and office spaces.
C) They redesigned the staff's work schedules.
D) They reintroduced some cohesive activities.
48. What did the study by Matous' team find about some team-building exercises?
A) They were intended to share personal attitudes and relationships.
B) They implicitly added to the vulnerability of team members.
C) They invariably strengthened connections among colleagues.
D) They were regarded as an intrusion into employees' private lives.
49. How can the self-disclosure approach succeed in increasing interpersonal closeness?
A) By allowing participants freedom to express themselves.
B) By applying it to employees who volunteer to participate.
C) By arranging in proper order the questions participants face.
D) By guiding employees through a series of steps in team building.
50. What does Matous think of the various psychological methods borrowed from other fields for strengthening relationships?
A) They must be used in combination for an entire collective.
B) They prioritise some psychological aspects over others.
C) They place too much stress on individual relationships.
D) They have to be applied cautiously to be effective.
答案解析：
46. 由题干中的“many employees opposed to team - building exercises”定位到第一段“Unfortunately many employees resent compulsory bonding and often regard these exercises as a nuisance.”，文中提到许多员工反感强制性的团队建设活动，常将其视为麻烦事，“nuisance”与“annoying”意思相近，所以选A。
47. 由题干中的“Dr Matous and his team do to find out whether team building activities would improve productivity”定位到第四段“Teams are formed, combined and restructured. Staff are relocated and office spaces redesigned. All this is done with the aim of improving workplace efficiency, collaboration and cohesion. But does any of this work? said Dr Matous.”，文中表明他们通过重新组合团队、重新安排员工和办公室空间等方式来探究是否能提高生产力，B选项“他们重新安排了员工和办公空间”符合，所以选B。
48. 由题干中的“the study by Matous' team find about some team - building exercises”定位到第五段“The study found that team - building exercises which focused on the sharing of and intervening into personal attitudes and relationships between team members were considered too heavy - handed and intrusive...”，文中指出一些聚焦于分享和干预团队成员个人态度和关系的团队建设活动被认为过于专横和有侵犯性，即被视为对员工私人生活的侵犯，所以选D。
49. 由题干中的“the self - disclosure approach succeed in increasing interpersonal closeness”定位到第七段“However, to be successful it must be voluntary.”，文中提到自我表露方法要成功必须是自愿的，也就是要应用于自愿参与的员工，所以选B。
50. 由题干中的“Matous think of the various psychological methods borrowed from other fields for strengthening relationships”定位到最后一段“With caution, many relational methods to improve teams and organisations can be borrowed from other fields.”，文中表明Matous认为从其他领域借鉴的许多改善团队和组织的关系方法要谨慎使用才能有效，所以选D。
