Passage 2
Questions 6 to 10 are based on the following passage:
On-the-job smoking is a hot issue for both smokers and non-smokers, and many managers now see smoking as a productivity problem. Although some people question whether smoking really affects one’s productivity, it has, in fact, been proven that a smoker costs a company more than a non-smoker. According to Professor William Weis, a smoking employee costs his or her employer about $ 5,700 more a year than a never-smoker. These costs include medical care, lost earnings and insurance. And absence due to smoking breaks is one of the productivity problems, yet it accounts for a great deal of employer costs.
(78) When the issue of smoking at the workplace is discussed, perhaps the most important problem is the health risk that smoking causes to both smokers and never-smokers. It has long been proven that smoking is linked to lung cancer. Now many health experts warn that passive smoking can cause lung cancer and other illnesses in healthy never-smokers. Passive smoking can be defined as exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke in enclosed areas. Anyone who has been with smokers indeed knows that their smoke can cause eye irritation, coughing, headaches and throat soreness. While eye irritation may seem a small thing to some smokers, it nevertheless is a problem that occurs every workday in offices and break-rooms and can lead to greater health problems. Employees who do not smoke should not be subjected to the risks of passive smoking and need to be able to work in a safe environment. Surgeon General Koop states that the right of the smoker stops at the point where his or her smoking increases the disease risk of those occupying the same environment.
6. All the following cases are on-the-job smoking except that____.
A an employer smokes while working in the office
B a taxi driver smokes while driving the car
C a worker smokes while working in the workshop
D a worker smokes while reading in the train
7. According to the passage, on-the-job smoking affects an employee’s performance in the office in that_____.
A he can concentrate on what he is doing while smoking
B he often goes away from his desk to smoke in the break-room
C he often asks for sick leave as a result of too much smoking
D he takes a rest from time to time because of eye irritation
8. Many managers do not seem to be in favor of on-the-job smoking mainly because it ____.
A reduces productivity of the company to a certain degree
B does harm to the health of never-smokers of the company
C affects the relationship between smokers and non-smokers
D makes the break-rooms more crowded and more polluted
9. Passive smoking means____
A never-smokers take up the habit of smoking unwillingly
B never-smokers have to put up with the active smokers
C never-smokers take in smoke released by a lit cigarette
D never-smokers share an enclosed area with smokers
10. In the second part of the passage, the author suggests banning on-the-job smoking so as to____.
A cut down costs of medical care and insurance
B create a healthy and safe working environment
C prevent eye irritation from becoming a big health problem
D improve the smoking employees’ work efficiency
Passage 3
Questions 11 to 15 are based on the following passage
Not all memories are sweet. Some people spend all their lives trying to forget bad experiences. Violence and traffic accidents can leave people with terrible physical and emotional scars. Often they relive these experiences in nightmares(噩梦).
(79)Now American researchers think they are close to developing a pill, which will help people forget bad memories. The pill is designed to be taken immediately after a frightening experience. They hope it might reduce, or possibly erase(抹去), the effect of painful memories.
In November, experts tested a drug on people in the US and France. The drug stops the body releasing chemicals that fix memories in the brain. (80) So far the research has suggested that only the emotional effects of memories may be reduced, not that the memories are erased.
The research has caused a great deal of argument. Some think it is a bad idea, while others support it.
Supporters say it could lead to pills that prevent or treat soldiers’ troubling memories after war. They say that there are many people who suffer from terrible memories.
“Some memories can ruin people’s lives. They come back to you when you don’t want to have them in a daydream or nightmare. They usually come with very painful emotions.” said Roger Pitman, a professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. “This could relieve a lot of that suffering.”
But those who are against the research say that it is very dangerous to change memories because memories give us our identity. They also help us all avoid the mistakes of the past.
“All of us can think of bad events in our lived that were horrible at the time but make us who we are. I’m not sure we want to wipe those memories out,” said Rebecca Dresser, a medical ethicist.
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