TPO综合写作汇总文本.docx

TPO综合写作汇总文本.docx

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TPO综合写作汇总文本

TPO1

Reading

IntheUnitedStates,employeestypicallyworkfivedaysaweekforeighthourseachday.However,manyemployeeswanttoworkafour-dayweekandarewillingtoacceptlesspayinordertodoso.Amandatorypolicyrequiringcompaniestooffertheiremployeestheoptionofworkingafour-dayworkweekforfour-fifths（80percent）oftheirnormalpaywouldbenefittheeconomyasawholeaswellastheindividualcompaniesandtheemployeeswhodecidedtotaketheoption.Theshortenedworkweekwouldincreasecompanyprofitsbecauseemployeeswouldfeelmorerestedandalert,andasaresult,theywouldmakefewercostlyerrorsintheirwork.Hiringmorestafftoensurethatthesameamountofworkwouldbeaccomplishedwouldnotresultinadditionalpayrollcostsbecausefour-dayemployeeswouldonlybepaid80percentofthenormalrate.Intheend,companieswouldhavefeweroverworkedanderror-proneemployeesforthesamemoney,whichwouldincreasecompanyprofits.Forthecountryasawhole,oneoftheprimarybenefitsofofferingthisoptiontoemployeesisthatitwouldreduceunemploymentrates.Ifmanyfull-timeemployeesstartedworkingfewerhours,someoftheirworkloadwouldhavetobeshiftedtoothers.Thus,foreveryfouremployeeswhowentonan80percentweek,anewemployeecouldbehiredatthe80percentrate.Finally,theoptionofafour-dayworkweekwouldbebetterforindividualemployees.Employeeswhocouldaffordalowersalaryinexchangeformorefreetimecouldimprovethequalityoftheirlivesbyspendingtheextratimewiththeirfamilies,pursuingprivateinterests,orenjoyingleisureactivities.

Listening

Offeringemployeestheoptionofafour-dayworkweekwon'taffectthecompanyprofits,economicconditionsorthelivesofemployeesinthewaysthereadingsuggests.

First,offeringafour-dayworkweekwillprobablyforcecompaniestospendmore,possiblyalotmore.Addingnewworkersmeansputtingmuchmoremoneyintoprovidingtrainingandmedicalbenefits.Rememberthecostsofthingslikehealthbenefitscanbethesamewhetheranemployeeworksfourdaysorfive.Andhavingmoreemployeesalsorequiresmoreofficespaceandmorecomputers.Theseadditionalcostswouldquicklycutintocompanyprofits.

Second,withrespecttooverallemployment,itdoesn'tfollowthatoncesomeemployeeschooseafour-dayworkweek,manymorejobswillbecomeavailable.Hiringnewworkersiscostly,asIarguedamomentago.Andcompanieshaveotheroptions.Theymightjustchoosetoasktheiremployeestoworkovertimetomakeupthedifference.Worse,companiesmightraiseexpectations.Theymightstarttoexpectthattheirfour-dayemployeescandothesameamountofworktheyusedtodoinfivedays.Ifthishappens,thennoadditionaljobswillbecreatedandcurrentjobswillbecomemoreunpleasant.

Finally,whileafour-dayworkweekoffersemployeesmorefreetimetoinvestintheirpersonallives,italsopresentssomerisksthatcouldendupreducingtheirqualityoflife.Workingashorterweekcandecreaseemployees'jobstabilityandharmtheirchancesforadvancingtheircareers.Four-dayemployeesarelikelytobethefirsttolosetheirjobsduringaneconomicdownturn.Theymayalsobepassedoverforpromotionsbecausecompaniesmightprefertohavefive-dayemployeesinmanagementpositionstoensurecontinuouscoverageandconsistentsupervisionfortheentireworkweek.

TPO2

Reading

Inmanyorganizations,perhapsthebestwaytoapproachcertainnewprojectsistoassembleagroupofpeopleintoateam.Havingateamofpeopleattackaprojectoffersseveraladvantages.

Firstofall,agroupofpeoplehasawiderrangeofknowledge，expertise,andskillsthananysingleindividualislikelytopossess.Also,becauseofthenumbersofpeopleinvolvedandthegreaterresourcestheypossess,agroupcanworkmorequicklyinresponsetothetaskassignedtoitandcancomeupwithhighlycreativesolutionstoproblemsandissues.Sometimesthesecreativesolutionscomeaboutbecauseagroupismorelikelytomakeriskydecisionsthatanindividualmightnotundertake.Thisisbecausethegroupspreadsresponsibilityforadecisiontoallthemembersandthusnosingleindividualcanbeheldaccountableifthedecisionturnsouttobewrong.

Takingpartinagroupprocesscanbeveryrewardingformembersoftheteam.Teammemberswhohaveavoiceinmakingadecisionwillnodoubtfeelbetteraboutcarryingouttheworkthatisentailedbythedecisionthantheymightdoingworkthatisimposedonthembyothers.Also,theindividualteammemberhasamuchbetterchanceto“shine”,togethisorhercontributionsandideasnotonlyrecognizedbutrecognizedashighlysignificant,becauseateam’soverallresultscanbemorefar-reachingandhavegreaterimpactthanwhatmighthaveotherwisebeenpossibleforthepersontoaccomplishorcontributeworkingalone.

Listening

NowIwanttotellyouaboutwhatonecompanyfoundwhenitdecidedthatitwouldturnoversomeofitsnewprojectstoteamsofpeople,andmaketheteamresponsibleforplanningtheprojectsandgettingtheworkdone.Afteraboutsixmonths,thecompanytookalookathowwelltheteamsperformed.

Onvirtuallyeveryteam,somemembersgotalmosta"freeride"—theydidn'tcontributemuchatall,butiftheirteamdidagoodjob,theyneverthelessbenefitedfromtherecognitiontheteamgot.Andwhataboutgroupmemberswhoworkedespeciallywellandwhoprovidedalotofinsightonproblemsandissues?

Well,therecognitionforajobwelldonewenttothegroupasawhole,nonameswerenamed.Soitwon'tsurpriseyoutolearnthatwhentherealcontributorswereaskedhowtheyfeltaboutthegroupprocess,theirattitudewasjusttheoppositeofwhatthereadingpredicts.

Anotherfindingwasthatsomeprojectsjustdidn'tmoveveryquickly.Why?

Becauseittooksolongtoreachconsensus;ittookmany,manymeetingstobuildtheagreementamonggroupmembersabouthowtheywouldmovetheprojectalong.Ontheotherhand,therewereotherinstanceswhereoneortwopeoplemanagedtobecomeveryinfluentialoverwhattheirgroupdid.Sometimeswhenthoseinfluencerssaid"Thatwillneverwork"aboutanideathegroupwasdeveloping,theideawasquicklydroppedinsteadofbeingfurtherdiscussed.Andthentherewasanotheroccasionwhenacoupleinfluencersconvincedthegroupthataplanoftheirswas"highlycreative."Andeventhoughsomememberstriedtowarntherestofthegroupthattheprojectwasmovingindirectionsthatmightnotwork,theywerebasicallyignoredbyothergroupmembers.Canyouguesstheendingtothisstory?

Whentheprojectfailed,theblamewasplacedonallthemembersofthegroup.

TPO3

Reading

Rembrandtisthemostfamousoftheseventeenth-centuryDutchpainters.However,therearedoubtswhethersomepaintingsattributedtoRembrandtwereactuallypaintedbyhim.OnesuchpaintingisknownasPortraitofanElderlyWomaninaWhiteBonnet.ThepaintingwasattributedtoRembrandtbecauseofitsstyle,andindeedtherepresentationofthewoman’sfaceisverymuchlikethatofportraitsknowntobebyRembrandt.ButthereareproblemswiththepaintingthatsuggestitcouldnotbeaworkbyRembrandt.

First,thereissomethinginconsistentaboutthewaythewomanintheportraitisdressed.Sheiswearingawhitelinencapofakindthatonlyservantswouldwear-yetthecoatsheiswearinghasaluxuriousfurcollarthatnoservantcouldafford.Rembrandt,whowasknownforhisattentiontothedetailsofhissubjects’clothing,wouldnothavebeenguiltyofsuchaninconsistency.

Second,Rembrandtwasamasterofpaintinglightandshadow,butinthispaintingtheseelementsdonotfittogether.Thefaceappearstobeilluminatedbylightreflectedontoitfrombelow.Butbelowthefaceisthedarkfurcollar,whichwouldabsorblightratherthanreflectit.Sothefaceshouldappearpartiallyinshadow-whichisnothowitappears.Rembrandtwouldneverhavemadesuchanerror.

Finally,examinationofthebackofthepaintingrevealsthatitwaspaintedonapanelmadeofseveralpiecesofwoodgluedtogether.AlthoughRembrandtoftenpaintedonwoodpanels,nopaintingknowntobebyRembrandtusesapanelgluedtogetherinthiswayfromseveralpiecesofwood.

ForthesereasonsthepaintingwasremovedfromtheofficialcatalogofRembrandt’spaintingsinthe1930s.

Listening

Everythingyoujustreadabout"PortraitofanElderlyWomaninaWhiteBonnet"istrue,andyetafterathoroughre-examinationofthepainting,apanelofexpertshasrecentlyconcludedthatit'sindeedaworkbyRembrandt.Hereiswhy.

First,thefurcollar.X-raysandanalysisofthepigmentsinthepainthaveshownthatthefurcollarwasn'tpartoftheoriginalpainting.Thefurcollarwaspaintedoverthetopoftheoriginalpaintingaboutahundredyearsafterthepaintingwasmade.Why?

Someoneprobablywantedtoincreasethevalueofthepaintingbymakingitlooklikeaformalportraitofanaristocraticlady.

Second,thesupposederrorwithlightandshadow.Oncethepaintoftheaddedfurcolorwasremoved,theoriginalpaintingcouldbeseen.Intheoriginalpainting,thewomaniswearingasimplecollaroflight-coloredcloth.Thelight-coloredclothofthiscollarreflectslightthatilluminatespartofthewoman'sface.That'swhythefaceisnotinpartialshadow.Sointheoriginalpainting,lightandshadowareveryrealisticandjustwhatwewouldexpectfromRembrandt.

Finally,thewoodpanel.Itturnsoutthatwhenthefurcollarwasadded,thewoodpanelwasalsoenlargedwithextrawoodpiecesgluedtothesidesandthetoptomakethepaintingmoregrandandmorevaluable.Sotheoriginalpaintingisactuallyp