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 Enter|prises",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、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
参考答案：A
参考分析：标题的选择应言简意赅，同时也可表达出作者的某种感情色彩，如本文中作者的讽刺意味比较浓。
2、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
参考答案：B
参考分析：第一天上班迟到，所以紧张。
3、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
参考答案：D
参考分析：显而易见该公司员工对公司缺少奉献精神。
4、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
参考答案：D
参考分析：由第三段中"...it looked quite different now"可以看出，办公室和以前相比，变化非常大，答案选D.
5、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
参考答案：D
参考分析：由末段中"Then Marie realized that the day's work in the office began just before Mr.Smith arrived"可知选D.
参考译文
9点15的时候，玛丽急匆匆地走进她工作的办公大楼。她乘坐的公车在早晨高峰期，慢得像蜗牛一样。所以她第一天上班就迟到了几分钟。她决定明天提前半个小时外出。
她走进大厅后，不能不站在电梯那儿等上几分钟才能搭上电梯上6楼。当她最后到达标着“史密斯企业”的办公室时，她紧张地敲了敲门，等待着，但没人应。她又敲了两下还是没人应。她听到隔壁的办公室里传出说话声，于是她打开门，走了进来。
虽然她一定这就是两周以前她同意史密斯先生面试的那间办公室，但目前变化真的非常大。事实上，这里根本就不像办公室。雇员们在四下里站着，边吸烟边聊天。她猜肯定是有人在屋子的前面讲了个非常有趣的笑话，由于她走进去的时候那边爆发出非常大的笑声。最初她还以为他们在笑她。
这个时候有个男性看了看表，拍了拍手并对别的人讲了几句话。在几秒钟的时间内，每一个人都飞速地回到他们的办公室桌椅旁，开始努力工作起来。无人注意到玛丽。最后，她走向靠门口办公的一位男性，向他说明她是第一天上班。那人几乎连头都没抬，只让她坐下等史密斯先生，他随时都可能走进去。稍后她意识到原来职员们天天的工作都是在史密斯先生走进去的前一刻才开始的。一段时间将来，玛丽得知史密斯先生住在康涅狄格，天天早晨都乘同一趟火车来曼哈顿，9：35到达办公室，所以他的职员非常了解该什么时间开始工作。
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