问题详情

Martin was returning to work in his London office after spending two weekswith his brother over in New York. He was coming back with a heavy heart. It wasnot just that it was the end of a wonderful holiday; it was not just that heinvariably suffered badly from jet lag; it was that Monday mornings always beganwith a team meeting and, over the months, he had grown to hate them.

Martin was aware that colleagues approached these meetings with hiddenagendas; they enjoyed game-playing, and he knew that people were not beinghonest and open. The meetings themselves were bad enough—but then there was allthe moaning afterwards. “The usual people say the usual things.” “I could haveimproved on that idea, but I wasn’t going to say.” “I was thinking of making asuggestion—but I couldn’t be bothered.”

As this morning’s meeting began, Martin braced himself for the usualmoroseness (闷闷不乐) and monotony. But, as the meeting progressed, he became awareof a strange background noise. At first, he thought that he was still hearingthe engine noise from the aircraft that had brought him back to London—he hadhad to sit over the wing and the noise was terrible. But, as he concentrated onthe noise, it became a little clearer.

He realized—to his amazement—that he could hear what his colleagues werethinking as well as what they were saying. As he concentrated still harder, hefound that he could actually hear what they were thinking at the same time asthey were speaking. What surprised him, even more than the acquisition of thisstrange power, was that he discovered that what people were saying was notreally what they were thinking. They were not making clear their reservations.They were not supporting views which they thought might be unpopular. They werenot contributing their new insights. They were not volunteering their newideas.

Martin found it impossible not to respond to his new knowledge. So he startedto make gentle interventions, based more on what he could hear his colleaguesthinking than on what he could hear them saying. “So, John, are you reallysaying …？” “Susan, do you really think that？” “Tom, have you got an idea on howwe could take this forward？” He was aware that his colleagues were unsettled byhow insightful these interventions were. They looked at him mystified.In truth,he felt rather proud of his newly-acquired talent.

Given more confidence now, Martin forgot his usual misery at participating insuch meetings and began making comments of his own. However, he became awarethat some of his colleagues were looking at him totally confused.One or two evenhad a gentle smile playing on their lips. Only gradually did it dawn on them—hecould hear their thoughts and they were not really saying what they werethinking.

As the meeting progressed, Martin became aware of changes to the tone andstyle. of the event. It was clear to him now that, one by one, each member of themeeting was learning how to hear the thoughts of all the others and this wassubtly changing how they interacted with one another. The game-playing startedto fall away; people started to speak more directly; views became betterunderstood; the atmosphere became more open and trusting.

The meeting ended.As people left the room, Martin found that he could stillhear what they were thinking. “That was the best meeting we’ve ever had.” “Allmeetings should be like that.” “In future, I’m going to say what I think.”

46. Why did Martin hate the team meetings？()

A. His colleagues were making stories.

B. His colleagues complained too much.

C. His colleagues pretended to be friendly.

D. His colleagues held back their true feelings.

47. Which of the following is nearest in meaning to “braced himself for” inParagraph 3 ？()

A. prepared himself for B. adapted himself to

C. concemed himself about D. persuaded himself into

48. With the strange power of being able to hear what others were thinkingand saying, Martin realized that______.()

A. he had been cheated

B. he was lucky to know the truth

C. people didn’t mean what they said

D. people were unwilling to work there

49. Which of the following can be expected at future team meetings？()

A. Everyone will be cooperative. B. Everyone will be straightforward.

C. Everyone will be respectful. D. Everyone will be considerate.

50. Which of the following might be the best title of the passage？()

A. A Mysterious Power B. A Meeting of Minds

C. Trust Means All D. Unity Is Success