專家解析大學英語四級考試歷年閱讀真題(十四)

　　27. What can be inferred from Beth’s story?

　　A) Prejudice against women still exists in some organizations.

　　B) If people want what they deserve, they have to ask for it.

　　C) People should not be content with what they have got.

　　D) People should be careful when negotiating for a job.(B)

　　28. We can learn from the passage that ________.

　　A) unfairness exists in salary increases

　　B) most people are overworked and underpaid

　　C) one should avoid overstating one’s performance

　　D) most organizations give their staff automatic pay raises(A)

　　29. To get a pay raise, a person should ________.

　　A) advertise himself on the job market

　　B) persuade his boss to sign a long-term contract

　　C) try to get inside information about the organization

　　D) do something to impress his boss just before merit pay decisions(D)

　　30. To be successful in negotiations, one must ________.

　　A) meet his boss at the appropriate time

　　B) arrive at the negotiation table punctually

　　C) be good at influencing the outcome of the interaction

　　D) be familiar with what the boss likes and dislikes(C)

　　這篇文章講的是職場加薪問題。開頭先講原始工資要求的提出更為容易(It is easier to negotiate initial salary requirement)，這是為了和下文所講的加薪要求的提出作為對比，引出材料主要討論的話題。第一段后面還有兩句話，一是說如果你不提出加薪請求的話，獲得理應得到的加薪機會就會大大減少(your chances of getting the raise…… are less)。二是說男人們更喜歡要求，而且得到的也多(Men tend to ask for more, and they get more)。要注意這一句中的men是復數(shù)形式，那么就應該指的是“男人”，而不是統(tǒng)稱的“人”。與此對應，女人在要求加薪上可能就要消極一些。由此可以推斷第一段最后一句中的Beth是一位女士。

　　下一段就開始以Beth的視角講述她的職場遭遇。這些遭遇是對第一段提到的二點的證明。這一段句子很多，主要意思無非是男同事們一個個地連升三級，有了自己的辦公室，而自己卻一直苦守在最初的小隔間里。原因呢?在這段的開頭就已經給出了：沒有要求，就沒有收獲(I did not get what I wanted when I did not ask for it)。

　　下一段又恢復了第三人稱視角，說到如果我們都能夠自動獲得與價值相當?shù)募有綄⑹嵌嗝疵篮?It would be nice if we all received automatic pay increases equal to our merit)，但大多數(shù)公司并不如此美好，要想獲得應得的加薪，最好還是自己提出申請。下文繼續(xù)講如何提出加薪要求。

　　最后四段講了如何提出加薪要求的要點，其中前三段是準備工作，最后一段是即時提出要求時應采取的策略。首先，要拿業(yè)績說話(Performance is your best bargaining chip)。這里需要注意的是要能夠讓老板看到你的表現(xiàn)值得加薪(be able to demonstrate that you deserve a raise)，另外提出要求的時機(Timing)也很重要，最好是在剛剛滿足了老板的需求之后。

　　其次，信息也是討價還價的籌碼(Use information as a bargaining chip too)，要看看你在市場上能值什么價，看看別人會付給你多少錢。

　　最后一段實際上講的是提出要求的勇氣和策略。Go into the negotiations，這是個祈使句，有鼓勵、打氣的含義。而后面的use communication style(以交流的態(tài)度)說的是提出要求時的基本策略。

　　26. According to the passage, before taking a job, a person should ________.

　　A) demonstrate his capability

　　B) give his boss a good impression

　　C) ask for as much money as he can

　　D) ask for the salary he hopes to get