英語(yǔ)四級(jí)閱讀練習(xí)附答案-162 沉思

　　It looked like a typical business meeting. Six men, neatly dressed in white shirts and ties filed into the boardroom of a small Jakarta company and sat down at a long table. But instead of consulting files or hearing reports, they closed their eyes and began to meditate, consulting the spirits of ancient Javanese kings. Mysticism touches almost every aspect of life in Indonesia and business is no exception. One of the meditators said his weekly meditation sessions are aimed mainly at bringing the peace of mind that makes for good decision-making. But the insight gained from mystic communication with spirits of wise kings has also helped boost the profits of his five companies.

 

　　Mysticism and profits have come together since the 13th century introduction of Islam to Indonesia by Indian Moslem merchants. Those devout traders, called ‘Wali Ullah’ or ‘those close to God, ’ energetically spread both trade and religion by adapting their appeals to the native mysticism of Java. Legends attribute magic power of foreknowledge to the Wali Ullah. These powers were believed to be gained through meditation and fasting.

　　Businessman Hadisiko said his group fasts and meditates all night every Thursday to become closer to God and to contact the spirits of the great men of the past. ‘If we want to employ someone at the managerial level, we meditate together and often the message comes that this man can’t hole onto money or he is untrustworthy. Or maybe the spirits will tell us he should be hired.’ Hadiziko hastened to add that his companies also hold modern personnel management systems and that formal qualifications are essential for a candidate even to be considered. Perspective investments also are considered through mystic meditation. ‘With the mind relaxed and open, it is easier to be objective in judging the risk of a new venture. Meditation and contact with the wisdom of the old leaders sharpens your own insight and intuition. Then you have to apply that intuition to the information you have and work hard to be successful. ’ Mystic meditation helped reverse a business slide his companies experienced in the mid-1980. Operating with normal business procedures, he lost more than $ 3 millions in that year alone. Meditation brought back his peace of mind. Putting the right persons in the right jobs and gaining confidence in his business decisions were the keys to a turning around that has brought expansion and profitability. The mysticism in Handspike’s boardroom is part of a growing movement in Indonesia called Kebatinan – the ‘search for the inner self.’

　　One of his managers, Yusuf Soemado, who studied business administration at Harvard University, compared the idea of mystic management to western system of positive thinking. ‘Willpower and subconscious mind are recognized as important factors in business. Such approaches as psycho-cybernetics, Carnegie’s think and growth rates, or the power of positive thinking are western attempts to tap the same higher intelligence that we contact through meditation,’ he said.

　　1. What is the most important factor in their doing business?

　　[A] Mysticism.

　　[B] Religion.

　　[C] Meditation.

　　[D] Investment.

　　2. Whom do they consult?

　　[A] The spirits of ancient Javanese kings.

　　[B] Wali Ullah.

　　[C] Old Kings.

　　[D] Carnegie.

　　3. Why did Hadisike hasten to add "his companies also hold modern personnel management systems…?

　　[A] He thought Mysticism was not so good as expected.

　　[B] To show they too focused on qualifications.

　　[C] To show they hired qualified persons.

　　[D] To show the possibility of combination of the scientific management with religion.

　　4. According to the passage, the function of the meditation is______.

　　[A] to gain profit from the god.

　　[B] to gain peace of mind to make decision.

　　[C] to gain foreknowledge.

　　[D] to gain objective conclusion.

　　5. What does "operating with normal business procedures" refer to?

　　[A] Adopting the western way of doing business.

　　[B] Ordinary way of doing business without meditation and fasting.

　　[C] Contact with God.

　　[D] Putting right persons in the right jobs.

　　Vocabulary

　　1. file into 魚(yú)貫而入，排隊(duì)進(jìn)去

　　2. Jakarta 雅加達(dá)

　　3. meditate 沉思，冥想，反省

　　4. Java 爪哇

　　5. Javanese 爪哇的

　　6. mysticism 神秘主義

　　7. boost 促進(jìn)，增加，提高

　　8. devout 虔誠(chéng)的，熱誠(chéng)的

　　9. appeal (to) 向……呼吁，求助于，魅力

　　10. legend 傳說(shuō)，神話

　　11. fasting 禁食，齋戒

　　12. hold onto 抓緊，保住

　　13. personnel management system 人事管理制度

　　14. perspective investment 遠(yuǎn)景投資

　　15. venture (商業(yè))投機(jī)，風(fēng)險(xiǎn)

　　16. sharpen 使……敏銳/尖銳，磨尖

　　17. business slide 買(mǎi)賣(mài)/企業(yè)滑坡，下滑

　　18. turn around (生意)好轉(zhuǎn)，轉(zhuǎn)變

　　19. subconscious 下意識(shí)的，潛意識(shí)的

　　20. cybernetics 控制論

　　21. Carnegie 卡耐基

　　22. tap 開(kāi)拓，選擇

　　答案詳解：

　　1. C 沉思。這在第一斷已有說(shuō)明。

　　A. 神秘主義。是個(gè)總的概念，籠罩生活各方面。而不是具體的做法和重要因素。 B. 宗教。 D. 投資。

　　2. A 爪哇古代帝王之精靈。答案在第一段。

　　B. Wali Ullah是指印度穆斯林商人。這些虔誠(chéng)的商人叫做Wali Ullah或者成為接近主的人。傳說(shuō)神話也把先知的力量歸功于Wali Ullah。C. 老帝王。D. 卡耐基，1835-1919是生于蘇格蘭的美國(guó)鋼鐵工業(yè)家和慈善家。他有一套管理企業(yè)的辦法，稱(chēng)為卡耐基思想(管理法)。

　　3. B 他們也重視資歷、才能。這在第三段中第二行起，商人 Hadisiko講話清楚說(shuō)明“如果我們要雇傭管理人員，我們就一起沉思，常常會(huì)有這種信息來(lái)臨：這個(gè)人不能管理錢(qián)財(cái)或者他不可靠。也可能神靈告訴我們應(yīng)當(dāng)雇傭他。接著他匆忙補(bǔ)充說(shuō)他的公司也采用現(xiàn)代人事管理系統(tǒng)，即要考慮雇傭的人員最根本的條件仍是正式資歷”。

　　A. 他認(rèn)為神秘主義不像想象中那么好。C. 表明他們雇傭人才。上下文說(shuō)明，他所以補(bǔ)充是說(shuō)明他們也重視資格。D. 表明科學(xué)管理和宗教結(jié)合的可能性。Hadisike語(yǔ)中沒(méi)有這種意思。但不能說(shuō)他們雇傭人才不管宗教。

　　4. B 得到冷靜頭腦來(lái)決策。這在第三段后半部分講到。“遠(yuǎn)景的投資也是通過(guò)神秘的沉思加以考慮。有著放松和開(kāi)放的頭腦，易于客觀地判斷新投資的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)。沉思和過(guò)去領(lǐng)袖的接觸會(huì)是你的洞察力和感官變得敏銳。”第一段第五行“其中一位沉思者說(shuō)每星期的沉思會(huì)主要目標(biāo)是帶來(lái)一個(gè)平靜的頭腦，作出好決策。”

　　A. 從上帝那里得到利潤(rùn)。 C. 取得先知。不對(duì)，先知的能力歸于Wali Ullah。D. 得到客觀的結(jié)論。文內(nèi)只提到，頭腦放松容易客觀地判斷投資風(fēng)險(xiǎn)與否，并不是客觀的結(jié)論。

　　5. B 沒(méi)有沉思和齋戒的常規(guī)作生意。見(jiàn)第三段中，神秘的沉思幫助扭轉(zhuǎn)公司生意滑坡而正常買(mǎi)賣(mài)步驟，這一年就損失了300萬(wàn)美元。這兩句對(duì)比的話說(shuō)明B項(xiàng)內(nèi)容。

　　A. 采用西方買(mǎi)賣(mài)方式(交易方式)。文內(nèi)沒(méi)有點(diǎn)明正常就是西方方式。C. 和上帝接觸。D. 知人善任。