英语听力精选进阶版 6380

Do you want to understand your work colleagues better? Go to the zoo and observe the monkeys. That's the advice of the Dutch business consultant¹ Patrick van Veen, who has biology on his CV.

He takes groups of business people around Chester Zoo in Britain and teaches them how primitive² behaviour is alive and well in the workplace.

The mainly female³ audience attending the course nod when Mr van Veen describes how most offices have a set of dominant⁴ males, who slap⁵ each other's backs, stamp their feet and draw themselves up tall.

Watching the monkeys grooming⁶ one another, Mr van Veen emphasises the importance of this kind of supportive behaviour at work. "We spend a lot of time in chit-chat, drinking coffee with each other," he told BBC reporter Katie Prescott. "That's grooming behaviour, like primates⁷ do."

The consultant says managers might neglect⁸ to do this sometimes, but it is a vital part of keeping a happy environment in the workplace.

Exploring the similarities in behaviour between man and monkeys might be a new idea for a business, but the theory behind it is well known.

Sonya Hill, a research officer at Chester Zoo, points out that there's only a 1.4% difference in genetic⁹ material between humans and chimpanzees.

The course, held in several countries across Europe, has also given Mr van Veen the opportunity to do some observation of his own about the way different cultures react in the corporate¹⁰ world. He says that Germans are very hierarchical, but open-minded about changes in management style. The Dutch, according to the consultant, tend not to like change.

A visit to the zoo can prove inspiring and help people to understand the politics at play in theworkplace. So, next time you want to see who is really King Kong in your office, pay close attention to who is grooming who.

Quiz 测验

1. What are Patrick van Veen's two careers?

He is a business consultant and a biologist.

2. Why do women nod when Mr van Veen describes behaviour in the office?

Because they think men in their office behave like dominant male monkeys.

3. What else do humans and monkeys have in common, apart from behaviour?

Genetic material.

4. Is the following statement true, false or not given? In Germany each office worker tends to make his own decisions.

False. According to Mr van Veen, Germans are very hierarchical.

5. What action is described in the article as one of praise and grooming?

To slap each other's backs.

Glossary 词汇表

a work colleague 同事

a business consultant 商业顾问

a CV (curriculum vitae) 简历

alive and well 盛行的

the workplace 工作场所

to nod 点头

dominant 主导

to slap each other's backs 拍对方的后背

to stamp their feet 跺脚

to draw themselves up tall 把身体挺得笔直，摆出威风凛凛的样子

to groom 培训

chit-chat 聊天

to neglect 忽视

genetic material 遗传基因

a chimpanzee 黑猩猩

corporate 企业

hierarchical 等级制度的

open-minded 思想开放的，愿接受新事物的

management style 管理风格

1 consultant   

n.顾问；会诊医师，专科医生

参考例句：

• He is a consultant on law affairs to the mayor.他是市长的一个法律顾问。
• Originally,Gar had agreed to come up as a consultant.原来，加尔只答应来充当我们的顾问。

2 primitive   

adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物

参考例句：

• It is a primitive instinct to flee a place of danger.逃离危险的地方是一种原始本能。
• His book describes the march of the civilization of a primitive society.他的著作描述了一个原始社会的开化过程。

3 female   

adj.雌的，女(性)的；n.雌性的动物，女子

参考例句：

• We only employ female workers.我们只雇用女工。
• The animal in the picture was a female elephant.照片上的动物是头母象。

4 dominant   

adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因

参考例句：

• The British were formerly dominant in India.英国人从前统治印度。
• She was a dominant figure in the French film industry.她在法国电影界是个举足轻重的人物。

5 slap   

n.掴，侮辱，拍击声；vt.拍击，侮辱，惩罚，申斥；adv.正面地，直接地，突然地

参考例句：

• He sent the horse forward with a slap on its rump.他拍了一下马尾，马便向前跑去。
• He gave her a slap on the cheek.他打了她一耳光。

6 grooming   

n. 修饰, 美容，（动物）梳理毛发

参考例句：

• You should always pay attention to personal grooming. 你应随时注意个人仪容。
• We watched two apes grooming each other. 我们看两只猩猩在互相理毛。

7 primates   

primate的复数

参考例句：

• Primates are alert, inquisitive animals. 灵长目动物是机灵、好奇的动物。
• Consciousness or cerebration has been said to have emerged in the evolution of higher primates. 据说意识或思考在较高级灵长类的进化中已出现。

8 neglect   

vt.忽视，忽略；疏忽，玩忽；n.疏忽，玩忽

参考例句：

• Don't neglect to lock the door when you leave.你离开时别忘了锁门。
• Today's housing problems are the product of years of neglect.今天的住房困难是多年来忽视的结果。

9 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

10 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。