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 Enterprises”， 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.本文來源:考試大網
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． 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
答案B
解析：第一天上班遲到，所以緊張。故選B.
2． 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
答案D
解析：由第三段中“In fact， it hardly looked like an office at all. The employees were just standing around chatting and smoking.”可以看出，辦公室內雇員的表現使得Marie感到走錯了房間。故選D.
3． 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
答案D
解析:段中“Then Marie realized that the day‘s work in the office began just before Mr. Smith arrived.”可知選D.
4． 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
答案D
解析:而易見該公司職員對公司缺乏奉獻精神。故選D.
5． 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
答案A
解析：標題的選擇應言簡言駭，同時也可表達出作者的某種感情色彩，如諷刺、批評、贊揚等。B項中A Cold Welcome 太過于平淡，未能表達諷刺意味；An Uupunctual Manager 則轉移了本文敘述的對象，以偏蓋全；Better Late Than Never 與文章內容無關。故選A
