Questions 11 to 15 are based on the following passage:

　　One hundred and thirteen million Americans have at least one bank-issued credit card. They give their owners automatic credit in stores, restaurants, and hotels, at home, across the country, and even abroad, and they make many banking services available as well. More and more of these credit cards can be read automatically, making it possible to withdraw or deposit money in scattered locations, whether or not the local branch bank is opened. For many of us the “cashless society” is not on the horizon-it’s already here.

　　While computers offer these conveniences to consumers, they have many advantages for sellers too. Electronic cash registers can do much more than simply ring up sales. They can keep a wide range of records, including who sold what, when, and to whom. This information allows businessmen to keep track of their list of goods by showing which items are being sold and how fast they are moving. Decisions to record or return goods to suppliers can then be made. At the same time these computers record which hours are busiest and which employees are the most efficient, allowing personnel and staffing assignments to be made accordingly. And they also identify preferred customers

　　for promotional campaigns. Computers are relied on by manufacturers for similar reasons. Computer-analyzed marking reports can help to decide which products to emphasize now, which to develop for the future, and which to drop. Computers keep track of goods in stock, of raw materials on hand, and even of the production process itself.

　　Numerous other commercial enterprises, from theaters to magazines publishers, from gas and electric utilities to milk processors, bring better and more efficient services to consumers through the use of computers.

　　11. According to the passage, the credit card enables its owner to _________.

　　A. withdraw as much money from the bank as he wishes

　　B. obtain more convenient services than other people do

　　C. enjoy greater trust from the storekeeper

　　D. cash money wherever he wishes to

　　12. From the last sentence of the first paragraph we learn that _________.

　　A. in the future all the Americans will use credit cards

　　B. credit cards are mainly used in the United States today

　　C. nowadays many Americans do not pay in cash

　　D. it is now more convenient to use credit cards than before

　　13. If computers record which hours are busiest and which employees are the

　　most efficient, what will businessmen do?

　　A. They will fire some employees and raise the work efficiency.

　　B. They will arrange for different employees to do different jobs according

　　to their abilities and performance.

　　C. They will assign more work for the employees to do.

　　D. They will allow the personnel to do whatever work they want to do.

　　14. The phrase “ring up sales” in Line Two, Paragraph Two, most probably

　　Means __________.

　　A. make an order of goods

　　B. record sales on a cash register

　　C. call the sales manager

　　D. keep track of the goods in stock

　　15. What does the passage mainly discuss?

　　A. Approaches to the commercial use of computers.

　　B. Conveniences brought about by computers in business.

　　C. Significance of automation in commercial enterprises.

　　D. Advantages of credit cards in business.

　　Questions 16 to 20 al e based on the following passage：

　　Ours has become a society of employees. A hundred years or so ago only one out of every five Americans at work was employed. Today only one out of five is not employed but working for himself. And when 50 years ago “being employed” meant working as a factory laborer or as a farmhand, the employee of today is increasingly a middle-class person with a substantial formal education, holding a professional or management job requiring intellectual and technical skills. Indeed, two things have characterized American society during these last 50 years: middle-class and upper-class employees have been the fastest-growing groups in our working population-growing so fast that the industrial worker, that oldest child of the Industrial Revolution, has been losing in numerical importance despite the expansion of industrial production.

　　Yet you will find little if anything written on what it is to be an employee. You can find a great deal of very dubious advice on how to get a job or how to get a promotion. You can also find a good deal of work in a chosen field. whether it be the mechanist’s trade or bookkeeping (会计). Every one of these trades requires different skills, sets different standards, and requires a different preparation. Yet they all have employees hip (雇员身份) in common. And increasingly, especially in the large business or in government, employee ship is more important to success than the special professional knowledge or skill. Certainly more people fail because they do not know the requirements of being an employee than because they do not adequately possess the skills of their trade; the higher you climb the ladder, the more you get into administrative or executive work, the greater the emphasis on ability to work within the organization rather than on technical abilities or professional knowledge.

　　16. It is implied that 50 years ago ___________.

　　A. 80%of American working people were employed in factories

　　B. 20%of American intellectuals were employees

　　C. the percentage of intellectuals in the total work force was almost the

　　same as that of industrial workers

　　D. the percentage of intellectuals working as employees was not so large

　　as that of industrial workers

　　17. According to the passage, with the development of modern industry, _____.

　　A. factory laborers will overtake intellectual employees in number

　　B. there are as many middle—class employees as factory laborers

　　C. employers have attached great importance to factory laborers

　　D. the proportion of factory laborers in total employee population has

　　Decreased

　　18. The word “dubious” in Line Two, Paragraph Two, most probably means

　　______.

　　A. valuable B. useful

　　C. doubtful D. helpful

　　19. According to the writer, professional knowledge or skill is __________.

　　A. 1ess important than awareness of being a good employee

　　B. as important as the ability to deal with public relation

　　C. more important than employer-employee relations

　　D. as important as the ability to co-operate with others in the organization

　　20. From the passage it can be seen that employee ship helps one __________.

　　A. to be more successful in his career

　　B. to solve technical problems

　　C. to be more specialized in his field

　　D. to develop his professional skill