Text 3

　　Enlightening, challenging, stimulating, fun. These were some of the words that Nature readers used to describe their experience of art-science collaborations in a series of articles on partnerships between artists and researchers. Nearly 40% of the roughly 350 people who responded to an accompanying poll said they had collaborated with artists; and almost all said they would consider doing so in future.

　　Such an encouraging result is not surprising. Scientists are increasingly seeking out visual artists to help them communicate their work to new audiences. “Artists help scientists reach a broader audience and make emotional connections that enhance learning.” One respondent said.

　　One example of how artists and scientists have together rocked the senses came last month when the Sydney Symphony Orchestra performed a reworked version of Antonio Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons. They reimagined the 300-year-old score by injecting the latest climate prediction data for each season—provided by Monash University’s Climate Change Communication Research Hub. The performance was a creative call to action ahead of November’s United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, UK.

　　But a genuine partnership must be a two-way street. Fewer artists than scientists responded to the Nature poll; however, several respondents noted that artists do not simply assist scientists with their communication requirements. Nor should their work be considered only as an object of study. The alliances are most valuable when scientists and artists have a shared stake in a project, are able to jointly design it and can critique each other’s work. Such an approach can both prompt new research as well as result in powerful art.

　　More than half a century ago, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology opened its Center for Advanced Visual Studies (CAVS) to explore the role of technology in culture. The founders deliberately focused their projects around light—hence the “visual studies” in the name. Light was a something that both artists and scientists had an interest in, and therefore could form the basis of collaboration. As science and technology progressed, and divided into more sub-disciplines, the centre was simultaneously looking to a time when leading researchers could also be artists, writers and poets, and vice versa.

　　Nature’s poll findings suggest that this trend is as strong as ever, but, to make a collaboration work, both sides need to invest time, and embrace surprise and challenge. The reach of art-science tie-ups need to go beyond the necessary purpose of research communication, and participants must not fall into the trap of stereotyping each other. Artists and scientists alike are immersed in discovery and invention, and challenge and critique are core to both, too.

　　31. According to Paragraph 1, art-science collaborations have ______.

　　[A] caught the attention of critics

　　[B] received favorable responses

　　[C] promoted academic publishing

　　[D] sparked heated public disputes

　　32. The reworked version of The Four Seasons is mentioned to show that ______.

　　[A] art can offer audiences easy access to science

　　[B] science can help with the expression of emotions

　　[C] public participation in science has a promising future

　　[D] art is effective in facilitating scientific innovations

　　33. Some artists seem to worry about in the art-science partnership ______.

　　[A] their role may be underestimated

　　[B] their reputation may be impaired

　　[C] their creativity may be inhibited

　　[D] their work may be misguided

　　34. What does the author say about CAVS?

　　[A] It was headed alternately by artists and scientists.

　　[B] It exemplified valuable art-science alliances.

　　[C] Its projects aimed at advancing visual studies.

　　[D] Its founders sought to raise the status of artists.

　　35. In the last paragraph, the author holds that art-science collaborations ______.

　　[A] are likely to go beyond public expectations

　　[B] will intensify interdisciplinary competition

　　[C] should do more than communicating science

　　[D] are becoming more popular than before

　　答案解析：

　　31. [B] received favorable responses

　　32. [A] art can offer audiences easy access to science

　　33. [A] their role may be underestimated

　　34. [B] It exemplified the valuable art-science alliances.

　　35. [C] should do more than communicating science

　　Text 4

　　The personal grievance provisions of New Zealand’s Employment Relations Act 2000 (ERA) prevent an employer from firing an employee without good cause. Instead, dismissals must be justified. Employers must both show cause and act in a procedurally fair way.

　　Personal grievance procedures were designed to guard the jobs of ordinary workers from “unjustified dismissals”. The premise was that the common law of contract lacked sufficient safeguards for workers against arbitrary conduct by management. Long gone are the days when a boss could simply give an employee contractual notice.

　　But these provisions create difficulties for businesses when applied to highly paid managers and executives. As countless boards and business owners will attest, constraining firms from firing poorly performing, high-earning managers is a handbrake on boosting productivity and overall performance. The difference between C-grade and A-grade managers may very well be the difference between business success or failure. Between preserving the jobs of ordinary workers or losing them. Yet mediocrity is no longer enough to justify a dismissal.

　　Consequently—and paradoxically—laws introduced to protect the jobs of ordinary workers may be placing those jobs at risk.

　　If not placing jobs at risk, to the extent employment protection laws constrain business owners from dismissing under-performing managers, those laws act as a constraint on firm productivity and therefore on workers’ wages. Indeed, in “An International Perspective on New Zealand’s Productivity Paradox” (2014), the Productivity Commission singled out the low quality of managerial capabilities as a cause of the country’s poor productivity growth record.

　　Nor are highly paid managers themselves immune from the harm caused by the ERA’s unjustified dismissal procedures. Because employment protection laws make it costlier to fire an employee, employers are more cautious about hiring new staff. This makes it harder for the marginal manager to gain employment. And firms pay staff less because firms carry the burden of the employment arrangement going wrong.

　　Society also suffers from excessive employment protections. Stringent job dismissal regulations adversely affect productivity growth and hamper both prosperity and overall well-being.

　　Across the Tasman Sea, Australia deals with the unjustified dismissal paradox by excluding employees earning above a specified “high-income threshold” from the protection of its unfair dismissal laws. In New Zealand, a 2016 private members’ Bill tried to permit firms and high-income employees to contract out of the unjustified dismissal regime. However, the mechanisms proposed were unwieldy and the Bill was voted down following the change in government later that year.

　　36. The personal grievance provisions of the ERA are intended to ______.

　　[A] punish dubious corporate practices

　　[B] improve traditional hiring procedures

　　[C] exempt employers from certain duties

　　[D] protect the rights of ordinary workers

　　37. It can be learned from paragraph 3 that the provisions may ______.

　　[A] hinder business development

　　[B] undermine managers’ authority

　　[C] affect the public image of the firms

　　[D] worsen labor-management relations

　　38. Which of the following measures would the Productivity Commission support?

　　[A] Imposing reasonable wage restraints.

　　[B] Enforcing employment protection laws.

　　[C] Limiting the powers of business owners.

　　[D] Dismissing poorly performing managers.

　　39. What might be an effect of ERA’s unjustified dismissal procedures?

　　[A] Highly paid managers lose their jobs.

　　[B] Employees suffer from salary cuts.

　　[C] Society sees a rise in overall well-being.

　　[D] Employers need to hire new staff.

　　40. It can be inferred that the “high-income threshold” in Australia ______.

　　[A] has secured managers’ earnings

　　[B] has produced undesired results

　　[C] is beneficial to business owners

　　[D] is difficult to put into practice

　　答案解析：

　　36. [D] protect the rights of ordinary workers

　　37. [A] hinder business development

　　38. [D] Dismissing poorly performing managers.

　　39. [B] Employees suffer from salary cuts.

　　40. [D] is difficult to put into practice

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