Tilt-a-Toilet馬桶蹲蹲「累」 Slanted▼ seats are supposed to get employees off the toilet and back to work. 傾斜馬桶旨在讓員工從馬桶上起身、乖乖回去工作。
In the modern world of big business, it may seem like workers are being treated like robots. At companies like Amazon, workers are often pushed to the edge of exhaustion so that the company’s deliveries can be shipped out faster. Some companies even record the eye movements of employees at their desks so that they can _(1)_ their productivity▼ at work. With a mind for maximizing worker productivity, there is even a new type of toilet seat _(2)_ to discourage long bathroom breaks. Instead of a horizontal▼ seat which is great for sitting and relaxing, StandardToilet has a seat with a 13-degree decline▼. This means that people who sit to use the restroom will experience _(3)_ leg strain▼ after a few minutes. As a result, employees are likely to spend less time on the toilet and get back to their desks more quickly. Does this toilet seat go too far? Many companies don’t think _(4)_. They believe that every minute an employee is being paid, they should be working. StandardToilet claims that over NT$150 billion is _(5)_ the toilet by employees in the UK in lost productivity each year due to excess time spent in the bathroom. With StandardToilet in the restroom, there might be one less place for workers to catch their breath.
1. (A) decrease (B) neglect (C) convince (D) monitor 2. (A) designing (B) designed (C) to design (D) has designed 3. (A) uncomfortable (B) irresponsible (C) pleasant (D) healthy 4. (A) it (B) such (C) so (D) same 5. (A) stolen from (B) invested in (C) thrown out (D) flushed down
1. 第一題空格應選 (D)monitor 理由: a. (A) decrease vt. 減少 The delay in production has decreased the company’s profits. （生產上的延誤減少了這間公司的獲利。） (B) neglect vt. 疏忽，忽略 Jeff was so busy that he often neglected his family. （傑夫是如此的忙碌，以致於他常常冷落他的家人。） (C) convince vt. 使相信；說服 Sam tried to convince his mother to let his friends stay over. （山姆試著說服母親讓他的朋友留下過夜。） (D) monitor vt. 監視，監控 This new device can accurately monitor your blood sugar levels. （這款新裝置能準確監控你的血糖值。） b. 空格前提到有些公司甚至會錄下員工在辦公桌前的眼球動作，得知錄影屬於「監視」的舉動，故 (D) 為正選。 2. 第二題空格應選 (B)designed 理由 a. 本空格測試形容詞子句化簡為分詞片語的用法： 限定修飾的形容詞子句中，若關係代名詞作主詞時，此形容詞子句可化簡為分詞片語。化簡原則為： 刪除關係代名詞，之後的動詞變成現在分詞，若動詞為 be 動詞，變成現在分詞 being 後可省略。 b. 本句可還原為：a new type of toilet seat which is designed to discourage long bathroom breaks。 根據化簡原則，先刪除關係代名詞 which，之後的 be 動詞 is 變成現在分詞 being 後予以省略，保留過去分詞 designed，得知 (B) 為正選。 3. 第三題空格應選 (A)uncomfortable 理由 a. (A) uncomfortable a. 不舒服的 Sean does not enjoy drinking coffee because it makes his stomach uncomfortable. （尚恩不喜歡喝咖啡，因為會讓他腸胃不舒服。） (B) irresponsible a. 不負責任的 It was very irresponsible of David to put off doing his work until the last minute. （大衛把工作拖到最後才處理非常地不負責任。） (C) pleasant a. 令人愉快的 (D) healthy a. 健康的 b. 空格前提到，StandardToilet 採用下斜十三度的馬桶座椅；空格後則說，員工花在坐馬桶的時間可能會比較少，然後更迅速地回到自己的辦公桌。由此推知，坐馬桶的人過幾分鐘之後就會感受到「不適的」腿部壓力，故 (A) 應為正選。 4. 第四題空格應選 (C)so 理由 a. 本空格在測試 so 作代名詞的用法： so 可作代名詞，用來代替前面句中所提過的情況、概念或事物，而且多置於及物動詞 do（做）、think（認為）、hope（希望）之後。 I asked Al to quit smoking, but he refused to do so. （我要艾爾戒菸，不過他卻拒絕這麼做） b. 根據上述，so 可用來代替前句中所提 “this toilet goes too far” 的概念，得知 (C) 為正選。 5. 第五題空格應選 (D)flushed down 理由 a. (A) steal sth from... 從……偷竊某物 Judy’s purse was stolen from her bag. （茱蒂包包裡的錢包被偷走了。） (B) invest A in B 將 A 投資在 B 上 If you want to play it safe, don’t invest all of your money in the stock market. （如果你想保險一點，就別將所有的錢投資在股市。） (C) throw...out / throw out... 丟棄…… The naughty kid threw out his ball from the moving car. （那個調皮的小孩從行進間的車輛裡丟出他的球。） (D) flush...down the toilet 將……從馬桶沖走 Don’t forget to flush the tissue down the toilet. （別忘了把馬桶裡的衛生紙沖走。） b. 本空格後出現「馬桶」，根據語意得知應為「沖掉」，故 (D) 應為正選。
▼ slanted a. 傾斜的 ▼ productivity n. 生產力 ▼ horizontal a. 水平的 ▼ decline n. 下降 ▼ strain n. 壓力；拉力，張力
1. tilt vt. & vi.（使）傾斜 The old man tilted his body to one side to make himself more comfortable on the sofa. 那位老人把身體傾向一邊，讓自己在沙發上坐得更舒適。 2. exhaustion n. 筋疲力竭，疲憊不堪 Every night after work, Max comes home feeling nothing but a sense of exhaustion. 每晚下班後，麥斯回家只覺得疲憊不已。 3. excess a. 過多的；多餘的 Martha avoids eating cake since she wants to cut excess amounts of sugar from her diet. 瑪莎會避免吃蛋糕，因為她想從飲食中減少過量糖分。 4. catch sb’s breath 某人喘口氣 Working hard to make ends meet, Allen rarely has time to catch his breath. 艾倫得努力工作以維持收支平衡，故很少有時間喘口氣。
