Question

How do you design a pay plan that motivates people to do their best work? A new study by three Harvard researchers suggests a novel answer: Shortly after you hire new workers, give them a raise.

"Previous research has shown that paying people more than they expect may elicit reciprocity(相互作用) in the form of greater productivity," notes Deepak Malhotra, a Harvard business-administration professor who worked on the study. What he and his colleagues found, however, was that the connection between more pay and extra effort depends on presenting the increase "as a gift—that is, as something you've chosen to do purely as a nice gesture, with no strings attached."

Malhotra and his team studied 267 people hired by oDesk, a global online network of freelancers, to do a one-time data-entry project for four hours. All of the new hires were people in developing countries, for whom hourly wages of $3 and $4 were higher than what they had been making in previous jobs.

The researchers split the group up into three equal parts. One group was told they would earn $3 an hour. A second group was initially hired at $3 an hour but, before they started working, they got a surprise: The budget for the project had expanded unexpectedly, they were told, and they would now be paid $4 an hour. The third group was offered $4 an hour from the start and given no increase.

Even though the second and third groups were eventually paid the same amount, the second group worked harder and produced more—about 20% more—than either of the other two. People in the second group also showed the most stamina, maintaining their focus all the way through the assigned task and performing especially well toward the end of the four hours. Interestingly, the more experienced employees in the high-performing group were the most productive of all, apparently because their previous work experience led them to appreciate the rarity of an unexpected raise.

Contrary to conventional wisdom, Malhotra points out that higher pay, in and of itself, didn't promote productivity: People who made $4 an hour from the beginning worked no harder than those who were hired at $3 and were then paid $3.

To get the most impact from their pay plans, he adds, companies might consider not only what to pay new hires, but when to pay it.

"The key thing is how you present [the reason for an increase]," he says. Doling out extra money could promote productivity most "if you make it clear that the pay raise is something you're choosing to do just because you can. Our theory is that people will reciprocate. If you do something nice, they'll do something nice back."

1.What does the underlined word “stamina” most probably mean?

A. The quality of being intelligent or clever.

B. The quality of doing something difficult or dangerous.

C. The physical or mental energy needed to do a tiring activity for a long time.

D. A particular method of doing an activity, usually involving practical skills.

2.Why did the second group produce more than the other two groups?

A. Because they thought they were better paid than the other groups.

B. Because they were experienced employees from developing countries.

C. Because an unexpected raise reminded them of their previous work.

D. Because they felt they were nicely treated and tried best to repay it.

3.What can we infer from this passage?

A. No pains, no gains.

B. It matters not what we give but how.

C. Honesty is the best policy.

D. Actions speak louder than words.

 

Answer 1

1.C

2.D

3.B

【解析】

試題分析：如何給工人工資能激發(fā)他們工作的積極性哪？三名哈佛大學(xué)的研究者做了一項研究給了一個新奇的答案：雇傭新員工之后，很快給他們加薪。

1.詞義推測題。根據(jù)單詞所在的段落的意思可知，第二組在完成所分配的任務(wù)中一直顯示最有耐力，表現(xiàn)越來越好，所以該詞的意思是長時間做一件累人的事所需要的體能和精力。因此選C。

2.推理判斷題。由文章開頭和最后的說明可知，如果你為他們做了好事，他們會回報。所以第二組的人認為他們得到了好的待遇而努力去做好工作回報。故選D。

3.3】推理判斷題。由文章的意思可知，本文通過一個實驗證明，要想激發(fā)工人努力工作，不是給他們高工資，而是給他們意料之外的報酬。A. No pains, no gains.不勞無獲；B. It matters not what we give but how.重要的不是我們給什么而是如何給；C. Honesty is the best policy.誠實是最好的政策；D. Actions speak louder than words. 行動勝于雄辯。故選B。

考點： 社會類短文閱讀。