A is for always getting to work on time. B is for being extremely busy. C is for the conscientious (勤勤恳恳的) way you do your job. You may be all these things at the office, and more. But when it comes to getting ahead, experts say, the ABCs of business should include a P, for politics, as in office politics. Dale Carnegie suggested as much more than 50 years ago: Hard work alone doesn’’t ensure career advancement. You have to be able to sell yourself and your ideas, both publicly and behind the scenes. Yet, despite the obvious rewards of engaging in office politics -- a better job, a raise, praise -- many people are still unable -- or unwilling -- to "play the game." "People assume that office politics involves some manipulative (工于心计的) behavior," says Deborah Comer, an assistant professor of management at Hofstra University. " But politics derives from the word "polite". It can mean lobbying and forming associations. It can mean being kind and helpful, or even trying to please your superior, and then expecting something in return." In fact, today, experts define office politics as proper behavior used to pursue one’’s own self-interest in the workplace. In many cases, this involves some form of socializing within the office environment -- not just in large companies, but in small workplaces as well. "The first thing people are usually judged on is their ability to perform well on a consistent basis," says Neil P. Lewis, a management psychologist. "But if two or three candidates are up for a promotion, each of whom has reasonably similar ability, a manager is going to promote the person he or she likes best. It’’s simple human nature." Yet, psychologists say, many employees and employers have trouble with the concept of politics in the office. Some people, they say, have an idealistic vision of work and what it takes to succeed. Still others associate politics with flattery (奉承), fearful that, if they speak up for themselves, they may appear to be flattering their boss for favors. Experts suggest altering this negative picture by recognizing the need for some self-promotion. The author considers office politics to be ________.
A. unwelcome at the workplace
B. bad for interpersonal relationships
C. indispensable to the development of company culture
D. an important factor for personal advancement
"Intelligence" at best is an assumptive construct--the meaning of the word has never been clear. (61)There is more agreement on the kinds of behavior referred to by the term than there is on how to interpret or classify them. But it is generally agreed that a person of high intelligence is one who can grasp ideas readily, make distinctions, reason logically, and make use of verbal and mathematical symbols in solving problems. An intelligence test is a rough measure of a child’s capacity for learning, particularly for learning the kinds of things required in school. It does not measure character, social adjustment, physical endurance, manual skills, or artistic abilities. It is not supposed to-it was not designed for such purposes. (62)To criticize it for such failure is roughly comparable to criticizing a thermometer for not measuring wind velocity.The other thing we have to notice is that the assessment of the intelligence of any subject is essentially a comparative affair.(63) Now since the assessment of intelligence is a comparative matter we must be sure that the scale with which we are comparing our subjects provides a "valid" or "fair" comparison. It is here that some of the difficulties which interest us begin. Any test performed involves at least three factors: the intention to do one’s best, the knowledge required for understanding what you have to do, and the intellectual ability to do it. (64) The first two must be equal for all who are being compared, if any comparison in terms of intelligence is to be made. In school populations in our culture these assumptions can be made fair and reasonable, and the value of intelligence testing has been proved thoroughly. Its value lies, of course, in its providing a satisfactory basis for prediction. No one is in the least interested in the marks a little child gets on his test; what we are interested in is whether we can conclude from his mark on the test that the little child will do better or worse than other children of his age at tasks which we think require" general intelligence". (65)On the whole such a conclusion can be draw with a certain degree of confidence, but only if the child can be assumed to have had the same attitude towards the test as the other with whom he is being compared, and only if he was not punished by lack of relevant information which they possess. On the whole such a conclusion can be draw with a certain degree of confidence, but only if the child can be assumed to have had the same attitude towards the test as the other with whom he is being compared, and only if he was not punished by lack of relevant information which they possess.