Question 20 is based on the recording you have just heard.

Recording Two

听力原文

        There are probably teams you’ve worked with that you never want to work with again. But there must have also been other teams that you would prize reuniting with professionally. In other words, your team had vitality. (19) [Vitality comes about when the ties people form with their fellow team members are such that they stay connected even after the team breaks up.] 

        What characteristics of a team make its members more likely to stay in contact despite no longer working together? This question has been answered recently in a study published in a business journal. One of the two key factors the research team discovered is sameness, specifically sharing the same gender or ethnic origin. The more members of a team share similar demographics, the more inclined they’ll be to remain associates long after the team has served its purpose. (20) [After ties are established, similarity strengthens them. As a result, they regard these individuals with greater trust and mutual understanding, which motivates them to seek further opportunities for collaboration.] In effect, people tend to create stronger and longer-lasting connections with similar others. Someone who looks and sounds different from us may have the resources we need to be more successful. Yet, we find them to be significantly less credible, simply because they are different. If you are a fierce advocate of workplace diversity, you’ll no doubt be horrified by such a revelation.

        The second factor identified by the researchers is the quality of the relationships among the team members. The more they trust one another, share the same goals and depend on each other for the achievement of those goals, the stronger their chances of maintaining their connections despite no longer working as one team. Teams with quality relationships have a shared belief that it’s safe to take risks with each other and that members are obliged to share the workload and help out.

        From personal experience, I can see both the truth and the inconsistency of such studies. The truth is some of my closest friendships were formed as a result of having worked together on teams, and I actively seek opportunities to work with them again. The inconsistency, though, is that I’ve never worked for a team more successful and cohesive than the one of which I’m a member right now, (21) [and yet the four of us have very little in common and are completely different demographically.] So I’m unlikely to question the value of a diverse workforce. 

20. What do the researchers find out about members of a team? （关于一个团队的成员，研究人员有什么发现？）

解析：B。录音中提到，纽带一旦建立，相似性会使之进一步加强，团队成员之间就有了更多的信任和理解，这促使他们寻求进一步的合作机会，简言之，团队成员的相似性会有助于未来的进一步合作。B项与此相符，其中similarity原词复现，is conducive to对应motivates，future collaboration对应录音中的further opportunities for collaboration，故为正确答案。

错项排除：A项利用录音中的different进行干扰，但录音中是说他人与自己存在差异会让人明显觉得他们不可信（significantly less credible），并不是说差异会影响生产力（impact productivity），故A项排除。C项利用录音中的connections和strengthens进行干扰，但with the passage of time在录音中无依据，故排除。录音中提到团队成员拥有共同的目标有助于他们保持联系，并没有说他们的相互理解源于共同的目标（a common goal），D项曲解了录音的意思，故排除。