One summer my wife Chris and I were invited by friends to row down the Colorado River in a boat. Our expedition included many highly successful peoplethe kind who have staffs to take care of life's daily work. But in the wilder rapids, all of us naturally set aside any pretenses(矫饰) and put out backs into every stroke to keep the boat from tumbling over. At each night's encampment, w e all hauled supplies and cleaned dishes. After only two days in the river, people accustomed to being spoiled and indulged had become a team, working together to cope with the unpredictable twists and turns of the river.
I believe that in lifeas well as on boat trips teamwork will make all our journeys successful ones. The rhythms of teamwork have been the rhythms of my life. I played basketball alongside famous players, and the team I now coach, the New York Knicks, has recovered from years of adversity to become a major contender in the 1990s.
I'm persuaded that teamwork is the key to true. We all play o n a number of teams in our lives-as part of a family, as a citizen, as a member of an agreement, written or unwritten. It contains the values and goals for every team member.
For example, in the late 1970s a General Motors plant in Fremont, Calif, was the scene of constant warfare between labor and management. Distrust ran so hight at the labor contract was hundreds of pages of tricky legal terms. GM spent mill ions trying to keep the facility up to date, but productivity and quality were continually poor. Absenteeism(旷工) was so out of control that the production line couldn't even start up on some mornings. Finally in the early 1980s, GM shut down the plant.
GM became convinced that it had to create new production systems based on teamwork. In the mid1980s it reopened the Fremont plant with Toyota, starting from scratch(从零开始) with a much simpler and shorter labor contract. It promise d that executive salaries would be reduced and jobs sellers would be given to employees before any layoffs were considered. Over a hundred job clssifications were cut to just two. Instead of doing one boring job over an d over, workers agreed to be part of small teams, spending equal time on various tasks.
S1.What comment did the author make about the highly successful people travelling with him? _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________
S2.Why was it easy for boats to tumble over in the Colorado? _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________
S3.What happened to the New York Knicks in the 1980s? _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________
S4.What caused the sharp conflict in the GM plant in the late 1970s? _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________
S5.What spirit was encouraged in the reopened GM plant? _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________
S1.They were used to being spoiled and indulged. S2.Because the river is full of twists and turns. S3.It was in adversity. S4.Distrust and lack of teamwork. S5.The spirit of teamwork.
true. We all play o n a number of teams in our lives-as part of a family, as a citizen, as a member of an agreement, written or unwritten. It contains the values and goals for every team member. 
sellers would be given to employees before any layoffs were considered. Over a hundred job clssifications were cut to just two. Instead of doing one boring job over an d over, workers agreed to be part of small teams, spending equal time on various tasks. 
