Cameron thought of himself as merely organized. He
certainly did not consider that he took great pains over anything, he did just
enough to get it right. Exactly right, of course, for as he was fond of telling
his staff, "if it's not exactly right, it's wrong". Occasionally a
worker might be sad on hearing these words, because it meant another hour or so
of going over the same bit of work, correcting the mistakes which Cameron had
patiently pointed out. And doing the corrections exactly right of course.
Strangely enough, his department had the reputation
for performing the highest quality work in the company, and it was seen, and not
only by those who worked in the department, as a sort of elite (出类拔萃) unit. Those programmes that had to work first time,
straight out of the box, Cameron's men got those. "It's mission (任务) critical—give it to Cameron" was almost a
catch-phrase with his team.
It helped that Cameron was not merely particular about
things. He wanted things done just so, not because of a personal taste, but
because he had discovered through patient experimentation that this was the
best way for it to be done.
In Cameron's dictionary, "Take as long as you
want" meant that you could work on your task not just in office hours, but
that evening, and late into the early hours of the following morning if you so
desired. But the project had to be in by its completion date, and yes, done
exactly right. Or you did it again.
But he would always be regarded, and not least by
himself, as someone who had failed to meet requirements, one of those who
just couldn't cut it. You had to face it, if you were not working for
Cameron, you were second best. So when word got out that Cameron had messed up,
big time, the news was greeted with a mixture of sympathy, and entire relief
that this perfection too was human.
1.Cameron was a___________.
A.software
programmer B.a chief
scientist
C.quality
controller D.head of
department
2."Mission-critical" work was given to
Cameron because___________.
A.Cameron's
work was error-free B.Cameron was
critical
C.he didn't
mind working late D.he had a good
team
3.Working for Cameron, people felt that___________.
A.they were
part of an elite
B.their mission
was critical
C.Cameron was
very particular about things
D.Cameron was
patient and responsible
4.According to the underlined part in Paragraph 5,
what is meant by someone “who couldn't cut it” ?
A.He didn’t cut corners. B.He wasn't
good enough.
C.He had the
wrong measurements. D.He was a
perfection.
5.What can we learn about Cameron?
A.He never got
things wrong.
B.He didn’t allow for any mistake.
C.He encouraged
work to be done in office hours.
D.He was often
misunderstood.
6.The attitude of the author towards Cameron is that
of being___________.
A.positive B.sympathetic
C.non-subjective D.optimistic