But the young man who had made a fool of himself at the meeting was not on the list. 37 The young engineer swore that he had never heard the proposal made and rejected. 38 He was a victim of a bad listening habit that he didn’t know he had.
答案：(A) What had happened?
這句承上啟下，讀者自然會想問「發生了什麼事？」，呼應下一句解釋原因（他發誓自己沒聽過那個方案被提出又被拒絕）；其他選項（為什麼必須完成/事件發生在哪裡/何時會有另一個專案）都與後文的解釋內容接不起來。
本題大考中心未公布逐題答對率，以下不談數據，只談觀念。
四個選項都是完整的問句，單獨看每一句都很順，所以只能猜。這一格要問的是「這一句在整段裡做什麼」——它是作者故意設下的一個問題。
先看位置：前一句說那個出糗的年輕人不在升遷名單上，後一句是 The young engineer swore that he had never heard the proposal made and rejected.（那位年輕工程師發誓他從沒聽過那個提案被提出又被否決。）中間這一句的工作，是把讀者心裡的疑惑替他們問出來，然後下一句立刻回答。既然下一句給的是「他發誓自己根本沒聽到」，那麼中間的問題就是「到底發生了什麼事」，填 What had happened?時態也對得上：整段是過去的敘事，而「發生的事」比「不在名單上」更早，所以用過去完成式 had happened。
Why must it be finished?（為什麼一定要完成？）：與專案完不完成無關，下一句也沒回答這個。Where did the event take place?（事件在哪裡發生？）：問地點，下一句答的不是地點。When will they have another project?（他們什麼時候會有下一個專案？）：問的是未來，而整段講的是已經發生的事。
What had happened?（發生了什麼事）、swear that …（發誓……）、take place（發生、舉行）、never hear of（從沒聽說過）、be rejected（被否決）、the young engineer（那位年輕工程師）。
The people in the room were tense. Five young engineers were sitting with their 31 . They were trying to settle details of an important new plant site for a major client. Suddenly one of the young engineers gave what he thought was a good solution 32 the problem. What he had to say was 33 by an uncomfortable silence. The boss then laughingly pointed out that the same proposal had been made and 34 some minutes before. The incident seemed funny 35 the time, but several months later it did not.
After the project had been successfully finished, most of the engineers who had worked on it were 36 . But the young man who had made a fool of himself at the meeting was not on the list. 37 The young engineer swore that he had never heard the proposal made and rejected. 38 He was a victim of a bad listening habit that he didn't know he had.
Bad listening habits can hurt you a lot in your daily living. Much of your success, both in your work and social life, 39 how you listen. A number of major industries and more than twenty leading colleges 40 . They have set up "listening clinics" and courses to find out what is wrong—and what to do about it.