Final Test on Business English Reading.docx

Final Test on Business English Reading.docx

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FinalTestonBusinessEnglishReading

FinalTestonBusinessEnglishReading

（forGrade99，January，2002）

PartOne：

Readingcomprehension

PassageOne

Overthepastdecade,Americancompanieshavetriedhardtofindwaystodiscourageseniormanagersfromfeatheringtheirownnestsattheexpenseoftheirshareholder.Thethreemostpopularreformshavebeenrecruitingmoreoutsidedirectorsinordertomakeboardsmoreindependent,linkingbosses'paytovariousperformancemeasure,andgivingbossesshareoptions,sothattheyhavethesamelong-terminterestsastheirshareholders.

ThesereformshavebeenwidelyadoptedbyAmerica'slargercompanies,andsurveyssuggestthatmanymorecompaniesarethinkingoffollowingtheirlead.Buthavetheydoneanygood?

ThreepaperspresentedattheannualmeetingoftheAcademyofManagementinBostonthisweeksuggestnot.Asisusuallythecasewithboardroomtinkering,theconsequenceshavedifferedfromthoseintended.

Startwiththoseindependentboards.Onthefaceofit,dismissingtheboss'sfriendsfromtheboardandreplacingthemwithoutsiderslooksaperfectwaytomakeseniormanagersmoreaccountable.ButthatisnottheconclusionofastudybyProfessorJamesWestphal.Instead,hefoundthatbosseswithaboardroomfullofoutsidersspendmuchoftheirtimebuildingalliances,doingpersonalfavorsandgenerallypleasingtheoutsiders.

Alltoooften,theseseductionssucceed.Mr.Westphalfoundthat,toaremarkabledegree,"independent"boardspursuestrategiesthatarelikelytofavorseniormanagersratherthanshareholders.Suchcompaniesdiversifytheirbusiness,increasethepayofexecutivesandweakenthelinkbetweenpayandperformance.

Toassesstheimpactofperformance-relatedpay,Mr.Westphalaskedthebossesof103companieswithsalesofover$1billionwhatmeasurementswereusedtodeterminetheirpay.Themeasurementsvariedwidely,rangingfromsalestoearningspershare.Buttheresearcher'sbigdiscoverywasthatbossesattendtomeasuresthataffecttheirownincomesandignoreorplaydownotherfactorsthataffectacompany'soverallsuccess.

Inshort,bossesarequicktoturneveryimaginablesystemofcorporategovernmenttotheiradvantage-whichisprobablywhytheyarethepeoplewhoareputinchargeofthings.Hereisparadoxforthemanagementtheorists:

anybosswhocannotbeatasystemdesignedtokeephimundercontrolisprobablynotworthhavingnotbeatasystemdesignedtokeephimundercontrolisprobablynotworthhaving.

1.Whatisthepurposeofthelargecompaniesinrecruitingoutsidersandputtingthemontheboardofdirectors?

a.todiversifythebusinessofthecorporation.

b.Toenhancethecooperationbetweentheseniormanagersandtheboarddirectors.

c.Tointroduceeffectivereformsinbusinessmanagement.

d.Toprotecttheinterestsoftheshareholders.

2.WhatdoesProfessorJamesWestphal’sstudysuggest?

a.Boardroomreformshavefailedtoachievethedesiredresult.

b.Outsideboarddirectorstendtobemoreindependent.

c.Withaboardroomfullofoutsiders,seniormanagersworkmoreconscientiously.

d.Cooperationbetweenseniormanagersandboarddirectorssufferedfromthereforms.

3.Theword“seduction”inthefourthparagraphprobablymeans“____”

a.effortstoconquerb.attemptstowinover

c.endeavorstoincreaseprofitsd.exertionstounderstand

4.Whichofthefollowingstatementsistrue?

a.corporateexecutivesingeneralareworththehighpaytheyreceive.

b.Theincomeofcorporateexecutivesisproportionaltothegrowthofcorporateprofits.

c.Corporateexecutivestendtotakeadvantageoftheirpositiontoenrichthemselves.

d.Theperformanceofcorporateexecutivesaffectstheirowninterestsmorethanthoseoftheshareholders.

5.Howdoestheauthorfeelabouttheeffortstocontrolseniorexecutives?

a.doubtful.B.optimistic.C.positive.D.approving.

Passagetwo

Inancienttimeswealthwasmeasuredandexchangedtangibly,inthingsthatcouldbetouched:

foods,tools,andpreciousmetalsandstones.Thenthebartersystemwasreplacedbycoins,whichstillhadtealvaluesincetheywerepiecesofraremetal.Coinswerefollowedbyfiatmoney（不兑换的纸币）,papernotesthathavevalueonlybecauseeveryoneagreestoacceptthem.

Todayelectronicmonetarysystemsaregraduallybeingintroducedthatwilltransformmoneyintoevenlesstangibleforms,reducingittoarraysof“bitsandbytes”,orunitsofcomputerizedinformation,whizzingbetweenmachinesatthespeedoflight.Already,electronicfundtransferallowsmoneytobeinstantlysentandreceivedbydifferentbanks,companiesthroughcomputersandtelecommunicationsdevices.

6.Whichofthefollowingwouldbethemostappropriatetitleforthepassage?

a.InternationalBankingPolicies

b.TheHistoryofMonetaryExchange

c.TheDevelopmentofPa