Part Ⅱ Reading Comprehension (35 minutes) Directions: There are 4 reading passages in this part. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A), B), C) and D). You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet with a single line through the centre.
Passage One Questions 21 to 25 are based on the following passage. Bill Gates, the billionaire Microsoft chairman without a single earned university degree, is by his success raising new doubts about the worth of the business world's favorite academic title: the MBA (Master of Business Administration). The MBA, a 20th-century product, always has borne the mark of lowly commerce and greed (贪婪) on the tree-lined campuses ruled by purer disciplines such as philosophy and literature. But even with the recession apparently cutting into the hiring of business school graduates, about 79,000 people are expected to receive MBAs in 1993.This is nearly 16 times the number of business graduates in 1960,a testimony to the widespread assumption that the MBA is vital for young men and women who want to run companies some day.“If you are going into the corporate world it is still a disadvantage not to have one," said Donald Morrison, professor of marketing and management science.“But in the last five years or so, , ‘Should I attempt to get an MBA,' the answer a lot more is: It depends." The success of Bill Gates and other non-MBAs, such as the late Sam Walton of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has helped inspire self-conscious debates on business school campuses over the worth of a business degree and whether management skills can be taught.
The Harvard Business Review printed a lively, fictional exchange of letters to dramatize complaints about business degree holders. The article called MBA hires “extremely disappointing" and said “MBAs wants to move up too fast, they don't understand politics and people, and they aren't able to function as part of a team until their third year. But by then, they're out looking for other jobs." The problem, most participants in the debate acknowledge, is that the MBA has acquired an aura (光环) of future riches and power far beyond its actual importance and usefulness. Enrollment in business schools exploded in the 1970s and 1980s and created the assumption that no one who pursued a business career could do with out one. The growth was fueled by a backlash(反冲)against the anti-business values of the 1960s and by the women's movement. Business people who have hired or worked with MBAs say those with the degrees of ten know how to analyze systems but are not so skillful at motivating people.“They don't get a lot of grounding in the people side of the business, "said James Shaffer, vice-president and principal of the Towers Perrin management consulting firm. 21. According to Paragraph 2,what is the general attitude towards business on campuses dominated by purer disciplines? A) Envious. B) Scornful. C) Realistic. D) Appreciative. 22. It seems that the controversy over the values of MBA degrees has been fueled mainly by . A) the success of many non-MBAs B)the complaints from various employers C)the poor performance of MBAs at work D)the criticism from the scientists of purer disciplines 23. What is the major weakness of MBA holders according to The Harvard Business Review? A) They are not good at dealing with people. B) They keep complaining about their jobs. C) They are usually self-centered. D) They are aggressive and greedy. 24. From the passage we know that most MBAs . A) can climb the corporate ladder fairly quickly B) cherish unrealistic expectations about their future C) quit their jobs once they are familiar with their workmates D) receive salaries that do not match their professional training 25. What is the passage mainly about? A) A debate held recently on university campuses. B) Doubts about the worth of holding an MBA degree. C) Why there is an increased enrollment in MBA programs. D) The necessity of reforming MBA programs in business schools. Passage Two Questions 26 to 30 are based on the following passage. German Chancellor (首相)Otto Von Bismarck may be most famous for his military and diplomatic talent, but his legacy (遣产) includes many of today's social insurance programs During the middle of the 19th century, Germany, along with other European nations, experienced an unprecedented rash of workplace deaths and accidents as a result of growing industrialization. Motivated in part by Christian compassion(怜悯)for the helpless as well as a practical political impulse to undercut the support of the socialist labor movement, Chancellor Bismarck created the world's first workers' compensation law in 1884. By 1908,the United States was the only industrial nation in the world that lacked workers' compensation insurance. America's injured workers could sue for damages in a court of law, but they still faced a number of tough legal barriers. For example, employees had to prove that their injuries directly resulted from employer negligence and that they themselves were ignorant about potential hazards in the workplace. The first state workers' compensation law in this country was passed in 1911,and the program soon spread throughout the nation. After World War Ⅱbenefit payments to American workers did not keep up with the cost of living. In fact, real benefit levels were lower in the 1970s than they were in the 1940s,and in most states the maximum benefit was below the poverty level for a family of four. In 1970,President Richard Nixon set up a national commission to study the problems of workers' compensation. Two years later, the commission issued 19 key recommendations, including one that called for increasing compensation benefit levels to 100 percent of the states' average weekly wages. In fact, the average compensation benefit in America has climbed from 55 percent of the states' average weekly wages in 1972 to 97 percent today. But, as most studies show, every 10 percent increase in compensation benefits results in a 5 percent increase in the numbers of workers who file for claims. And with so much more money floating in the workers' compensation system, it's not surprising that doctors and lawyers have helped themselves to a large slice of the growing pie. 26. The world's first workers' compensation law was introduced by Bismarck . A) for fear of losing the support of the socialist labor movement B)out of religious and political considerations C)to speed up the pace of industrialization D)to make industrial production safer 27. We learn from the passage that the process of industrialization in Europe . A) met growing resistance from laborers working at machines B)resulted in the development of popular social insurance programs C)was accompanied by an increased number of workshop accidents D)required workers to be aware of the potential dangers at the workplace 28. One of the problems the American injured workers faced in getting compensation in the early 19th century was that . A)they had to produce evidence that their employers were responsible for the accident B)America's average compensation benefit was much lower than the cost of living C)different state in the U.S. had totally different compensation programs D)they had to have the courage to sue for damages in a court of law
29. After 1972 workers' compensation insurance in the U.S. became more favorable to workers so that . A)the poverty level for a family of four went up drastically B)more money was allocated to their compensation system C)there were fewer legal barriers when they filed for claims D)the number of workers suing for damages increased 30. The author ends the passage with the implication that . A) compensation benefits in America are soaring to new heights B)people from all walks of life can benefit from the compensation system C)the workers are not the only ones to benefit from the compensation system D)money floating in the compensation system is a huge drain on the U.S. economy
Passage Three Questions 31 to 35 are based on the following passage. When school officials in Kalkaska, Michigan, closed classes last week, the media flocked to the story, portraying the town's 2,305 students as victims of stingy (吝啬的) taxpayers. There is some truth to that; the property-tax rate here is one-third lower than the state average. But shutting their schools also allowed Kalkaska's educators and the state's largest teachers' union, the Michigan Education Association, to make a political point. Their aim was to spur passage of legislation Michigan lawmakers are debating to increase the state's share of school funding. It was no coincidence that Kalkaska shut its schools two weeks after residents rejected a 28 percent property-tax increase. The school board argued that without the increase it lacked the $ 1.5 million needed to keep schools open. But the school system had not done all it could to keep the schools open. Officials declined to borrow against next year's state aid, they refused to trim extra curricular activities and they did not consider seeking a smaller—perhaps more acceptable—tax increase. In fact, closing early is costing Kalkaska a significant amount, including $600,000 in unemployment payments to teachers and staff and $250,000 in lost state aid. In February, the school system promised teachers and staff two months of retirement payments in case schools closed early, a deal that will cost the district $275,000 more. Other signs suggest school authorities were at least as eager to make a political statement as to keep schools open. The Michigan Education Association hired a public relations firm to stage a rally marking the school closings, which attracted 14 local and national television stations and networks. The president of the National Education Association, the MEA's parent organization, flew from Washington, D.C., for the event. And the union tutored school officials in the art of television interviews. School supervisor Doyle Disbrow acknowledges the district could have kept schools open by cutting programs but denies the moves were politically motivated. Michigan lawmakers have reacted angrily to the closings. The state Senate has already voted to put the system into receivership (破产管理) and reopen schools immediately; the Michigan House plans to consider the bill this week. 31. We learn from the passage that schools in Kalkaska, Michigan, are funded . A) mainly by the state government B) exclusively by the local government C) by the National Education Association D) by both the local and state governments 32. One of the purposes for which school officials closed classes was . A)to draw the attention of local taxpayers to political issues B)to avoid paying retirement benefits to teachers and staff C)to pressure Michigan lawmakers into increasing state funds for local schools D)to make the financial difficulties of their teachers and staff known to the public 33. The author seems to disapprove of . A)the shutting of schools in Kalkaska B)the involvement of the mass media C)the Michigan lawmakers' endless debating D)delaying the passage of the school funding legislation 34. We learn from the passage that school authorities in Kalkaska are more concerned about . A) making a political issue of the closing of the schools B) the attitude of the MEA's parent organization C) a raise in the property-tax rate in Michigan D) reopening the schools there immediately 35. According to the passage, the closing of the schools developed into a crisis because of . A) the strong protest on the part of the students' parents B) the political motives on the part of the educators C) the weak response of the state officials D) the complexity of the problem Passage Four Questions 36 to 40 are based on the following passage. Early in the age of affluence (富裕) that followed World War Ⅱ，an American retailing analyst named Victor Lebow proclaimed, “Our enormously productive economy...demands that we make consumption our way of life, that we convert the buying and use of goods into rituals, that we seek our spiritual satisfaction, our ego satisfaction, in consumption. We need things consumed, burned up, worn out, replaced and discarded at an ever increasing rate." Americans have responded to Lebow's call, and much of the world has followed. Consumption has become a central pillar of life in industrial lands and is even embedded in social values. Opinion surveys in the world's two largest economics-Japan and the United States-show consumerist definitions of success becoming ever more prevalent. Overconsumption by the world's fortunate is an environmental problem unmatched in severity by anything but perhaps population growth. Their surging exploitation of resources threatens to exhaust or unalterably spoil forests, soils, water, air and climate. Ironically, high consumption may be a mixed blessing in human terms, too. The time-honored values of integrity of character, good work, friendship, family and community have often been sacrificed in the rush to riches. Thus many in the industrial lands have a sense that their world of plenty is somehow hollow, that misled by a consumerist culture, they have been fruitlessly attempting to satisfy what are essentially social, psychological and spiritual needs with material things. Of course, the opposite of overconsumption, poverty, is no solution to either environmental or human problems. It is infinitely worse for people and bad for the natural world too. Dispossessed (被剥夺得一无所有的) peasants slash, and burn their way into the rain forests of Latin America, and hungry nomads (游牧民族) turn their herds out onto fragile African grassland, reducing it to desert. If environmental destruction results when people have either too little or too much, we are left to wonder how much is enough .What level of consumption can the earth support ?When dose having more cease to add noticeably to human satisfaction? 36. The emergence of the affluent society after World War II . A) led to the reform of the retailing system B)resulted in the worship of consumerism C)gave rise to the dominance of the new egoism D)gave birth to a new generation of upper class consumers
37. Apart from enormous productivity, another important impetus to high consumption is A) the people's desire for a rise in their living standards B)the concept that one's success is measured by how much they consume C)the imbalance that has existed between production and consumption D)the conversion of the sale of goods into rituals 38. Why does the author say high consumption is a mixed blessing? A) Because poverty still exists in an affluent society. B) Because overconsumption won't last long due to unrestricted population growth. C) Because traditional rituals are often neglected in the process of modernization. D) Because moral values are sacrificed in pursuit of material satisfaction. 39. According to the passage, consumerist culture . A)will not alleviate poverty in wealthy countries B)will not aggravate environmental problems C)cannot thrive on a fragile economy D)cannot satisfy human spiritual needs 40. It can be inferred from the passage that . A)human spiritual needs should match material affluence B)whether high consumption should be encouraged is still an issue C)how to keep consumption at a reasonable level remains a problem D)there is never an end to satisfying people's material needs
, ‘Should I attempt to get an MBA,' the answer a lot more is: It depends." The success of Bill Gates and other non-MBAs, such as the late Sam Walton of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has helped inspire self-conscious debates on business school campuses over the worth of a business degree and whether management skills can be taught.
