Unit 22
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 OneQuestions 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, when someone says, ‘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 theworld'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.
