考研英語經濟類閱讀理解及答案
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Things are slow to change in America's boardrooms
THE annual review of American company board practices by Korn/Ferry, a firm of headhunters, is a useful indicator of the health of corporate governance. T
his year's review, published on November 12th, shows that the Sarbanes-Oxley act, passed in 2002 to try to prevent a repeat of corporate collapses such as Enron's and WorldCom's, has had an impact on the boardroom--albeit at an average implementation cost that Korn/Ferry estimates at $5.1m per firm.
Two years ago, only 41% of American firms said they regularly held meetings of directors without their chief executive present; this year the figure was 93%. But some things have been surprisingly unaffected by the backlash against corporate scandals. For example, despite a growing feeLing that former chief executives should not sit on their company's board, the percentage of American firms where they do has actually edged up, from 23% in 2003 to 25% in 2004.
Also, disappointingly few firms have split the jobs of chairman and chief executive. Another survey of American boards published this week, by A.T. Kearney, a firm of consultants, found that in 2002 14% of the boards of S&P 500 firms had separated the roles, and a further 16% said they planned to do so. But by 2004 only 23% overall had taken the plunge. A survey earlier in the year by consultants at McKinsey found that 70% of American directors and investors supported the idea of splitting the jobs, which is standard practice in Europe.
Another disappointment is the slow progress in abolishing "staggered" boards--ones where only one-third of the directors are up for re-election each year, to three-year terms. Invented as a defence against takeover, such boards, according to a new Harvard Law School study by Lucian Bebchuk and Alma Cohen, are unambiguously "associated with an economically significant reduction in firm value".
Despite this, the percentage of S&P 500 firms with staggered boards has fallen only slightly--from 63% in 2001 to 60% in 2003, according to the Investor Responsibility Research Centre. And many of those firms that have been forced by shareholders to abolish the system are doing so only slowly. Merck, a pharmaceutical company in trouble over the possible side-effects of its arthritis drug Vioxx, is allowing its directors to run their full term before introducing a system in which they are all re-elected (or otherwise) annually. Other companies' staggered boards are entrenched in their corporate charters, which cannot be amended by a shareholders' vote. Anyone who expected the scandals of 2001 to bring about rapid change in the balance of power between managers and owners was, at best, naive.
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Economist; 11/13/2004, Vol. 373 Issue 8401, p67-67, 4/9p
注(1)：本文選自Economist;11/13/2004, p67-67, 4/9p;
注(2)：本文習題命題模仿1998年真題text 1第2題(1)，2002年真題text 2第2題(2)，text 5第3題(3)，2004年真題text 4第2題(4)和1999年真題text 1第4題(5);
Sarbanes-Oxley act is most probably about_________.
[A] corporate scandal
[B] corporate management
[C] corporate cost
[D] corporate governance
word “backlash” (Line 3, Paragraph 2) most probably means_________.
[A] a violent force
[B] a strong impetus
[C] a firm measure
[D] a strong negative reaction
rding to the text, separating the roles between chairman and chief executive
is________.
[A] a common practice in American companies
[B] what many European companies do
[C] a must to keep the health of a company
[D] not a popular idea among American entrepreneurs
learn from the text that a "staggered" board________.
[A] is adverse to the increment of firm value
[B] gives its board members too much power
[C] has been abolished by most American companies
[D] can be voted down by shareholders
rd the board practice of American companies, the writer’s attitude can be said to
be________.
[A] biased
[B] pessimistic
[C] objective
[D] critical
答案：D D B A D
篇章剖析
本篇文章是一篇議論文，對美國公司的董事會變化緩慢的情況提出了批評。第一段引用一家獵頭公司的年度評論說明一項旨在防止公司財務醜聞的法案已經對美國公司的董事會產生了影響;在第二段作者筆鋒一轉，說明雖然公司醜聞對於公司董事會的做法產生了一些影響，但仍然有一些方面毫無變化或者變化緩慢。接下來作者分析了幾種典型的情況;三段指出了一些公司董事和總裁職務不分的情況;第四斷指出一些公司在廢除“交錯董事任期”的董事會方面進展緩慢;第五段以具體的例子對上述情況加以說明並得出結論：要改變職業經理人和公司所有人之間的權力平衡並非一蹴而就之事。
詞彙註釋
headhunter: [5hedhQntE(r)] n. 用高薪徵聘人才者
governance: [5^QvEnEns] n. 治理;管理
boardroom: [5bC:dru:m] n. (董事會)會議室
albeit: [C:l5bi:It] conj. 雖然
backlash: [5bAklAF] n. 激烈反應，激烈反對對一個較早行動的對抗性反應
take the plunge: 冒險，採取斷然行動
staggered: [5stA^Ed] adj. 交錯的
unambiguously: [5QnAm5bi^juEsli] adv. 明白地,不含糊地
pharmaceutical: [7fB:mE5sju:tikEl] adj. 製藥的;調藥的
arthritis: [B:5Wraitis] n. 關節炎
entrench: [In5trentF] v. 保護
amend: [E5mend] v. 改正;修改
難句突破
Merck, a pharmaceutical company in trouble over the possible side-effects of its arthritis drug Vioxx, is allowing its directors to run their full term before introducing a system in which they are all re-elected (or otherwise) annually.
主體句式：Merck is allowing its directors to run their full term
結構分析：這是一個複雜句，句子的主語之後又一個較長的同位語短語，句子中還有一個before引導的狀語，在這個狀語中含有一個which引導的定語從句。before在這種情況下通常譯爲“才”。
句子譯文：因爲所生產的關節炎藥物Vioxx的潛在副作用而陷入困境的默克製藥公司現在允許其董事任期直到屆滿，然後纔會引入一個每年將所有人重新選任一遍(或者別的方法)的制度。
題目分析
1. 答案爲D，屬推理判斷題。根據第一段，the Sarbanes-Oxley act的通過是爲了防止再次出現類似安然公司或者世通公司垮掉的情況。而文章又提到在公司治理方面，該法案已經顯現出了一定的影響力。可見，該法案是有關公司治理的法案。
2. 答案爲D，屬猜詞題。首先確定“backlash”與反對公司醜聞有關，其次，下文對backlash給了一個具體的例子，就是“越來越多的人認爲前任總裁不應該繼續留在董事會裏”，顯然這符合選項D中的“強烈的對抗性/否定性反應”。
3. 答案爲B，屬事實細節題。根據文章第三段最後一句，將董事長和總裁的職務區分開來是“歐洲的行業慣例”。
4. 答案爲A，屬事實細節題。根據文章第四段的一份最新哈佛商學院研究，“staggered board”是爲了防止公司權力被奪取而被髮明的，但它顯然“和公司價值的顯著下降有關”。可見這種交錯董事任期的董事會不利於公司價值的增長。
5. 答案爲D，屬推理判斷題。本文指出雖然出臺了防止公司醜聞的法案，但美國公司的董事會變化依然緩慢。繼而分析了幾種令人失望的情況。在文章最末作者指出，人們不應該天真的相信2001年的醜聞會迅速改變職業經理人和公司所有人之間的權力平衡。可見作者對美國公司的董事會持批評的態度。
參考譯文
獵頭公司“光輝國際”(Korn/Ferry)推出的美國公司董事會慣例年度評論是瞭解公司治理狀況的有用指南。今年11月12日發表的年度評論表明，2002年通過的旨在防止類似安然公司和世通公司垮掉的事情再次發生的《薩班-奧西利法案》對董事會已經產生了一定的影響---雖然按照“光輝國際”的估計，實施該法案的平均成本是每家公司510萬美元。
兩年前，只有41%的美國公司說他們會在首席執行官不在場的情況下定期舉行董事會;今年這一數字達到了93%。不過，令人驚異的是，對公司醜聞的強烈反對並沒有影響到某些事情的發展。例如，雖然越來越多的人認爲前任總裁不應該繼續留在董事會裏，但美國公司董事會中前任總裁的比率不降反升了，從2003年的23%上升到了2004年的25%。
另外，將董事長和總裁的職務區分開來的公司很少，這一點令人頗爲失望。一家諮詢公司“A.T.卡尼”公司在本週發佈的另外一份對美國董事會的調查發現，2002年標準普爾500家公司中，有14%的董事會已經進行了職務角色的區分，另有16%的董事會表示計劃這麼做。可是到2004年，在全部公司中，只有23%的公司採取了行動。同年早些時候麥肯錫公司的諮詢師發佈的一項調查發現，70%的美國董事和投資人支持職務區分的想法，而這在歐洲早已是行業慣例了。
另一件令人失望的事情就是在廢除“交錯董事任期”的董事會方面進展緩慢---所謂交錯董事任期，就是每年只改選三分之一的董事，而每一屆董事的任期是三年。依據呂西安·貝布查克和阿爾瑪·科恩的一份最新哈佛商學院研究，這種爲了防止公司權力被奪取而發明的董事會顯然“和公司價值的顯著下降有關”。
儘管如此，標準普爾500公司中有交錯董事任期的董事會比例卻只有輕微下降---“投資人責任研究中心”的數據顯示，該比率僅從2001年的63%下降到了2003年的60%。許多被股東施壓要求放棄這一制度的公司現在只是緩慢地着手這一工作。因爲所生產的關節炎藥物Vioxx的潛在副作用而陷入困境的默克製藥公司現在允許其董事任期直到屆滿，然後纔會引入一個每年將所有人重新選任一遍(或者別的方法)的制度。其他公司交錯董事任期的董事會是由公司規章確立的，不能由股東投票改變。如果有人期望2001年的醜聞會迅速改變職業經理人和公司所有人之間的權力平衡的話，那麼他未免太天真了。
考研英語經濟類閱讀理解及答案：BurnishedUp goes gold, down goes the dollar
MOST economists hate gold. Not, you understand, that they would turn up their noses at a bar or two. But they find the reverence in which many hold the me
tal almost irrational. That it was used as money for millennia is irrelevant: it isn't any more. Modern money takes the form of paper or, more often, electronic data. To economists, gold is now just another commodity.
So why is its price soaring? Over the past week, this has topped $450 a troy ounce, up by 9% since the beginning of the year and 77% since April 2001. Ah, comes the reply, gold transactions are denominated in dollars, and the rise in the price simply reflects the dollar's fall in terms of other currencies, especially the euro, against which it hit a new low this week. Expressed in euros, the gold price has moved much less. However, there is no iron link, as it were, between the value of the dollar and the value of gold. A rising price of gold, like that of anything else, can reflect an increase in demand as well as a depreciation of its unit of account.
This is where gold bulls come in. The fall in the dollar is important, but mainly because as a store of value the dollar stinks. With a few longish rallies, the greenback has been on a downward trend since it came off the gold standard in 1971. Now it is suffering one of its sharper declines. At the margin, extra demand has come from those who think dollars--indeed any money backed by nothing more than promises to keep inflation low--a decidedly risky investment, mainly because America, with the world's reserve currency, has been able to create and borrow so many of them. The least painful way of repaying those dollars is to make them worth less.
The striking exception to this extra demand comes from central banks, which would like to sell some of the gold they already have. As a legacy of the days when their currencies were backed by the metal, central banks still hold one-fifth of the world's gold. Last month the Bank of France said it would sell 500 tonnes in coming years. But big sales by central banks can cause the price to plunge--as when the Bank of England sold 395 tonnes between 1999 and 2002. The result was an agreement between central banks to co-ordinate and limit future sales.
If the price of gold marches higher, this agreement will presumably be ripped up, although a dollar crisis might make central banks think twice about switching into paper money. Will the overhang of central-bank gold drag the price down again? Not necessarily. As James Grant, gold bug and publisher of Grant's Interest Rate Observer, a newsletter, points out, in recent years the huge glut of government debt has not stopped a sharp rise in its price.
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Economist; 12/4/2004, Vol. 373 Issue 8404, p76-76, 1/3p, 1 graph
注(1)：本文選自Economist;12/4/2004, p76-76, 1/3p;
注(2)：本文習題命題模仿2000年真題text 4第3題(1)，2001年真題text 4第2題(2)，text 1第2題(3)，2002年真題text 2第2題(4)和text 5第3題(5);
economists’ eyes, gold is something__________.
[A] they look down upon
[B] that can be exchanged in the market
[C] worth people’s reverence
[D] that should be replaced by other forms of money
rding to the author, one of the reasons for the rising of gold price is___________.
[A] the increasing demand for gold
[B] the depreciation of the euro
[C] the link between the dollar and gold
[D] the increment of the value of the dollar
can infer from the third paragraph that_________.
[A] the decline of the dollar is inevitable
[B] America benefits from the depreciation of the dollar
[C] the depreciation of the dollar is good news to other currencies
[D] investment in the dollar yields more returns than that in gold
phrase “ripped up” (Line 1, Paragraph 5) most probably means__________.
[A] strengthened
[B] broadened
[C] renegotiated
[D] torn up
rding to the passage, the rise of gold price__________.
[A] will not last long
[B] will attract some central banks to sell gold
[C] will impel central banks to switch into paper money
[D] will lead to a dollar crisis
答案：B A B D B
篇章剖析
本篇文章採用了提出問題-分析問題的模式，分析了金價上漲，美元下跌的經濟態勢。第一段說明黃金是一種商品;第二段分析了金價上漲的原因：金價的上漲反映了需求的增加以及計價單位的貶值;第三段美元下跌的原因;第四段分析了各國央行的反應;最後一段對金價繼續上揚可能帶來的影響進行了分析。
詞彙註釋
reverence: [5revErEns] n. 崇敬，尊敬
millennia: [mI`lenIE] n. millennium的複數
soaring: [5sC:riN] adj. 劇增的;上升到明顯高於正常水平的
troy ounce: n. 金衡制盎司, 金衡
denominate: [di5nCmineit] v. 以…面值發行以某種給定的貨幣單位發行或表達
euro: [`jJErEJ] n. 歐元
depreciation: [dIpri:FI5eIF(E)n] n. 跌價;貶值
bull: [bul] n. 買空;(做)多頭
stink: [stiNk] v. 發出臭味
longish: [5lRNIF] adj. 相當長的
rally: [5rAli] n. (行情、價格等)跌後復升
greenback: [`^ri:nbAk] n. 美鈔
tonne: [tQn] n. 公噸(=1,000公斤或稱 metric ton)
rip up: 斯毀;取消
overhang: [5EuvE5hAN] n. 突出量
難句突破
At the margin, extra demand has come from those who think dollars--indeed any money backed by nothing more than promises to keep inflation low--a decidedly risky investment, mainly because America, with the world's reserve currency, has been able to create and borrow so many of them.
主體句式：extra demand has come
結構分析：本句是一個複雜句，from這個介詞所引導的狀語中包含一個who 引導的定語從句，一個插入語，主句之後是一個because引導的原因狀語從句。nothing more than的意思是“只不過，僅僅”。
句子譯文：在此下跌情況下，導致金價上揚的額外需求來自於那些認爲美元---或者任何一種依靠抑制通脹的許諾來支撐的貨幣—無疑是一種高風險投資的人，主要因爲美國擁有美元這一世界儲備貨幣，而且一直能夠製造和借來很多美元。
題目分析
1. 答案爲B，屬事實細節題。文章第一段提到經濟學家不喜歡黃金的原因是人們對黃金缺乏理性的崇拜。在他們看來，黃金只不過是一種商品，也就是可以在市場交換的東西。
2. 答案爲A，屬事實細節題。文章第二段分析了金價上漲的兩個主要原因：金價用美元表示，而美元相對於其他貨幣貶值了;市場對黃金需求的增加。
3. 答案爲B，屬推理判斷題。根據文章第三段，美國因爲擁有世界儲備貨幣，而且一直能夠製造和借來很多美元。要償還這些美元，最不費力的方式就是讓美元貶值。可見，美元貶值對美國是有益無害的事情。
4. 答案爲D，屬猜詞題。根據文章第四段，爲了防止出現一國央行大量拋售黃金導致金價下跌的情況，各國央行達成協議，協調和限制今後的黃金銷售。如果金價持續上漲，很可能一些央行會再次拋售黃金(文中提到法國央行出售黃金的決定)，那樣各國央行之間的協議就會被破壞。因此，根據上下文，“ripped up”最有可能的意思就是“torn up”(撕毀)。
5. 答案爲B，屬推理判斷題。根據文章第四段，在許多買家大量買入黃金的同時，許多央行卻打算將他們囤積的黃金出售。文章第五段說，如果金價繼續上揚，各國央行之間的“限制和協調未來黃金銷售”的協議將會被打破，也就是說金價的上漲會吸引各國央行出售黃金。
參考譯文
大多數經濟學家都討厭黃金。要知道，這可不是因爲他們瞧不起一兩塊金條，而是因爲他們發現許多人對這種金屬的崇敬幾乎到了毫無理性的地步。這與它被用作千禧年的貨幣並無關係：那已經是昨日黃花了。現代貨幣採用的是紙幣的形式，或者，更多時候，採用的是電子數據的形式。對經濟學家來說，黃金現在只是另外一種商品。
那麼爲什麼金價會大幅上漲呢?在過去一週裏，每金衡(1金衡約31.1025克)的價格達到了450美元，比年初上漲了9%，而比2001年4月則上漲了77%。啊，答案來了，黃金交易是以美元來計數的，價格的上漲只是反映了美元對其他貨幣的比價，尤其是對歐元比價的下跌，而本週美元對歐元的比價又創新低。用歐元計數的話，金價的波動要小得多。然而，美元價值和黃金價值之間似乎並沒有固定聯繫。像其他任何東西一樣，金價的上漲反映了需求的增加以及計價單位的貶值。
因此就出現了黃金買空。美元的下跌之所以重要主要是因爲作爲一種價值儲存手段美鈔可謂臭名昭著。自從1971年美元脫離金本位，就一直處於跌勢，其間只有爲數不多的幾次跌後復升。這一次下跌的跌幅更大。在此下跌情況下，導致金價上揚的額外需求來自於那些認爲美元---或者任何一種依靠抑制通脹的許諾來支撐的貨幣—無疑是一種高風險投資的人，主要因爲美國擁有美元這一世界儲備貨幣，而且一直能夠製造和借來很多美元。要償還這些美元，最不費力的方式就是讓美元貶值。
各國中央銀行的反應跟這種額外需求正好形成鮮明對照。這些銀行都想把手裏的黃金賣掉一些。以前各國貨幣都依靠這種金屬，歷史繼承的結果就是各國中央銀行的黃金儲量是世界黃金總量的五分之一。上個月，法國中央銀行宣佈即將在未來幾年出售500噸黃金。不過中央銀行大量出售黃金會導致金價猛跌--- 1999年至2002年之間英格蘭銀行出售395噸黃金時就發生過這種情況。其結果是各國央行達成協議，協調限制今後的銷售。
如果金價繼續上揚，這個協議就會被破壞，雖然一場美元危機會讓各國央行在轉向紙幣經營問題上慎之又慎。那麼央行所儲備的大量黃金是否會將金價再次拉下來呢?那倒不一定。正如黃金迷，時事通訊《格蘭特利率觀察家》的出版人詹姆斯·格蘭特所指出的，最近幾年政府的鉅額債務並未阻止金價的大幅上漲。
