1、.MBA 英語歷年真題閱讀理解及參考答案詳解Ruth Simmons joined Goldman Sachs's board as an outside director in January 2000; a year later she became president of Brown University. For the rest of the decade she apparently managed both roles without attracting much criticism. But by the end of 2009 Ms. Simmons was un

2、der fire for having sat on GoLd man's compensation committee; how could she have let those enormous bonus payouts pass unremarked? By February the next year Ms. Simmons had left the board. Theposition was taking up too much time, she said.Outside directors are supposed to serve as helpfuL, yet l

3、ess biased, advisers on a firm's board.Having made their wealth and their reputations elsewhere, they presumably have enough independence to disagree with the chief executive's proposals. If the sky, and the share price, is falling, outside directors should be able to give advice based on ha

4、ving weathered their own crises.;.The researchers from Ohio University used a database that covered more than 10,000 firms and more than 64,000 different directors between 1989 and 2004. Then they simply checked which directors stayed from one proxy statement to the next. The most LikeLy reason for

5、departing a board was age, so the researchers concentrated on those "surprise" departure, the probability that the company will subsequently have to restate earnings increases by nearly 20%. The likelihood of being named in a federal class-action lawsuit also increases, and the stock is li

6、kely to perform worse. The effect tended to be larger for larger firms. Although a correlation between them leaving and subsequent bad performance at the firm is suggestive, it does not mean that such directors arealways jumping off a sinking ship. Often they "trade up," leaving riskier, s

7、maller firms for larger and more stable firms.But the researchers believe that outside directors have an easier;.time of avoiding a blow to their reputations if they leave a firm before bad news breaks, even if a review of history shows they were on the board at the time any wrongdoing occurred. Fir

8、ms who want to keep their outside directors through tough time may have to create incentives. Otherwise outside directors will follow the example of Ms. Simmons, once again very popular on campus.21. According to Paragraph 1, Ms. Simmons was criticized for_.A. gaining excessive profitsB. failing to

9、fulfill her dutyC. refusing to make compromises;.D. leaving the board in tough times22. We learn from Paragraph 2 that outside directors are supposed to be _.A. generous investorsC. share price forecastersB. unbiased executivesD. independent advisers23. According to the researchers from Ohio Univers

10、ity, after an outside director's surprise departure, the firm i8 likely to _.;.A. become more stableB. report increased earningsC. do less well in the stock marketD. perform worse in lawsuits.24.It can be inferred from the last paragraph that outside directors_.A. may stay for the attractive off

11、ers from the firm;.B. have often had the records of wrong doings in the firmC. are accustomed to stress-free work in the firmD. will decline incentives from the firm25. The author's attitude toward the role of outside directors is_.A. permissiveB. positiveC. scornful;.D. critical參考答案21.答案 B.本題信息

12、點是Ms. simmons was criticized (Simmons受到批評 )，該信息出現在第一段第三句話 simmons was under fire. .中，其中 under fire意為 “受到攻擊”，即“受到批評”之意。根據原因題的解題技巧，我們先看到本句中fur having sat on Goldman scompensation committee ( 在高盛薪酬委員會擔任職務) 其受到批評的一個原因：同時，分號”表明該句與下句為并列關系，從而我們知道下旬 how could she have let those enomous bonus payouts passunr

13、emarked ( 她怎么能讓那些巨額獎金支出得以通過而沒有引起注意呢？ )是她受到批評的另一個原因。由此可見她作為薪酬委員會的成員未能阻止巨額獎金的發放，即：未能很好地履行其職責是其受到批評的原因所在。所以選項B 為本題答案。;.22.答案 D。本題信息點是outside directors are supposed to be ( 獨立董事應該 ), 在文章查找該信息點時我們會很容易注意到該信息點出現在第二段第一句話中： Outside directors are supposed to serve as helpful ，yet less biased，advisers on a fir

14、m s board.可以看出 outside director的身份是有幫助的、不帶偏見的顧問。由此我們可以確定選項D 符合本句語意，為本題答案。另外，如果本旬理解有困難，我們再看下旬： Having made their wealth and their reputations elsewhere, theypresumably have enough independence to disagree with the chiefexecutive's proposals ( 已經 ，他們有足夠的獨立性否決首席執行官的動議 )，由此可以確認叫outside directors的職責就

15、是顧問 .23.答案 C本題信息點是after an outside director s surprise departure ，thefirm iS likely to ，在文章中查閱該信息，我們找到該信息點出現在文;.章第三段第三句： SO the researchers concentrated on those "surprise" departure, the probability that the company will subsequently have to restate earnings increases by nearly 20%. The l

16、ikelihood of being named in a federal class-action lawsuit also inereases,and the stock is likely to perform worse. The effect tended to be larger for larger firms 。 研讀本句便可以理清 outside director意外離開后有以下結果：1) 重申盈利的可能性增加：2) 被聯邦集體訴訟的可能性增加： 3) 股市表現更差。由此可見選項C 符合文章內容，為本題答案，本題B 選項和 D 選項都有很強的干擾性，但是他們都犯了“偷換概念”

17、的錯誤 .24.答案 A 。本題信息點是outside directors 。我們來到文章最后一段，先逐句理解字面意思， 然后整理各相關獨立董事語句的信息，最后與本題的各選項對照，并做出選擇 . 本文最后一段共三句話，都與 outside director 有關。第一句是叫 outside directors bave an easier time of avoiding a blow to their reputations if they leave a firm before bad news breaks, ，。大意為： 通過提前離開，獨立董事很容易規避聲;.譽受損：第二句是 Fims who want to keep their outside directorsthrough tough tine may have to create incentives ，大意為：想留住獨立董事的公司可能不得不給他們激勵：第三句話是 Otherwiseoutside directors will follow the example of Ms