2004-2-1 11:47
Part ⅡReading Comprehension(35 minutes)
Directions:There are 4 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 sing 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, 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 want 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 without 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 often 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). Scornful.
B). Appreciative.
C). Envious.
D). Realistic.
22.It seems that the controversy over the value of MBA degrees had been fueled mainly by .
A). the complaints from various employers
B). the success of many non-MBAs
C). the criticism from the scientists of purer disciplines
D). the poor performance of MBAs at work
23.What is the major weakness of MBA holders according to the Harvard Business Revies?
A). They are usually self-centered.B). They are aggressive and greedy.
C). They keep complaining about their jobs.
D). They are not good at dealing with people.
24.From the passage we know that most MBAs .
A). can climb the corporate ladder fairly quickly
B). quit their jobs once they are familiar with their workmates
C). receive salaries that to not match their professional training
D). cherish unrealistic expectations about their future
25.What is the passage mainly about?
A). Why there is an increased enrollment in MBA programs.
B). The necessity of reforming MBA programs in business schools.
C). Doubts about the worth of holding an MBA degree.
D). A debate held recently on university campuses.
Passage Two
Questions 26 to 30 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 Kalkask'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 extracuricular 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 $ 600,00 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 apolitical statement as to keep schools open The Michigan Education Association hired a public relations firm to stage a rally marking the school closing, which attracted 14 local and national televison 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.
26.We learn from the passage that schools in Kalkaska, Michigan,are funded .
A). by both the local and state governments
B). exclusively by the local government
C). mainly by the state government
D). by the National Education Association
27.One of the purposes for which school officials closed classes was .
A). to avoid paying retirement benefits to teachers and staff
B). to draw the attention of local taxpayers to political issues
C). to make the financial difficulties of their teachers and staff known to the public
D). to pressure Michigan lawmakers into increasing state funds for local schools
28.The author seems to disapprove of .
A). the Michigan lawmakers' endless debating
B). the shutting of schools in Kalkaska
C). the involvement of the mass media
D). delaying the passage of the school funding legislation
29.We learn from the passage that school authorities in Kalkaska are concerned about .
A). a raise in the property-tax rate in Michigan
B). reopening the schools there immediately
C). the attitude of the MEA's parent organization
D). making a political issue of the closing of the schools
30.According to the passage, the closing of the schools developed into a crisis because of .
A). the complexity of the problem
B). the political motives on the part of the educators
C). the weak response of the state officials
D). the strong protest on the part of the students' parents
Directions:There are 4 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 sing 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, 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 want 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 without 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 often 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). Scornful.
B). Appreciative.
C). Envious.
D). Realistic.
22.It seems that the controversy over the value of MBA degrees had been fueled mainly by .
A). the complaints from various employers
B). the success of many non-MBAs
C). the criticism from the scientists of purer disciplines
D). the poor performance of MBAs at work
23.What is the major weakness of MBA holders according to the Harvard Business Revies?
A). They are usually self-centered.B). They are aggressive and greedy.
C). They keep complaining about their jobs.
D). They are not good at dealing with people.
24.From the passage we know that most MBAs .
A). can climb the corporate ladder fairly quickly
B). quit their jobs once they are familiar with their workmates
C). receive salaries that to not match their professional training
D). cherish unrealistic expectations about their future
25.What is the passage mainly about?
A). Why there is an increased enrollment in MBA programs.
B). The necessity of reforming MBA programs in business schools.
C). Doubts about the worth of holding an MBA degree.
D). A debate held recently on university campuses.
Passage Two
Questions 26 to 30 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 Kalkask'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 extracuricular 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 $ 600,00 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 apolitical statement as to keep schools open The Michigan Education Association hired a public relations firm to stage a rally marking the school closing, which attracted 14 local and national televison 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.
26.We learn from the passage that schools in Kalkaska, Michigan,are funded .
A). by both the local and state governments
B). exclusively by the local government
C). mainly by the state government
D). by the National Education Association
27.One of the purposes for which school officials closed classes was .
A). to avoid paying retirement benefits to teachers and staff
B). to draw the attention of local taxpayers to political issues
C). to make the financial difficulties of their teachers and staff known to the public
D). to pressure Michigan lawmakers into increasing state funds for local schools
28.The author seems to disapprove of .
A). the Michigan lawmakers' endless debating
B). the shutting of schools in Kalkaska
C). the involvement of the mass media
D). delaying the passage of the school funding legislation
29.We learn from the passage that school authorities in Kalkaska are concerned about .
A). a raise in the property-tax rate in Michigan
B). reopening the schools there immediately
C). the attitude of the MEA's parent organization
D). making a political issue of the closing of the schools
30.According to the passage, the closing of the schools developed into a crisis because of .
A). the complexity of the problem
B). the political motives on the part of the educators
C). the weak response of the state officials
D). the strong protest on the part of the students' parents