評論
打印
Section C
Directions: There are 2 passages in this section. 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 Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.
Passage One
Questions 56 to 60 are based on the following passage.
For most of the 20th century, Asia asked itself what it could learn from the modern, innovating West. Now the question must be reversed: what can the West's overly indebted and sluggish (經濟滯長的) nations learn from a flourishing Asia?
Just a few decades ago, Asia's two giants were stagnating (停滯不前) under faulty economic ideologies. However, once China began embracing free-market reforms in the 1980s, followed by India in the 1990s, both countries achieved rapid growth. Crucially, as they opened up their markets, they balanced market economy with sensible government direction. As the Indian economist Amartya Sen has wisely said, ―The invisible hand of the market has often relied heavily on the visible hand of government.
Contrast this middle path with America and Europe, which have each gone ideologically overboard in their own ways. Since the 1980s, America has been increasingly clinging to the ideology of uncontrolled free markets and dismissing the role of government following Ronald Reagan's idea that ― government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem. "Of course, when the markets came crashing down in 2007, it was decisive government intervention that saved the day. Despite this fact, many Americans are still strongly opposed to big government."
If Americans could only free themselves from their antigovernment doctrine, they would begin to see that America's problems are not insoluble. A few sensible federal measures could put the country back on the right path. A simple consumption tax of, say, 5% would significantly reduce the country's huge government deficit without damaging productivity. A small gasoline tax would help free America from its dependence on oil imports and create incentives for green energy development. In the same way, a significant reduction of wasteful agricultural subsidies could also lower the deficit.
But in order to take advantage of these common-sense solutions, Americans will have to put aside their own attachment to the idea of smaller government and less regulation. American politicians will have to develop the courage to follow what is taught in all American public-policy schools: that there are good taxes and bad taxes. Asian countries have embraced this wisdom, and have built sound long-term fiscal (財政的) policies as a result.
Meanwhile, Europe has fallen prey to a different ideological trap: the belief that European governments would always have infinite resources and could continue borrowing as if there were no tomorrow. Unlike the Americans, who felt that the markets knew best, the Europeans failed to anticipate how the markets would react to their endless borrowing. Today, the European Union is creating a $580 billion fund to ward off sovereign collapse.
This will buy the EU time, but it will not solve the bloc's larger problem.
注意：此部分試題請在答題卡 2 上作答。
56. What has contributed to the rapid economic growth in China and India?
A) Free market plus government intervention.
B) Heavy reliance on the hand of government.
C) Copying western-style economic behavior.
D) Timely reform of government at all levels.
57. What does Ronald Reagan mean by saying ―government is the problem (Line 5, Para. 3)?
A) Government action is key to solving economic problems.
B) Many social problems arise from government inefficiency.
C) Many social ills are caused by wrong government policies.
D) Government regulation hinders economic development.
58. What stopped the American economy from collapsing in 2007?
A) Cooperation between the government and businesses.
B) Self-regulatory repair mechanisms of the free market.
C) Effective measures adopted by the government.
D) Abandonment of big government by the public.
59. What is the author's suggestion to the American public in face of the government deficit?
A) They give up the idea of smaller government and less regulation.
B) They put up with the inevitable sharp increase of different taxes.
C) They urge the government to revise its existing public policies.
D) They develop green energy to avoid dependence on oil import.
60. What is the problem with the European Union?
A) Conservative ideology.
B) Excessive borrowing.
C) Lack of resources.
D) Shrinking market.
Passage Two
Questions 61 to 65 are based on the following passage.
Picture a typical MBA lecture theatre twenty years ago. In it the majority of students will have conformed to the standard model of the time: male, middle class and Western. Walk into a class today, however, and you’ll get a completely different impression. For a start, you will now see plenty more women—the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, for example, boasts that 40% of its new enrolment is female. You will also see a wide range of ethnic groups and nationals of practically every country.
It might be tempting, therefore, to think that the old barriers have been broken down and equal opportunity achieved. But, increasingly, this apparent diversity is becoming a mask for a new type of conformity. Behind the differences in sex, skin tones and mother tongues, there are common attitudes, expectations and ambitions which risk creating a set of clones among the business leaders of the future.
Diversity, it seems, has not helped to address fundamental weaknesses in business leadership. So what can be done to create more effective managers of the commercial world? According to Valerie Gauthier, associate dean at HEC Paris, the key lies in the process by which MBA programmes recruit their students. At the moment candidates are selected on a fairly narrow set of criteria such as prior academic and career performance, and analytical and problem solving abilities. This is then coupled to a school’s picture of what a diverse class should look like, with the result that passport, ethnic origin and sex can all become influencing factors. But schools rarely dig down to find out what really makes an applicant succeed, to create a class which also contains diversity of attitude and approach—arguably the only diversity that, in a business context, really matters.
Professor Gauthier believes schools should not just be selecting candidates from traditional sectors such as banking, consultancy and industry. They should also be seeking individuals who have backgrounds in areas such as political science, the creative arts, history or philosophy, which will allow them to put business decisions into a wider context.
Indeed, there does seem to be a demand for the more rounded leaders such diversity might create. A study by Mannaz, a leadership development company, suggests that, while the bully-boy chief executive of old may not have been eradicated completely, there is a definite shift in emphasis towards less tough styles of management—at least in America and Europe. Perhaps most significant, according to Mannaz, is the increasing interest large companies have in more collaborative management models, such as those prevalent in Scandinavia, which seek to integrate the hard and soft aspects of leadership and encourage delegated responsibility and accountability.
注意：此部分試題請在答題卡 2 上作答。
61. What characterises the business school student population of today?
A) Greater diversity.
C) Exceptional diligence.
B) Intellectual maturity.
D) Higher ambition.
62. What is the author's concern about current business school education?
A) It will arouse students' unrealistic expectations.
B) It stresses competition rather than cooperation.
C) It focuses on theory rather than on practical skills.
D) It will produce business leaders of a uniform style.
63. What aspect of diversity does Valerie Gauthier think is most important?
A) Attitude and approach to business.
B) Social and professional experience.
C) Age and educational background.
D) Ethnic origin and gender.
64. What applicants does the author think MBA programmes should consider recruiting?
A) Applicants with prior experience in corporate activities.
B) Applicants with sound knowledge in math and statistics.
C) Applicants from less developed regions and areas.
D) Applicants from outside the traditional sectors.
65. What does Mannaz say about the current management style?
A) It is eradicating the tough aspects of management.
B) It is shifting towards more collaborative models.
C) It adopts the bully-boy chief executive model.
D) It encourages male and female executives to work side by side.
