The new businesses are GE Commercial Finance, GE Insurance, SE Consumer Finance and GE Equipment Management. Some support functions within GE Capital, including risk management and treasury, will now report to Dennis Dammerman, 57, a G. E. vice chairman who preceded Mr. Nayden as GE Capital's chlef. Mr, Nayden will remain at G. E. as an adviser for now, but is expected to leave shortly to start a financial services firm.

　　Mr. Dammerman insisted that the reorganization had nothing to do with the increasing clamor from investors, regulators and the news media for greater transparency in accounting and for chief executives to take more responsibility for businesses: Analysts seem to believe him. "This is just what it appears to be, a managerial, reorganization which gives leaders more direct access to the office of the chairman," said Martin A. Sankey, a G. E. analyst.

　　The executives leading the new units will also sit on G.. E. 's corporate executive council, a committee made up of the company's top 25 executives, which meets periodically and discusses various strategic and management issues.

　　GE Capital, the company's largest nit, provided $55 billion of G. E. 's $124 billion in revenue last year and $ 5.6 billion of its $19.7 billion in pretax profits. The rest of G. E. had been divided into 11 other businesses, many of them--lighting and appliances are examples-much smaller than the new GE Capital units, yet each run by someone who reports directly to the chairman. Mr. Dammermn said that Mr. Immelt began talking about breaking GE Capital into more manageable pieces as soon as he took over as chief executive last September. "Jeff didn't like the extra layer between him and the GE Capital businesses,"

　　G. E. has tried to make GE Capital less mysterious to 'the outside world. Although GE Capital was officially one unit, it had begun to report quarterly results in live product-related segments--a number that will be reduced to four with the new organization. And analysts say GE Capital's management has been more accessible than it was in past years, and that Mr. Immelt and other G. E. corporate executives have been willing to discuss GE Capital in more depth.

　　57. After the reorganization, GE will have altogether ______.

　　A) six businesses B) sixteen businesses

　　C) four businesses . D) fifteen businesses

　　58. Which of the following statements is NOT true of Dennis Dammerman?

　　A) He is now a GE's vice chairman.

　　B) He is expected to leave GE to start a new financial services firm.

　　C) He was once the chairman of GE Capital.

　　D) He regards the reorganization of GE as an initiative of its own.

　　59. All the following statements are False of Denis Nayden EXCEPT that ______.

　　A) the reorganization makes him lose his position as a chairman

　　B) he will remain for some time at GE as an analyst

　　C) he is currently GE's chairman

　　D) he is expected to start a new GE financial firm in the near future

　　60. The reorganization will enable GE's chief executive to ______.

　　A) quiet down the unrest in the world

　　B) work in a more friendly business environment

　　C) have more direct contact with GE's financial services teams

　　D) appear less mysterious to the outside world

　　61. The General Electric Capital ______.

　　A) is divided into five product-related segments now

　　B) provided more than 1/3 of GE's revenue last year

　　C) is going to be broken into more businesses

　　D) now has smaller units than all other businesses in GE

　　57.文章第五段提到“the rest of G.E，had been divided into 11 other businesses”，也就是除 GE Capital之外共有11家公司。文章第一段指出GE Capital將被分成4家公司。因此，調整結構以后，GE共有15家公司。答案為D項。

　　58.第二段第二句指出Dennis Dammerman是GE的副總裁，曾在Nayden之前做過GE Capital的主席。因此，選項A和C都排除。第三段中，Dammerman否認GE的結構調整和外界的壓力有關，因此選項D說結構調整是GE自己的主動性舉措符合原文意思，可排除。而第二段的最后一句中明確陳述即將離開GE的是Nayden，故答案為B項。

　　59.根據文章第一段中的“The reorganization effectively eliminates the job of Denis J. Nayden，48，the chairman of GE Capital.”可知正確答案為A項。

　　60.第三段的最后一句“This is just what it appears to be，a managerial reorganization which gives leaders more direct access to the office of the chairman”指出了結構調整的目的是以主席為首的GE高層可以和GE Capital的管理者更直接有效地溝通。文章最后一段提到調整結果時再次出現了這一信息，即“And analysts say GE Capital's management has been more accessible than it was in past years”，因此，答案為C項。

　　61.此題是關于GE Capital的細節信息題。文章第五段第一句“GE Capital，the company's largest nit，provided $55 billion of G.E.'s $124 billion in revenue last year and $5.6 billion of its $19.7 billion in pretax profits.”提到去年GE Capital收入550億美金占GE總收入1240億的三分之一多。因此，正確答案為B項。

　　大學英語六級假期閱讀練習題：

　　The discovery that language can be a barrier to communication is quickly made by all who travel, study, govern or sell. Whether the activity is tourism, research, government, policing, business or data dissemination, the lack of a common language can severely impede progress or can halt it altogether.

　　Although communication problems of this kind must happen thousands of times each day, very few become public knowledge. Publicity comes only when a failure to communicate has major consequences, such as strikes, lost orders, legal problems or fatal accidents--even, at times, war. One reported instance of communication failure took place in 1970, when several Americans ate a species of poisonous mushroom. No remedy was known, and two of the people died within days. A radio report of the case was heard by a chemist who knew of a treatment that had been successfully used in 1959 and published in 1963. Why had the American doctors not heard of it seven years later? Presumably because the report of the treatment had been published only in journals written in European languages other than English.

　　Several comparable cases have been reported. But isolated examples do not give an impression of the size of the problem--something that can come only from studies of the use or avoidance of foreign-language materials and contacts in different communicative situations. In the English- speaking scientific world, for example, surveys of books and documents consulted in libraries and other information agencies have shown that very little foreign-language material is ever consulted. Library requests in the field of science and technology showed that only 13 percent were for foreign language periodicals.

　　The language barrier presents itself in stark form to firms who wish to market their products in other countries. British industry, in particular, has in recent decades often been criticized for its linguistic insularity---for its assumption that foreign buyers will be happy to communicate in English, and that awareness of other languages is not therefore s priority. In the 1960s, over two- thirds of British firms dealing with non-English-speaking customers were using English for outgoing correspondence; many had their sales literature only in English; and as many as 40 percent employed no-one able to communicate in the customer's languages. A similar problem was identified in other English-speaking countries, notably the USA, Australia and New Zealand. And non-English speaking countries were by no means exempt--although the widespread use of English as an alternative language made them less open to the charge of insularity.

　　The criticism and publicity given to this problem since the 1960s seems to have greatly improved the situation. Industrial training schemes have promoted an increase in linguistic and cultural awareness. Many firms now have their own translation services. Some firms run part-time language courses in the languages of the countries with which they are most involved; some produce their own technical glossaries, to ensure consistency when material is being translated. It is now much more readily appreciated that marketing efforts can be delayed, damaged or disrupted by a failure to take account of the linguistic needs of the customer.

　　47. Language problems may come to the attention of the public when they have ______ such as fatal accidents or social problems.

　　48. What can we infer about American doctors from the case of the poisonous mushrooms?

　　49. Evidence of the extent of the language barrier can be gained from ______ of materials used by scientists such as books and periodicals.

　　50. An example of British linguistic insularity is the use of English for materials such as ______.

　　51. What ways have been used by the British companies to solve the problem of language barrier since the 1960s?

　　47. major consequences

　　48. They probably only read reports written in English.

　　49. surveys/ studies

　　50. sales literature outgoing correspondence

　　51. Industrial training schemes, translation services, part-time language courses and technical glossaries.

　　47.第二段第二句“Publicity comes only when a failure to communicate has major consequences， such as strikes，lost orders，legal problems or fatal accidents—even，at times，war.”中的“Publicity”就是題目中的“come to the attention of the public”，由此可見，當語言障礙導致“重大后果(major consequences)”，如罷工等等社會問題或者致命的事故時，才會引起關注。因此，答案為“major consequences”。

　　48.毒蘑菇事件是作者在第二段關于語言問題導致致命事故所舉的例子。第二段最后一句作者講道“Presumably because the report of the treatment had been published only in journals written in European languages other than English.”，由此我們可以推斷美國醫生大概很少讀用英語以外的語言所寫的報道或論著。故答案為“They probably only read reports written in English”。

　　49.第三段第二句“But isolated examples do not give an impression of the size of the problem- something that can come only from studies of the use or avoidance of foreign-language materials and contacts in different communicative situations.”中的“size of the problem”就是指問題的嚴重程度，即題目中的“extent of the language barrier”。可見“研究”外語材料的使用情況可以幫助了解語言障礙問題的程度。由此，答案可以是“studies”。第三段第三句“In the English-speaking scientific world，for example，surveys of books and documents consulted in libraries and other information agencies have shown that very little foreign-language material is ever cnsulted.”指出調查信息機構中書和文件的查閱情況可以知道對外語材料的查閱很少。可見“調查”這些材料的查閱情況可以獲得證據。由此，答案也可以是“surveys”。

　　50.由第四段第三句“In the 1960s，over two-thirds of British firms dealing with non-English- speaking customers were using English for out going correspondence;many had their sales literature only in English”可見他們用英語來寫往來函件和產品說明、銷售宣傳這樣的一些材料。由于題目只要求寫出一個例子，所以答案可以是“sales literature”或者“outgoing correspondence”。

　　51.文章最后一段提到了20世紀60年代以來英國的各家公司用于解決語言障礙問題的四種方法：“Industrial training schemes have promoted an increase in linguistic and cultural awareness.Many firms now have their own translation services.Some firms run part-time language courses in the languages of the countries with which they are most involved;some produce their own technical glossaries，to ensure consistency when material is being translated.”，因此，答案為“Industrial training schemes，translation services，part-time language courses and technical glossaries.”。