英語六級巔峰閱讀附詳解
Why are the top bosses getting an estimated 485 times the pay of a typical factory worker?That is up from 475 times in 1999 and a mere 42 times in 1980. One reason may be whatexperts call the "Lake Wobegon effect". Corporate boards tend to reckon that "all CEOs areabove average"-a play on Garrison Keillor's famous line in his public radio show, A Prairie HomeCompanion, that all the town's children arc "above average". Consultants provide boards withsurveys of corporate CEO compensation. Since directors are reluctant to regard their CEOsas below average, the compensation committees of boards tend to set pay at an above-average level. The result; Pay levels get ratcheted up.
Defenders of lavish CEO pay argue there is such a strong demand for experienced CEOs thatthe free market forces their pay up. They further maintain most boards structure pay packagesto reflect an executive's performance. They get paid more if their companies and their stockdo well. So companies with high-paid CEOs generate great wealth for their shareholders.
But the supposed cream-of-the-crop executives did surprisingly poorly for their shareholders in1999, says Scott Klinger, author of this report by a Bostonbased Organization United for a FairEconomy. If an investor had put $10,000 apiece at the end of 1999 into the stock of thosecompanies with the 10 highest-paid CEOs, by year-end 2000 the investment would have shrunkto $8.132. If $10,000 had been put into the Standard & Poor's 500 stocks, it would havebeen worth $9,090. To Mr. Klinger, these findings suggest that the theory that one person, theCEO, is responsible for creating most of a corporation's value is dead wrong. "It takes manyemployees to make a corporation profitable."
With profits down, corporate boards may make more effort to tame executivecompensation. And executives are making greater efforts to avoid pay cut. Since CEOs,seeing their options "under water" or worthless because of falling stock prices, are seekingmore pay in cash or in restricted stock.
經濟減速，失業增加，但首席執行官的報酬卻依然風光——至少迄今為止還是這樣。《商業周刊》的年度調查發現365家美國最大型公司的首席執行官(CEO)去年的報酬平均為3lO萬美元——比1994年上升了1.3%。
為什么他們的所得大約是一個普通工廠工人工資的4.85倍?這比1999年的475倍和1980年的42倍都上升了。原因之一可能是專家們所謂的“瓦伯格湖效應”。[1]公司董事會傾向于認為“所有首席執行官都在平均水平之上”——改編自蓋瑞森·凱勒著名的公共電臺系列節目《牧場之家好伙伴》中的一個段子，原句是說鎮上的所有孩子都是“平均水平之上”。顧問們向董事會提交有關公司首席執行官薪酬的調查。[2]因為董事們不愿意承認他們的首席執行官是平均水平之下，董事會的薪酬委員會就會把他們的薪酬定在平均水平之上。結果就是，首席執行官得到的薪酬節節上升。
為首席執行官得高薪而辯護的人聲稱，因為對有經驗的首席執行官的需求很強烈，是自由市場把他們的薪酬推高。他們進一步辯解說，大多數董事會會制訂一攬子薪酬結構計劃，以反映首席執行官的業績。如果公司和股票績優，首席執行官的所得就越多。所以有高薪首席執行官的公司就能夠為他們的股東創造巨大的財富。
[4]可是，對于股東來說，那些本應表現相當杰出的首席執行官們1999年的業績卻相當糟糕，令人頗為吃驚——本報告的作者斯科特·克林格如是說。此報告是由波士頓的“爭取公平經濟聯合組織”發表的。如果一位投資者在1999年底拿1萬美元分別購買10家給首席執行官最高薪酬的公司的股票，到2000年底投資會縮水到8132美元;如果用l萬美元來買標準普爾500的股票，其價值則只降低為9090美元。[3]以克林格而言，這些發現表明，“一家公司的大部分價值是由首席執行官一個人創造的”這一理論是十分錯誤的。“一家公司賺錢，應該歸功于眾多雇員的共同努力。”
[5]隨著利潤的下降，公司董事會可能會花更大力氣削減首席執行官的薪酬，而首席執行官們則在花更大的力氣來避免薪金的削減。首席執行官們看到他們的期權目為股票價格下降而貶值甚或毫無價值，于是都在爭取更多的以現金或受限制勝票的方式的薪酬。
1.Which of the following statements is true about Garrison Keillor?
A) His idea on the CEOs was recognized by cor[,orate boards.
B) One of his lines had been modified to describe the CEOs.
C) His play pointed out that "all CEOs are above average".
D) His radio program aroused the "Lake Wobegon effect".
2.According to the second paragraph. CEOs' pay keeps soaring mainlybecause___________.
A) surveys indicate that CEOs deserve higher pay
B) consultants tend to believe CEOs are above average
C) directors' belief greatly influences the pay standard
D) compensation committees seldom evaluate the CEOs' ability
3.Scott Klinger most probably tends to agree Chat____________.
A) most people lose money in the investment into the stocks
B) the CEOs performance can't be reflected by the value of stocks
C) the CEOs are not the only factor that prospers a corporation
D) the pay of the CEOs greatly influences the profit of' a company
4."Cream-of-the-crop" is closest in meaning to____________.
A) competent
B) courageous
C) disappointing
D) hard-working
5.Which of the following is the biggest concern of the corporate boards?
A)The free market.
B)The CEOs’ performance.
C) The corporations' profit.
D)The CEOs’ pay.
1.關于Garrison Keillor，下列哪種說法是正確的?
A)他關于CEO的想法為公司董事會所認可。
B)他的一句臺詞經過修改后用來描連CE0的情況。
C)他在節目中指出“所有的CEO都是高人一等的”。
D)他的電臺節目引發了“瓦伯格湖效應”。
[B]原文第2段第4句中的破折號后的內存表明“all CEOs are above average”這一說法是對Garrison Keillor的某句臺詞的修改，故選項B為本題答案。
2.根據第二段的內容，CEO的薪酬不斷上漲。這主要是因為______________。
A)調查顯示，CEO值得獲得更高的薪酬
B)顧問們都傾向于相信CEO是高人一等的
C)董事們的想法對薪酬標準影響很大
D)薪酬委員會極少衡量CEO的能力
[C]第2段最后兩句的Since... The result...表明這兩句之問存在著因果關系，由倒數第2句可以推斷CEOs報酬不斷上漲主要是因為受到董事們的想法的影響，選項C提到了董事們的想法，為本題答案。
3.Scott Klinger最可能會同意下列哪一種說法?
A)大部分人在投資股票的時候都是虧錢的。
B)CEO的績效不能從股票的價值中體現出來。
C)CEO并不是使公司發展壯大的唯一因素。
D)CEO的薪酬在很大程度上影響公司的利潤。
[C]原文第4段倒數第2句中的...is dead wrong表明選項C符合Klinger對CEOs的看法，因此選項C為本題答案。
4.與“Cream-of-the-crop”的意思最接近的是____。
A)有能力的
B)令人鼓舞的
C)令人失望的
D)工作努力的
[A]從原文第4段首句中cream-of-the-crop之前的supposed以及But,did surprisingly poorly可以推斷cream-of-the-crop應該與poor的意思相反，而該段主要討論CEOs的能力，因此cream-of-the-crop應表示CEOs被認為“能力卓著”，因此選項A為本題答案。
5.以下的那一點是公司董事會最關心的因素?
A)自由市場。
B) CEO的績效。
C)公司利潤。
D)CEO的薪酬。
[C]原文末段首句表明董事會關心的是利潤，其他任何因素都與利潤掛鉤，因此選項C為本題答案。