英語六級閱讀真題1

　　“If you are going into the corporate world it is still a disadvantage not to have one,” saidDonald Morrison, professor of marketing and management science. “But in the last five years orso, when someone says, ‘Should I attempt to get an MBA,’ the answer a lot more is: Itdepends.”

　　The success of Bill Gates and other non-MBAs, such as the late Sam Walton of Wal-Mart StoresInc., has helped inspire self-conscious debates on business school campuses over the worth ofa business degree and whether management skills can be taught.

　　The Harvard Business Review printed a lively, fictional exchange of letters to dramatizecomplaints about business degree holders.

　　The article called MBA hires “extremely disappointing” and said “MBAs want to move up toofast, they don’t understand politics and people, and they aren’t able to function as part of ateam 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 anaura (光環) 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 assumptionthat no one who pursued a business career could do without one. The growth was fueled by abacklash (反沖) 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 of ten knowhow to analyze systems but are not so skillful at motivating people. “They don’t get a lot ofgrounding in the people side of the business”, said James Shaffer, vice-president and principalof the Towers Perrin management consulting firm.

　　英語六級閱讀真題

　　21. According to Paragraph 2, what is the general attitude towards business oncampuses dominated by purer disciplines?

　　A) Scornful.

　　B) Appreciative.

　　C) Envious.

　　D) Realistic.(A)

　　22. It seems that the controversy over the value of MBA degrees had been fueledmainly 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(B)

　　23. What is the major weakness of MBA holders according to the Harvard BusinessReview?

　　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.(D)

　　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 do not match their professional training

　　D) cherish unrealistic expectations about their future(D)

　　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.

　　英語六級閱讀真題答案

　　21. A 22. B 23. D 24. D 25. C

　　英語六級閱讀真題2

　　When school officials in Kalkaska, Michigan, closed classes last week, the media flocked to thestory, portraying the town’s 2,305 students as victims of stingy (吝嗇的) taxpayers. There issome truth to that; the property-tax rate here is one-third lower than the state average. Butshutting 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 oflegislation 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 28percent 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 toborrow against next year’s state aid, they refused to trim extra curricular activities and they didnot consider seeking a smaller—perhaps more acceptable—tax increase. In fact, closing early iscosting Kalkaska a significant amount, including $600,000 in unemployment payments toteachers and staff and $250,000 in lost state aid. In February, the school system promisedteachers and staff two months of retirement payments in case schools closed early, a deal thatwill cost the district $275,000 more.

　　Other signs suggest school authorities were at least as eager to make a political statement asto keep schools open. The Michigan Education Association hired a public relations firm to stage arally marking the school closing, which attracted 14 local and national television stations andnetworks. 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 oftelevision interviews. School supervisor Doyle Disbrow acknowledges the district could havekept schools open by cutting programs but denies the moves were politically motivated.

　　Michigan lawmakers have reacted angrily to the closings. The state Senate has al ready voted toput the system into receivership (破產管理) and reopen schools immediately; the Michigan Houseplans to consider the bill this week.

　　英語六級閱讀真題

　　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(A)

　　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(D)

　　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(B)

　　29. We learn from the passage that school authorities in Kalkaska are concernedabout ________.

　　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(D)

　　30. According to the passage, the closing of the schools developed into a crisisbecause 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

　　英語六級閱讀真題答案

　　26. A 27. D 28. B 29. D 30. B