institution. Yet officials also hope for a much larger benefit: more long term decision-making not only by banks but also bu all corporations, to build a stronger economy for future generations.
“Short-termism” or the desire for quick profits, has worsened in publicly traded
companies, says the Bank of England’s top economist. Andrew Haldane. He quotes a giant of classical economies, Alfred Marshall, in describing this financial impatience as acting like “Children who pick the plums out of their pudding to eat them at once” rather than putting them aside to be eaten last.
The average time for holding a stock in both the United States and Britain, he notes, has dropped from seven years to seven months in recent decades. Transient investors, who demand high quarterly profits from companies, can hinder a firm’s efforts to invest in long-term research or to build up customer loyalty. This has been dubbed “quarterly capitalism”.
In addition, new digital technologies have allowed more rapid trading of equities, quicker use of information, and thus shortens attention spans in financial markers. “There seems to be a predominance of short-term thinking at the expense of long-term investing,” said
Commissioner Daniel Gallagher of the US Securities and Exchange Commission in speech this week.
In the US, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 has pushed most public companies to defer performance bonuses for senior executives by about a year, slightly helping reduce “short-termism.” In its latest survey of CEO pay, The Wall Street Journal finds that “ a substantial part” of executive pay is now tied to performance.
Much more could be done to encourage “long-termism,” such as changes in the tax code
and quicker disclosure of stock acquisitions. In France, shareholders who hold onto a company investment for at least two years can sometimes earn more voting rights in a company.
Within companies, the right compensation design can provide incentives for executives to think beyond their own time at the company and on behalf of all stakeholders. Britain’s new rule is a reminder to bankers that society has an interest in their performance, not just for the short term but for the long term.
21. According to Paragraph 1, one motive in imposing the new rule is the_________. A. enhance banker’s sense of responsibility B. help corporations achieve larger profits C. build a new system of financial regulation D. guarantee the bonuses of top executives 22. Alfred Marshall is quoted to indicate_________. A. the conditions for generating quick profits B. governments’ impatience in decision-making C. the solid structure of publicly traded companies D. “short-termism” in economics activities
23. It is argued that the influence of transient investment on public companies can be__________.
A. indirect B. adverse C. minimal D. temporary
24. The US and France examples are used to illustrate____________. A. the obstacles to preventing “short-termism”. B. the significance of long-term thinking.
C. the approaches to promoting “long-termism”. D. the prevalence of short-term thinking.
25. Which of the following would be the best title for the text A. Failure of Quarterly Capitalism B. Patience as a Corporate Virtue
C. Decisiveness Required of Top Executives D. Frustration of Risk-taking Bankers 21-25参考答案及解析：
21.【A】enhance banker's sense of responsibility;细节题。题目中明确出题段落(According to Paragraph 1)及相应的信息点(one motive in imposing the new rule)，因此，答案来源句则为第一段的第三句(The main purpose of this “clawback” rule is to hold bankers accountable for harmful risk-taking and to restore public trust in financial institution这个规则主要目的是让银行家为不良风险负责以及修复公众对金融机构的信任)，那么答案基本就很容易提取出来。选项中的“sense of responsibility”则对应到句中的“enhance banker's sense of responsibility(增加银行的责任感)”;而其他的选项则与最佳选项无缘，在定位区间中没有相应的对应信息。
22.【D】 \细节题。题干中的定位信息在“Alfred Marshall”上，直接定位到第二段的第二句“He quotes a giant of classical economies, Alfred Marshall, in describing this financial impatience as acting...”，定位信息里的“this financial impatience”则是回指第二段首句的“Short-termism”，故信息点则为“Short-termism”，所以最
佳选项则为\，而其他选项在定位信息中未提及;
23.【B】 adverse;细节题。此题的定位信息为题干的“transient investment”，直接定位到第三段的第二句“Transient investors, who demand high quarterly profits from companies, can hinder a firm’s efforts to invest in long-term research or to build up customer loyalty”，从四个选项的褒贬正负来看indirect、minimal 和temporary为中性的表述，只有B选项的adverse为明确的负面表达，意思为“不利的”，与原文中的“hinder”(阻碍打扰)对应上。
24.【C】the approaches to promoting \例证题。根据题干的具体信息定位，美国和法国的例子是用来支撑什么论点。原文的第五、六段则提供了具体的信息，第五段中美国延迟发放才上任一年左右的高管绩效津贴，继而促进缓解“短期主义”盛行的现状;第六段则提及在法国持股两年以上者拥有更大的选票权。所以，最佳选项应为“促进长期主义的方法”，与原文一致;
25.【B】Patience as a Corporate Virtue;主旨题。题干中的title为标题题的信息，所以此题考查的是文章的主旨大意;B选项里的patience可以对应到全文中反复出现的主题词“short-termism”和“long-termism”，corporate本身在文章中出现多次，所以B 选项则为最近标题，体现主旨大意;其余选项均不能概括全文，故排除。
Text 2
Grade inflation--the gradual increase in average GPAs(grade-point averages) over the past few decades—is often considered a product of a consumer era in higher education, in which students are treated like customers to be pleased. But another, related force—a policy often buried deep in course catalogs called “grade forgiveness”—is helping raise GPAs.
Grade forgiveness allows students to retake a course in which they received a low grade, and the most recent grade or the highest grade is the only one that counts in calculating a student’s overall GPA.
The use of this little-known practice has accelerated in recent years, as colleges continue to do their utmost to keep students in school (and paying tuition) and improve their graduation rates. When this practice first started decades ago, it was usually limited to freshmen, to give them a second chance to take a class in their first year if they struggled in their transition to college-level courses. But now most colleges save for many selective campuses, allow all undergraduates, and even graduate students, to get their low grades forgiven.
College officials tend to emphasize that the goal of grade forgiveness is less about the grade itself and more about encouraging students to retake courses critical to their degree program and graduation without incurring a big penalty. “Untimely,” said Jack Miner, Ohio State University’s registrar,“we see students achieve more success because they retake a course and do better in subsequent contents or master the content that allows them to graduate on time.”
That said, there is a way in which grade forgiveness satisfies colleges’ own needs as well. For public institutions, state funds are sometimes tied partly to their success on metrics such as graduation rates and student retention—so better grades can, by boosting figures like those, mean more money. And anything that raises GPAs will likely make students—who, at the end of the day, are paying the bill—feel they’ve gotten a better value for their tuition dollars, which is another big concern for colleges.
Indeed, grade forgiveness is just another way that universities are responding to consumers’ expectations for higher education. Since students and parents expect a college degree to lead a job, it is in the best interest of a school to turn out graduates who are as qualified as possible—or at least appear to be. On this, students’ and colleges’ incentives
2019年考研英语一真题及答案解析完整版
