“Very few people like to talk about how much money they make—especially people who earn a lot of money,” wrote Salmon in his post Why Salaries Shouldn’t Be Secret, in the wake of news that recently—departed New York Times editor Jill Abramson had started asking questions about the pay discrepancy between her and her predecessor. “Since companies tend to be run by people who earn a lot of money, the result is a culture of silence and secrecy when it comes to pay.”
There are several surprising reasons. “Secrecy surrounding pay is generally a bad idea for any organizations,” Salmon wrote. “For one thing, secrecy about pay is bad for women, who are worse at asking for raises than men are. If men secretly ask for raises and secretly get then, while women don’t, then that helps to explain, at least in part, why men end up earning more than women,” Salmon wrote. “Secrecy around pay is also a great way to allow managers to—consciously or unconsciously —play favorites with their staff.”
“We’ve all worked in companies, I’m sure, where the only way to get a substantial raise is to confront management with a job offer from somewhere else,” he added. “That’s clearly a dreadful way to run a company, since it gives all employees a huge incentive to spend a lot of time looking for work elsewhere, even if they’re happy where they are.”
“If you work for a company where everybody knows what everybody else is earning, then it’s going to be very easy to see what’s going on. You’ll see who the stars are, you’ll see what kind of skills and talent the company rewards,” he wrote. “You’ll also see whether men get paid more than women, whether managers are generally overpaid, and whether behavior like threatening to quit is rewarded with big raises. What’s more, because management knows that everybody else will see such things, they’ll be much less likely to do the kind of secret deals which are all too common in most companies today.”
1. What do we learn from the first paragraph?
2. What is a possible reason why men usually earn more than women according to Salmon?
3. The italicized phrase “play favorites with” most likely means to ______.
4. Another big problem secrecy about pay might cause is ______.
5. What does Salmon suggest might happen if there is no secrecy in pay?
问题1选项
A.Salmon is the first writer who put forward the question of pay discrepancy.
B.Jill Abramson left New York Times when she knew that difference in pay.
C.Managers seldom talk about their pay because it is a tradition not to.
D.Jill Abramson didn’t get the same pay with someone who did the same job.
问题2选项
A.Men are more likely to get the trust of their boss.
B.Managers tend to think men are more capable than women.
C.Men expect more pressure on the boss for pay raise than women.
D.Men are more likely to make secret deal with the manager about pay.
问题3选项
A.make secret deals with
B.treat differently
C.show prejudice against
D.cheat
问题4选项
A.employees’ lack of full commitment
B.low productivity
C.unhappy employees
D.frequent confrontations
问题5选项
A.Managers will earn less than they do today.
B.Employees will be more skilled than today.
C.It will be clear who the boss’s favorite is.
D.The company will become a fairer place than today.
第1题:C
第2题:D
第3题:A
第4题:A
第5题:D
第1题:
【选项释义】
What do we learn from the first paragraph? 从第一段我们可以了解到什么？
A. Salmon is the first writer who put forward the question of pay discrepancy. A. 萨尔蒙是第一个提出工资差距问题的作家。
B. Jill Abramson left New York Times when she knew that difference in pay. B. 吉尔•艾布拉姆森知道工资的差别后离开了《纽约时报》。
C. Managers seldom talk about their pay because it is a tradition not to. C. 经理们很少谈论他们的薪酬，因为这是一种传统。
D. Jill Abramson didn’t get the same pay with someone who did the same job. D. 吉尔•艾布拉姆森没有和做同样工作的人得到同样的报酬。
【考查点】判断推理题。
【解题思路】根据第一段最后一句“由于公司往往是由赚大钱的人经营的，其结果是在薪酬方面形成了一种沉默和保密的文化”，由此可以推断出经理们不谈论他们的薪酬，因为这是他们之间默认的文化，以及成为他们的一种传统，所以正确答案为C选项。
【干扰项排除】
A选项：“萨尔蒙是第一个提出工资差距问题的作家”，根据第一段第一行至第二行“‘很少有人喜欢谈论自己赚了多少钱，尤其是那些赚了很多钱的人，’萨尔蒙在《为什么薪水不应该保密》一文中写道”可知该选项属于曲解原文；
C选项：“吉尔•艾布拉姆森知道工资的差别后离开了《纽约时报》”，根据第一段第三行至第四行“此前有消息称，最近离职的《纽约时报》编辑吉尔•艾布拉姆森开始质疑她与前辈之间的薪酬差异”可知文章并没有说他的离开与工资差异有因果关系，该选项属于过度推断；
D选项：“吉尔•艾布拉姆森没有和做同样工作的人得到同样的报酬”，根据第一段第三行至第四行内容可知文章并没有说到他们是否是做的同样的工作，该选项属于曲解原文。
第2题:
【选项释义】
What is a possible reason why men usually earn more than women according to Salmon? 根据萨尔蒙的说法，男性通常比女性赚得多的可能原因是什么？
A. Men are more likely to get the trust of their boss. A. 男人更容易得到老板的信任。
B. Managers tend to think men are more capable than women. B. 经理们倾向于认为男人比女人更有能力。
C. Men expect more pressure on the boss for pay raise than women. C. 男性施加给经理的加薪压力比女性更大。
D. Men are more likely to make secret deal with the manager about pay. D. 男人更容易和经理就工资问题做秘密交易。
【考查点】判断推理题。
【解题思路】根据题干可定位答案所在区域为第二段。根据第二段第三行至第四行“如果男人秘密地要求加薪，然后秘密地得到加薪，而女人却没有，那么这就有助于解释，至少在一定程度上，为什么男人最终会比女人挣得多”由此可以推断出男人应该更容易和经理就工资问题做秘密交易，因为秘密地跟经理要求加薪的谈判中会达成某种协议；且结合文章最后一段最后一句“更重要的是，因为管理层知道其他人都会看到这些事情，他们就不太可能做那种如今在大多数公司都很常见的秘密交易”，由此可以确定秘密得到加薪的原因是进行了秘密交易。正确答案为D选项。
【干扰项排除】A、B、C选项均属于曲解原文。
第3题:
【选项释义】
The italicized phrase “play favorites with” most likely means to ______. 斜体字短语“play favorites with”最有可能的意思是______。
A. make secret deals with A. 与……做秘密交易
B. treat differently B. 区别对待
C. show prejudice against C. 对……有偏见
D. cheat D. 欺骗
【考查点】语义推测题。
【解题思路】根据题干可以定位答案所在区域为第二段。根据第二段提及男人会秘密地要求经理加薪，并且经理也秘密地给他们加了薪水，可以推测出他们达成了某种协议，结合该短语所在句“关于薪酬的保密也是一个很好的方法，可以让管理者有意识或无意识地与员工……”，可知薪酬保密可以让管理者与员工达成某种协议，也就是做秘密交易，所以正确答案为A选项。
【干扰项排除】B、C、D选项均属于曲解原文。
第4题:
【选项释义】
Another big problem secrecy about pay might cause is ______. 薪酬保密可能导致的另一个大问题是_____。
A. employees’ lack of full commitment A. 员工缺乏全身心的投入
B. low productivity B. 工作效率低
C. unhappy employees C. 不开心的员工
D. frequent confrontations D. 频繁的冲突
【考查点】判断推理题。
【解题思路】根据题干可以定位答案所在区域为第三段。根据第三段内容“我敢肯定，我们都在一些公司工作过，要想获得大幅加薪，唯一的办法就是让管理层面对来自其他地方的工作邀请。这显然是一种可怕的管理公司的方式，因为这给了所有员工巨大的动力，让他们花大量时间在别处找工作，即使他们在那里很开心”，由此可知薪酬保密使得想加薪的员工不停地去别处找工作，从而导致员工无法全身心的投入为公司工作，所以正确答案为A选项。
【干扰项排除】
B选项：“工作效率低”，原文没有提及，属于无中生有；
C选项：“不开心的员工”，根据第三段最后一行“让他们花大量时间在别处找工作，即使他们在那里很开心”，可知薪酬保密不一定导致员工不开心，该选项属于曲解原文；
D选项：“频繁的冲突”，原文没有提及，属于无中生有。
第5题:
【选项释义】
What does Salmon suggest might happen if there is no secrecy in pay? 萨尔蒙认为，如果薪酬没有保密，可能会发生什么？
A. Managers will earn less than they do today. A. 经理们的收入将比现在少。
B. Employees will be more skilled than today. B. 员工们的技能会比今天更高。
C. It will be clear who the boss’s favorite is. C. 老板最喜欢谁将一目了然。
D. The company will become a fairer place than today. D. 公司将变得比今天更公平。
【考查点】判断推理题。
【解题思路】根据题干可以定位答案所在区域为最后一段。根据最后一段第三句至最后一句内容“你还将看到，男性的薪酬是否高于女性，管理人员的薪酬是否普遍过高，以及威胁辞职等行为是否会得到大幅加薪的回报。更重要的是，因为管理层知道其他人都会看到这样的事情，所以他们不太可能做今天大多数公司都太常见的秘密交易”，由此可知如果薪酬不保密，管理层也不会再和员工做秘密交易，所以公司相对来说应该会变得更公平，所以正确答案为D选项。
【干扰项排除】
A选项：“经理们的收入将比现在少”，根据解题思路可知文章只是说公司会变得相对更公平，没有说经理们的收入会有什么变化，该选项属于过度推断；
B选项：“员工们的技能会比今天更高”，根据最后一段前两句“如果在你工作的公司里，每个人都知道其他人的收入，那么很容易看到发生了什么。你会看到谁是公司中的闪耀之星，你会看到公司奖励的是什么样的技能和才能”可知文章说可以看到公司会奖励什么样的技能，没有提及员工的技能会提高，该选项属于过度推断；
C选项：“老板最喜欢谁将一目了然”，原文没有提及，属于无中生有。
