President Bush takes to the bully pulpit to deliver a stern lecture to America’s business elite. The Justice Dept. stuns the accounting profession by filing a criminal indictment of Arthur Andersen LLP for destroying documents related to its audits of Enron Corp. On Capitol Hill, some congressional panels push on with biased hearings on Enron’s collapse and, now, another busted New Economy star, telecom’s Global Crossing. Lawmakers sign on to new bills aimed at tightening oversight of everything from pensions and accounting to executive pay.
To any spectators, it would be easy to conclude that the winds of change are sweeping Corporate America, led by George W. Bush, who ran as “a reformer with result”. But far from deconstructing the corporate world brick by brick into something cleaner, sparer, and stronger, Bush aides and many legislators are preparing modest legislative and administrative reforms. Instead of an overhaul, Bush’s team is counting on its enforcers, Justice and a newly empowered Securities & Exchange Commission, to make examples of the most egregious offenders. The idea is that business will quickly get the message and clean up its own act.
Why won’t the outraged rhetoric result in more changes? For starters, the Bush Administration warns that any rush to legislate corporate behavior could produce a raft of flawed hills that raise costs without halting abuses. Business has striven to drive the point home with an intense lobbying blitz that has convinced many lawmakers that over-regulation could startle the stock market and perhaps endanger the nascent economic recovery.
All this sets the stage for Washington to get busy with predictably modest results. A surge of caution is sweeping would be reformers on the Hill. “They know they don’t want to make a big mistake,” says Jerry J. Jasinowski, president of the National Association of Manufacturers. That go-slow approach suits the White House. Aides say the President, while personally disgusted by Enron’s sellout of its pensioners, is reluctant to embrace new sanctions that frustrate even law-abiding corporations and create a litigation bonanza for trial lawyers. Instead, the White House will push for narrowly targeted action, most of it carried out by the SEC, the Treasury Dept, and the Labor Dept. The right outcome, Treasury Secretary Paul H.O’Neill said on Mar. 15, “depends on the Congress not legislating things that are over the top.”
To O’Neill and Bush, that means enforcing current laws before passing too many new ones. Nowhere is that stance clearer than in the Andersen indictment. So the Bush Administration left the decision to Justice Dept. prosecutors rather than White House political operatives or their reformist fellows at the SEC.
1. We can learn from the first paragraph that ____.
2. By “outraged rhetoric” (Paragraph 3), the author is talking about ____.
3. It seems that the President, in face of the present situation, ____.
4. The conclusion can be drawn from the text that in the wake of Andersen’s scandal, the government ____.
5. What the author wants to suggest may be best interpreted as ____.
问题1选项
A.the Justice Department seized on the plight of Enron’s workers
B.the White House recognized that stricter control is a political must
C.the President was determined to turn a reformed Andersen into a model
D.the White House responded strongly to the Andersen’s scandal
问题2选项
A.an intense lobby blitz shown in corporate behavior
B.the indignation displayed by some congressmen
C.a decision left up to Justice Dept. prosecutors
D.the message embodied in the President’s actions
问题3选项
A.must embrace new sanctions
B.should avoid law enforcement
C.may be caught in a dilemma
D.can stop delivering lectures
问题4选项
A.may make only modest change
B.will take drastic countermeasures
C.will adopt corporate restructuring
D.will investigate Enron’s collapse
问题5选项
A.“Crime doesn’t pay.”
B.“Haste makes waste.”
C.“Look before you leap.”
D.“Like father, like son.”
第1题:D
第2题:D
第3题:C
第4题:A
第5题:B
第1题:
【选项释义】
We can learn from the first paragraph that ____. 我们可以从第一段得知____。
A. the Justice Department seized on the plight of Enron’s workers A. 司法部抓住了安然员工的困境
B. the White House recognized that stricter control is a political must B. 白宫认识到，更严格的控制是一项政治必须
C. the President was determined to turn a reformed Andersen into a model C. 总统决心将重组后的安达信转变为典范
D. the White House responded strongly to the Andersen’s scandal D. 白宫对安达信丑闻作出了强烈反应
【考查点】推理判断题。
【解题思路】根据出处提示词Paragraph 1与题干信息可定位到第一段“布什总统在第一号讲坛上向美国的商业精英们发表了一篇严厉的演讲。美国司法部(Justice department)对安达信会计师事务所(Arthur Andersen LLP)提起刑事诉讼，指控其销毁了与安然公司(Enron Corp.)审计文件有关的文件。”由此可推测白宫强烈谴责安达信事务所，并且作出了强烈反应。因此选D。
【干扰项排除】
A选项“司法部抓住了安然员工的困境”，文中没有体现，该选项属于无中生有；
B选项“白宫认识到更严格的控制是政治上必须的”，曲解原文，该选项属于过度推断；
C选项“总统决心将重组后的安达信转变为典范”，文中没有提及，该选项属于无中生有。
第2题:
【选项释义】
By “outraged rhetoric” (Paragraph 3), the author is talking about ____. 通过“义愤填膺的言辞”（第3段），作者谈论的是____。
A. an intense lobby blitz shown in corporate behavior A. 公司行为中表现出的激烈游说闪电战
B. the indignation displayed by some congressmen B. 一些国会议员表现出的愤怒
C. a decision left up to Justice Dept. prosecutors C. 由司法部检察官做出的决定
D. the message embodied in the President’s actions D. 体现在总统行动中的信息
【考查点】推理判断题。
【解题思路】根据出处提示词Paragraph 3与题干信息可定位到第三段“为什么愤怒的言辞不会带来更多的改变？”可推测出该句指的是第一段中布什总统在第一号讲坛上向美国的商业精英们发表了一篇严厉的演讲。之后在总统的带领下，变革之风正在席卷美国企业界。布什的助手和许多立法者正在准备适度的立法和行政改革。司法部和新晋授权的证券交易委员会对最恶劣的违法者进行惩罚。这一系列改革都是围绕总统的演讲展开的。但是这些改革也是适度的改变，布什的团队并没有进行彻底的改革，因此不会带来更多的改变。因此选D。
【干扰项排除】
A、B、C选项，曲解原文，属于过度推断。
第3题:
【选项释义】
It seems that the President, in face of the present situation, ____. 看来总统面对目前的形势， ____。
A. must embrace new sanctions A. 必须接受新的制裁
B. should avoid law enforcement B. 应该避免执法
C. may be caught in a dilemma C. 可能会陷入两难境地
D. can stop delivering lectures D. 可以停止演讲了
【考查点】推理判断题。
【解题思路】根据题干信息可定位到倒数第三段“首先，布什政府警告说，任何急于立法的公司行为都可能产生大量有缺陷的山丘，在不制止滥用的情况下提高成本。企业界努力通过密集的游说闪电战来阐明这一点，说服许多议员相信，过度监管可能会令股市受惊，并可能危及刚刚开始的经济复苏。”以及倒数第二段“助手表示，尽管总统个人对安然出售养老金的行为感到厌恶，但它不愿接受新的制裁，即便是让守法的企业感到沮丧，也不愿为出庭律师带来诉讼的财源。”由此可知，总统虽然要对企业界进行改革，但是过度监管会影响经济，并且安然公司不愿接受新的制裁。由此可以推断，总统在目前的情况下处于两难境地。
【干扰项排除】
A选项“必须接受新的制裁”，文中说的是安然公司不愿接受新的制裁，并不是指总统，该选项属于张冠李戴；
B选项“应该避免执法”，文章最后一段提到“对奥尼尔和布什来说，这意味着在通过太多新法律之前先执行现有法律。”，可知总统会进行执法，该选项与原文意思相反，属于反向干扰；
D选项“可以停止演讲了”，文中没有体现，该选项属于无中生有。
第4题:
【选项释义】
The conclusion can be drawn from the text that in the wake of Andersen’s scandal, the government ____. 从文中可以得出结论，在安达信的丑闻之后，政府____。
A. may make only modest change A. 可能只会做出适度的改变
B. will take drastic countermeasures B. 将采取严厉的对策
C. will adopt corporate restructuring C. 将采取公司重组
D. will investigate Enron’s collapse D. 将调查安然的倒闭
【考查点】推理判断题。
【解题思路】根据题干信息可定位到文中第二段“但是，布什的助手和许多立法者正在准备适度的立法和行政改革，而不是将企业界一砖一瓦地解构成更干净、更节俭、更强大的东西。（But far from deconstructing the corporate world brick by brick into something cleaner, sparer, and stronger, Bush aides and many legislators are preparing modest legislative and administrative reforms.）”由此可推断政府会进行适度的改革。因此选A。
【干扰项排除】
B选项“将采取严厉的对策”，由推断可知，政府会进行适度的改变，而不是严厉的对策，该选项属于过度推断；
C选项“将采取公司重组”，文中没有提及，该选项属于无中生有；
D选项“将调查安然的倒闭”，文中没有提及，该选项属于无中生有。
第5题:
【选项释义】
What the author wants to suggest may be best interpreted as ____. 作者想表达的最好解释为____。
A. “Crime doesn’t pay.” A. “罪有应得。”
B. “Haste makes waste.” B. “欲速则不达。”
C. “Look before you leap.” C. “三思而后行。”
D. “Like father, like son.” D. “有其父必有其子。”
【考查点】主旨大意题。
【解题思路】第一段讲到司法部对安达信事务所提出控诉；第二段讲到布什的助手和许多立法者正在准备适度的立法和行政改革；第三段讲过度的言辞也不会带来更多的改变，因为过度监管会影响经济；第四段讲将会采取温和的措施，国会是进行谨慎的改革；最后一段讲政府把决定权交给司法部。综合全文，文章主要讲政府要进行改革，但为了不影响经济复苏，要进行适度的改革。“欲速则不达”指违背规律、一味求快，反而达不到目的。符合文章大意。因此选B选项。
【干扰项排除】
A选项“罪有应得。”，可以说安达信公司是罪有应得，但这是对文章的片面概括，属于以偏概全；
C选项“三思而后行。”，该选项属于曲解原文；
D选项“有其父必有其子。”，该选项属于曲解原文。
