Ruth Simmons joined Goldman Sachs’s board as an outside director in January 2000; a year later she became president of Brown University. For the rest of the decade she apparently managed both roles without attracting much criticism. But by the end of 2009 Ms. Simmons was under fire for having sat on Goldman’s compensation committee; how could she have let those enormous bonus payouts pass unremarked? By February the next year Ms. Simmons had left the board. The position was just taking up too much time, she said.
Outside directors are supposed to serve as helpful, yet less biased, advisers on a firm’s board. Having made their wealth and their reputations elsewhere, they presumably have enough independence to disagree with the chief executive’s proposals. If the sky, and the share price, is falling, outside directors should be able to give advice based on having weathered their own crises.
The researchers from Ohio University used a database that covered more than 10, 000 firms and more than 64, 000 different directors between 1989 and 2004. Then they simply checked which directors stayed from one proxy statement to the next. The most likely reason for departing a board was age, so the researchers concentrated on those “surprise” disappearances by directors under the age, of 70. They found that after a surprise departure, the probability that the company will subsequently have to restate earnings increased by nearly 20%. The likelihood of being named in a federal class-action lawsuit also increases, and the stock is likely to perform worse. The effect tended to be larger for larger firms. Although a correlation between them leaving and subsequent bad performance at the firm is suggestive, it does not mean that such directors are always jumping off a sinking ship. Often they “trade up”, leaving riskier, smaller firms for larger and more stable firms.
But the researchers believe that outside directors have an easier time of avoiding a blow to their reputations if they leave a firm before bad news breaks, even if a review of history shows they were on the board at the time any wrongdoing occurred. Firms who want to keep their outside directors through tough times may have to create incentives. Otherwise outside directors will follow the example of Ms. Simmons, once again very popular on campus. (382 words)
1.According to Paragraph 1, Ms. Simmons was criticized for （ ）.
2.We learn from Paragraph 2 that outside directors are supposed to be （ ）.
3.According to the researchers from Ohio University after an outside director’s surprise departure, the firm is likely to （ ）.
4.It can be inferred from the last paragraph that outside directors （ ）.
5.The author’s attitude toward the role of outside directors is（ ）.
问题1选项
A.gaining excessive profits
B.failing to fulfill her duty
C.refusing to make compromises
D.leaving the board in tough times
问题2选项
A.generous investors
B.unbiased executives
C.share price forecasters
D.independent advisers
问题3选项
A.become more stable
B.report increased earnings
C.do less well in the stock market
D.perform worse in lawsuits
问题4选项
A.may stay for the attractive offers from the firm
B.have often had records of wrongdoings in the firm
C.are accustomed to stress-free work in the firm
D.will decline incentives from the firm
问题5选项
A.permissive
B.positive
C.scornful
D.critical
第1题:B
第2题:D
第3题:C
第4题:A
第5题:B
第1题:
【选项释义】
According to Paragraph 1, Ms. Simmons was criticized for______. 根据第一段，西蒙斯女士因______而受到批评。
A. gaining excessive profits A. 获得暴利
B. failing to fulfill her duty B. 不负责任
C. refusing to make compromises C. 拒绝妥协
D. leaving the board in tough times D. 在困难时期离开董事会
【考查点】推理判断题
【解题思路】根据题干定位到首段第三句：But...Mrs. Simmons was under fire for… how could she have let those enormous bonus payouts pass unremarked?（她怎么能让那些巨额的奖金支出毫无察觉地就通过了呢？）“how could she”（她怎么能够），体现出责备的语气；having sat on Goldman’s compensation committee（担任Goldman公司薪酬委员会委员）说的是Ms. Simmons的职责，而have let those enormous bonus payouts pass（让那些巨额的奖金支出毫无察觉地就通过）显然说的是其对职责的背离，所以B项“未能履行其职责”正确。
【干扰项排除】
A选项没有提及，属于无中生有；
C选项在文中提到的是西蒙斯正是因为让大额奖金通过才收到指责，言外之意，她妥协了，因此选项属于反向干扰；
D选项原文仅提到了By February the next year Ms. Simmons had left the board.（第二年2月，西蒙斯离开了董事会），没有提及公司是否遇到困难，属于曲解原文。
第2题:
【选项释义】
We learn from Paragraph 2 that outside directors are supposed to be______. 我们从第二段得知，外部董事应该是______。
A. generous investors A. 慷慨的投资者
B. unbiased executives B. 公正的高管
C. share price forecasters C. 股价预测者
D. independent advisers D. 独立顾问
【考查点】事实细节题
【解题思路】根据题干from Paragraph 2和outside directors are supposed to be可精确定位到第二段首句outside directors are supposed to serve as helpful, yet less biased, advisers on a firm’s board.（外部董事在企业董事会中应扮演有益而又相对公正的顾问角色）因此D项正确。此外，接下来一句中…they...have enough independence to disagree with the chief executive’s proposals.（他们……有足够的独立性否定……总裁的建议）也体现了D选项的正确。
【干扰项排除】
A、B、C选项不可通过文章信息得出。
第3题:
【选项释义】
According to the researchers from Ohio University after an outside director’s surprise departure, the firm is likely to______. 据俄亥俄大学的研究人员称，在一位外部董事意外离职后，该公司可能会______。
A. become more stable A. 变得更加稳定
B. report increased earnings B. 报告增加收益
C. do less well in the stock market C. 在股市表现不佳
D. perform worse in lawsuits D. 在诉讼中表现更差
【考查点】事实细节题
【解题思路】根据题干定位到第三段第四句：They found that after a surprise departure, the probability that the company will... restate earnings increases by nearly 20%.（他们发现，在突然离职后，公司随后不得不重申收益的可能性增加了近20%。）正好对应C项，所以C选项正确。
【干扰项排除】
A选项在原文没有提及，属于无中生有，并且按照常识，可以很快地排除；
B选项，通过对定位句结构的分析可知，本句主语是the probability“可能性”，谓语动词是increases“增加”，the company will...restate earnings是that引导的同位语从句，所以“增加”指的是“可能性”，而不是“收入”，因此B选项“报告收入的增长”错误，属于偷换概念；
D选项，定位句提到独立董事离职后的第一种可能：“不得不重申盈利状况”，接下来的句子又提到第二种可能和第三种可能：The likelihood（of being named in a federal class-action lawsuit） also increases, and the stock is likely to perform worse.括号表达是第二种可能：“在联邦法院所受理的集体诉讼案件中被涉及”，这也是D项对应出处，但lawsuit没有worse反而increase，所以属于反向干扰。
第4题:
【选项释义】
It can be inferred from the last paragraph that outside directors______. 从最后一段可以推断，外部董事_____。
A. may stay for the attractive offers from the firm A. 可能留下来接受公司诱人的报价
B. have often had records of wrongdoings in the firm B. 经常有在公司里做错事的记录
C. are accustomed to stress-free work in the firm C. 习惯在公司里没有压力的工作
D. will decline incentives from the firm D. 从公司得到的奖励会下降
【考查点】推理判断题
【解题思路】根据题干from the last paragraph可定位到文章尾段，尾段第二句提到Firms who want to keep their outside directors through tough times may have to create incentives.那些想在艰难时期挽留住外部董事的公司不得不采取激励措施。正好对应A项信息，所以A项正确。
【干扰项排除】
B选项可以定位到最后一段的第一句，“...even if a review of history shows they were on the board at the time any wrongdoing occurred.”（即使回顾历史表明，在任何不当行为发生时，他们都是董事会成员），文章提到的wrongdoings是公司的不好的行为，而不是选项所说的外部董事犯的错误，这里属于曲解原文；
C、D选项原文没有提及，属于无中生有。
第5题:
【选项释义】
The author’s attitude toward the role of outside directors is_____. 作者对外部董事作用的态度是_____。
A. permissive A. 宽容的
B. positive B. 积极的
C. scornful C. 轻蔑的
D. critical D. 批判的
【考查点】观点态度题
【解题思路】根据题干The author’s attitude和the role of outside directors可定位到第二段的首句Outside directors are supposed to serve as helpful, yet less biased, advisers on a firm’s board,其中helpful（有益的）和less biased（相对公正的）两个形容词表达了作者的态度，B选项positive（积极的）正确。
【干扰项排除】
A、C、D选项不可根据原文信息推断出来。度，B选项‘positive积极的’正确。
